The time spent with Pinkie went alright, Ponder thought.
He still wished he could be doing something to make things better, though he had absolutely no idea what that even entailed, and likely; he himself would not be able to do it.

He thought about Applejack's words: A simple apology.
That would not cut it.
And he would likely find a way to do it wrong.

The meeting time had finally arrived, and nothing went horribly wrong for once.
Him and Pinkie arrived right on time to the only functional clock in this madhouse: a tall tower in the center of the park.

' Titanium ' was talking with Discord, they seemed to be getting along just fine.
Pinkie was seeing this too, and dawned a smirk while looking slightly sideways in their direction.

Ponder was about to ask what was going on for such a strong response, when he was interrupted.
" Heya! " Pinkie instantly shifted to a cheerier tone.

" Want to switch? " She pointed to Ponder.
" Or.... " She took a knowing tone.
" Maybe you want to meet up later? " She said slyly and knowingly.

Discord had to stop himself from laughing at something Celestia said as they were walking to the meeting area.
Titanium looked up to Discord.
" I - suppose - you do need to go. "
" I enjoyed our time. "
He said very formally.

" Yes. I do suppose so. " Titanium replied with a smile.

" Thank you Discord for the invite. It was fun. " Her smile turned into a formal one.
" Ponder, shall we? " She looked over to him.

Ponder got a little uncomfortable at that.
He wasn't entirely sure why, but it was an emotional reaction.

" Oh well! " PinkiePie happily jumped over to Discord.
" Can we go on the size-warping one!? " She decidedly asked.
" Sure! " Discord said with gusto.
" Next- after that- I have a monster designer area that - "
They trailed off as they walked away.

Ponder had raised an eyebrow at Pinkie.
It had taken his mind off of Titanium, but only for a moment.

" My apologies Ponder, I did not think my presence would make you uncomfortable. "
Ponder took a moment to pause, then looked back at Celestia to give a response. Or rather, to ask a question.
Celestia interjected: " A lack of emotion is sometimes more telling then showing it. "
Ponder gained a knowing look.
" Ah. " He confidently stated; his would-be question answered.

They sat on the nearby ' peer ' overlooking many different types of sunsets.
Titanium seemed mesmerized.
Ponder waited patiently.

" Firstly, I would like to apologize. " Celestia was suddenly ready to speak after a long period of silence.
" Wh- What? " Ponder had to ask. It's not everyday someperson can out speed him mentally.

" There were - other instances of Equestria in peril in the past. " Ponder took a blank expression to that, reserving his judgement.
" And I'm afraid I have not done my duty as Princess by failing to take adequate steps to prevent similar events from happening again. "

Ponder looked amazed. And amused, but mostly amazed.

" I hope this apology finds you well when I say... I do need to issue more rules on the matter. "
Ponder held back a scowl as he now struggled to look at Celestia.
She patiently waited for awhile, before speaking up:

" Are you ready for them? " She asked, as if nothing was wrong.

" Sure. Might as well get it over with. " Ponder was failing to hold back his non-enthusiasm.

Celestia took a different tone.
" I had - hoped that meeting in this place - " She waved her hoof around " And in these circumstances - "
" Would at least convey something. "

' She just deviated from her usual manner of speaking. ' Ponder thought. This might be genuine.
An idea came to him.
" Sorry, not really conditioned for it. ", " I don't believe it. "

Titanium tilted her head at him a bit.
He continued his explanation.

" It's sort of... been a pattern in my previous life for good stuff like this to happen - " He waved a hoof to the rest of the amusement park while standing up.
" - only to be not-so-gently reminded that I'm in a world that doesn't value ACTUAL justice or kindness in the slightest. "

Celestia was about to speak up when she ended up letting Ponder speak :
" Even if it's by the exact same pony that supposedly wanted to talk in the first place. "

He stared at her. Quite uncomfortably.
Awaiting a response.

" Hm. " She had to think.

" I almost issued the order to increase security. " She finally said.
Ponder was yet again, at a loss.
" It would have been so easy to write Shinning Armor, our former head of security, and ask him to aid us in improving the countries situation on the matter. "

" But I did not. " She admitted.

Ponder's sudo-aggression was all but gone. He had an inkling of where this was going - but he didn't even believe himself.

" It was because Luna was against it. "
" I had worried that It would upset her greatly; as she had made it very clear that she wanted to do it herself. "

" And I was worried I might have to send her away again. " She looked to the moon, which was right beside the sun in Discord's Chaos World! ™
" But It was an unfounded fear. And my ponies suffered because of it. "

" So I apologize, for not acting sooner. " She finished.

Ponder was at a loss for words.
Never, ever had someone with so much to loose ( and with so much power over him ) had willing been so vulnerable.

' Of course, she could just lock him up and deny all this. ' he was thinking.
But just the rumors alone would do considerable damage. That he was sure of.

If that was the case.
There was just one thing he had to make sure off.

" Well then Celestia. "
Ponder lost all emotion.
His expression turned ghastly robotic, tone shifting to match while not even blinking.

" Can you confidently say you intend to work with me? "

Ponder intentionally left the question open-ended.
He watched her like a hawk - still not blinking - with his head tilted down slightly to maximize intimidation.

This did not go unnoticed.
' Quite the trauma response. ' Celestia thought to herself.
She let it go.

" Yes. " She said calmly and collectively.

" I do. "

" For I believe you can change, even if you do not believe that yourself. "

That part broke Ponder. His concentration, mostly.
Not a single sign of underhandedness, shame, or anger.

He re-centered his gaze on her, after a short break of looking away.

" IF - you follow these new rules. " She interjected, only slightly more serious this time.
Even PonderBright, as autistic as he was, understood that she was watching her tone.

" Do you understand? Are you willing to follow them? " Titanium asked.
" Oh. Yes! Definitely. " He blurted out, as if he was on a timer.

Ponder mulled the thought around in his mind a bit.
" I have them written down, If you wish to go back to them as a reminder. "

" Oh thank god. " He reposed.

" Thank - who? " She asked.

" Oh. You - use the phrase - ' Thank Celestia ' I think? " He corrected her without thinking too much about it.
" I was - unaware I was an expression. " She let a smile emerge.

" Oh. Yeah. " Ponder continued. " I don't find it very likely that anypony in your court would use it in front of you. "
" Plus I'm not from this culture. Plus Autism. " He finished his mini-tirade.

Luckily Celestia had many thousands of years suppressing laughs. Any other pony might have been offended. But not her.

Celestia continued to let Ponder go wildly off topic and into this foreign tangent. There was still plenty of time, after all.
" ... You know. " Ponder managed to slip out
" Speaking of ' no possible way you could have known ' - If you don't mind me asking - why do you hold yourself to the impossible standard of preventing every bad thing that could possibly happen in Equestria? "

Celestia, to spite her thousand-year reign, was at a complete loss.
Too many possible things he could be referring too.

" Whatever do you mean? " She plainly asked.

" You - mentioned - " Ponder grew more depressed " that what happened with me - " He had to pause again.
Celestia interjected.
" We do not have to discuss this if you don't wish. " Titanium offered.
" No- It's ok. ", " I want to get this out. " He rebuked.

Not ' improve this ' or ' fix that ' Celestia was thinking. An improvement. An immediate improvement. Good job Ponder.

" Do you - expect yourself to predict a eldritch bipedal alien to suddenly be dropped from a great height into your world - only to be given wings to save himself from falling - only to not be able to use those wings because, no duh - only to happen to be transformed into the thing most likely to cause collateral damage - only to happen to crash land near one of the few populated areas? "

Ponder had to catch his breath a bit.

He continued.
" Look- I'm not 1,000 years old, so maybe I don't know, but - " Uncertainty and fear oozing out with every syllable.

" I understand PonderBright. " Celestia spoke up.
" And - now that it has been properly and completely explained; I do see that some of my previous worries were unfounded. "
Ponder brightened up a bit.

" And - Truth be told - and the same to you Ponder - " Celestia was considering telling him this.
She decided for.
" Construction incidents, along with mining mishaps - claim more lives per year in Equestria then the tragedy that you were involved with. "
" Not that it makes any of them any less tragic. " Her tone turned somber. Quite the chilling experience, even for Ponder who had plenty of experience with authority.

" Now Ponder. " She looked to him.
" Yes? " He said after a short awkward pause.

" While I have written these rules down, I must know that you are paying attention, and following them to the best of your ability. " She continued on with just the right amount of sternness.

Ponder nodded in response.

" I wish to discuss these with you - so that there will be the least chance of misunderstanding. " She looked to his body language.
He had sat back down - and had little tells as to what he might be thinking. He did have this... ' Autism ' after all.
Nothing she couldn't work around.

" Alright. " Ponder plainly said - WITH some emotion this time!
" I'm ready. "

Celestia had taken every reasonable percussion. Perhaps she had learned a bit more from her student then she had realized.

They talked for awhile.
Not for too long, they had to agree on another meeting when Pinkie and Discord got back, but nothing another session at Twilight's place wouldn't solve.

She wasn't going to deprive him of sleep. After all, having him only half- hear what she says in a half- asleep daze would defeat the point entirely. She knows that pain.

Plus... She wasn't entirely turning into her most faithful student. Not just yet.

The rest of her week was filled with paperwork, collaborations with Shinning Armor, and a general feeling of thankfulness that she has friends to draw strength and inspiration from.

Author's Note

I post on my FIMfiction blog!
https://www.fimfiction.net/blog/1037520/own-story-or-adaptations
Be involved!
Make friends!!
Influence (ever so slightly)
The direction of the story!

I am open to PM. No discord or email. Do not use email. Please.
I am open to work, even collaborations. I can't draw. Muscle condition.

Want to test my writing with this one. Will try to write more and more challenging subjects as time goes on.
All criticism minus something that can only be seen as a nitpick will be appreciated.

In all honestly, this would likely end with one or more parties misunderstanding each other and ' attacking. '
Luckily both are more or less geniuses in a very specific scenario.

Try at home at your own risk.