Cryo-7

by Metal Pony Fan

Subdivisions

These are good. Ribbon's thoughts echoed the ones she heard from her fellow nurses as they sipped their smoothies. The owner of the smoothie cart was away, leaving a hired hand in his place. And though he shooed them away pretty quick after seeing the telepath, he had grudgingly prepared their drinks first. "On the house, as long as you leave quickly."

Ribbon sighed sadly and gave the smoothie a little stir with the straw. Lily and Anna weren't putting much thought into their drinks, instead, they were able to just enjoy them, savoring the cold and the sweet fruit flavors. They would also be able to go back and get more without hearing the cart employee wish they were somewhere else.

Softy followed along behind them as they walked, trying to stretch his tail far enough forward to sip out of the cup it held. "Man, you unicorns are lucky. You get to walk and drink at the same time."

"Aww," Annabelle slowed down so he could catch up with her, "Is the poor fire-breathing, shape-shifting dragon jealous of a little telekinesis?" With a giggle, she pulled his smoothie away from his tail and held it out to him. "Here you go, whiney."

The dragon raised an eyebrow at her, less than amused by the antics. Still, smoothie is smoothie. He moved to take a sip of the offered drink, but exacted revenge at the last minute by leaning over and sipping from Annabelle's half empty cup instead of his own. He gulped the cold slush down and smacked his lips as it's sugary presence filled his mouth. "Thanks."

"You're welcome." Annabelle brought his full cup of untouched smoothie to her mouth and started slurping, and slurping, and slurping.

"Hey!" The drake started to protest, but soon started chuckling. His arms crossed in smug satisfaction. "Fine, help yourself."

"M-hmm," Annabelle hummed as she drank. "I wi-Gak!"

Softy held a claw out to catch his drink as she dropped it, then spun around to catch hers with his tail. "What's the matter?" He asked with a sly grin, raising an eyebrow at the mare. "Brain freeze?"

"Mhmm," she whimpered, sitting and grabbing her head. Luckily for Softy, she was too immersed in her own pain to see him use her smoothie to replenish what she had consumed of his. "Give me a moment."

Lilybelle sighed as she sipped her own smoothie, at a slow controlled pace. Raspberry with white chocolate chunks, she stopped every so often to dig out a piece of one or the other and chew on it for a bit. "You never learn, do you? You did the same thing with that Polorran Gelatto last time we went shopping, and before that at the soft-serve cart."

"Yeah," groaned Ribbon, wincing at Annabelle's pain. She made a mental note to avoid cold foods when around the energetic nurse. "Slow down a little, please?"

Lilybelle looked over at Ribbon and shook her head. "You're going to be just as much trouble as she is."

---

"Why are you fighting this?!" Annabelle pushed with all her might, Softy aiding in her struggles. But Ribbon held firm, unyielding to the combined dragon and pony might. "This could be the best thing that ever happened to you!"

"How?" Ribbon shouted back. She looked down. It wasn't hard to resist the shoving, but she was seriously starting to worry about damaging the floor. "What in the Sam Hill do I need a swimsuit for? We're on a space Station, and we don't have a swimming pool!"

"We're mares going shopping," Annabelle stated, halting her efforts, "stop trying to make sense!"

Lilybelle shook her head. She had been sitting, leaning against a column while the rest of them fought over which shops to enter.

"But I don't even have a dresser." Ribbon looked around for a furniture store. "Maybe I should get one of those first?"

"Quit trying to distract me." Annabelle pointed to a nearby store. Unlike the other stores, which kept their doors open to the common area, this one kept its dark walnut door closed. The polished brass handle followed a sensuous curve and was shaped to look like rope, tying itself in place. The mannequins in the windows were wrapped in form fitting black lace outfits and the lighting was dark reds and purples. Behind the mannequins, the windows were blocked off, concealing the rest of the store from view. "Ten seconds. You have ten seconds to pick a store and start shopping. Or I drag you in there, magically if I have to, and see what you look like in that cute dress in the window."

Ribbon went red in the face. "I, I, uh, th- there's um," she struggled to stammer out a rebuttal, but she didn't know what shops were where. How was she supposed to pick one? Submitting to a swimsuit fitting was starting to seem like the less painful option. "I think we passed an office supply store. I do need a new bean bag for the medical closet."

"That's it." Lilybelle stood up with a sigh. "Anna, quit torturing Ribbon for your own amusement. She obviously doesn't know what she wants or where to get it, so, let’s just go somewhere basic."

The blue unicorn's eyes lit up. "You're talking about-"

"Yep." The pink unicorn answered before Ribbon could even hear the completed thought. "Let's go."

---

"Whoa." Ribbon turned her head back and forth, trying to take everything in. It was almost hard to believe there was something like this on the station. Since she lived and worked in the utility sections, and avoided crowds at all costs, she rarely saw anything this nice.

They were in the largest of the shops on the main level. Its selection of merchandise focused on general clothing, personal accessories and small electronics. Something for everypony. Everything was neatly arranged so there was plenty of room to stroll through and browse, and every shelf, bar, and hanger shone in the bright lighting. Music played, loud enough to be heard, but quiet enough to be ignored, and the other shoppers were able to speak over it comfortably.

But the thing that caught the rainbow unicorn's attention the most was the centerpiece of the store. Rising up into a dome in the ceiling, more than twice as tall as anything else in the store, was a column of water. It was a single jet, forced up from a nozzle in the center of a wide pool. at the top, it hit a forcefield that forced it into an umbrella-like curtain of rain. The cascade was further disrupted by smaller forcefields that shifted in time with a catchy, upbeat song about something called a barchetta.

"Is she ok?" Annabelle asked her cousin quietly.

"I hope so," Lilybelle replied in kind. "She's gonna get dizzy if she keeps this up."

"You'd think she never saw a wishing well before," Softy added.

Lilybelle looked over at him. "She probably hasn't."

"That's so sad," Annabelle crooned as she dug out a few small coins. "Alright! I've got enough for everypony. Let's all go make a wish."

"Ok." Lilybelle took two of the coins. "Ribbon!"

She flung the coin as the other unicorn looked back, blinking as the silvery metal bit bounced off her head and landed in the water with a splash.

"Oh!" Ribbon looked back at the pool, noticing the layer of change coating the bottom like glittering algae for the first time. "So that's what it is! I've never seen a wishing well before."

"We kind of guessed that," Lily deadpanned. She walked over, offering Ribbon her second coin. "I threw that last one, so it's technically for my wish I guess." She looked up at the dancing, electronic waterfall, letting herself get lost in the flash and sparkle of ever changing forcefields as the music warned of selling souls for small desires. "We'll see if it comes true."

"I'm sure it will." Ribbon smiled as she tossed her coin in. "Theirs too," she added, nodding towards Anna and Softy. They were both arguing over which of the two remaining coins was luckier and most likely to get a wish granted. "Maybe theirs already has."

"I almost forgot you could do that." Lily chuckled. "I guess telepaths don't count as telling somepony."

"Oh, sorry," Ribbon scratched her head. "Well, if my wish comes true, you won't have to worry about it for long."

Lilybelle raised an eyebrow. "Care to explain that?"

"Maybe later," Ribbon pointed as Annabelle ran off. "Something just caught her eye."

Lilybelle rolled her eyes as she followed her cousin, Ribbon tagging along behind her. Softy followed them after taking a moment to toss both coins into the fountain. He stopped after a few steps though, and glanced back at the fountain. "Wait, is that two wishes, or one wish twice as likely to come true?"

---

"I can't do it," Lilybelle said, staring at herself in the dressing room mirror. "I'm trying on something else."

"No," Annabelle cried, leaning against the door, "I want to see it! They didn't have my size, so you have to come out and let me see it."

"You know," Softy whispered to Ribbon, "I didn't think there would be that much of a size difference between them."

"I heard that!" Lily shouted through the door. "I'm not fat!"

"No," Anna agreed, "you're tubby!"

"Lily, they don't mean that," Ribbon cut in. "And I can tell you like how the dress looks. You probably look amazing right now."

There was a click. The deadbolt undone, the door opened a few centimeters, hinges settling with a squeak as hinges tend to do.

"We don't have all day," Annabelle complained.

Lily braced her head against it and slowly pushed the door open. She didn't realize it, but the motion, that last little flick to move the door away made it look like she was flaunting the outfit. The dress was snug, but not uncomfortable. It was silky black, wrapped at the neck, and loosely draped over one shoulder, then form fitting past that and cut round at the hip to show the cutie mark. The rest of the material draped over the tail, hanging beside it and trailing just off the floor. Lilybelle stared at the far wall, distant gaze giving her a model's indifference as she waited, unwilling to meet the gazes of the rest of her group.

That is, until Annabelle let out a loud wolf whistle.

"What the hell?!" Lilybelle blushed as she shouted at her cousin. "Don't you ever think before doing things like that?"

Annabelle shrugged. "Sure I do. Then I do it anyway."

Softy nodded his approval of the outfit. "I bet that pinto Anna was telling me about is going to love this."

The mentioned mare giggled. "Can you imagine the look on his face?"

Ribbon quietly pointed past Lilybelle. "You mean, that look?"

All eyes turned towards the accessory area, where a single pinto colt, grease and mill scale streaked black on his coat, stared at the elegantly dressed Lilybelle. The new red scarf in his hoof was completely forgotten as he waved nervously, managing a weak smile.

Lilybelle returned a stiff wave, then spun to face Ribbon. "What do I do?" she asked in a frantic whisper. "I haven't even spoken to him yet. I don't even know his name!"

"Why are you asking me?" Ribbon whispered back. "And didn't you look up his repair log? Oh, wait, those only have station numbers, not names. Sorry, I don't know! Wait, wait! That! Do that!"

"Huh?" Lilybelle glanced back at the colt, her mind racing with possible actions. "You're not helping."

"You just thought about introducing yourself!" Ribbon pointed at the young welder. "Go! Do!"

"Oh, right!" Lilybelle nodded once. She looked over at Annabelle. "Should I thank him for the flowers? Were they nice?"

"Oh, I made those up," Annabelle answered, "I just wanted to see you get all flustered."

"One of these days, you're going to prank the wrong pony. And you're just lucky we're in public, and that I have something more important to do right now." Lilybelle cleared her throat and ran an unnecessary hoof over her mane to smooth it down. "How do I look?"

"The same as you did when you walked out of the dressing room, like you stepped out of a fashion magazine." Annabelle nodded towards the colt. "Now, get your butt over there before he leaves."

Even though there was no risk of that happening, it gave Lilybelle the push she needed. She rushed over, stuck her hoof out, and nearly shouted. "My name's Lilybelle, you can call me Lily."

"Well, uh..." The pinto colt looked down at the hoof, wiped his own against his side to clear it of grease, then accepted the offer. He gave her hoof a good shake. "M-mine's Pipsqueak. Most folks call me Pip."

Lilybelle smiled as they continued to shake hooves. She was doing it! She was talking to him! And he had such a cute accent! "Nice to meet you, Pip."

The colt chuckled. He had been working up the courage to introduce himself for nearly a month. He wasn't expecting her to introduce herself first. "Well met, Lily."

Annabelle smacked a hoof to her head. "Ok, Softy, we need to gather every coin in the commissary and wish for this to be less awkward."

The dragon snickered. "They'll be fine. But I wouldn't mind another run at the smoothie cart. You up for that?"

"Always." The nurse looked over at Ribbon. "You wanna tag along, or keep watching them bumble through a conversation?"

"Oh!" Ribbon pulled herself away from the stunted conversation unfolding a few meters away. She actually thought Lilybelle was doing pretty well. "I think I might try some more shopping. This store isn't very crowded, so I should be fine."

"Suit yourself." Annabelle nodded towards her cousin. "Make sure you pick out something that cute or cuter, or I'll just drag you out here again. Hell, I may just take you shopping again anyways. You're a lot of fun. See ya!"

"Wait, um-" As Annabelle and Softy walked, Ribbon gave up on trying to respond to the threat and waved goodbye. "Thanks, Anna, I might like that."

"You better," she said without looking back.

Ribbon smiled and looked back at Lilybelle. She and Pipsqueak were still shaking hooves, trying to start a conversation. The rainbow unicorn decided to leave it to them, slipping away with a whispered, "Good luck, Lily."

Lilybelle started to look down. She couldn't think of anything to say, and this was getting uncomfortable fast. She ended up staring at their hooves. What kind of idiot shakes hooves with a potential love interest? That was something you did with business partners and acquaintances you see once every few months.

"Sorry," she pulled her hoof away. When she did, she saw the long, jagged scar that had been hidden between their hooves.

He saw her staring, and brought his hoof back, pulling it to him and hiding the scar to his coat. "Ya don't have ta 'apologize," he said, looking away. This meeting was falling apart. It might be best to salvage what was left and end the awkwardness. "It was nice to meet you, Lily. I guess I'll see you around?" He grabbed the red scarf he had picked out and started to walk away.

The nurse followed, for a few steps, quietly asking him, "What wave were you?"

It was a simple question, but one that assumed the answers to several others, and it stopped the colt in his tracks. The simple fact that she asked answered many of his questions about her. "Third," the colt answered, "I was a messenger in the smelters. You?"

"I was in the second wave." She sat down, and so did he. The realization of a common past broke whatever awkwardness existed prior. "My father and I didn't make it out until after the rest of our family. He worked the smelters for a while, maybe you know him? His name is thunderlane."

Pipsqueak nodded. "Sure do. Grey bloke, missin' his left eye, hair done up in a Mohawk? Did he get out in the second wave? I thought I remember seein' him after that."

"He stayed behind to fight with the mercenary teams." She blushed a little when the colt moved so they were sitting next to each other, but didn't protest. "When he came back, he introduced me to Growl and she got me into medical school, Annabelle too."

"Y'know, I never took you ta be one a' the Tankrit." The colt turned his hoof, exposing the splattered scar from his first run in with molten metal. "Even the young didn't get away unscathed most a' the time."

"I don't think anypony got away unscathed." She looked down at his hoof, then took it in her own. "I've never shown anypony this, but on my neck, under my mane..."

When she trailed off, closing her eyes, Pip reached over with his free hoof. After a moment's hesitation, he brushed her mane back, starting just below her ear. "Ah, hell."

The criss-cross pattern was unmistakable. Whips were a common punishment, but the marks usually went away. These could only have come from a foreman's whip, with its glass-barbed leather and metal tip.

The colt moved his hoof from her mane to her far shoulder and pulled her to him. He was expecting some sort of reaction, an objection of some kind, but she just let herself be pulled.

She leaned her head against him. "After the first wave escaped, things started to get worse. Punishments were more severe, and dealt out more often. It was about two weeks after the wave, I was distracted, thinking about my family and how much I missed them, and I dropped a bolt of fabric I was supposed to deliver." Pip put his other hoof around her as she started to shake. "They made an example of me. Whipped me right there in the street. Nopony watched, nopony cared."

The colt rested his head on hers. "And those who might have helped were too afraid to do anything." Her story may as well have been his, or any one of dozens of station residents. "Happened too many times."

She nodded, rubbing her face against his fur. "When it was over, I could barely move, but they cleaned me up, poured styptic in the wounds so I wouldn't bleed on the cloth, and made me finish the delivery."

"Bastards, every last one." Pipsqueak ran his hoof along her shoulder. "It's hard to believe we were the lucky ones."

"Mmh," the nurse agreed, "there was white mare in the textile factory. She had it bad, used to disappear for a day or two at a time, and always refused to tell anypony what happened. Sometimes, she wouldn't speak at all."

"In the smelters too, there was a colt my age with white fur. Guards always harassed him. It made me appreciate my spots. I got yelled at, but they left me alone if I kept ta the work." Pip shook his head. "That other colt was an angry one though, always fought back, even though it just meant getting beaten worse."

"What happened to him?" Lily asked.

The colt shrugged. "Don't know. I heard he got out with the third wave, and his family was gonna settle here on Delta, but I haven't seen him since . I should see if there's any info on the station computer. We only talked once, but I think his name was Mezzo."

Comments

[Timuri]

It's starting to sound like these slavers on Tankrit got most of Cryo-7, and ponies like Twilight, Mac, Pinkie, and Rainbow were the lucky ones that slipped their grasp. Especially Twilight. If they'd opened a pod and found a being as powerful as an alicorn, they'd have killed her before she awoke.

[Venerable Ro]

Starting to think that Twilight and Mac are like the last ponies to get woken up.

[Xanderfox]

Good grief, how many Ponyville ponies are on Delta and have yet to figure out they all Ponyvillians or the children of them? When will someone else see Granny Smith's business card Astral has and make the connection?

[The Chronicler]

So I went into this assuming that they were looking for a single ship full of cryo-pods, but I guess that was wrong? How did so many Ponyville citizens slip out of Celestia/Twilight's radar only to all wind up at the same place?