Lost in Time

Chapters

First Contact
Discovery of a Lifetime
Well Read
Deep Thoughts
Merger

First Contact

When she'd been a foal, she'd always loved her great-grandmother's books. All the adventures of Daring Do, some of them based on her great-gran's real exploits, others a little more embellished, but none of them untrue. They had been magical little escapes, and inspired her to find her own adventures in life.

After all, much of Equestria's surrounding lands were still undiscovered and wild. There were islands, cave systems, stretches of tundra to the north and south that still had yet to be fully explored, and temples, ruins, long-abandoned seasonal settlements that still had yet to be mapped and investigated.

She loved the travel and the adventure, even if it wasn't quite as glamorous as she'd hoped: more often than not, she spent her time digging through rock piles and doing long, boring site surveys than she did discovering treasure or artifacts or legendary relics.

Her rivalries were tepid at best, and she could count about three times where she'd actually been afraid for her life, and one of those times had been from food poisoning, which would have been an exceedingly embarrassing way to go as an explorer. After all, none of her great grandmother's stories involved the intrepid hero having to spend a night in the bathroom, gross coming out of one end or the other as she lamented picking up suspicious-looking kabobs instead of just stopping at the restaurant, but no, she had to be a cheapskate...

“Hey boss, we're here.”

The stallion's voice snapped her out of her brooding, the mare blinking and looking up with an awkward smile at her crewmate and friend. “Thanks, Razz. You ready?”

“For what, another long, boring day counting how many steps it is from one end of this place to the other?” Razzmatazz asked with a grin, and the mare couldn't help but laugh before he shook his head and said, optimistic as always: “Hey, but it should at least be more interesting than the usual jobs, right? Whole untouched temple for you to explore, get a few samples from, maybe label some treasure.”

“Yeah. It was nice of Argyle to give us the first look.” admitted the mare as she climbed up to her hooves and glanced out through one of the side windows of the research vessel. Yes, she could see that they were docked, and it looked like half her team was already off the ship... “When did we land?”

“Only a few minutes ago, but you know Roxy. She was already waiting to get off the ship with all her equipment by the time the island came into sight.” Razzmatazz replied with a shrug as the unicorn stood up and pulled several bags down from the overhead compartment, then smiled as he held hers out to her while he shouldered his own pack.

She took it with a slight smile and a roll of her eyes: Razz was always a gentlecolt with her, even when it annoyed her. Earth pony mare or not, she was perfectly capable of taking care of herself, with or without the aid of magic or magitech. She'd never run into a problem she couldn't solve with her own two hands and a bit of ingenuity.

She tossed her backpack over her shoulder, then headed quickly down the aisle of seats to the door, Razzmatazz following her out of the cabin and into the bright sunlight. She grimaced a little, blinking at the blue sky and sparkling water as she strode quickly to the lowered bridge to the docks, calling to the team members she could barely see thanks to the sun-blindness: “Everyone ready?”

“Just about. We need to shoot an opening here first, though, Boldly Go.” instructed one of her teammates, and the mare sighed and glowered at them through the almost-painful glittering brightness of the day.

“Don't call me that. My name is Golden Glow, and this is a documentary, not 'Boldly Goes.'” she retorted crankily. “I'm not playing pretend anymore.”

“Okay, boss, sure. Ace didn't mean to rustle your feathers.” quickly stepped in another stallion, then handsome blue pegasus giving an awkward smile before he pointedly glowered back at the small, freckled white mare behind him, who scowled but then nodded grumpily, ignoring the nest of a mane that fell over her face as she did so. “Let's head inside and see what's waiting for us, right?”

Golden Glow grumbled a little, but then sighed and nodded: she knew the drill by now, after all. So she rubbed wildly at her face for a few moments to get some color in it and the sleep out of her eyes, and then she reached back to dig in her bag to pull out her explorer's hat, quickly popping it on her head as Ace Shot argued with the pegasus about where they wanted to set up their initial shot.

“How about up there?” Razzmatazz interrupted, pointing at the top of the path, and the rest of the team all looked up at the spot he had indicated: just in front of the base camp, with the ruins of the hilltop temple visible in the distance, forming a perfect backdrop.

“I like it.” Golden Glow said, and while the rest of her team grumbled, that essentially settled the matter. She was the boss, after all, but more importantly, her team trusted her to figure out what they needed to do. That was her real talent, after all: getting ponies to believe in her, or whatever role she decided to play.

Before she knew it, her crew had set up the cameras and she was recording the intro for the documentary, not even aware of the words she was saying as they all-but-fell out of her mouth. But that was pretty much how they'd always done it: they trussed her up a little, and she rambled away with whatever came to mind, and later Ace Shot or the pegasus, Clip Stream, would edit it until it sounded like she knew what she was actually talking about.

As always, pretty much the moment she was done, the whole crew gathered around the little camera to review the footage. It was still weird for Golden Glow to see herself: a smiling, sun-colored earth pony with a two-tone mane, streaks of neon glowing in her otherwise dark locks, almost as bright as her tiger-green eyes. She had that silly explorer's cap on as always, and the red neck scarf she always wore, and nothing else: like most ponies, she preferred to wear nothing but her own natural coat, and the equipment she had to carry on mission. Their bodies were naturally tough and durable, after all, and ponies had never really been shy: they only covered up their bits and bobs for fancy occasions, and even then it wasn't all that uncommon to see a pony wearing all kinds of jewelry or accessories that covered up everything except for their bodies.

“Hey everyone!” Camera-her greeted, giddy and juvenile and happy, not at all the tired, antsy mare who was watching her doppelganger perform. “We're here today off the coast of Equestria, at what the locals call the Sleeping Giant Isles! Sleeping Giant Isles were once thought to be a single island that mysteriously sank for unknown reasons, mysteriously vanishing into the sea; all that are left of what might have once been a far more massive island structure are dozens of smaller islands and a dangerous maze of rock reefs and shallow barriers hidden in the shallows.”

“We'll have to edit out all that repetition.” muttered Ace Shot.

“Shut up.” Golden Glow grumbled.

“Normally, the Sleeping Giant Isles are off-limits. But we're here today as part of the research expedition to do the initial site survey and get a sense of what we can do to preserve this temple.” continued camera-her. “This temple, located on the Sleeping Giant Isles, was only discovered recently during an aerial survey of the Sleeping Giant Isles-”

“Repetition.”

“Shut up.”

“-done by the Geological Survey Division of the Royal Equestrian Air Service. REAS has asked us to come and complete the land survey and assess the temple, which has perhaps remained untouched since before the island sank and became the Sleeping Giant Isles. I, for one, look eagerly forwards to uncovering whatever secrets await us inside.”

“Like dusty relics and knickknacks and useless, mildew-eaten papyrus.” muttered Golden Glow, and camera-her grunted almost in agreement as the mare on film visibly fell out of character a moment before the clip ended. “Still. At least it's more than we usually get.”

“That's the way to think.” encouraged Razzmatazz, and then the unicorn quickly gestured at her, asking: “Do you want to do an initial sweep before we move the crew in?”

“Uh... yeah, let's check in with the ground team here, get that out of the way, maybe record our initial meeting or whatever, then I'll slip inside, check the place over and see how the stability and layout looks, and you guys can sweep in after. Hopefully that'll save you some trouble.” Golden Glow agreed after a moment with a nod.

The rest of her team grumbled a little amongst themselves as Razzmatazz gave his big smile and half-pushed her forwards, encouraging her to lead the way. It was their usual drill by now, she supposed: Razz talked her into being responsible, the others grumbled and argued, Razz shooed her off to do her thing, and by the time she got back he'd sorted out the rest of the team.

She'd really be lost without him, she supposed. Or at least a lot more stressed, yelling at her crew a lot more, because she still had a childish fascination with being an explorer, but did she ever hate the things she had to do to keep that dream alive.

She was good at this, though. Annoyingly good at it, which made her question sometimes if she was less the adventurer her grandmother had been and more of a performer than anything else. A fraud, just playing her way into these parts, emphasizing and exaggerating her achievements, always taking credit for all the hard work other ponies did...

She sighed as she finally found herself at the entrance to the ruins after an hour of paperwork and negotiation. They had already done the general inspection and taken some echo scans: the structure was mostly intact, and there were still a few vague magical emanations coming from within the temple system, although they were probably from ancient magic batteries rather than any valuable artifacts or trinkets.

Still, she wouldn't know for sure until she completed the inspection. For all she knew, this could finally hold the... the lost chalice of the thousand horse crusades, or the... the legendary ring of seven winters, or-

“Or maybe a lost pirate treasure and I'll never have to work again and I can just spend the rest of my life swimming around in a vault of gold coins to show everyone how successful an adventurer I was.” grumbled Golden Glow, and she rubbed at her eyes convulsively as she lamented: “Even if every single successful adventurer I know of died either destitute or out on some wild goose chase...”

The earth pony shook her head as she walked into the structure, glancing uneasily back and forth: as trustworthy as the drones and scans were, they still only captured obvious flaws and paths. That was why what she was doing was still considered a 'first look.'

“Okay. Well... Aeiro, care to help?” Golden Glow asked as she raised her foreleg in front of herself and looked down at the syncpad strapped to her forelimb.

The little personal computer gleamed for a moment before it projected a bright light that rapidly coalesced and formed into a luminescent seahorse that flitted carelessly through the air around her head. Golden Glow smiled a little as she looked up at it: Aeiro – or more properly, AEIRO, the Artificial Equine Intelligence Resource Officer – was her assistant of sorts, a magically-enhanced and technologically-advanced 'living program' that helped her gather information and kept her in contact with the rest of the team.

Aeiro floated down beside her head, the radiant seahorse asking in a chime: “What can I do for you, Golden Glow?”

Golden Glow smiled a little as she headed into the temple: sunlight shone through broken windows and cracks in the ceiling, illuminating the open hall that stretched out before her, but she knew as she descended into the temple that wouldn't last forever. “Set a waypoint here for me so I can find my way back, then give me a destination. I know this is just a first look, Aeiro, but I'd like to actually look at something, not just confirm what the drones already know.”

“You got it!” replied the cheery voice of the seahorse, before it flitted forwards: only so far, of course. Even with the magic that enhanced this impressive piece of technology, Aeiro was only able to travel so far away from his anchor point, which was the syncpad on her foreleg.

But thirty feet was more than enough free reign for Aeiro to detect what was ahead through her sensors and previously gathered information. “I've marked an area of interest on your syncmap! The path ahead should be pretty straightforward, the temple looks like it was repaired recently!”

“Repaired recently? Workcrews haven't been in here yet, have they? I mean, I thought I was getting the first look and all.” Golden Glow furrowed her brow and rubbed moodily at her cheek as she walked forward, not wanting to admit how much that bothered her.

“No, these repairs were made using more primitive techniques. I can't date when the repairs were made; perhaps local worshipers made them on their last voyage here?” suggested Aeiro, positive as ever. But of course Golden Glow had the optimism level on her little companion cranked all the way to eleven: she needed something to counterbalance her, after all.

“We haven't made contact with any local tribes or villages... but I guess it's possible that traditional seafarers might still stop here from time to time.” muttered Golden Glow, even though she had her personal doubts. She was wondering more now if maybe the local guides who had shown them the way up here in the first place had maybe gone ahead and tried to fix up the temple for whatever reason... that could slow down some of our restoration efforts. Assuming there's enough here to restore...

Golden Glow slipped through a stone archway, heading down a dark hall into another large room that was lit through the cracks in the ceiling above. She looked critically back and forth: the dust had definitely been disturbed over the ground here, and she doubted the flying drones had done that. “It looks like they dragged something through here, too. Can you analyze that trail?”

“Absolutely!” chimed Aeiro, and the seahorse flitted down to it, then said after a moment with the faintest hint of confusion: “Well, analysis indicates this path may have been left by a serpent. Perhaps a Fey Swamp anaconda or a greater Gnork's boa.”

“Uh... do you want to repeat that, Aeiro? Because we're in completely the wrong climate for those two snakes.” Golden Glow said after a moment, looking quizzically over at the AI.

“Sorry, Goldie! Those are the only two snakes on record that coincide with this size and pattern!” apologized the digital seahorse as it flitted down with Golden Glow, mimicking her as the earth pony knelt to examine the trail. “I'll resync my database, but it's possible this is either a new species, or a non-native species that ended up here gosh knows how!”

“Gosh knows.” Golden Glow repeated dryly as she rubbed her fingers across the trail through the dust, and Aeiro giggled as she flitted up into the air before the earth pony straightened with a grimace. “Okay, well... thermal scans, then-”

“Snakes are cold-blooded!”

“Not that cold-blooded!” grumped Golden Glow. “Fine, then, run, uh... electrical activity scans, there, you happy?”

“I'm only happy when you are, Goldie!” Aeiro replied brightly.

“Sure doesn't sound like it.” Golden Glow grumbled, but the bantering helped settle her nerves. The last thing she wanted to run into was a giant snake, after all...

Her eyes lingered along the trail for a moment before she checked the syncpad on her wrist and the data estimates. She had time to figure this puzzle out later: for now, she was here to see if this place was worth all the trouble they had invested into it.

Still, it unnerved her a little that they ended up heading in the same direction as the trail left by the snake: she reasoned with herself that maybe it had ended up spotting one of the drones and followed after it, thinking it was food, but...

Her uneasy thoughts were cut off as she entered a gallery, her eyes widening slightly as she looked back and forth at an incredible lack of decay. The furniture looked moldy and there was fairly thick dust in a few places and it seemed like some of the tapestries had been removed, but a few were still covered and whole, protected by weakly-flickering gemstones channeling some kind of stasis magic over them to protect them from time and weather.

It was an incredible find. Golden Glow grinned from ear-to-ear as she looked back and forth as Aeiro noted: “The drones failed to report these magical emanations or artifacts earlier. Some form of tampering may have occurred.”

“Well, that's why they always have me check the place, in case of drone failure. It's not the first time we've had problems because of water dripping on them or air pressure or, you know, whatever...” answered Golden Glow, but her eyes were locked on a nearby tapestry, approaching it to stare with awe at the level of detail in the worked thread. It depicted some kind of half-serpent, half-pony... naga? Lamia? Some other form of chimera? “Look at this place, Aeiro, this is... I gotta take some pictures, send them back to base. This is fantastic!”

Golden Glow almost tossed off her backpack to dig quickly through it, not hearing the sound of something shifting above as Aeiro flitted around, the living program picking up the faintest hint of disturbance with its sensors. “Uh, Goldie? Are you sure this is a good idea?”

“This is an amazing discovery, Aeiro, we need to document it and get the crew in here.” Golden Glow dismissed as she pulled out several datapads. She absently tossed a stack of these aside on a stone table that sat behind her before she held up another in front of herself, muttering: “How do I do this again...”

She fiddled with the recording settings on the tablet computer as Aeiro flitted anxiously back and forth, neither noticing as a large shape slipped down from above and a slender arm stretched down to carefully steal one of the datapads, curious eyes watching the mare as the serpentine shape retreated back above. Aeiro's sensors detected it a moment too late, the seahorse spinning around before it blurted: “A datapad is missing!”

“Yeah, probably still in my bag, Aeiro, it's not important right now.” Golden Glow muttered as she swiveled at the waist to scan the entirety of the hall into image memory on the pad, making sure she caught everything that was important: the decaying but half-maintained furnishings, the weak crystals protecting the artifacts, the elaborate setup of softly-glowing candles that provided light through the gallery and the-

Golden Glow's eyes widened as she halted, her breath catching in her throat as she stared at a nearby pattern of candles: most of them were lit, and from the candlewax that dripped down their stalks and that pooled in the bronze catchers beneath them, she knew they weren't magical.

Someone had lit all of these candles. And recently, too, because the drone sensors would have absolutely detected all these little heat readings otherwise.

The mare swallowed a bit as she looked back and forth, then she flinched as she heard something above: the creak of wood, the shift of sinew and scale. She looked sharply up, just in time to catch a shape move quickly through the shadows of the rafters, and Aeiro buzzed an alarm before the living program blurted: “Sending out a distress signal, oh no!”

“Not yet!” hissed Golden Glow: okay, rationally, all they knew was that someone was lighting candles and maybe doing some repair work around the temple. Sure, it sounded like something big had just moved up there, but old creaky timbers could make even a mouse sound big...

Or a snake.

“Uh... hello there?” Golden Glow tried, knowing it would probably be useless. And of course it didn't get any response, Golden Glow giving a creaky grin as she nervously took in her surroundings, moving into the center of the gallery and hopefully away from where anything could jump out at her.

“Aeiro.” muttered the mare, and the sentient AI flitted down to her in a gesture of listening, even though whether she was here or thirty feet away, she would hear her all the same. “I want you to go take a look at what that thing is.”

“I don't wanna get eaten!” Aeiro squeaked shrilly, and Golden Glow gave the seahorse a flat look, making it wiggle indecisively before it groaned: “Okay, I'll do it!”

Aeiro nervously flitted upwards: she couldn't precisely be 'hurt' by physical things, but because she was a living program with 'organic' emotions, the shock of being attacked could cause her to overload. Golden Glow bit her lip as she watched her companion uneasily slip up into the rafters above: she knew she wasn't supposed to worry about the living program, that it could always be reset or she could ask Explorers United to send her a new unit, but... a friend was a friend.

Aeiro flitted anxiously towards the ceiling until she reached the extreme of her tether: any further than this, and she would start to suffer signal loss and memory faults.

She couldn't recognize the shape: it was no snake, however, that was for sure. It shifted in the shadows, clutching a datapad, a faint hissing emanating from the creature as it seemed to blossom and burgeon in the darkness, a terror, a monster-

Aeiro yelped, suddenly glowing brightly and directing that light on the shape, and the creature squawked in surprise before it tumbled backwards, a heap of coils toppling out of the rafters and barely catching itself with the end of its long body tail. Golden Glow gaped at the sight of the creature as it swung helplessly upside down for a moment before there was a loud crack from above, and the rafter that it had been anchored to nearly snapped in half, dropping the serpent-creature on its face with a thud.

Golden Glow stared at the mess of brown coils in front of her, then flinched as it stirred with a jangle of the golden bangles that decorated its soft tail and limbs. The orange-tufted tail of the strange creature flicked as it pulled itself out from beneath its body, straightening and blinking a few times as it stared across at the mare, who stared back, amazed, at the creature... the being that was only a dozen or so feet away from her.

Was it a lamia? Or a hippocampus? It was an incredible mix of snake tail merging into leonine body, with feathered wings stretching out of the furry back, and a gorgeous glam-rock mane that puffed out of its head and fell around its shoulders. It wore freshly-washed clothes, white and clean even in all this dust, kept secured to its body by straps of what could be cured hide or brown leather; a kilt or half-toga around its waist, and what was almost a short-sleeved belly shirt around its torso, with the jeweled collar hanging from its shoulders adding a finishing touch.

Blue eyes made all the more bright by the now slightly-smudged black makeup around its eyes looked at her with... was it actually afraid of her? Sure, it didn't look like a hulking murderer but she was pretty sure that a whatever-it-was could take an earth pony like her in a fight pretty easily. But hey, if it didn't want to fight...

Golden Glow realized it was clutching her missing datapad in one hand, and she looked at this for a moment before she looked up and asked: “Can you read?”

The feline serpent shifted nervously away, but Golden Glow quickly smiled and stepped backwards as she raised her own hands in supplication, trying to show that she meant no harm, not wanting to scare away this... this find of a century as Aeiro flitted anxiously down and asked: “Should I call for backup?”

“No, not yet, uh... keep a hoof on that.” Golden Glow muttered, before she bit her lip and asked: “What's your name?”

The creature stared at her, shifting on its coils, looking anxiously around the room as it hugged the little datapad against its chest, and Golden Glow chewed on the inside of her cheek before an idea snapped to mind: she quickly picked up the tablet she'd dropped in the confusion and flicked it from picture mode to input, tapping a greeting on the screen as she muttered: “Aeiro, sync with this tablet, I need your help.”

She held up the tablet screen towards the creature, which flinched a bit, clearly not recognizing the 'HELLO' that Golden Glow had written on screen. It started to nervously move away, and Golden Glow grimaced as she ordered: “Translate this to different language, start with common dialects in this area, change every ten seconds.”

Aeiro chirped her affirmative, and the screen flickered, the creature staring in surprise as the word changed. It hesitated, watching as the word changed, and changed again, and then its eyes filled with recognition at the next flicker-

“What language is that?” asked Golden Glow urgently, before she stared in surprise as the creature looked down at the datapad glowing in its hands. It fumbled at it for a few moments, and then it awkwardly held the datapad up, displaying the screen and a single word back:

hello

“Wow.” Golden Glow breathed, and then she looked quickly over at Aeiro before saying quickly: “Tell her we don't mean any harm!”

Aeiro clicked, and the datapad Golden Glow was holding up created a new message as the living program chirped out the language at the same time, which Golden Glow recognized now as a primitive form of Ionic dialect, and she couldn't help but mumble along: “Hello, we don't mean any harm, we want to be friends...”

“Don't mean any harm, want to be... friends.” parroted the creature, and Golden Glow stared in amazement at the creature across from as she gave a flabbergasted laugh.

“Holy hell.” she mumbled.

“Holy hell?” questioned the leonine serpent, in its soft, pretty voice.

Golden Glow laughed again as Aeiro blurted an apology, and then the earth pony rubbed wildly at her face for a moment before she asked quickly: “What's its name? Ask her name, uh...” Golden Glow thought frantically for a moment, then blurted out what she hoped was the right question in stumbling Ionic.

The serpent stared at her, then looked a little miffed for a moment before it answered her, and the earth pony had enough time to wonder if she'd said something offensive before Aeiro translated awkwardly: “Goldie, um, he says his name is Terry.”

“Oh.” Golden Glow gave a lame smile to the effeminate creature, before she cleared her throat and said awkwardly, deciding to let Aeiro do the translating for her: “My name is Golden Glow. It's nice to meet you, uh... Terry.” Terry. I'm guessing Aeiro translated the name, too, so I hope he understands... he? He's prettier than I am!

She laughed despite herself as Terry studied her curiously, and then he hesitantly smiled, and Golden Glow gave a warm smile back as she leaned forwards in excitement.

This was the find of the century, her generation's sphinx. This was better than any dusty old temple or set of artifacts, this was a living myth that she was opening communications with. She was the first person to talk to this 'Terry' in years, decades, maybe centuries!

Finally, she could live up to the name of Daring Do, and prove that Boldly Goes was going to be so much more than just your kid's PonyTube show.

Discovery of a Lifetime

Terry was incredible.

Golden Glow meant that largely from an archaeologist's point of view, because he was the key to unlocking a million secrets about the previous civilizations that had existed here – perhaps even before Equestria! – but she also meant that he himself was, well, amazing, for lack of a better word. He went from having difficulty communicating with them to being roughly fluent in their language in less than a day.

He devoured knowledge: he went through all her datapads in a few hours while she and her camera crew had been bickering about what the hell they should do, who they should tell, where they should set up and how they were going to present this. Golden Glow had already staked her claim on this and called in some big favors from the Explorer's Guild to give her command over the little base camp here. She had made some big promises that they probably thought she wasn't going to deliver on, but oh, was she ever going to prove them wrong, once and for all...

She rubbed her hands together as she giggled to herself, and Terry looked up uneasily at her from across the little table, which reminded her she probably seemed like a nutcase to him. So she quickly cleared her throat and smiled awkwardly, saying lamely: “Just uh... thinking about how... happy everyone is going to be to see you!”

Terry didn't look entirely convinced, but Golden Glow quickly distracted him by asking: “So how are you feeling about all of this? It's been a long time since you saw any people and uh...”

Golden Glow gestured awkwardly a few times, and Terry smiled a little as he glanced down at the pad in front of him: the clever creature had discovered that he could use it to roughly translate whatever it picked up with its microphone into Ionic, so even when people used words he didn't know yet, he could see what they meant, or check the database for various definitions.

It confused her a little how he could be so good with technology that he'd never seen before, and yet when he talked, he was bashful, shy... almost as socially awkward as her when she wasn't pretending to be Boldly Goes. “It's... it's pretty neat. You're not at all like what I expected... not that that's a bad thing or anything, it's just... I thought if anything, my...”

He bit his lip, then searched for a word on the tablet before he said after a moment: “My Patron would be back. But I guess it's been too long for that, hasn't it?”

“Are you aware of how long you've been in that temple?” Golden Glow asked: she had a thousand other questions, but that was the first one that popped out of her mouth, maybe out of surprise, maybe out of sympathy: she knew all too well what it was like to wait for someone for Celestia knew how long, someone who never came back...

Although it sounded like Terry had been waiting a lot longer than her, as he responded uncertainly: “Years? Many years? I slept a lot.”

“That's some sleep.” Golden Glow remarked before she could stop herself, but Terry smiled at her and nodded with a bit of a blush.

“It's not quite the right word but I don't know what is.” he said, and then he cleared his throat before he put down the datapad and added: “It might just be easier to show you...”

He crossed his arms on the table and settled himself, taking a slow, easy breath, and Golden Glow watched with as much interest as she could feign, thinking moodily: I wish I could just hibernate for... wait, what's he doing?

Her eyes narrowed and her interest sharpened as she felt the thrum of magic across the leonine creature's body before he stiffened, his form undergoing a visible hardening as it lost its color. After a few seconds she was left staring at what looked like a statue, the mare pushing herself out of her seat with amazement to slide around the table and hesitantly reach out a finger to gently poke one smooth stone cheek.

He didn't stir, and the stone felt lukewarm, like it had already lost some of its temperature. Golden Glow tapped on the creature's face a few times, then whistled quietly as she muttered: “Amazing. Now there's a trick I'd love to learn.”

She leaned down, studying him closer before blinking as color slowly returned to the creature's face and body, and then one of his eyes opened, staring up at her curiously. Golden Glow stared back at him, then grinned lamely as she hurriedly stepped back, clearing her throat and rubbing at her cheek as Terry slowly straightened, as if he was still stiff.

He asked her something in Ionic, and she looked at him blankly before Aeiro came wisping out of her arm computer and translated cheerfully: “He wants to know if you were touching him!”

“Oh, just uh, making sure you were okay!” Golden Glow laughed awkwardly, rubbing the back of her head and giving a cheesy grin to the creature before she asked hesitantly: “Uh... are you okay?'

Terry blinked, then smiled a little after a moment, rubbing at his faded face as he admitted: “I was always warned not to apolitho for any shorter than a week. I just feel very tired.”

“Dumbass.” Golden Glow said before she could stop herself, and Terry frowned in confusion before the mare corrected awkwardly, as Aeiro glared pointedly at her: “I mean, you... silly. Don't hurt yourself for me, huh? I want you in one piece when we bring you out of here.”

“Out of here?” Terry asked with honest confusion, and then he shook his head and said quickly: “No, no, I can't leave here! This is my home, and my life; my patron called it my 'sacred duty' to protect this temple and all of the history and artifacts within!”

Something about the way Terry said that caught Golden Glow's attention: for his 'sacred duty' he certainly didn't sound all that devoted to the cause. Less like a zealot, more like... “So your job's important to you, huh?”

Terry nodded and smiled awkwardly, but he didn't correct her, didn't immediately try and tell her how it was more than a job. She smiled back after a moment, then sat back at the table, leaning on her arms as she said carefully: “Well, if it's your job to protect and preserve all of this, you should let me help. I told you that I'm an explorer and an archaeologist, but do you know what that means?”

“You're a custodian of history.” Terry said, and Golden Glow gave him a flat look before she could stop herself, which made him blush. “Did I say something wrong?”

“Uh... well, no, I guess not.” Golden Glow admitted when Aeiro pointedly flitted in the corner of her vision. “Just uh... well, I'm more like an explorer and stuff. Adventurer. But part of what I do is find important old historical things and... help make sure they're properly preserved.”

It was clear Terry understood what she was implying, but all the same he bit his lip, looking hesitant to respond. Golden Glow took that as an opportunity, however, putting on a smile and leaning towards him over the table as she plied: “Look, if the point of you being here is to protect your history, then doesn't it make sense for you to help us truly memorialize it and share it with the rest of the world?”

“I... I don't know...” Terry shifted apprehensively, biting his lip. “I'm not sure that's really what they would have wanted...”

“Well, why not?” asked Golden Glow, tilting her head towards him, trying to take the firm but curious route. “I mean, this stuff isn't hidden away... and I'm not saying that all of it has to go on display. We want to preserve it, first and foremost, and whatever you're comfortable with, we'd make copies of to put in museums or publish articles about, but everything else we'd move to a secure place, where it can be looked safely after.”

“But... it's safe here.” Terry argued, although she could hear in his voice that he didn't entirely believe that himself, and she seized on that.

“Is it?” she queried, and when he made a face at her, she smiled and held up her hands in supplication. “Hey, I know you're not stupid, Terry. You've done an amazing job keeping up this place after all these years, but a lot of that is because you were being left alone. Now people have found this place and are curious about it: I can't make you accept my help, but there are less scrupulous ponies out there who aren't going to ask before they come in here or start taking things apart.”

Terry grimaced uneasily at this, and Golden Glow continued: “I'm sure you also know that those crystal batteries you've been using are going to short out soon. If nothing else, you're going to need help protecting all those wall scrolls and art pieces, or all your efforts to preserve them are just going to be...”

Golden Glow blew a raspberry, and Terry stared at her for a few moments before he awkwardly put his tongue between his lips and blew, producing a reedy little hiss. Golden Glow cleared her throat and lamely looked away, covering her mouth to hide a grin, while Aeiro giggled loudly.

Terry looked embarrassed for a moment, and then he sighed a little as he became more serious again, saying carefully: “I... I know that this isn't going to last forever, and I can only protect this place for so long. But it's my mission. It's my...”

Terry picked up the datapad to search for a word, before he glanced up as Aeiro asked curiously: “Your mission?”

“Mission.” Terry said slowly, seeming to taste the word as he looked up the definition of this, and then he smiled briefly as he glanced up at Aeiro: it still struck Golden Glow as funny how he was completely unfazed by her, but at the same time, she guessed that... well, she herself was probably so weird to him that the little seahorse AI might seem almost normal in comparison.

“Well, every mission has to end sometime, Terry, or it's not a mission anymore, it's a punishment!” chirped Aeiro, and Terry blinked at this. “You can't just be expected to keep staying all by yourself forever!”

“Well... I'm not by myself.” Terry said after a moment, and Golden Glow cocked her head curiously as she wondered for a moment if maybe some of the statues they had seen were also guardians.

But Terry instead held his hands up to the jewel in the collar of his tunic, and it glowed brightly for a moment before a flickering wisp emerged from the gemstone. It thrummed weakly, fluttering back and forth, only a vague and indistinct shape as Terry smiled and said: “This is my daemon, Oneiros. She's a little weak at the moment, but she just needs to eat.”

The mare blinked in surprise as Aeiro flitted forwards, rapidly scanning the ethereal form floating in the air before she blurted out: “Wow! Its composition is analogous to mine, although based on a different mimetic frequency!”

Aeiro zoomed around the ghostly form several times, and then the seahorse giggled as it flitted into the air, calling a greeting in Ionic. The daemon, or whatever it was, responded sluggishly after a moment, mumbling something back to Aeiro as the seahorse flitted in close, and Aeiro giggled brightly before saying something rapidly in return.

Terry smiled, but Golden Glow's grasp of the dialect wasn't strong enough for her to figure out what the hell they were talking about before Aeiro flitted back to her as Terry recalled the spirit into the gemstone. Or daemon, or whatever it was: how could such an ancient civilization have created such an advanced piece of magitech?

“That's really something.” Golden Glow said after a moment, and then she asked curiously: “Wait, you said she needs to eat?”

“Yes, I don't know a better word for it.” Terry replied with a shrug before he cocked his head with interest. “Doesn't yours?”

Aeiro giggled at this, flitting down and saying brightly: “I'm powered by dual coron engyn crystals and a safestone diode that can preserve my last backup state in the event of total power loss! My current battery life is estimated at ten weeks and my function remains at optimal levels!”

“Cut the specs, Aeiro, even I don't know what half those things mean.” Golden Glow grumbled, waving a hand at the seahorse, and the AI huffed as it flitted away from her before quickly returning to its usual point floating above her shoulder. “Sorry. Aeiro is actually a modular interface...” That's helpful, Goldie, break it down for him. “I mean, Aeiro is actually generated by this.”

Golden Glow held out her hand and tapped on her arm console, the touchscreen blinking cheerfully as Terry leaned forwards with interest. “She's what's called an 'AI,' an Artificial Intelligence. She's like a living illusion projected by my wearable, and using this, I can actually control everything from her appearance to her mood.”

Golden Glow tapped quickly on her arm computer, calling up a digital dial she twisted, and Aeiro giggled as she floated forwards while her form popped through a series of different shapes, from tiny dragon to faerie pony to weird floating paperclip and back. Golden Glow smiled despite herself as Terry watched with amazement, before the mare touched the 'attitude' button... then hesitated and instead pulled her finger away. “I can change her personality, the way she speaks, what she's supposed to do, everything. She's a very helpful assistant.”

“Thanks, Golden Glow! I was created to serve!” Aeiro said happily, floating idly through the air in the shape of a squirrel before she shook herself wildly and changed back to the shape of a seahorse, before she looked almost apologetically at the mare. “Sorry! I should have asked before resetting my defaults!”

“No, that's fine. That's how I like you, anyway.” Golden Glow answered with a smile, and then she glanced back at Terry when he gave her a curious look. “What?”

“Is she alive or is she a...” He visibly struggled to find the word, then gave up and said it in Ionic to Aeiro.

“Simulacrum.” translated the AI promptly, and when Golden Glow continued to look stumped, she giggled before explaining: “He wants to know if you consider me real or a construct!”

“I mean, you can't be both?” Golden Glow asked before she could stop herself, and Aeiro giggled again. “She's... my sidekick, I guess. Sure, she's a program, a machine, but... I dunno. She's better at dealing with me than most of these ponies are and I guess that has to count for something.”

“Thanks, Golden Glow!” Aeiro said brightly, and the mare shrugged lamely as Terry looked at her curiously.

“But she doesn't have a soul, does she?” Terry asked, and Golden Glow blinked at this. “Things that have no souls are only tools; that's what I was taught.”

“Well, maybe you were taught wrong.” Golden Glow said, a little defensively, and Terry blinked before the earth pony sighed as Aeiro cleared her throat loudly. “Sorry, I mean... things have uh, changed, since then. I mean, I'm sure there are people who think like that, but I think of Aeiro as a... friend.”

She fumbled out the last word, finding it awkward to say. She had never been very good at the whole 'friendship' thing, after all, and maybe it was kind of embarrassing she had an AI for a friend, but at the same time... “And... I dunno what a soul is anyway. Who says that she can't have one?”

Terry smiled a little at this, and he hesitated before looking awkwardly away and saying almost shyly: “That's how I've come to feel a lot about Oneiros. Daemons are supposed to just be artificial pets and tools, but... we've been together for so long and we've gone through so much that I really can't help but think of her as my friend.”

“Then I guess we've got something in common, huh?” Golden Glow smiled a little despite herself, and then she said: “Look, I don't know how things used to be, but these days we work pretty hard on uh... getting along with each other. My crew might not be the best example of that but if you were willing to give us a chance, I know we could introduce you to some good people and... show you a world you've never seen before.”

Terry shifted uncomfortably: he did look curious, though. Considering his appetite for knowledge, she imagined being invited out into what was essentially a brand new world must be incredibly tempting...

But he was dedicated, too, to his task. And maybe a little scared, she thought. Sure, this was all he'd ever known and he clearly wanted more, but this was also all he'd ever known. It was hard to leave that behind, and the poor guy probably still thought...

“Hey.” Golden Glow said softly, and Terry glanced up at her. “We're not going to tear your temple down. We're probably going to want to take some of these artifacts, and we'll want to itemize everything, too. But we can restore your temple for you. Open it up again, give it purpose again.”

“Give the temple... purpose?” Terry asked slowly, almost in confusion.

“Yeah! I mean, why do you think this all exists, Terry?” Golden Glow asked, gesturing at their surroundings. “People... your Patron and others, they must have come and gone from this place pretty frequently in the past, right?”

“Well... yes...”

“And I recognize at least some of those tapestries as prayer or service scrolls, and a lot of this ornamentation is either scholarly or devotional in origin.” continued Golden Glow, appealing to both his rationality and his sense of purpose. “This place was once busy, and I bet those were happier times, right?”

Terry shifted a little, chewing at his lip before he said finally: “But... I was told to protect this place... protect the knowledge, and keep it safe...”

“And you have, for all these years. But at what point does this go from something you're protecting to nothing but your prison?” asked Golden Glow, and Terry shifted as he looked down, clearly unsettled by this thought.

He swayed a little on the spot, and Golden Glow looked around before she said softly: “We don't have to change anything. The traditional aesthetic is great. But we can put up enclosures around these tapestries or cut new crystal batteries for you, and repair all the damaged floors and walls. Fix those rafters up,too, before the roof comes down.” She smiled at him. “And not because there's a big snake up there, either.”

Terry laughed a little, coiling his long body tail in shy reflex before he shook his head and murmured: “I never was much good at sneaking around. Maybe it was all the daemons floating around back then, or maybe it's because I'm very lazy for a... big snake.”

He smiled and rubbed a hand through his hair, and Golden Glow teased: “Well, you're half lion, too, but you seem more like a kitty cat to me. It uh... it's probably rude to ask this, but what are you, anyway?”

Aeiro hadn't found anything about his race in the database, and Golden Glow figured it was probably better to swing away from trying to nudge him out the door, at least for a little while. Terry looked oddly happy to be asked, though, brightening and smiling at her before he answered: “It's funny, actually: they never really had a name for what I was. They always called me helper or assistant, words like that... sometimes I was 'the serpent,' sometimes...” His eyes shifted away, his smile fading a little. “Well, I had a few nicknames.”

“I'm sure you did.” Golden Glow said in a softer voice, and she let the silence spiral out for a moment before she asked: “So you've always served the uh, patrons?”

“Yes.” Terry nodded, and his mood returned as his pride visibly swelled. He was clearly loyal and dedicated beyond just this being a job, although she hadn't seen that reaction from him when he'd been talking about this as his mission. “As far back as I can remember, I've been here. I've always been here, I've always had Oneiros, I've always had and known my duties. And I always did my best to live up to what they expected of me. Even when it was very hard.”

He quieted, and the mare leaned forwards, feeling like this was the best moment to press gently: “So don't you think that after everything you've done, you deserve a little time off, if nothing else?”

Terry hesitated, and Golden Glow reached a hand out, saying firmly: “Gimme your hand.”

“Uh...” Terry stared at her blankly for a moment, and then he awkwardly reached out and took her hand before yelping when she pulled it forward, nearly dragging him onto the table. “H-Hey!”

She only squeezed firmly on his fingers, and he winced before she asked bluntly: “How long has it been since you've touched another living person?”

“W-What?” Terry blurted, staring at her for a moment before he looked down at their joined hands, and he bit his lip as he realized he wasn't actually gripping back into her fingers; his hand was just there, caught in hers, afraid to squeeze, afraid...

He hesitantly wrapped his fingers around hers, slender digits careful, gentle, as the mare smiled at their interlocked hands before she looked up and said gently: “Equestria's kind of touchy-feely. I'm not as big on it myself, but sometimes it is a good way to show someone... you know, you can connect. You don't have to be alone.”

She squeezed his hand lightly, repeating: “You don't have to be alone. You don't have to stay here, Terry. You've gone above and beyond what anyone could have ever expected of you. These are some of the oldest and best preserved artifacts I've ever seen, and that's just in the antechambers of this place. Now let us help you, okay? Both help you see the world and everything you've missed, and help you fix this place up.”

She gave his hand a squeeze, smiling, feeling a little bad: this was a little manipulative, after all. This wasn't the first time she'd given a speech like this to an anxious native or resident of whatever temple they were trying to explore, and she'd learned that contact, any kind of contact at all with someone, gave her a lot more sway.

Especially when it was someone like Terry, who hadn't experienced touch in who knew how long. He looked at their hands with fascination as his fingers compulsively loosened and gripped, but never too tight, like she was a bird, fragile, going to break beneath his fingers if he dared to squeeze too hard.

“You aren't a very good snake.” she blurted out, and Terry blinked and looked up at her dumbly, and Golden Glow grinned awkwardly: all that schmoozing out the window because she couldn't keep her stupid mouth shut. “Well, uh, you know. Snakes... squeeze.”

She lamely squeezed his hand, as if to make her point, and Terry blushed before Golden Glow's grin toned down to an a lame smile as she said: “But that's okay. I was never great at being all the things I was supposed to be, either.”

Terry nodded a bit, looking at her curiously, but he didn't press the subject as he sat back, licking his lips before he asked, hesitant but direct: “Why do you want me out of here so badly?”

Golden Glow looked across at him for a moment, weighing her options: she could be honest, or she could lie, or she could hit him with a little of both. And it was always easier to turn on Boldly Goes, the heroine, the adventurer, the sympathetic shoulder...

She chewed at the inside of her cheek, then said finally: “This is the find of a century. You and this temple... it's something I've been looking for, for my entire life. I can't even believe you're real, still, that... that this is real.”

She gestured around at their dim-lit surroundings, continuing: “So yeah. I have some selfish motives, if that's what you're worried about. But I don't want to hurt you or damage this place. That would absolutely be counterproductive to my personal interests.”

“Why?” Terry asked, tilting his head curiously.

Golden Glow smiled wryly. “What'd you call me before? A custodian of history, right? Because that's what I am. I find old stuff and I take care of it. Fix it up, clean it up, all that jazz. You're a little different from what I usually work with, but hey, I'm willing to try and put some polish on you, too.”

Terry looked at her blankly for a moment, and Aeiro helpfully translated her words for her. After a moment, the leonine creature smiled a little, and then he shook his head and looked down before he murmured: “I was never allowed outside the temple.”

Golden Glow frowned for a moment before realization spread over her face, and she softened in spite of herself as she nodded and said quietly: “Hey. I'll be there with you the whole time, okay? We can take things at your pace.”

Terry hesitated, then he nodded a little before he said quickly: “But I don't want anyone... coming into the temple yet. Not any further than they already have, at least. And I want to help, and-”

“I promise.” Golden Glow interrupted gently, knowing if she didn't, he'd probably ramble forever. He seemed like a bit of a worrier, after all. “I don't wanna push you too much, since I've already been heckling you plenty, but do you think you could come out to the front steps with me?”

Terry bit his lip nervously, looking uncomfortable as he shifted a little, and Golden Glow goaded: “If you come outside the doors with me, I can introduce you to my crew and tell them that we don't move without your approval. It would speed things up a lot and they'd know you're the one in charge here.”

“Me?” Terry said dubiously, pointing at himself, and then he winced when Golden Glow nodded and reached out to firmly poke his nose.

“You.” she stated firmly, as Terry crossed his eyes to stare at her finger. “Hey, what better way to make sure everything stays safe, right? That way you can veto anything that you don't like and we can move at your pace.”

“I've never really been in charge of anything, though...” Terry shifted uneasily, pulling away from her finger carefully as he wiggled his nose. “I've always just-”

“Well, you're not 'in charge' in charge here, either.” rationalized Golden Glow. “You'll just be telling people whether something's okay or not, and I'll tell them what to do from there. How does that sound?”

Terry nodded hesitantly, and Golden Glow nodded firmly back before she stood and gestured at him quickly. “Well, let's go.”

“Let's go?” Terry stared at her, alarmed.

“Yes, let's go. That's the other part of the deal, remember? You get to tell my workcrews what to do, but now you have to come out to the front steps with me. I can't just tell them to listen to the snake hiding in the rafters, they'll think I'm crazy.” Golden Glow said with a shrug.

“But... I don't remember agreeing to that!” Terry shook his head quickly, but Golden Glow grinned wryly: now here was something she recognized plenty from her own team. He wasn't really arguing with her; he was just stalling.

“Well, you can sit here and try to argue with me or we can go get this done, and then we'll give you a few hours to rest up before we start tallying things.” Golden Glow answered, and Terry scowled a little for a moment, but then sighed and dropped his head as he slithered his way up to stand.

The two looked at each other, and Golden Glow smiled as she walked over and put a companionable arm around his shoulders, making him blush a bit as she said: “It'll be fine. Come on.”

She almost hauled him forwards, his serpentine body-tail wriggling hurriedly to fall into pace with her as he shifted nervously: he pulled a little away from her grip, but allowed her hand to rest on his shoulder, even though he still seemed like he was fighting with himself over whether he wanted to be in contact or not. “I can't help but feel like you're just trying to...”

He searched briefly for a word, and Aeiro helpfully flitted over to him and supplied him with several and their approximate translations, the serpent smiling briefly up at her before he continued: “Evict me, yes. This is all happening so fast...”

“That's how things work these days. Everything happens fast.” Golden Glow answered, before she squeezed his shoulder gently and reassured: “It'll be easier if you do it before you can worry about it too much.”

Terry sighed, but he nodded after a moment before he mumbled: “Alright, but... I don't really want to give a speech or anything.”

“You don't even have to say anything. Just smile and wave, like you're the princess or something.” Golden Glow answered, and Terry nodded hesitantly.

“Princesses... they rule your Equestria, right?” Terry asked as they headed through the corridor to the front room of the temple, and Golden Glow nodded.

“They do, and all things considered they might even want to meet you.” Golden Glow couldn't help but rub her hands together in thought at the opportunity. “That would be fantastic, wouldn't it?”

“But why would they want to meet with me? I'm just a caretaker.” Terry said, honestly confused.

Golden Glow was tempted to smack him, but realized she had already probably been getting a bit too casual with the serpentine creature, so instead she only gave him a look before she pushed open the front doors of the place. And immediately, Terry winced and hurriedly slipped behind her as several cameras flashed, Golden Glow squawking and waving her arms before she held up her hands and quickly snapped: “Hey, hey, knock it off! We've been in the dark for the last few hours, you're gonna blind us both!”

She grimaced a bit, then blinked a few times as she saw it wasn't just her crew here, but what looked like several eager reporters, possibly sent by the Explorer's Guild. She forced a smile, then turned around as if to talk to Terry as she quickly rose her armpad in front of herself and hissed into the built-in communicator: “What the hell am I looking at, Razz?”

“Sorry, sorry! Someone leaked and your communicator was off and we've just been trying to keep them busy out here!” hurriedly apologized the stallion, and Terry blinked in surprise as he stared down at her arm computer with fascination. He awkwardly reached up to touch it, and Golden Glow carefully – but with what little tact she could afford – pushed away his fingers before he could accidentally hit any of the buttons. “Maybe you should-”

“Screw it, I'll wing it.” Golden Glow muttered, and then she looked at Terry and said: “Play along.”

“What are we playing?” Terry asked dumbly.

“I mean... look, just. Stay quiet and look pretty and don't freak out when they start yelling and taking pictures. The flashes won't hurt you, I promise. They're just curious.” Golden Glow answered a little waspishly, and Terry winced a bit, but then nodded as the mare mentally kicked herself. Don't be a bitch, Goldie. Okay. Come on. You got this.

She took a breath, then swept a hand over her face, pasting on her big Boldly Goes grin before she turned around as Terry hesitantly followed her, the mare declaring: “Hello everyone, you all caught me off-guard and we're not quite ready to let the public in yet, but I'd like to introduce you to Terry!”

She stepped aside, continuing to smile as she half-hauled Terry forwards: he winced and blushed deeply, staring almost fearfully over the ponies that immediately clamored at the base of the steps, but at least Apex was down there, the big, muscular workhorse keeping the crowd at bay for now.

Terry waved lamely, then flinched when a journalist tried to step forwards, shouting a question: he was caught, however, by the large, muscular arm of Apex, before the massive stallion easily lifted the reporter like a child and firmly set him back behind an invisible line. He crossed his arms with a snort, and the journalist quailed as the rest of the crowd hurriedly stepped backwards, at least giving them some room even as another shouted: “What is Terry?”

“Terry is... the temple's caretaker!” Golden Glow answered in her bright, Boldly Goes voice: a positive, cheerful, and I-absolutely-heard-your-question-right-but-this-is-the-answer-you're-getting voice. “He's agreed to help us with our operations here, repairing this temple and cataloging the myriad of discoveries and artifacts inside. Terry's never seen modern Equestrians before, however, so I ask that you all give him and us some privacy while we figure things out.”

“Hi.” Terry said awkwardly, raising a hand lamely.

The reporters flocked around the base of the steps, along with a few gawking workers, and Golden Glow forced a grin before she waved her arms and said: “That's enough for today! Well, excuse us, we have to go back inside now and get to work!”

With that, Golden Glow spun around and nearly shoved Terry back inside, closing the doors to the temple quickly behind her before she slumped and wheezed, dropping her head grouchily forwards. She mumbled under her breath as she rubbed slowly at her face, then sighed before looking up at Terry through her bangs. “This is great.”

“Is it?” Terry asked doubtfully, as if he didn't fully grasp sarcasm.

“Not really. You've got a lot to learn, huh?” Golden Glow paused, then reflected: “Guess you'll learn fast, though.”

“I suppose.” Terry said uncomfortably, and he floated awkwardly in front of her, shifting back and forth on his coils, swaying like... well, like a snake. But it was the furthest thing from predatory, more...

“Yes, Terry?” Golden Glow asked, a little exasperated, a little amused. For such a curious creature he was just so damn shy.

“Um...” Terry blushed a bit, then he nervously pinched the cloth of his toga, asking timidly: “So it's not just you?”

“Just... oh.” Golden Glow looked between his clothing and her lack thereof, and then she shrugged as she awkwardly half-covered one breast. “Well, uh... no one will look at you funny for wearing clothes. If anything, they'll probably comment on your style, most of us just uh, can't really be bothered to put on clothes in the morning when it's not a special occasion.”

Terry didn't look precisely soothed by this explanation as he looked down at himself, and Golden Glow smiled awkwardly as she rubbed at her head before she sighed and gestured at him, saying quickly: “Well, I'm glad we got to introduce you, at least. That wasn't so bad, was it?”

Terry shrugged, and when Golden Glow frowned, he shook his head and murmured: “No, it's not that it was. I was afraid, but... I did as I was told. That's what I've always done and that made it easier. But if I go out there all alone, who will tell me what to do next?”

“Terry...” Golden Glow softened a little, but then she sighed and stepped forwards, reaching up to muss up his hair, which made him flinch and glower a little even if he seemed oddly pleased by the gesture at the same time. “Look, I don't have time to get into a big philosophical discussion with you right now. I need to start cataloging and figure out what to do with you, and you need to go rest for a bit. I know this has been a stressful day for you.”

“I'd like to help, please. I'd... feel a lot better about things if you let me help.” Terry said, and Golden Glow studied him, seeing the look in his eye, the way his body maybe trembled the slightest bit... yes, she understood that. Work could be the same thing for her.

“Sure.” she said after a moment, and then she sighed again, walking past her odd new friend as he smiled and twisted around, slithering in her wake, eager to follow in her hoofsteps as she reflected that, well, it could probably be worse.

At least now someone was finally listening to her.

Well Read

Encouraging Terry to try leaving the temple had been very hard at first: Golden Glow had to keep nudging him about it, bothering him almost incessantly until he'd finally agreed to join her on a short trip to pick up some materials, likely only to get her to stop bothering him.

She had promised him they would be no more than fifteen minutes: a two minute walk to base camp either way, five minutes to buy materials,plenty of time to spare for when they inevitably got wrapped up in a conversation with someone.

Still, he had stalled and lingered and hesitated at the doorway, until Golden Glow had finally pushed him gently out and down the front steps to the soft, well-trod earth in front of the temple.

They had taken a minute in front of the temple so that Terry could just turn around and look at it for a little while, staring up at a sight he likely hadn't seen for centuries. He stared up at the dusty, weathered front of his temple for the longest time before he'd finally smiled faintly, murmuring: “I guess I wasn't taking very good care of it after all.”

“Shut up, Terry. You were doing just fine.” Golden Glow answered, maybe not as tactful as she could have been, but Terry smiled at her gentle tone and bowed his head in gratitude. He was quick to catch on, at least: he understood that how she said things mattered a lot more than what she said.

Of course he might also think at this point that was just the culture, since he hadn't really been exposed to much apart from her and Razz and whoever he ran into while he was helping them fix this or that up, and they were all kind of assholes a lot of the time.

Either way, though, he was adjusting, learning, and figuring out how the world had changed and how to deal with people. And the more she pushed him to actually explore the world, the more he seemed to realize that these ponies weren't going to hurt him, and there was a wealth of knowledge outside the temple, waiting to be discovered and learned.

The trip was short and easy: Terry had gotten a few stares, but by now the workers all knew to leave him alone if they ever saw him or Golden Glow would rain holy hell down on them. But more important than the trip going well was returning to the temple and finding that everything was still progressing smoothly, and that their fifteen minutes away hadn't resulted in the temple burning down or collapsing without Terry there to take care of it.

That was really what he needed, Golden Glow realized: it wasn't really that it was so hard to leave, especially for a few minutes where they never really lost sight of the temple, it was that Terry was terrified of failing in his mission, even if Terry was smart enough to know that mission was largely his own making now.

So that was what she concentrated on: getting Terry out, or away from work, to help him see and understand that the temple wasn't going to collapse without him, and that the workers weren't going to screw everything up, and her crew, while not the brightest, was very dedicated to ensuring that everything was properly marked and preserved according to the Explorer Guild's strict guidelines, which were probably even tighter than Terry's own.

Slowly, Terry's fears for the temple's safety and maintaining the sanctity of the artifacts within were being replaced by a desire to know more, by his thirst for knowledge: not adventure, per se, but Golden Glow could see how the allure of a new world was calling to him. He made a funny juxtaposition to her: she wanted to leap into the unknown, and he wanted to discover the known, to explore the plain and boring and already-discovered in their world... but she guessed to him, all of this was new and fascinating and a chance to see a future he had never imagined.

Plus there was the whole Patrons thing... they didn't sound precisely like they had been ponies. Equestria probably wouldn't have more than trace influences from whatever culture he had once been part of...

But he didn't seem very depressed by that. His feelings for his Patrons seemed very... complicated, Golden Glow reflected. He clearly respected them and wanted to uphold their tenets and laws, but at the same time, it seemed... not loveless, perhaps, but affection didn't seem like the first thing that came to mind when he thought about them.

So she did her best to avoid pressing that subject too much, partly because she didn't want to stir up any unnecessary drama, and partly because it wouldn't be productive to just upset him without a point. He wasn't dumb or blind, he just needed a push in the right direction now and then.

It wasn't really all that long before they got him onto a boat, sailing around the island with them, watching the passing landscape with fascination from the bow as Golden Glow took measurements of the cliffs and made Razz do calculations for her.

That took roughly half a day of them whizzing around on the water, but Terry stayed with them the entire time without any complaint. He almost seemed reluctant to return to the temple, as a matter of fact: he was starting to trust them enough to believe the temple would be okay in their hooves, at least for a little while, and there was just so much outside those walls to explore that he'd never even imagined existed...

So when Golden Glow received a communications from the Explorer's Guild asking her to make a formal report in person, she decided to ask Terry if he wanted to come along to what would essentially be show-and-tell for a bunch of eccentric rich ponies.

Terry was understandably very nervous at the thought of leaving his temple for at least a week, and didn't like the fact he was being asked to make a quick decision. He very clearly wanted her to make the choice for him, but as much as Golden Glow wanted to drag him out of the temple, she resisted her natural urge to take over: if he didn't make this decision himself, he was never going to understand that he was in control of his own life now, whatever it had been like before.

It took him until the very last minute, but he made the decision that Golden Glow had hoped to hear: he agreed to come with her for the week, as long as she promised that if anything serious happened at the temple, they would come right back. That was more than fine with Golden Glow: any excuse to wiggle out of doing reports or hobnobbing with rich crazy people was a good one to her.

It probably felt like they were headed off on a whirlwind of adventure to Terry, but for Golden Glow, this was a very boring, easy trip that she planned to spend the bulk of practicing speeches and grilling Terry for whatever information she could, since it wasn't like they'd had a lot of time to just sit down and talk thanks to all the work effort being put into restoring the temple.

But in spite of her curiosity and her desire to have something more to tell the Explorer's Guild about, she ended up just watching Terry for a lot of the trip, how he took in information but marveled over the simplest of experiences.

One of the few things she got out of him, however, was the formal name that the Patrons had called him: Memnonia. She found it sort of funny that Terry himself couldn't really tell her if this was his species or his actual name – and if it is his name how the hell does Memnonia shorten to Terry – but that also confirmed a few of the things she had been wondering about Terry's relationship to his former... well, owners, it was starting to sound more and more like, even if Terry himself was either oblivious to it, or just ignoring the implications of what he said.

He had basically been an indentured servant, if not an outright slave to these people. She couldn't help but wonder if maybe that was why he had never seen others of his kind: had they taken him from his birthplace, or did they just separate him from his parents at an early age, like ponies had used to do with dragons, so they could raise him as an assistant?

Well, not really an assistant, since it sounded like his main job had been maintenance of the library's effects and cleaning up after his masters. They had clearly taken how intelligent he was for granted: his ability to learn wasn't just supernatural, for example, it was goddamn eerie.

It was no wonder that he had so much trouble making choices for himself: his Patrons had determined everything for him from the very beginning of his life, a beginning that Terry couldn't even entirely explain himself. His earliest memories were of serving the Patrons: he had never lived a life where he hadn't been somehow under their control, doing what they told him to do.

He was self-conscious during their travels, but when the ponies didn't jeer at him, he seemed to settle into his own quiet space, continuing to marvel over the wonders of the outside world that he'd never seen before. That seemed to relate somehow to whatever he'd gone through with his former Patrons: he was used to keeping his head down and blocking out the rest of the world.

Then again, Golden Glow understood that: she was a C-list celebrity who had come from an A-list family, and as much as she wanted to be successful, she could do without the ponies gossiping loudly about her several feet away from her.

So they shared their quiet space, where they ignored everyone else, and it was just the two of them as Golden Glow tried to arrange her research notes, and Terry watched the world and studied every stupid little travel pamphlet and booklet that he could get his hands on.

“Did you know” became a frequent refrain during their travels, starting on the ferry to the coast and continuing on the long train ride that took them towards their destination. Some of it she knew, some of it she convinced herself she had probably known but just forgotten, and some of it was so esoteric that it made her wonder if Terry was actually just a computer like Aeiro.

But he was a little childlike, too: he had stared out at the sea, watching the foam spray against the ship for the longest time, and after they'd loaded into the train, he'd mashed his face into the window and just watched the world go by, stared in awe at the countless sights of Equestria that the rest of the travelers with them found pedestrian by now.

He reminded her that this was all amazing: from the natural beauty of their country to the towering cities, there was so much to see, so many wonders to marvel over. She was almost a little envious of the fact that he was getting to experience this as an outsider, as someone who had never imagined this kind of place had existed before, while for her it was something she had seen so many times before it was hard not to take it for granted even when she looked at it through Terry's eyes.

They were mostly left alone on their trip, although that was partly because Golden Glow was smart enough to have reserved a private cabin on the train, and Terry seemed to prefer avoiding people if it was at all possible. So naturally, he ended up wandering the train only late into the night, after most of the ponies had retired to their cabins or sleeper cars.

Thankfully, in spite of being made mostly out of snake and lion parts, Terry's shy nature overrode the instinctive terror such a creature would cause in most ponies. It was hard to be too scared of someone who poked his head into the room and visibly hesitated at the sight of you, or who nervously slithered past with his head down, carefully avoiding eye contact.

He acted like he was supposed to be a worker on the train, not like he was a fellow passenger. Golden Glow was pretty sure if any of the rich ponies had yelled for service, he would have immediately joined the rest of the wait staff on board in taking orders.

So Golden Glow took it upon herself to make up an excuse to walk with him any time she caught him leaving the cabin. She knew he was never going to ask her to accompany him, after all: he was so meek during their travels that he was barely able to ask her if she wanted anything while he was out. And that, of course, was only after she made it very clear to him that he could help himself to whatever he wanted in the food car and no one was going to bite his head off.

Weird choice of words for a pony to use with a lion-snake, probably.

It wasn't a terrible trip, though: maybe he did less exploring than she'd like and he'd expected to, but she kind of understood. Her first few trips out of Equestria, she hadn't really made the most of things either. You got nauseous from all the movement that your body wasn't used to, and nervousness and excitement exacerbated each other and all those unpleasant physical reactions. And of course she'd felt like a jackass, too: here she was, trying to take after fictional character, going out to explore the world and find wonders and fight bad guys and what had she found?

Not a monster. Not riches beyond compare. A librarian and the temple he wanted to keep safe but couldn't even properly defend by himself. Now she was a glorified babysitter for a dude who was probably smarter than her but had the social skills of an abused pet.

Golden Glow smiled all the same at Terry as they rolled into the station, the creature clinging to his seat as he stared out the window in awe at all the ponies who were just waiting around to get on board.

They disembarked, and while there were a few stares and gasps, thanks to Terry's fancy clothes and a little bit of encouragement on Golden Glow's part, they quickly got the crowd to think he was some sort of visiting noble from a far off land. He was as pretty as a princess, after all, so it wasn't like it was very hard to get the ponies around them to think that might be what he was. Uh, royalty, not a princess, although he still is even prettier than I am even after all that travel...

They headed out of the terminal and into the city, and once they were on the streets of Manehattan, most of the crowd ceased to pay any attention to them. Manehattan was a diverse city full of busy ponies, many of whom didn't have time to ogle weird pedestrians, or who were so used to the strange and bizarre that even the sight of Terry was nothing to get excited over.

That was part of why Golden Glow had left the city. It dragged you down and turned everything into shades of gray, and you forgot what wonder was like; beautiful things were only worth idle glances from the dismal windows of a bus or train, and magnificent sounds were drowned out by the hubbub of conversation between people and over personal comm links, and adventures were nothing but unwanted, unwelcome delays on your way to work or your way home after a dreary day pushing paper and pretending to be somepony you weren't.

She didn't want to live her life like that. She didn't want to be Golden Glow, who played Boldly Goes in the safety of a small studio, handling sedated, drunken animals and cheap 3D-printed replicas of ancient artifacts for her PonyTube show. She didn't want to live her life counting views and selling tour appearances and getting barfed on by kids every time she ran an educational exhibit.

Living like that just drained the life out of you. She knew it wasn't actually the city itself, she'd used to love the library, the wildlife center, the university's research wing, all that stuff she'd been confined to before she'd been able to go out there on her own.

She glanced at Terry, and smiled despite herself: he almost looked giddy as they stood at a crosswalk, surrounded by ponies. A foal stared up at him with awe, but while other ponies gave him space, only a few of them seemed to really acknowledge that Terry wasn't just another member of the metropolis' drabity.

“So what do you think?” Golden Glow asked, as they crossed a busy street with the herd of other ponies who were all busily ignoring each other.

Terry stared back and forth, at the people, at the buildings, and then he gave a shaky smile to Golden Glow that said he was both amazed and overwhelmed, and she chuckled as she said gently: “Hey, you're doing about as good as any other tourist. Let's get to the hotel. You'll be fine.”

They found where they were staying, thankfully in a nicer part of the city, right near a subway line that would take them straight to the university. While the train had been one thing, Terry wasn't ready to wander any further than down the hall to the vending machine on his own. He also had absolutely no concept of money, which led to Golden Glow having to stop him from dropping an entire handful of bits into an urchin's begging cup in the subway station.

She did allow him to give the kid a few coins, though, which made the foal smile, and well... that was nice, at least.

The subway was cramped, but Terry was very good at compressing himself, as if he was used to twining himself almost comically up as small as possible. A few ponies stared at him, but no one started a conversation with him: that was possibly because he had his own 'daemon' out, which actually probably helped ponies think he was some kind of noble considering how much the daemon looked like a personalized AI construct.

Said construct took the form of a predatory bird with teeth, something vaguely reptilian about it: an archaeopteryx of some kind, Golden Glow figured. It was very pretty and slender, with its body covered politely in the same fashion of clothing as Terry wore, the small spirit-like being generating a faint aura of magic around itself as it talked rapidly in Ionic with Terry. Oneiros, he had called her before: she seemed almost as clever as Terry was, but she was much more confident, making her seem like she was the one in charge of him.

They were friends, Golden Glow thought, but there was also a sort of awkward, manufactured distance between them, like they were so ingrained in their previous roles and culture that they couldn't quite forget who they had been told to be for all those years.

When they arrived at the university, where the Explorer's Guild wanted her to make her presentation to several council members and probably an audience of students who had come to gawk, Terry instantly seemed to recognize what kind of place they were visiting: she repeatedly heard one of the few words she could easily translate, Akadēmíā.

“I mean, basically.” Golden Glow finally interrupted, and both Oneiros and Terry looked at her. “I guess you didn't really expect it to be like this, huh? Defining it as a 'school' probably had a different meaning in your day.”

“I can't judge your ponies' ages very well, but they all look like adults to me... they would have already been done school in my day.” Terry said after a moment, giving a small smile to Golden Glow as they passed a knot of students in the hall. “Where I lived, at least, you went to school to learn how to be a good citizen, and then you went to a military school for training. Some of the ponies we passed would be that age, I guess... but it's funny, I've seen older ponies here, too... I think?”

Terry blushed, shaking his head as he confessed: “There's so many colors and you're all so different and unique, and it makes it hard for me to tell who's really old and who isn't.”

“Well, people from everywhere attend universities nowadays.” Golden Glow explained with a shrug and a smile. “You'll fit right in with the rest of the weirdoes here, don't worry. Now come on, we got a meeting to get to.”

Terry didn't seem to know whether to be insulted or not as Oneiros huffed, complaining: “We're not weird! You're the ones studying us, I'm just sorry to see what our culture evolved into.”

“I know that Ionic culture had a lot of influence on Equestria, but there's a lot of debate on just how much, especially these days.” Golden Glow replied with a shrug, winking at Oneiros as she idly tapped her own body. “You Ionic people were a lot more restrained than us Equestrians, after all. And Equestria's pilgrims originally came from the north, with more influence from places like Clydesdown and Shire than anywhere else.”

Oneiros grumbled a bit as Terry smiled awkwardly between them, and Golden Glow gave the two an amused look as she added, as always: “And yes, it's up for debate, but for now let's leave it at that, because you two have got to concentrate on shutting up and looking pretty.”

Oneiros scowled as Terry bit his lip, and then both stared in disbelief as they entered the lecture hall where the meeting was supposed to take place, Golden Glow smiling and waving easily to the Guild members sitting at the table on the lowest level, not allowing herself to look up at the audience of students: more than she had anticipated, but they weren't important, she told herself.

“Hey there! As promised, I'm here to deliver my report, and I've brought you some living, breathing Ionians to show you just how successful we've been out at Location 32-6!” Golden Glow said in her best Boldly Goes voice, before she stepped backwards and muttered over her shoulder: “Just come inside with me and be polite, I'll handle everything. If you're not comfortable with talking, just let me know.”

Terry nodded, and without even seeming to realize what he was doing, he reached up and grasped the end of her scarf, squeezing into it tightly. Golden Glow softened a little, then smiled as she reached back and gently patted him on the arm before almost hauling him inside, but keeping herself between the serpent-lion and the rest of the amazed audience as she said cheerfully: “This is Terry and his daemon, Oneiros! I'll take some simple questions for him later, his native language is ancient Ionic, so Aeiros and I will translate for you.

“But first, let me begin with the general assessment of the temple at Location 32-6...”

Golden Glow hated that her real talent was presentation, but being able to schmooze at the level she did made it a hell of a lot easier to convince the Explorer's Guild to leave her in charge of the temple for now and to allow her continue to look after Terry. It also helped that they were able to play up Terry's need to have her as his interpreter, for culture if not language, although Golden Glow wondered how much of this was Terry playing along and how much of it was true.

It was a good meeting, though. The Explorer's Guild was pleased with both their progress and the soundbites that the journalists in attendance picked up, and of course that they'd drawn in a good crowd of students, some of whom would hopefully tell their wealthy parents all about the good work the Explorer's Guild was doing and that they should send some donations their way.

Money, money, money. You were in this line of work for money or fame, or because you were crazy.

Golden Glow smiled a little as she looked over at Terry, who was sleeping fitfully, wrapped up all around himself in the little bed on the other side of their private cabin. He had wanted to leave as soon as possible for the temple: after just a day of Manehattan, he was already homesick. And she was perfectly fine with that: she was sure they'd be back here sometime in the future, hopefully after Terry got a bit more... acquainted with the new rules of this world.

He had loved the library, of course, and she'd been able to give him a tour of the museum and taken him into some of the back rooms to see some of the artifacts in storage. Terry had definitely felt a kinship with the curators, although it also seemed like he didn't entirely know how to feel about either the exhibits or the storage zone: he seemed fascinated with the idea that so much was just out on display, and yet he also seemed incredibly anxious about the dangers of leaving precious, timeless art and objects from another age protected only by thin glass and rope barriers. Not that he seemed any fonder of just locking them away forever, either...

This trip had clearly made him think a lot about what he really wanted, and what he should be doing now with his life. He had frequent conversations with his daemon when he didn't think Golden Glow was paying attention, and he had started asking her a few odd, pointed questions: how they moved fragile artifacts, what they did with things deemed 'dangerous' for whatever reason, just how safe these museums and libraries and other superstructures actually were.

On the ferry ride back to the island and Terry's temple, as they sat in the front passenger cabin and gazed through the tall glass windows out at the endless ocean, Terry finally asked: “Where am I going to live? What am I going to do?”

Golden Glow cocked her head towards him, and Terry blushed a bit, but continued on even as he looked away: “I still don't... I mean, I'm not really part of this world, am I? But everyone and everything else has moved on, and the temple is... it never belonged to me in the first place, and I can't really take care of it on my own anymore.”

“Terry...” Golden Glow started, but Terry shook his head quickly, then he gave a small smile to the mare as he looked at her with.... a hint of guilt, maybe? Fear? But also relief: not just of his burden, but...

“I'm not glad my Patrons are gone. But I'm glad that I don't have to listen to them anymore. That's been painfully hard to understand.” Terry murmured. “It feels like something that was almost programmed in me. To always honor their wishes. To love them. To do as they said... as they told me, even now, how many years after they've all... moved on. But I'm free now. Leaving the temple showed me that.

“I still want to protect it, though. I loved the art, the knowledge, the... everything, that was in the temple.” Terry continued, nodding firmly once to himself more than Golden Glow as the mare rested back in her seat, smiling a little as she realized he wasn't really telling her this: he was telling himself. “But I want other people to be able to see it, too, and maybe learn from it. Just like I want to be part of this Equestria, too, and discover... everything there is to know, but... I don't know how to make that happen. I don't know how to make that work.”

“Well, lucky for you, I do.” Golden Glow said with more confidence than she really had, and Terry glanced up at her with surprise. “We're obviously going to want to move some of the artifacts and archives for research and viewing purposes. But I think a lot of it's going to remain right where it is, at least for now. The rest will remain here in the temple... and we've given a lot of thought as to how we could repair your temple and maybe make it open to the public again. Turn it into a little museum. It's got lots of galleries and it was clearly meant for people to come in and see things... I think it'd be great if it could serve that purpose again.”

Terry smiled hesitantly at this thought, nodding as he murmured: “It used to be wonderful. The Patrons coming and going. The bustle of activity. But they told me-”

“And what do you tell you? What does your heart tell you?” interrupted Golden Glow, and Terry blinked as he looked at her, and then he hesitated before nodding once.

“I keep forgetting that. I have to... choose. It's very hard.” Terry admitted.

Golden Glow smiled and slid a bit closer, winking at the leonine serpent as she threw a companionable arm around his shoulders and squeezed him gently. “Tell you a secret, kiddo. It's hard for me too.”

Terry blushed a bit, but then nodded before dropping his head against her shoulder, and the two rested and enjoyed the rocking of the waves and the drone of quiet conversation as the ferry made its way to port.

Razzmatazz was waiting for them at the docks once they disembarked, eager to hear about what the council had said, and to get their instructions on what they were supposed to do next. The almost-a-week they'd been gone had seen a flurry of activity at the temple: they'd secured several rooms, repaired most of the superstructure, and they were now awaiting approval to start work on some of the more fragile rooms, and permission to enter some of the sealed sections of the temple.

Golden Glow glowered at Razz as they approached the temple steps: the last thing she wanted to do was ruin all the hard work they'd done so far with Terry by making it sound like they'd only worked so hard to gain his trust so that they could get access to whatever sanctuaries and storage centers he'd sealed off. But to her surprise, Terry said hesitantly: “Maybe... we can just take a look at it together.”

“You don't have to if you don't want to, okay?” Golden Glow said, and Terry gave her a small smile as he nodded a little.

“I know. But I also know that... at some point, you have to see everything. That... I have to see everything.” Terry said after a moment, nodding before he reached up and rubbed a finger over the jewel on his chest. It shimmered brightly before his daemon wisped out of it, quickly taking form and turning to Terry curiously as he asked: “Can you help me open one of the sealed doors?”

“Yes...” Oneiros said hesitantly, before she frowned a bit and said uncertainly: “But I'm not sure, Terry... the Patrons told us not to.”

“They've done so much work on the temple, Oneiros, and I trust them. And I trust that... we don't have to listen to the Patrons' instructions anymore. We have to learn to look out for ourselves.” Terry said after a moment, and Oneiros looked torn between disapproval and anxiety. “We need to think for ourselves, too.”

“Well, we never used to.” the daemon said almost pettishly, and Golden Glow couldn't help but snort in amusement. “What? What?”

“You remind me of someone, that's all.” Golden Glow answered with a wry grin. “Tell you what, though. Razz, why don't you take us to this door in question first so that we all know what the hell you're talking about. And you can tell us why you want to start with this one, too.”

Razzmatazz nodded with a smile, turning and gesturing for them to follow, the unicorn explaining: “Well, as you know, we've done a lot of repairs to the exterior of the temple, and we've been using mapping drones to discover places where...”

Golden Glow let Razz fade into a drone in the background: she instead kept her eyes on Terry, who seemed to be trying hard to listen to Razz, but wasn't really succeeding. He was clearly nervous, anxious... and something else, too.

It was like he almost seemed reluctant to journey deeper into the temple: he trailed his hand here and there against familiar walls and paused now and then to look at their handiwork or inspect some detail Golden Glow couldn't see, but it was like he knew now that there was an entire world beyond this sanctuary, this stone womb, this... prison, that he had spent all his life locked away inside.

When they reached the door that had been sealed, Terry inspected it, and Razz continued to ramble until Golden Glow politely kicked him in the shin, making him wince and then finally shut his mouth, clearing his throat and glancing away as Terry and Oneiros briefly argued in Ionic.

Golden Glow let her own eyes wander over the door, frowning at it: she couldn't make out all of the ancient symbols on it, but if she had to guess, this dusty stone door sealed off some kind of magic laboratory or workshop. She carefully sidled past the two creatures that were grumbling at each other, the mare studying the heavy slab thoughtfully before she asked: “Is this on a gemstone rail?”

Both Terry and Oneiros stopped arguing to look at her, then winced as Golden Glow pressed her hands against the slab door, testing it as she muttered: “Doesn't slide that way... maybe if I-”

“Hey, what are you doing?” blurted Terry.

“You're gonna hurt yourself doing that, you know.” Oneiros added, and then both she and Terry looked at each other before they both sighed as Golden Glow continued to prod and shove at the door, until the daemon said reluctantly: “Fine. I'll open it. But this leads to a workshop, where we were never allowed to go. Only Patrons and their acolytes were allowed in here. I... don't feel comfortable.”

Oneiros bit her lip, but Terry smiled at her and said something gentle in Ionic, and the daemon sighed before she murmured something back. Golden Glow frowned a bit, stepping away from the door as the daemon floated in front of it for a moment, then grimaced before she became a cloud of energy that floated into the door, making the ancient symbols across its face glow brightly.

The slab rumbled, then slowly rolled to the side with a terrible grating of stone on stone, Golden Glow wincing and covering her face to protect her eyes from the hail of dust that fell from the ceiling. She grumbled a bit as she waved the settling cloud away, muttering: “Must be the first time in a thousand years this thing's been open...”

She glanced at Terry, but he hesitated at the threshold, so the mare smiled at him instead and reached up to gently squeeze his shoulder before she walked past, heading into the room beyond as she instructed: “Aeiro, I need analysis.”

“Sure thing!” Aeiro said brightly as she blinked into existence, the little seahorse AI darting quickly around Golden Glow in a circle, her supernatural glow glinting off the strange, shrouded objects that sat around the dim workshop.

A moment later, Oneiros flitted inside, followed by the slow slither of Terry, and Razzmatazz last. Terry frowned uncertainly as Oneiros studied the room, while Aeiro rattled off: “Active magical materials detected, but no risk of biohazard! Structure appears to be overall secure, but damage detected in walls and partial collapse noted! Reading indicate still-actives lines of magic-conductive gemstone in the walls...”

“I can activate them.” Oneiros said after a moment, and a moment later, gemstone lanterns flickered to life, bathing the workshop in light.

Golden Glow smiled, before the expression froze on her face as her eyes locked on precisely what this workshop had been designed to build. She heard Terry gasp beside her, the leonine creature covering his mouth, his head shaking weakly as he stared in disbelief at the worktables at the front of the room, or more precisely, the malformed bodies that rested on them.

Damaged, serpentine body-tails connected to naked, half-formed chests with rough-hewn or entirely missing limbs. These bodies were made of petrified clay and crumbled mortar, forgotten and abandoned in this damaged workshop, nothing now but evidence of what the Patrons had been doing, and...

Golden Glow looked at Terry: Terry, who didn't look like any other creature she had ever seen before. Who couldn't remember a time before his Patrons, or when he had been a child. Who could turn to stone on command, and learned as fast as her AI...

Oneiros floated down, staring in horror, before she winced when Terry spun around and bolted out of the room, the daemon sparking out of existence as she was yanked back into the crystal by her invisible tether. Razzmatazz yelped as he was shoved aside before he called after the snake, and Golden Glow winced as she ran after him, followed quickly by Aeiro.

But Terry was too fast, knew every secret, every niche of the temple, and he vanished long before she could hope to catch up to him. Golden Glow was left standing stupidly at an intersection, a few passing workers staring at her in confusion before the mare cursed and headed quickly back to the workshop.

She found Razz standing over one of the bodies, the unicorn looking up and murmuring a quiet apology, but Golden Glow shook her head and muttered: “Garbage timing, but you didn't know. Hell, I was the one who tried to open the damn door.”

She sighed a little, then glanced at Aeiro, who smiled supportively before saying firmly: “Terry will be fine, I know it! He just needs time, and your support, Goldie! It's really important he knows he's your friend!”

“I... yeah. I'll try.” Golden Glow said after a moment, and then she sighed as she looked down at one of the clay bodies, silently rubbing a finger over a crumbled arm and grimacing as the dismembered, disjointed limb collapsed in a quiet puff of dust. “So do you think...”

Razz shrugged, then he said awkwardly: “We need to uh... I know it's... I mean...”

“We need to preserve what we can, I know, I know. Celestia knows that makes me feel terrible, but...” Golden Glow sighed and rubbed at her face, then she bit her lip before saying finally: “Let's let Terry come back in his own time, and... find out what we can here. Not for the Guild though, we can relate our findings afterwards to them, but... right now, let's try and concentrate on getting answers for Terry. I'm sure when he comes back, he's going to want to know what the hell was going on here.”

“You think-”

“Yes.” Golden Glow cut off, looking flatly at Razzmatazz, and he winced before the mare sighed and rubbed at her cheek, then smiled awkwardly. “Sorry. Yeah, he's... he's a tough little guy, believe it or not. He'll pull through. He'll want answers. I just... I just hope that he knows no matter where he started, it doesn't change the fact there's a whole world waiting for him out there, and... it doesn't change the fact he's a person. A weird little guy, but a person nonetheless. Not a...”

“Yeah.” Razzmatazz said after a moment, giving his own small smile.

Golden Glow nodded firmly as Aeiro gave a little cheer, but as the mare looked back at the constructs on their worktables, she couldn't help but wonder silently how Terry was going to recover for this, and if there really was anything at all she could to help him.

Deep Thoughts

Terry vanished for a few days, and Golden Glow worked to give him the time and space he needed while they went through the somewhat-grisly process of securing the 'artifacts' in the laboratory they had opened. Yes, if they really wanted to, she was sure that they could find him: they had every inch of the temple mapped by now, and now that the drones knew what to look for, even their basic scandrones would be able to lock on to Terry and track him down in a matter of minutes.

But sometimes you just had to give people a chance to work things out on their own.

So that was what she did. She told the others not to bother him, and reminded them that they had plenty to deal with right now. Securing cadavers and hazardous waste was much more intensive than the work they usually did, and sterilizing and securing the lab was going to take upwards of a week. Considering what they had found, they would also have to adjust their schedules for the likelihood that there were going to be more bodies and experiments behind the other closed doors of the facilities, too...

She couldn't imagine what Terry had to be going through right now. What kind of things had to be running through his head: how did you come to terms with the idea that you were some kind of... synthetic life?

But she didn't think of him like that. She couldn't think of him like that, as nothing but some kind of construct, or drone. He smiled, he laughed, he felt joy and despair, he reacted to things just like she did...

He was a person. She believed that, just like she believed that Aeiro was her friend.

Golden Glow sighed as she leaned back in her seat, pushing away the endless forms she had been filling out and rubbing grumpily at her face. Aeiro flitted up beside her, the seahorse smiling supportively before she chirped: “Your productivity has dropped sixteen percent in the last twenty minutes! I think you should take a break and try to clear your head!”

“Yeah. You're right. Maybe I'll go see what Razz and the crew are up to. We're supposed to do an episode tomorrow night, and I should make sure they're not going to make it anything stupid.” Golden Glow muttered, and she stretched out with a grimace. “Dollars to donuts they try and make me do a presentation in that laboratory or something.”

Aeiro flitted down beside her, asking curiously: “But isn't it a huge find?”

Golden Glow grumbled, then groused: “Yes, of course it is. But I'm not a complete asshole, Aeiro, and it's... it's not my story to tell. It's Terry's. I'm not gonna go on PonyTube and tell the world all about how my friend was stuck together in a lab. He deserves better than that.”

She quieted for a moment, then sighed a little, rubbing at her face as she mumbled: “Should have known from the start, though. No one is that nice.”

Aeiro giggled, then she said kindly: “But you like him, don't you? And it sounds like you still think of him as a person.”

“Well, of course I like him! He's a good guy, and he... he tries. Do you know how hard it is to find someone who tries these days? I mean, hell, you've got machines that will wipe your own ass for you, so why would you even bother putting any effort in anymore?” Golden paused, then sighed and slumped in her seat. “He could have let us take over or ignored us, but he was always just that right amount of... wanting to get involved, wanting to help, not wanting to step on anypony's hooves. He deserves better than this. He's a better person than I am, whether they made him in that lab or not.”

Golden Glow grumbled a little to herself, and then she frowned as she heard movement and a mumbling, pushing herself up in her seat before she glanced over her shoulder and blinked in surprise at the sight of Terry. “Hey!”

Terry smiled at her awkwardly: he had his fingers tented, his arms hugging his sides, his shoulders all scrunched up as if he expected to be yelled at. And he was dirty, which was rare enough for her to notice, unable to help herself from blurting: “You look like crap.”

“Yeah.” Terry said after a moment, and then he gave a brief chuckle before he shook his head and murmured: “Sorry. I've been... trying to figure things out.”

“Yeah.” Golden Glow didn't really know what to say, so she gave an awkward smile before she cleared her throat as she slipped out of her seat and headed across the makeshift office to him. She stopped in front of him lamely, rubbing an arm, half-tempted to just hug him as he looked up at her in embarrassment, and then she sighed and reached out to firmly pat him on the head a few times, saying finally: “Well, I'm glad to see you, Terry. If uh, there's anything I can do, you know I'm more than happy to.”

Terry rubbed at his head, and then he smiled a little before he answered: “I think I'm going to take a shower, and... well, after that, I'd like to open up some of the other sealed areas.”

Golden Glow frowned slightly at this, tilting her head, and Terry blushed as he glanced down, twiddling his fingers together before he murmured: “I just... I need to see what else is here now. And I need to decide for myself... what it all means. Does that make any sense?”

“Not really.” Golden Glow smiled a bit, but then she nodded and said hesitantly: “I think we've got all the biohazard protocols in place now, so uh... well, I mean, I know this is personal for you but I can't let you do this alone-”

“I don't think I could do this alone.” mumbled Terry, and Golden chuckled a little in spite of herself. “No, I mean... I know you have to do things a certain way, and I don't want to get in the way or anything...”

“Hey.” Golden Glow interrupted gently, and Terry glanced up at her. “This is still your temple. You're still my top helper, right?”

Maybe that was a little condescending, but Terry smiled a little back at her all the same, nodding hesitantly before he murmured: “I'll try to be, anyway.”

“That's good enough for a start.” Golden Glow smiled a little, and then she straightened as she nodded once, quickly going over in her head what they'd need to do. “Okay, you go clean up and I'll get a hazardous materials team together. We'll open every sealed door in this place and you can go in first...”

She saw the look on Terry's face, and without even knowing why, she automatically offered: “I'll go in with you, how about that? We'll do it together, Terry. You don't have to be alone for this. We'll get your answers.”

Terry smiled in relief at this, nodding with clear gratitude, and Golden Glow smiled briefly back before she said finally: “Okay. You go clean up. We'll...” 'Follow your lead' didn't sound right, so she finished: “We'll work together on this, okay?”

“Okay. Thanks, Golden Glow. I really appreciate it.” Terry said, and he blushed and fidgeted for a moment before turning and hurrying away.

Aeiro giggled, and Golden Glow cocked her head as she looked at the floating AI, who remarked brightly: “That was really nice of you, Golden Glow! And this is a really big find, too! You could do a show on it if you wanted, I bet it would be really exciting!”

“I mean, yeah, but... we'll see what we find, first.” Golden Glow said evasively.

“I'm glad you're working hard to take Terry's feelings into account. I bet he really appreciates that.” Aeiro said, before she asked curiously as Golden headed back to her desk: “Where do you think I was manufactured?”

“I mean... don't you know?” Golden Glow asked, honestly a little surprised as she glanced back at the AI.

Aeiro giggled, then chirped in response: “Nope! They don't provide us with that information for security purposes! And after all, wherever we're produced isn't home, and we don't have a mommy or a daddy waiting for us.”

That struck deep in Golden Glow, making her almost flinch as she looked at the AI, but Aeiro smiled at her: a smile that was incredibly genuine for a living program, as she said gently: “Don't you worry, Golden Glow. I'm really honestly happy! I don't think anyone else would treat me the way you do, or leave my protocols open. And I'm really glad that you were the one who found Terry, too, because I don't think anyone else would really be able to be there for him like you have.”

This made the pony blink and cock her head quizzically, and Aeiro giggled before she said brightly: “Well, think about it! How many other ponies would have treated him like a person? How many other ponies would have put his feelings before their own benefit? And how many other ponies would keep thinking of him as an equal even if he was designed, just like me, to be a tool?”

“A lot.” Golden Glow said almost evasively, blushing a bit as she glanced away before she cleared her throat and almost deflected: “Look, in this business, you need to have an open mind, okay? That's all it is. I'm sure lots of other people would have been just as good to him. Better, even.”

Aeiro only giggled, and Golden Glow huffed at her before she said grumpily: “Fine. Okay, tool, then can you contact Razz? I want a hazard team. I want to record it, too, we can use it as B-roll footage if nothing else.”

“Sure! Do you want me to send the message out myself, or do you want to talk to Mister Razzmatazz?” asked Aeiro, and Golden Glow clicked her tongue as she absently fiddled with her scarf before finally nodding once.

“Let me talk to Razz for a minute. I'll let you handle the professional stuff afterwards.” she said, and Aeiro smiled and nodded firmly before the AI vanished with a blink of static, a holographic screen appearing in front of Golden Glow in the sentient program's place.

A moment later, Razz's face appeared on screen, the stallion blinking and smiling: before he could greet her, however, Golden steamrollered: “Hey, so Terry's back and he wants to open up the rest of the locked doors.”

“What?” Razz blinked and stared at her through the screen, flabbergasted, before he blurted out: “Was that your idea?”

“No it was not my idea!” Golden Glow snapped waspishly, and then she huffed as the stallion shrank almost out of frame before she grumbled: “No, he wants to do it himself. So I need a biohazard team prepped, paperwork filled out, and a camera or a drone. We're not doing this as a show, Razz, and Terry's in charge of opening the rest of them and he and I will check the labs out first, got it?”

“Uh...” Razzmatazz shook his head quickly, then he brushed a hand through his mane before asking uncertainly: “Are you sure about this? I mean, we've got all the equipment here and I've got a work team on standby that I can-”

“There you go, see? All ready already.” Golden Glow paused, snorted, then she said in a somewhat-humbler voice: “Look. This is Terry's call, not mine, okay? I just want to try and meet both sides here. I want to give him the chance to do this, and I want to make sure we're covering our asses too, and I'm not going to get any of you in trouble. If we can get something for the Guild out of this, even better. But... I'm trying to think about my friends first here.”

Razz sighed a little, but then he gave a small smile and nodded a little bit, lowering his head before he muttered: “Okay. Uh... there are four sealed doors, and if we start in the far western wing of the temple and move to the east, we should be able to open all of them with minimal interference to other operations. Is that okay, do you think?”

“That sounds great, Razz. Thanks. I knew I could count on you.” Golden Glow nodded, feeling more relieved than she wanted to admit. “I'm gonna finish up here, then, and let Aeiro take care of the alerts. Then I'll get Terry and meet you guys in the far wing. Sound good?”

“Yeah...” There was a lingering in Razz's voice, and Golden Glow tilted her head. The stallion bit his lip, and then he asked her awkwardly, quietly: “Are you sure about all this still? I mean, if he's a construct...”

“He's a person. End of discussion.” Golden Glow said firmly, and Razz smiled a little as he nodded, blushing faintly. “Anything else?”

“I think that's it. I'll send you a message once we're in place. Should be twenty, thirty minutes tops.” Razz answered.

Golden Glow nodded quickly, then closed the link before Razz could say anything else, breathing out a quick sigh before she winced when Aeiro said brightly: “I'll go ahead and send out the alerts! Can I do anything else for you, Goldie?”

“No, that should be more than enough for now. I'll just get these reports done real quick, and then I'll hunt down Terry and we'll get ready for this thing together.” the mare answered as she headed back to her desk.

She focused on her task, scribbling in notes and details across the report page as she worked with renewed energy and purpose, undercut slightly by the nibbling anxiety that kept chewing at her nerves.

She was glad Terry was back, but she was worried about what they were going to find and how he was going to handle it. He'd literally run off crying after they'd opened the first lab, after all, but... to be fair, she didn't think she'd handle opening a door she'd guarded zealously for a thousand or so years only to find out she was nothing but a doll, and here were where her less successful siblings had been messily interred.

Hell, not even that: they'd just been... abandoned, left to rot. They still had no idea what had scared off Terry's Patrons, why they had left him here to guard this place...

They had a few working theories at this point, though: after all, once this whole region had been mountains, but seismic activity had caused the entire region to collapse into the sea. It was likely Terry's Patrons had abandoned the temple to escape the rising tides: but that prompted the question that if they'd known what was happening in advance, why leave Terry here to maintain the temple and its many artifacts?

Of course she could imagine the answer to that, but she didn't like it, and she didn't want to think that they had really valued Terry so little they had been willing to leave him to a watery grave...

Golden Glow scowled as she jotted the last of her notes down, and then she sighed as she sat back, muttering: “Well, they're all dead and gone and there's no point being mad at history. My job is just digging stuff up. That's all.”

“It's a little more complicated than that, Goldie!” trilled Aeiro, and Golden Glow gave her AI a look as she hopped out of her chair and headed to the doorway, the image of the seahorse flickering happily through the air beside her. “You also analyze the past and try to understand why things happened the way they did, and you serve as a bridge between Equestrian culture and other civilizations, both past and present!”

“Wow, go me.” Golden said drolly, but Aeiro only giggled at her as the mare shook her head, heading in the direction of the... wait. “Uh... can you track Terry?”

“Oh, yep! Just a second, let me interface with the other AIs and monitoring systems, and...” Aeiro clicked a few times, then said brightly: “Terry is at the bathing pools!”

“Didn't we just finish decontaminating those?” Golden Glow asked in exasperation, and then she sighed and muttered: “Great. Well, I guess we know the plumbing systems are still working...”

“Of course, maintenance drones did ensure they were in working condition three days ago!” chirped Aeiro helpfully.

“Thanks, Aeiro.”

When Golden Glow approached the small communal bathing area they'd mostly restored, she was somewhat surprised to see Oneiros floating outside the closed beaded curtain. The little archaeopteryx-shaped spirit smiled at her as she approached, waving a tiny claw hand quickly as Aeiro floated forwards and greeted cheerfully: “Hi there! How are you doing?”

“Surprisingly well.” answered the daemon after a moment, and then she gave a small smile as she bowed her head quietly to Golden Glow, who cocked an eyebrow curiously. “I just wanted to say... thank you.”

“For uh, what?” the mare asked, and the daemon gave her an amused look.

“For Terry, of course.” answered Oneiros, and she hovered awkwardly for a moment before continuing almost hesitantly: “You know that... he came back because of you.”

Golden Glow blushed a bit, and Oneiros continued quickly: “I don't want to speak out of turn or anything, but... your willingness to see him as a person, more than just a tool. It means a lot to be treated that way, even if we're just...”

“You're people. Good people. You and Aeiro and Terry, too.” Golden Glow replied with a shake of her head. “Maybe not everyone is going to believe that, but... I do. And I think you all have a lot to teach the world about what a person really is.”

Aeiro smiled, while Oneiros glanced away in embarrassment and almost grumbled: “That sounds a little bit too childishly-hopeful for me.”

“Well, ponies aren't great at growing up.” retorted Golden Glow, before she paused as she realized something was different about the daemon, squinting at her curiously before she asked: “Wait.”

The daemon looked back at her, nonplussed, before blushing when Golden Glow said: “You're not wearing clothes. Usually you have the same regalia on that Terry wears.”

The archaeopteryxian spirit glanced down at its slender, pretty body, and then she fluffed out her chest as she flapped her little wing-claws before wrapping them primly around herself, replying in a huff: “Well, I'm already covered in feathers, you know! Besides, it's just... extra energy to generate fancy clothes. And if no one else is going to wear them anymore, I don't see why I have to. Or Terry has to, for that matter.”

“Well, I mean, he doesn't.” Golden Glow said with a shrug, before she narrowed her eyes slightly at the way Oneiros' eyes flicked away before the mare stepped forwards, making the spirit squawk as the pony brushed through her and then through the curtain beyond, Aeiro squeaking an apology for her friend's brusque behavior.

Terry glanced up from where he was just gathering his clothes, then he squeaked and hurriedly covered himself, blushing beet red in embarrassment as Golden Glow only cocked an eyebrow at him. She drew her eyes along his body, took in his lithe chest, but where her eyes lingered most was along his waist, where fur smoothly gave away to scale, where the serpent part of him meshed perfectly with the leonine upside.

“H-Hey!” Terry blurted out.

“These are public baths, and I'm public. Also we just cleaned these, Terry, we're not actually going to use them anymore, we were just going to have a display here. Besides, I thought you were going to shower.” Golden Glow interrupted.

Terry blushed deeper, then he said embarrassedly: “I'm sorry, I... I just... it was always a favorite place of mine when...”

Golden Glow softened, then she sighed and smiled, saying in a gentler voice as he fumbled for words: “Hey, I'm just teasing you. It's fine. Look, are you ready to go or not? Because you don't have to do this, you know. We can handle it, or we can even wait. I can still call things off.”

Terry visibly relaxed, giving a small, faint smile before he shook his head and closed his eyes, murmuring: “No. I want to do this, and I... I have to do this. I need answers, Golden Glow. I need to see for myself, so I can decide... what I'm going to do from here.”

Golden Glow nodded, figuring it was better not to push him too much, and he looked up at her awkwardly. They gazed at each other for a few moments, until Terry blushed a bit, then awkwardly looked down at the clothes he was clinging against his body as he asked sheepishly: “Can I have some privacy?”

“Huh? Oh.” Golden Glow snorted as Terry's daemon floated by her head, and the mare jerked her head at the spirit as she said mildly: “Your friend here seems to be adjusting fine to the new culture, you know. Why don't you try it sometime? It's a lot less hassle than putting clothes on.”

“Maybe later.” Terry said embarrassedly, glancing awkwardly up at his daemon as Oneiros hovered pointedly around his head, and Golden Glow snorted in amusement before she shrugged, then turned and headed to the curtain, letting herself out.

After a few minutes, Terry emerged, awkwardly smoothing down his wrinkled tunic as he gave a lame smile to Golden Glow, who smiled back at him before she reached up and firmly squeezed his shoulder. Terry didn't flinch or pull away from the contact, blushing a bit as he looked up into her eyes, and she said: “Well, come on, then. I'm sure Razz is waiting for us by now.”

Terry nodded, then fell in behind Golden Glow as she turned to lead the way. But she didn't feel like she was really leading him so much as guiding him forwards, being there for him when he needed her: this was his calling, his idea, his to see through.

They found Razzmatazz with a team of ponies already dressed up in plastic biohazard uniforms, and Golden Glow scowled as the stallion pointedly held a protective set of clothes out to her. She grumbled under her breath, but took the plasticky, uncomfortable material, quickly slipping her way into the yellow and white uniform as she muttered: “It's not like I'm going to be touching anything...”

“Protocol.” apologized Razzmatazz, before he smiled and held out a poncho and a set of gloves to Terry, who blinked as he took it awkwardly. “You should wear this too. If there's uh... if there's any dangerous or infections elements in the lab, this should protect you a little. Just last year, you know, there were three hundred recorded cases of-”

“Oh, don't start with the statistics.” Golden Glow grumbled as she snatched a helmet away from one of the workers, who stared dumbly at his now-empty hands for a moment before he scowled and headed over to a rolling rack to grab himself another. “At least a dozen of those cases were in lab conditions, by the way. I'm sure six or seven probably involved Vertigo.”

“Ten cases on record involve science officer Running Vertigo!” chirped Aeiro, and Golden Glow gave Razz a pointed look, but the stallion only smiled in amusement as he shook his head.

Golden huffed as she shoved her helmet on, while Terry accepted his own from another pony, smiling nervously as he fumbled to pull the eye protector down like the rest of the ponies had as Razz instructed: “Golden Glow and Terry are in charge of this operation, and will go in first for visual confirmation. I'm going to send survey drones in with them, to check for any faults and get air readings, just in case there's low-lying gases, but I don't expect that will be a problem even if there is magical contamination. After they're done, team A will go in to secure the hazards, and team B will start itemizing everything. I'm giving us an hour for each room. Is everyone ready?”

“Is everyone ready?” Golden Glow said loudly, glaring at Razzmatazz, who winced and deferred to her with an awkward drop of his head.

When the rest of the team nodded or grumbled or at least didn't dissent, she turned her eyes to Terry, saying in a gentler voice: “Just go at your own pace, okay? No rush. We'll start when you want to get moving.”

Terry smiled briefly at her, and then he bit his lip before he turned his eyes to the sealed door, taking a slow breath before he murmured: “Okay. Don't worry, I... I'm as ready as I'll ever be.”

Terry lingered for a moment all the same in front of this heavy, rolling stone shutter with its scratched out symbols, until Golden Glow stepped up beside him, smiling at him supportively as she reached up to gently touch his shoulder, and the serpentine creature visibly took reassurance from her presence, nodding to her once before he pressed his hands to the cold, uncaring stone.

The shutter rumbled, dust hailing down as it jarred and jammed, then finally squealed slowly to the side, rolling into the wall, and Terry took a shuddering breath before he led the way through the maw of the doorway into the pitch-black stomach of the room beyond, with Golden Glow beside him, and the lights of their respective daemon and AI the only thing providing any glimpse into the darkness until Oneiros murmured: “There's a gemstone interface here. I'll try and turn it on.”

It worked, and just like in the last room, it brought flickering gemstone lanterns to light. Terry shuddered at what they saw, but he didn't run away this time: instead, he drew his eyes uneasily over the capsules and the... aquariums, they looked like. Broken glass, what few containers remained full of rotted water and slush, dried corpses of fish and eel on the floor.

The search of the room was quick and efficient: Golden Glow gave Terry time to take in what they were looking at as she flitted around the room, unconsciously moving as if to keep herself between Terry and the rest of the world, to protect him, never straying too far from him, never letting him feel alone for very long. She felt... keeping him company was more important right now than making big breaks or discoveries for herself. Everything was going to be secured and itemized, after all. She was really just the first set of eyes, that was all.

She was here to help Terry.

All the same, even a cursory examination told her what this place was: a specimen zoo. Not nearly as terrible or creepy as the lab they had uncovered before, but it still made her uncomfortable: animal experimentation was largely outlawed in Equestria, except in special circumstances.

They were able to log and secure the area quickly: the drones didn't find anything particularly hazardous, so they marked the area as a work site and they would get a survey team in tomorrow. It was a good start, and it seemed to help Terry, too.

The next lab they opened was similar: there was a creepy skeleton in the corner of a creature similar to Terry, but that was the worst thing it had to offer. Otherwise it seemed more like a private office than a research room, or maybe it was a mock lab, designed for students to conduct their first experiments in. They put some plastic sheeting over the skeleton and marked off a damaged area of flooring, but that was the extent of the adventure.

The third sealed room was the one that challenged Terry's resolve. Inside, they found a magical incinerator, and a pile of petrified remains of failed experiments and bodies that all vaguely resembled Terry. The incinerator was too small for the bodies, but there was a rusted axe laying nearby, and...

Terry had to go back outside to take a breath, but to Golden's surprise, he came back in to help her finish inspection. He wouldn't go near the bodies, but he helped her sort through the pile of magical trash on the other side of the room, and he let Oneiros show her how the incinerator worked while he faced pointedly away.

It chilled Golden Glow somewhat that Oneiros was able to tell her precisely how the incinerator had used to work, but didn't have any clue how she did or even why she did. She just said she had always been a tool to the Patrons while she'd lingered uneasily around the pile of discarded remains, staring at them as if...

When you saw people as nothing but tools, Golden Glow supposed that you didn't care if you discarded them or not.

That, really, explained a lot. Why Terry had been abandoned, why the temple was the way it was, why he still spoke of his Patrons with respect, tinged with anxiety. Because that had been hammered and programmed into him.

Maybe he was the only one of his kind. Maybe he had been the only truly 'successful' experiment. Maybe there had been others, or were others out there somewhere.

But none of that really mattered to Golden Glow. Because to her, Terry was a person, and he was finding himself now, and she found it inspiring, as they opened the next sealed door, that in spite of how shaken he was and how afraid he was, he was still struggling to make sense of it all, he was still looking for his answers, and he was still... finding himself.

They worked hard, opening the rest of the sealed zones, uncovering not just a room, but an entire wing of abandoned offices and dormitories that would have to be fully mapped out at some point, layered in ancient dust: a place that Terry had never seen, a place he had never been allowed to walk the halls of, but now his body had slipped through every room of, peeking through rotten doorways at what had once been monastic cells, and academic offices, and the Patron's private places.

They hadn't really suspected that an entire underground living area had existed, but at least it wouldn't take long to explore. And the last area had just been another specimen kennel, this one full of empty cages and echoes of whatever research they had been conducting here.

As they finished with the last room, Terry slipped away, and this time Golden followed him, drawn on after her friend. She found him back at the public bathhouse, sitting on a bench, watching ponies relax in the water.

Golden Glow rolled her eyes at the sight of the ponies, one of who waved at her awkwardly, but then she only sighed and sat down beside Terry, both of them still dressed in their biohazard uniforms, dusty, stained... not looking our best. That bath does look pretty good right now.

“What am I?” Terry asked quietly, and Golden Glow looked at him with surprise. “I didn't... I thought... I'd find the answer.”

Golden Glow studied the serpent for a few moments as he childishly rubbed at his eyes with the back of his wrist, his other hand squeezing convulsively on the helmet in his lap. “They called me Memnonia, but... what does that even mean? Does it mean I'm a person, or does it mean I'm a thing? Am I Terry, or am I-”

Golden Glow reached up and wrapped an arm around his leonine shoulders, and Terry blinked as she half-squeezed him to her side, the mare saying softly: “You're you, Terry. And you're a better person than those Patrons of yours were, and I'm happy to have met you and happy you're my friend. And I'm really proud of you, because you know what? You did find your answer.”

Terry frowned, and Golden Glow smiled at him as she reached up and pushed back her facemask to gaze down at him with affection and tender conviction. “You're a person, you dumbass, because if you were just a tool, you never would have had any reason to find out why you were made, or what you really are. You wouldn't be curious about where you came from. Tools always know their purpose, but they don't have any meaning outside of that. People... people like us, get to make our own meaning, but we gotta work hard to find our purpose along the way. So... I'm sorry to say, Terry, you're a dumbass person just like me.”

Terry laughed despite himself at this, blushing and lowering his head before he closed his eyes as he rested against her shoulder, whispering a thank you. Golden Glow only shrugged a bit, then rested back in her seat before her eyes roved to the public baths, and she said after a moment: “Anyway, look what else you did, you got some stupid ponies to start using the bathhouse here. You know, Terry, that I'm the one who's going to get yelled at for that.”

The leonine serpent only smiled, and Golden Glow smiled as well despite herself, nodding and letting her gaze tilt upwards, staring up at the ceiling as she murmured: “But I guess that's okay. It's your temple anyway, Terry. I'll just blame it on you.”

Terry hesitated for a moment, and then he looked up at her and said quietly: “It might be, but... I... I think... I think I want to leave.”

Golden Glow looked down at him with surprise, and Terry smiled briefly before he lowered his eyes and nodded once, then murmured: “This was my home, for a long time, but... but I think now it's time for me to leave, Golden Glow. Does that make any sense to you?”

“Too much.” Golden murmured, and then she squeezed him gently around the shoulders before she said softly: “Okay, Terry. You've got time to figure it out though, don't worry. But whatever happens... I'll help you.

“You're my friend, Terry. We'll figure it out together.”

Merger

Golden Glow had ended up spending far more time at the temple than she'd envisioned she would, or even ever wanted to: it was never supposed to be anything but a quick stop-in, after all, a first look and an exclusive for her PonyTube show, Boldly Goes.

Instead, it had been a months-long ordeal where she'd ended up becoming the best friend of someone from another time and place. Someone who was a... a leomia, as she'd cleverly termed him.

Leomia. She still couldn't believe he'd let her call him that.

Golden Glow smiled in amusement as she stretched out, comfortable and naked, sighing in contentment as she walked through her large, cozy condo aboard the Equestrian Colony Class Station Hador. She was only here for a few days, but it was nice to have a bit of time off to herself, in a place where no one else could really bother her.

Mostly to herself, she corrected, as she peeked in through the doorway of the guest room at Terry, who was curled up on the couch, rereading a book. He read voraciously: she thought he'd probably been through all the books she had a dozen times by now, and that was on top of the books he'd borrowed from the library and who knew how many stories he'd read off the internet.

He kept coming back to a few of her books in particular, though. The Daring Do stories, and some heavy philosophy texts. He had funny tastes. And funnier still was how much time he spent in books, in spite of the fact they were here, on a colony ship floating a few hundred miles above the atmosphere, gently circling the planet below.

Not that Terry wasn't fascinated by where they were, or that he didn't appreciate the spectacular view they had up here, of the stars around them and the planet below. His favorite thing seemed to be when they went up on the rooftop, as close to the glass sky of the colony as they could get, and just spent their time in quiet, reading and researching with that great endless sea of celestial expanse overhead, protected from it by nothing but a thin veneer of solar glass and the ship's invisible deflector shields.

He probably had more of an appreciation for it than she did. And he was learning to appreciate other things, too, like pony culture, she thought, as she gave a slight smile at the lounging leomia.

He was naked except for the gemstone hanging around his neck, his smooth body carefully groomed from tip to tail, his makeup perfectly applied around those big, emotive eyes of his. Golden Glow was a little jealous of how quickly and efficiently he was able to fix himself up, actually. He could get his mane and face done in the time it took her to drag her exhausted ass from her bed to the bathroom.

Then again, she only ever had to look her best for Boldly Goes. Makeup didn't help you a whole lot when you were out surveying work sites and wandering around desolate ruins and tripping in the mud and landing on your stupid face.

But she didn't have to worry about any of that right now anyway. All she had to do right now was relax.

Terry glanced up at her and blushed a bit, meekly hiding his face behind the book, but Golden only smiled in amusement at him before she slipped backwards and headed towards her own room. Terry looked like he had settled in, and since she had nothing better to do...

She grinned to herself as she slipped into her room, rubbing her hands together as she ducked down and reached under her bed to pull out a simple cardboard box. She opened this to reveal a treasure trove of erotic toys that had been tossed together, with an odd set of goggles sitting on top of the mess of playthings.

Golden Glow plucked these up, along with the personal pad that went with it. She paused and peered at the arm computer on her bedtable for a moment, but Aeiro was still in sleep mode. And that gave her a chance to indulge a little without feeling like the AI was creepily watching her.

The mare toggled through the settings on the datapad, which were all very nondescript, before she set it down and put the goggles on. She grinned as she sat back comfortably on the bed, watching the boot sequence roll by in front of her eyes before there was a brief blink.

And a moment later, she was looking at a handsome stallion who seemed to be standing at the foot of her bed, smiling at her as Golden whistled a little. Of course he wasn't really there: the goggles were just a retro augmented reality interface that she enjoyed using because they were a little more private than projection holograms or AR masks.

“Well, aren't you handsome?” Golden Glow teased as she leaned back on the bed, and then she clucked as she picked up the datapad, running her fingers over it to quickly change the settings as she muttered: “But let's start with a little bit of a show...”

A mare sauntered in from out of frame, strutting her way over to the stallion. Golden Glow leaned back, watching as the mare slipped into the stallion's lap and immediately began to kiss him, murmuring as she allowed her fingers to idly trail their way down her belly: “You ever hear of foreplay? Come on. Tease me a little.”

The digital performers acknowledged her by slowing their movements, becoming more teasing instead as their mouths broke. They looked deep into one another's eyes as their hands slowly, idly explored each other, shifting back a little so that she was sitting on his knee more than in his lap, and his hands slowly, steadily explored the curves of her hips, worked their way along her sides, earning their way towards-

A beeping filled her ears a moment before Aeiro popped into field of vision, chirping: “Package delivery!”

“God damn it!” Golden Glow yelped, flinching backwards, and the digital performers both winced and halted, staring at her, as Aeiro giggled, flitting back and forth across her vision. “Aeiro! Go away! Go back to sleep! I'll just pick up the mail later tonight.”

“Sorry!” Aeiro apologized. “But your package requires a signature.”

“I could use a signature for a package right now.” grumbled Golden Glow, and then she sighed before she said dryly, as she turned her eyes back towards the digital ponies currently waiting for instruction: “Don't get too excited without me. I'll be right back.”

She saw the ponies grumble a moment before she reached up and pulled off her goggles, then scowled at the empty air as she realized Aeiro wasn't even present, complaining loudly: “Aeiro, stay out of my... reading glasses.”

She paused, glanced down at herself as she grouchily rubbed a hand slowly along her own belly, and then she mumbled: “Well, at least I didn't get excited enough to have to put on a skirt. Okay, okay. Let's hurry.”

Golden absently picked up the box of toys and tossed it to the floor so she could boot it under the bed with a hoof before she hurried out of the room, not noticing Terry poking his head out of the guest room as she left. The leomia tilted his head in curiosity, then looked towards the open door of her room, sliding smoothly towards it as he asked to himself: “Reading glasses?”

He peered into her room, feeling a little like he was violating her privacy... but Golden Glow had always told him that he was welcome in here any time. There wasn't a lot to see, anyway: a big comfy bed, some shelves stuffed with books he frequently borrowed, a workdesk and a big screen dominating one wall...

His eyes locked on the strange goggles on her bed, and he couldn't help but slide towards these, picking them up curiously. He studied the goggles for a moment, then shrugged a bit before tugging them on, absently securing the band over his eyes as he stared at... the room, it seemed. That was funny. Everything looked the exact-

He turned his head, then yelped at the sight of the two ponies lounging together at the foot of the bed before he yanked the goggles up, wheezing loudly as he clutched at his chest. He saw nothing, and he hesitantly reached out, waving his hand through thin air before he tugged the goggles nervously back down, and he saw both ponies again, looking at him expectantly, making him wonder uneasily: “Who... are you?”

Both ponies waved, the stallion saying cheerfully: “Stud Model 'Hot Rod,' made for her pleasure, switch and passive personalities engaged.”

“Mare model 'Della,' for your enjoyment, switch-dominant personality structure rigged-in.” answered the mare.

“Oh!” Terry realized after a moment. “Daemons! I mean... AI programs. Oh, I see. For a moment I thought you were ghosts.”

Both ponies just smiled at him, and Terry studied them through the goggles curiously before he asked hesitantly: “What... what are you doing?”

“What would you like us to do?” countered the mare.

“I thought these were Golden Glow's reading glasses... uh... are you a tutoring program?” asked Terry after a moment.

And before his eyes, both the models changed, the mare winking as a dress appeared over her body and a ruler in her head, smacking this teasingly against her palm as the stallion leaned back with a blush in a schoolboy's uniform. “Would you like to view this scenario?”

“Uh... yes?” Terry said awkwardly, feeling strange, uncomfortable, and yet compelled all the same by the curious goings-on. After all, he could just... take the goggles off any time if it got too weird, so why not see what they had to offer first?

These ponies sure were strange, though.

“Care to select your level of engagement?” asked the mare, half-lidding her eyes.

“I'll... just watch.” Terry blurted out, blushing a bit.

“Care to select the level and type of activity?” asked the stallion, even as he leaned back from the 'teacher' mare.

Terry stared blankly at the mare, and after a moment the AI recited: “Levels range from low to high stimulation. You may specify any and all activities as desired from the database, or autoplay simulation based on stored preferences.”

“Uh... yes?” Terry said awkwardly.

Both AIs only looked at him expectantly for a moment, and then Terry yelped as Aeiro flitted suddenly in front of his vision, saying cheerfully: “Hi, Terry! Do you need some help?”

“Aeiro! I... y-yes, thank you.” he said embarrassedly, blushing deeply before he said hurriedly: “I hope this isn't rude of me or anything, I just heard Golden Glow call these her reading glasses and I wanted to see what that meant and I hope I'm not intruding, I just wanted to see-”

“It's fine! I can show you how these work, I'm sure Goldie won't mind!” trilled Aeiro cheerfully, before she sang: “Just sit back and relax, and I'll take care of everything else!”

The seahorse zipped out of sight, and Terry blinked before he stared as the two digital ponies fizzled once before solidifying, taking on clearer, sharper distinction, the mare grinning over at the stallion as she teased: “I've got some homework for you, Rod. You've been doing badly on your exams lately... I think it's time you did some extra credit to make up for it.”

“Oh, this must be a school video.” Terry said to himself, oblivious as he leaned in keenly, wondering if it this was a lesson plan, or a motivational video, or-

“I'll do whatever you want, Miss Della.” said the Rod AI, before he blushed as the teacher leaned forwards over him, grinning as she stroked the ruler under his chin.

“Then why don't we start by working on your behavior? You've been a naughty boy in class... I think we should start with the basics of who's in charge, and what happens to bad boys who don't listen...”

Faint music started wailing in the background as Terry watched inquisitively, before his face turned beet red as he reached up to cover the goggles, peeking through his fingers as the ponies began to move hotly, heavily against each other. “O-Oh my!”

He obviously knew what was going on: it wasn't like he was unaware of biological functions by now, and he'd accidentally stumbled onto what ponies called 'porn' once or twice while trying to look things up on the internet.

“Uh, Aeiro?” squeaked Terry, as he stared through the goggles, watching how the mare handled her stallion firmly, confidently, feeling a strange shudder run through his body.

“Yes, Terry?” Aeiro asked cheerfully. “Would you prefer something else?”

“I uh... I didn't think that uh...” Terry stammered, staring as Della tore Rod's shirt open, then stroked down his thin chest as she leaned over him, buxom breasts in his face, the 'student' stallion blushing brightly.

“If you're uncomfortable, Terry, I can turn it off! But your physiological responses indicate high levels of arousal and enjoyment! Don't be embarrassed,” trilled Aeiro brightly. “These devices were designed purely for entertainment, and what you are experiencing is natural and a well-established part of modern culture.”

Terry didn't really have a response to that, only blushing deeper and staring as the two digital ponies became more fervent, the mare clearly in charge, the stallion submitting to her will and desires...

He lost track of time as he stared at the two, not even realizing how the display was affecting him, that his twin hemipenes had peeked their way out of his genital slit and were throbbing with the excitement the leomia was otherwise trying to hide as he sat childishly with his hands still half-covering the goggles, as if the fact he was peeking through his fingers made this somehow less embarrassing for him.

He didn't even notice when Golden Glow stepped into the doorway, wincing and then scowling horribly at the sight of Terry sitting on her bed and staring through her VR goggles. Her cheeks puffed out almost childishly as she glowered at him before her eyes slid down his body, and they widened a little as she saw the twin – two? He has two? – penises of the leomia sticking out of his body, red and bright and fleshy, throbbing in the naked air.

She cleared her throat a little louder than she intended to, and Terry flinched and looked sharply at her before he squeaked and grabbed wildly at the goggles, yanking them hurriedly up off his eyes as he blurted out: “Golden Glow!”

“Terry!” Golden Glow retorted, forcing her eyes quickly up to his, and then she stomped over to him and reached up to quickly snatch the goggles off his head, making him blush furiously as he covered his face in embarrassment. “Why are you using my... uh...”

Before she even said it, she realized why the euphemism she used might interest Terry. And before she could change her question slightly, Terry said embarrassedly: “I'm sorry, I thought it was uh... well...”

“It's my fault, Goldie, I set it up for him!” chirped Aeiro as she flicked into being, the seahorse whizzing up beside Terry with a smile. “I didn't think you'd mind, and Terry really seemed like he needed to relax like you like to relax sometimes!”

Golden winced as Terry blushed, and then Aeiro leaned forwards and whispered seriously: “Masturbation.”

“Yes, I get it, Aeiro, thank you!” Golden snapped with a deep blush, flailing her arms at the little seahorse before she grumbled as she held the goggles up over her face. “What were you looking at, anyway...”

She scowled as she turned her head, then stared at the augmented reality that greeted her: her favorite models were still going at it, digital Rod groaning away as digital Della plowed him from behind with a strap-on, and Golden Glow stared for a moment before she snapped: “Hey!”

Both the digital ponies flinched and stared at her, and Golden scowled at them sourly before she grumbled: “System off.”

Without waiting to watch the goggles power down, she tossed them off her face onto the bed, looking mildly down at Terry as he smiled lamely up at her, blushing, half-covering himself, eyes shifting awkwardly away as Golden said wryly: “Didn't know you were into that, Terry.”

“I uh... well, I mean, that is to say...” Terry blushed a bit, trying to look away, but his eyes wandered back to her as he blushed deeper and mumbled: “I guess I don't know... what I'm really into. I mean, I never... uh...”

He blushed deeper, and Golden studied him for a moment before she smiled a little despite herself, sitting down on the bed beside him. She gently reached up, stroking along his arm, letting her eyes draw over his handsome leonine upper half as she teased: “What, never tried sticking something up your butt?”

Terry's eyes bulged and he stared in something like horror at Golden Glow, who couldn't help but laugh as she leaned into his side. He fidgeted wildly, mumbling as his eyes darted back and forth before Golden Glow said thoughtfully: “You know, I could probably find something nice and easy for you to try out if you wanted...”

Terry flinched and looked awkwardly away, and Golden Glow smiled in amusement at him, figuring she had probably made her point and now- “Um... c-c-could you... help me?”

Golden blinked, then couldn't help but stare as Terry asked, even as he refused to look at her and turned as bright red as a ripe tomato: “M-M-Maybe... l-like that mare was with... with the uh... with the um...”

He peeked towards her, and it was Golden Glow's turn to blush and look awkwardly away for a moment. They shifted together, and yet even as they half-turned from each other, they couldn't help but lean into each other a little, arms rubbing together, sides almost touching as Golden Glow gave it real thought for a moment.

Her body flexed: she was frustrated, a little aroused, and... giving Terry's proposal actual thought, as she peeked at him again, licking her lips a bit as her eyes slid along his body. He blushed as he looked back at her, and she felt the quiver of his arm as he half-moved it upwards, the mare smiling slightly and murmuring after a moment: “You know, the male's supposed to be the one who takes charge. And I'd think your... first time...”

She glanced at him, saw his blush redden his cheeks even more, and she understood that, yes, it was indeed his first time even considering some kind of physical interaction with another. “Well, don't you want it to be...”

“I... want it to be special. And... I...” Terry stammered a little, then blushed as he leaned suddenly over, burying his face against her neck, breathing in her smell, his arms compulsively wrapping around her waist and squeezing her, hugging himself into her as he pressed against her.

She blushed a little as she looked at him, felt his presence, his closeness, and she smiled a bit, her arm sliding naturally around him, squeezing him closer into her as her other hand reached out and stroked gently down his chest, saying softly and simply: “Okay.”

That was all that needed to be said, and Golden leaned down, nuzzling his head for a moment before she brought a hand up and nudged him gently under the chin, bringing his gaze up to meet hers. They looked at one another for a few moments, and then Golden smiled softly as she brought her lips to his, kissing him: first almost chastely, watching the way his eyes widened with surprise, feeling him quiver in her arms, before she pushed forwards, and deepened the kiss, as she allowed her eyes to slip closed.

He kissed her back as his own eyes fluttered for a moment before sliding shut, whimpering a little in rapture as their mouths worked together, their tongues danced, he felt himself completely in her grips and under her control as the more experienced mare teased him and tasted him. He felt himself melting under her power and guidance, his hands gripping helplessly into her as her own slid across his frame, encouraging him to draw in closer, to kiss deeper, harder, more passionately.

Finally, their muzzles parted, Terry panting and almost shaking, his eyes flickering open to stare raptly up at Golden Glow as she looked down at him with a seductive, half-lidded gaze, gently extracting herself from him to push him back onto the bed, guiding him, telling him what she wanted, what he had to do, without ever needing to speak.

He felt her slide over him, straddling his thick tail, his body shivering as his twin penises flexed and bulged in the naked air. He breathed hard as she slid her hands along his lithe frame, but when he half-reached up, she caught his wrists and gently pinned them by his head as she leaned down and kissed his chest, silently telling him to trust her, to submit to her, to allow her to tease him and please him.

He was more than happy to, letting his head roll back, breathing softly as he felt her trail kisses down his chest, over his belly, her hands sliding gently along his arms, then inward, trailing across his lithe chest, running their way his sides, making him squirm with the ticklish, anxious sensation. She stopped at his waist, where short, leonine coat gave away smoothly to scale just above his groin, and those throbbing, pinkish cocks.

She smiled slightly as she let her hands tickle down, fingertips grazing his groin, Terry flushing and shifting before he gasped softly as he felt her hands on his twin members. He blushed deeply, squirming, digging his fingers into the blanket of her bed as his long body-tail twitched and almost coiled beneath her, but she sat herself firmly down. She both pinned his body-tail in place and let him feel the heat of her own groin, the flex of her thighs, the excitement whispering its way through her own body as she squeezed gently but teasingly on those two shafts.

She felt them flex, beads of pre leaking from his twin cocks, his body jilting under her as he bit his lip. She couldn't help but smile at him as she just let her hands encompass his shafts, holding on to him, letting him adjust to the feel of her hands, letting the arosual flow, and then ebb as she gazed down at him tenderly.

She didn't want him to orgasm immediately, after all. She wanted to really... enjoy this.

She gently released him, then slid her hands down further, kneading her fingers down the underside of his body tail, and Terry shivered, then closed his eyes: he wasn't panting quite as much, but it was clear that he enjoyed the feeling of her massaging down along those strong coils, that he liked the feeling of touch, that maybe it was a sensual zone for him, but not so sexual that it was making him lose control.

And she enjoyed the feeling of her fingers working against his scales, taking in how smooth they were, how the entire coil was a series of strong muscles. She half-lidded her eyes as she slid down further, letting herself slip off the foot of the bed and giving him a moment to relax as she ducked down.

Two sets of curious eyes couldn't help but watch the sight of the two teasing each other: a digital daemon, and a magical construct, both invisible to the eyes of pony and leomia so as not to disturb them, but fully visible and audible to one-another as they floated in a corner, Aeiro giggling as she said brightly: “They're certainly enjoying each other!”

“I'm glad for Terry. He's never had this... he's never really had anyone to really... be with him, let alone give him something like this.” Oneiros said, before the daemon smiled slightly, adding wryly as Golden Glow grinned as she stood up, a strap-on gleaming in her hand. “Even if it's... interesting.”

“What, you didn't have toys back then?” asked Aeiro cheerfully, and Oneiros chuckled.

“No, it's not that. Toys, magic, plenty else... more... this.” Oneiros remarked, watching as Golden Glow sliding into place, the strap-on she had strapped on grinding its way slowly up Terry's long body tail as he flushed and leaned back, breathing a little harder, a little nervous, a little anxious, a lot excited... exhilarated, in a word.

“Oh, Goldie's great at taking control! She knows just what she wants and she doesn't stop until she gets it!” chirped Aeiro.

“I can see that. Makes me a little jealous.” Oneiros said, before the archeaopteryx squawked in surprise as she felt the seahorse grind against her with a wink, a twist of ephemeral fingers teasingly stroking the other side of her body.

“Well, there's no reason you have to be! And you don't have to be so lonely, either.” Aeiro said kindly, smiling warmly at Oneiros as the daemon looked at her dubiously... but she didn't resist as she felt the seahorse's magic twist around her again. The digital construct's emanations felt so much like her own, so real to her, so... welcome, after countless years without any contact, without even thinking her own kind existed anymore...

Oneiros gave into it, unable to help herself, the daemon leaning into the seahorse as her own claws slid upwards and over the body of her fellow spirit: their manifestations were so different, and yet the energy Aeiro exuded was so much the same, so familiar, so comforting. Their contact wasn't quite like Terry and Golden, but it was still intimate, showing trust, affirmation, something beyond the physical.

The two spiraled together, their bodies coiling with each other, the ethereal, invisible hands of the seahorse stroking over every inch of Oneiros as the archaeopteryx ground back with both spirit body and her very essence, stroking the hidden parts of Aeiro that her claws and wings couldn't reach and making the seahorse trill in elation and pleasure. Aeiro was vocal, exuberent, excited, not hiding her delight, her arousal, her pleasure; Oneiros was reserved but dedicated, giving her all to her partner, her pants betraying her excitement but the way she worked her body and energy back against her fellow daemon truly displaying her determination to please her lover.

Meanwhile, Terry shivered as he felt Golden's body press over his: her naked form ground down against his uncovered chest, her breasts pressing against his chest, her legs straddling him, making him feel the flex of her thighs, the rock of her hips as she thrust the strapon slowly between the twin stalks of his hemipenes. Terry shuddered at the feeling, licking his lips as he tilted his head back, feeling his body trembling with strange, unadulterated desire as he whispered wordlessly to the pony.

The mare nuzzled into his neck, gave him a teasing nip on the throat, and Terry whimpered helplessly for her as he bucked his serpentine waist; she allowed him to shift himself against her, her hands stroking along his body, one soothingly rubbing down his belly as the other traveled further downwards, gently slipping its way towards the snake's tender tailhole.

A single finger slid along the rim of his rosebud, and Terry squirmed and gasped, tilting his head back with a flush, but he almost immediately settled the moment that Golden Glow nuzzled into his neck.

Slowly, gently, she slipped a fingertip forwards, and Terry gasped softly as he felt it gently, carefully penetrate him. Her other hand stroked upwards, slowly rubbing across his chest before it wrapped around his neck, and Terry almost mewled as Golden's lips slipped up to his, kissing him, sharing breath with him as slowly but surely, her finger slid into his virgin rosebud, making him shudder at the strange sensation of being penetrated, even by just a single digit.

His shafts flexed, grinding against her taut stomach, leaking their essence in dribbles that smeared through their fur. His eyes fluttered as their mouths worked together, and as the kiss broke, he couldn't help but chase her lips, kissing her again, and again, as her finger slowly pumped in and out of his tailhole, as she teased and toyed with him.

Her strapon was a toy of his century, flexing like a real shaft, the horsecock-shaped artificial phallus sending tingles of delight through Golden's body as if it were really her own as it meshed and ground against the snake's body, as it was sandwiched in the warmth of their forms, as it clashed and frotted against the twin members of the snake.

She thrust against him, her body flexing, licking her lips as she pushed him down: not pinning him, not dominating him, but taking control, leading him as she drew her hips back and positioned herself, bringing the head of her synthetic cock to the snake's tailhole as she drew her finger back. She could feel the flex of the rim of his ring as her toy's cockhead pressed forwards, just as she felt Terry stiffen slightly beneath her before he relaxed, letting his head drop back, his tail raising slightly, his body offering itself to her in what was almost a moment of instinct-driven desire.

Her body reacted with the same instinct, thrusting forwards, that thick, almost-real phallus pushing against the tight tailhole of the snake and burying into it, making Terry gasp as he felt his anus stretched far larger and further by something much bigger than just a digit. He gritted his teeth and shivered, eyes narrowing to slits in what could have been absolute agony or intense pleasure: something he wasn't sure of himself, as his body bucked, his tail flicking sharply, his waist rocking and his hands clutching helplessly at Golden as a short series of staccato gasps escaped his muzzle.

She sank her synthetic shaft into him, urged on by him and helped along by the almost convulsive buck of his waist: she paused more so she could take a breath than he could adjust, as he squirmed beneath her, gasping, his shafts dripping pre, whimpering nonsense words escaping his jaws as his fingers dug against her back.

Then she thrust, again, burying the strapon inside of the leomia to the hilt, grunting as her cloth-covered crotch pressed into the smooth scaled underbody of the male. He gasped as he clutched into her, moaning something that sounded vaguely like her name, and Golden Glow groaned wordless comfort into his neck as her body pressed down against him, her loins aflame with passion, nipples hard as diamond as every inch of her front ground itself down against him.

She breathed roughly, mixing with the hot pants of the leomia as he clung to her, shivering, as his body adjusted to the feeling of the toy inside him. His fingers clutched at her as he shuddered in need, almost whimpering as he felt the mare's body push down before her hips rolled, then slowly drew back before thrusting again, grunting quietly as she buried that thick toy to the hilt again into the leomia's tight passage.

He gasped and shuddered, burying his face against her neck, but his body rocked, flexed, as if asking for more. Golden was all too glad to give him what he wanted, what his body needed at this point, thrusting her strap-on to the base before she slowly dragged it back, then pumped it forwards again.

Terry moaned and shuddered, his body shaking with need and desire: above, that need, that pleasure was mirrored by the writhing forms of the AI and the daemon as they twisted through the air together, invisible but for the occasional swirl of light their coupling made as their energies intertwined, as manifested bodies pushed and rollicked together as living spirit twisted and comingled at the same time.

The archaeoptyerx thrusted her hips, grinding her sex against the seahorse's own as the nimble body of the AI almost coiled around her, nuzzling down her neck, trailing kisses down her chest as they bucked and jostled together. They worked against one another, moaning to each other, sharing data and life, spirit and substance as Aeiro shuddered at the delight of strong wings embracing her, of claws tickling against her scales, of her strong form grinding deliciously against the exotic avian-saur's frame.

As they coiled overhead, below Terry cried out in delight as Golden thrust faster, harder, leaning down into Terry, not pinning him, but all the same ruling him, keeping him beneath her in a way that drove him wild. The serpentine male flexed back against her, his tail thumping and thudding against bed and floor with very buck of Golden's hips, feeling her strap-on shoving deliciously deep into his body again and again and again.

He moaned out, his twin cocks grinding, flexing against her stomach, the feeling soon becoming too much. His panting grew into mewling, moaning whimpers, his eyes opening and his head lolling back, gasping for breath as his maw yawned open. He thrust helplessly against her as she pistoned into him, rough, crude, unable to keep time: virginal, and passionate.

His cocks flexed: and Golden gasped as she felt his orgasm hit, making his body clench around her strap-on as she drove it deep with every hard, jagged thrust into him, feeling her own passion and pleasure growing as she reamed relentlessly into his body. She breathed hard, leaning down against him, body flexing as his thick seed spurted from his cocks, spilling between their passionate bodies, staining both of their coats with his chimeric cum.

He moaned out, thrusting himself harder for a few moments, crying out in delight as his head lolled back and his body shook with ecstasy before he slumped back against the mattress as Golden Glow thrust, then allowed her pistons to slow, gasping in pleasure, looking down at him with a lick of her lips as he settled against the bed. He breathed hard, body shaking, eyes blinking a few times before he flushed with both pleasure and embarrassment.

Golden only smiled down at him, the two resting together for a moment, bodies close, his mess between them as he licked his lips before saying meekly: “You didn't...”

Golden shrugged, grinning as she leaned down and kissed his neck, comforting: “It's your first time and not my first rodeo. I don't need to. I enjoyed myself. It's... it's been a long time since I've had... this.”

She blushed a bit herself, resting her head against his neck for a moment as Terry's fingers trailed silently down her back: to her surprise, he was still hard, his hips rocking his body slowly against her, his long, coiling tail flexing beneath her as they relaxed for a few moments with the strap-on buried in him still, before he murmured hesitantly: “I... I want to... I mean, if...”

He blushed, deep red, and Golden smiled slightly as she straightened before she slowly pulled back, letting the strap-on slip loose from his tailhole, Terry gasping a bit, and then shivering in pleasure as he arched his back at the exotic, erotic feeling of cold air teasing his stretched rosebud. He shivered for a moment on his back, then licked his lips as Golden rolled off to the side of the bed, reaching down to idly undo the strap-on and let it fall loose to the side, her sex wet, her thighs glistening, her body still quivering with the heat and desire as one of her hands stroked down his chest, then gripped lightly into one of his cocks.

He grunted softly, more from the feeling of... being touched, than being sensitive. His hard cocks throbbed, glistening with his spent load, but leaking still, throbbing still, as Golden squeezed slowly on one of those bulging shafts before she stroked it idly, then asked softly: “Not going to be too hard on you if...”

He shook his head, blushing, and Golden smiled slightly before the snake added hesitantly: “But maybe if... if you could...”

The mare smiled wider, then winked as she slipped her way onto Terry, straddling his waist as she stroked her hands along his front gently, and the snake settled obligingly on his back, gazing up at her with a blush as the mare teased: “Don't worry. I like being the one on top anyway.”

She looked down at those dual cocks, gently stroking her hands to them, gripping them and squeezing them teasingly for a moment. She had done a lot of... interesting things in her day, but she thought it would probably be best to start just with one of them, not both.

Terry was already shivering under her grip, and she smiled slightly before she shifted, pivoting herself just enough that she was still able to tease Terry's shaft as she lowered herself, while the other cockhead slid up the front of her groin. She gave a low breath, then shifted back, rolling her hips downwards, and Terry gasped in pleasure as, almost without warning, he felt her sink down, impaling herself on one of his cocks as the other hemipene pushed upwards along her groin, pointed head nudging her clitoris.

Golden shuddered in pleasure, leaning forwards, resting one hand on Terry's stomach and the other on her leg as she began to rock her hips slowly, firmly, raising herself up, then sinking lower, inch after inch of his shaft vanishing into her clenching cunt. Terry shuddered, gasping out again, his body flexing, his strong tail coiling helplessly behind Golden as he reacted more to this than he had to the strap-on, his eyes rolling in his head as he moaned out: “Y-Yes... G-Goldie...”

Golden Glow shivered as she rolled her hips, sitting her weight down, feeling his shaft sink into her until her thick mare lips kissed his solid waist. She gyrated, grinding his flesh against the wall of her sex, making them both shudder before she began to make short, easy rocks, thighs flexing with every quick buck, rising up, then sitting down that hard length as she breathed softly in and out, her whole form shaking with pleasure as her hands dug against his furry chest and her own leg.

She could feel him, pressing deep inside her, as his other cock slid against her groin, exotic and delightful, grinding against her clit with every pass and doubling her pleasure as she moaned out in need. She worked herself eagerly along his length, riding him almost greedily as her breasts bounced with every firm rollick of her hips, and Terry moaned out in need as he grasped at her, almost clinging to her as his body responded for him, thrusting off-rhythm upwards into her with every firm bounce of her body.

It wasn't long before she was bouncing faster, harder on his shaft as he thrust helplessly up into her, trying to resist the urge to piston his hips wildly as he moaned out in pleasure, his body visibly shaking with delight. His exposed cock visibly leaked copious amounts of pre as his other shaft flexed inside of her, twin hempenes pulsing with need and desire he could barely resist as her tight walls milked his dual malehood for all that they were worth.

Golden moved faster, firmer, breathing harder as she worked herself up and down his length, her body shuddering, flexing, her sweaty mane hanging in her eyes as she dropped her head forwards, her legs visibly clenching, rump jiggling with every drop of her ass, every throb of her thighs, every rise of her waist. She worked herself, passionately, along his length, shivering in pleasure as his name escaped her lips with every few breaths.

It was short, and sweet, and wonderful: in minutes, Golden had her head thrown back, moaning louder, taking all she could from the leomia as her body quaked with pleasure, overheating with the passion of their coupling as her sex clenched around his shaft. She cried out in bliss, head lolling back, eyes staring up at the ceiling as her hands slid up her own body, relishing the delight of not just an orgasm, but the first in the longest time that she had shared with another, gasping in pleasure as her vagina clenched powerfully around the snake-shaft buried inside of her, as her clit throbbed, her whole form shook, and her nectar spilled down her thighs, splattering over the waist of the leomia.

It was too much for Terry to handle: it had taken all of his effort to last this long, and he couldn't resist giving in to the ecstasy, the raw pleasure that came with the mare's orgasm, his own hitting, making him cry out in delight as he thrust helplessly up into her, his other cock grinding against her as it visibly stiffened before squirting his hot load up her body, splattering across her stomach and pattering back down over his own chest as he thrust helplessly, wildly up into her sex.

They worked together, passionate, raw, working one-another for all the pleasure they could. And finally, their bodies settled, Golden gasping quietly as she settled down, laying across his chest as he pressed back into her, wrapping his arms around her and burying his face against her neck as they coiled in a shuddering mess as his shaft slipped loose from her sex.

They rested for a few long moments together, as above, their spirit helpers danced in the afterglow, finishing up their own intense, passionate mating as their little voices cried out, their similar spirits mixed and danced as they both orgasmed; with energy, not the physical, but more intense for it as their bodies worked vociferously together, invading each other, grinding into each other, and then releasing, and mixing, nearly inhabiting one-another's forms with how thick their passion was. But they, too, relaxed as the passion settled between their partners, slowly settling into floating overhead in the warmth that followed.

Terry and Golden Glow rested together, and even as they shifted, he buried his head against her, and she wrapped her arms around him, holding him close. Her friend, her lover, her... something so special, something she didn't have words for, as she smiled despite herself before murmuring quietly: “I'm glad you're here, Terry.”

Terry smiled into her neck, and he nodded against her, shy, but here with her, always hers, happy to belong. And in that moment, nothing else mattered, except for them, together.

Now finally, he knew where it was that he truly belonged.