Cryo-7

by Metal Pony Fan

A crew divided... Temporarily

It was a thin sliver of light, coming through the door, but it was a sliver that landed square in Astral's face. He lifted a hoof to fend it off before opening one eye. The door to the hallway was open slightly, just a crack, letting in some of the artificial light beyond. Fluttershy grunted quietly as she tried to pry the door open. It was hard to grip, and there was no handle to hold.

Astral crawled out of bed. The rustle of blankets distracted her, and she looked back. The door slipped from her hooves, shutting itself tight once more.

"You ok?" He asked her.

She growled. Astral wasn't too surprised, she did a lot of that, but it was her stomach making the noise this time. She worked her mouth for a moment. "Fuh-ood," she managed slowly. "Wa- food."

Astral nodded. "Ok, let's go get some." Cathy mentioned a cafeteria when she was showing them to the room, it shouldn't be too hard to find.

He tapped the panel next to the door.

Fluttershy jumped when the door slid open. When she recovered from her surprise, she looked over at the panel Astral hit. She lifted a hoof to the control and hesitated for a moment.

"It won't bite," Astral reassured her.

She touched it gently and the door closed. With a nod and a grunt, she touched it again, strolling through with confidence when it opened.

Astral was about to follow her when she came barreling back into the room. She slammed into him, knocking him to the floor, and darted under the nearest bed, barely squishing herself flat enough to fit. With hushed, panicked grunts, she motioned for Astral to join her.

Astral groaned as he got up. To Fluttershy's horror, he walked out the door instead of hiding. The two tall lizard creatures that she was hiding from stopped at the door when Astral waved to them.

He asked them a question, and they answered. Fluttershy blushed in embarrassment and started to crawl out of hiding. If they could talk, they couldn't be monsters, could they? Their conversation with the grey unicorn was short, and ended with them pointing down the hall with their stubby, sharp-looking, claws.

Astral looked over at her when she joined him. "It's ok, those were Curaxxans. They're like humans with scales."

Fluttershy tilted her head. "Hoo-min?"

"Right," Astral scratched his neck, "you haven't seen those either. Think Captain Nova, but shorter."

Fluttershy looked at him for a moment before answering, "Oh."

Astral could tell she was still confused, but he didn't press the issue. They would most likely come across a human soon enough. He would just point it out then.

He nodded down the hall in the direction the Curaxxans had pointed. "Let's go. Food's this way."

---

Radio stared at the ceiling and sighed. He was rested and ready for a new day, but it was only about two in the morning, Earth central time, since this was an earth vessel. Even in the Canterlot time zone that the shuttle was set for, it was only about four-thirty. What time was it on Furia?

Was this one of those things you have to get used to with space travel? Sleeping and waking without the benefit of a sunrise or sunset? He looked at the clock again. He only got three hours of sleep.

With a sigh, he looked back at the ceiling. Actually, that was a sufficient amount of sleep for him. He didn't really need that much unless he was injured, or was being lazy. He could snooze a whole day away if he felt lazy, but he always woke up every three or four hours. Usually, he just stayed up later so he could wake up at a normal time.

A sudden soft glow of light on the other side of the room grabbed his attention. It disappeared quickly, as Berry threw a blanket over it, but the damage was done. Radio was out of his bed and pulling at her blanket before she could mutter, "oops."

Once he tugged the blanket out of her grip, he could see the source of the light. It was a pad, and on the screen was a guest menu, describing the schedule of various ship's services and events.

He looked up at Berry. "You couldn't sleep either, huh?"

The earth pony shook her head. "No. I bet it's already morning back home, but I left my pad on the shuttle."

"Where did you get a pad?"

"Granpa made it for me." She pointed at a listing on the schedule. "This looks interesting, can we go see?"

"Of course not!" Radio spun the pad around and read the listing out loud, "Transport tube number three, undergoing repairs until five A.M." He shook his head. "Berry, that isn't meant to be a spectator event. It's only on the schedule so nopony tries to use the thing."

"Oh," Berry said sadly. "It still sounds interesting."

Radio rolled his eyes. "Ok, maybe we can walk by it." He held a hoof up in front of her. "But only to look, you have to promise you won't touch anything."

"Oh, ok," she whined.

Radio looked back at the schedule, quickly finding a listing that interested him. "Then," he tapped the screen, "we head here." He chuckled as he read the description. "This is going to be fun."

---

Twilight groaned as she wrapped the pillow around her head. An insistent beeping noise was demanding she wake up much earlier than she wanted to. Was it morning already? If so, which planet's morning?

The beeping ended, replaced by a scratchy knocking sound. "Miss Sparkle?" Cathy called from the other side of the door. "It is currently five A.M. You said now would be a good time to speak with you regarding your request for medical equipment for your shuttle."

"Oh, that," the alicorn groaned. She forced herself from the soft coziness of the bed and started fumbling about for her robes. At first, she milled about in the dark, taking a moment to remember that she could use magic. The application of a simple spell helped her find her robes and the light switch.

She threw the robes on, but before turning the lights on, she checked to see if everypony else was sleeping. Instead, she found that they were all missing. She flipped the lights on and double-checked. Yep, she was alone. "What the hay? Where'd they go?" She shook her head as she opened the door, giving the beetle outside a nod in greeting. "Good morning, Cathy."

The insectoid officer replied with a nod of her own. "Good morning, Miss Sparkle."

"Twilight, please." The pony yawned.

Cathy nodded again. "If you don't mind me saying so, Twilight, you seem rather disheveled. You did mean five A.M. Canterlot time when we spoke earlier, yes?"

"Um, no?" Twilight rubbed her eyes. "I thought this ship ran on earth central, so I converted eight a.m. Canterlot Main City Time to Earth Central Standard time."

"Then I have woken you three hours early. Forgive me, I will let you return to sleep." Cathy skittered around in place then started to walk away.

"Wait." Twilight flipped the lights back off and closed the door behind her. "I'm already up, and you went through the trouble of getting up at this hour to speak with me. We can talk now."

Cathy skittered around again. "I thank you for your consideration, but I do not sleep. At least, not in your sense of the word. Neither of the talkan species do. The Kikrid have an annual resting period lasting approximately ten days, whereas the Krikid make do with periods of active meditation varying in length and frequency from individual to individual."

"Is that so?" Twilight shook her head. "I never realized there were intelligent beings capable of going without sleep without magical assistance."

"We all require rest," Cathy countered. "In that, there are no differences between us. But the Talkan are a psychically gifted bunch. As such, the minds are wired to rest a bit differently."

"Psychically gifted?" Twilight asked. "Does that mean you're a telepath?"

"Not personally. Most of the Kikrid have empathic abilities at the very least, but I have no extramental capabilities to speak of." The beetle made a clicking noise that could be mistaken for giggles. "This led me to study the communication methods of other races and eventually brought me here. All in all, I am pleased with the way my life has transpired." Her eyes shifted in a pseudo blink. "Though, enough about me. You are probably anxious to discuss your medical supplies."

"Oh, not at all," Twilight replied quickly. "I find it fascinating to learn more about other species, and we have plenty of time."

"Indeed, the trip to Sevus will take approximately seventeen more hours to complete. I can recommend several texts that carry more information about Talka than I could convey. As for the supplies, we have a commissary that is open to guests. There are many types of goods available, and the captain has already extended your crew a credit towards essential items as thanks for the detailed information you provided regarding planet Sevus."

"That was nice of him." Twilight chewed her lip for a moment. "You know, I should really let Radio pick out the medical goods." Thinking about it, was there really anything she should pick out? Astral could cover general supplies better than she could, and parts and tools were most likely Berry's realm from now on. Wait, no, she wasn't going to get caught in this again. There were plenty of things that she was perfectly capable of picking out, and there was one thing that stood out. "This may sound odd, but are there any weapons for sale?"

"There are," Cathy confirmed. "This is an earth ship, such a question is not unusual. In addition to being available in certain shops, there is a system set up for trading pre-owned weapons between individuals. I will show you where to access it."

"Thank you." Twilight followed as Cathy started down the hall. "But, is there somewhere I could make a call to Canterlot first?"

---

Astral watched in awe as Fluttershy went through the buffet. Several others joined him in his confusion and wonder. After getting over the shock at the large numbers of unusual beings, Fluttershy recognized the purpose of the room they were in. It was a cafeteria, a restaurant with a buffet style lineup of food along two walls, and simple tables filling the rest of the space.

She had gone to the start of the line and grabbed a tray from the stack, but then, she skipped the plates and bowls, heading straight to the food. She was very careful, delicate even, about using the provided serving utensils, but the sheer amount of food she was gathering overshadowed any manners she displayed.

By the time they sat down, her tray was piled high with fruits, vegetables and pastries of at least four planetary origins. Astral's single plate, in stark contrast, held a single sweet pastry and some sliced kiwi, an exotic fruit from earth that smelled like it would be good for an early breakfast.

Fluttershy didn't immediately dig into her food, much to Astral's surprise. Instead, she spent a few moments inspecting it, searching the tray for something.

With a smile, Astral held up his fork. "I haven't used it yet."

With a barked noise that sounded like a thanks, she took the fork and tried to remember how to hold it. It took her a few moments, but by her third try, she had a large fruit impaled on the end of it and was able to eat it in clean bites.

Astral took a bite of his pastry as she downed another fruit. The food here was pretty good, but not good enough to warrant her rapid scarfing. Then again, she was eating food that she didn't have to catch first for the first time in years. No, wait, she ate with them earlier, the salad that was delivered to the room. She was much more calm when she was eating then.

Astral shifted in his seat as she started to eat faster, each bite growing more desperate than the last. Halfway through the tray, her stomach growled, and she shoved the tray away with a mangled groan. Astral caught it before it went off the edge, but now, he knew the problem.

"Wait here," he told her. He emptied his plate onto the tray as she dropped her face to the table top, hair hiding all but her drooping, tufted ears.

Astral stepped away from the table and headed back to the buffet tables. Given what he saw on Picus, he wasn't surprised that fruits and pastries weren't filling enough for her. He went straight to the last buffet, the only one he and Fluttershy skipped on their first run through. The smell emanating from the food there was strong enough that he had to take a moment to get used to it before walking up.

"Two of each," he requested as he approached, setting his plate down so the server behind the table could fill it.

"Huh?" The human cook looked up from his grill. "Yer a pony," he observed with some confusion, scratching his hands against a grease-splattered apron. "What does a pony want with steak and eggs?"

"Ponies eat eggs," Astral retorted, probably a little coarser than necessary, but this guy looked the sort to appreciate bluntness. "Besides, it's not for me."

The human shrugged. "Not my business anyway. Two of each ya said?" Without waiting for Astral to confirm, he slapped two steaks down on Astral's plate, still sizzling and popping, straight from the grill. This was followed by fresh sunny side up eggs, one a regular chicken egg, the other a speckled blue in the center. This was followed by two strips of bacon, then another two strips of lighter-colored much flatter bacon. That was followed by another two strips of bacon that were a rich purple in color. The cook handled it much more gently than the other foods. He then refilled the empty spaces on the grill before pointing to a small vat of boiling oil off to the side. "Fried chicken and Rilian Bat have another four minutes to go. You want to wait, or come back?"

Astral brought a hoof to his nose to ward off the overpowering stench. "I think I'll come back." What was that? It didn't smell like any meat he ever smelled before. Was it that oddly colored egg?

The cook noticed the pony's discomfort and grabbed the purple bacon off the plate with a pair of tongs. "I've been gettin' that reaction all day. Seems like a fifty-fifty chance between hate it and love it. It's Curraxan bug-boar. One of our crew-members hunted the beast himself when we were picking up supplies on Solra. I've got nearly three tons of this meat, and only about three kilos get eaten a day."

"Leave it on there then," Astral said, motioning for him to put the bacon back. "I'm not the one eating it."

The human shrugged again and dropped it. The bacon released a small puff of smoke when it hit the plate, making Astral choke and gag. He stumbled away from the table, dragging the plate along in his magic and keeping it a good distance away from him.

Fluttershy's ears perked up the moment he neared their table. She slowly lifted her head, sniffing around and as he set the plate down in front of her. She looked down at the plate full of meat and quickly looked away with a defiant sound.

"Hey now, calm down there." Astral grabbed her shoulder. She was biting her lower lip hard enough to draw blood. "What's wrong?"

She whimpered something, so quietly that Astral couldn't make it out.

"Whatever it is, you can tell me."

"I... Muh, monsht," she choked out in a whisper. "Monster." It was a sad, resigned statement, and she followed it with a sigh, laying her head on her hoof on the table. She stared longingly at the plate of meat for a moment, then buried her face in the fur of her leg.

Astral looked down at the plate he brought. True, it wasn't a normal meal for a pony, but it wasn't all that unusual for any other race as long as you ignored portion sizes. "No, you're not, Fluttershy." He let go of her and sat down. "You aren't a normal pony, but you aren't a monster." He grabbed one of the steaks. "You know, I'm not a normal pony either." He took a bite and forced it down, trying not to gag on the rich, heavy taste. Fortunately, it was regular beef from earth, and not some random alien monster. "See? There's nothing to be ashamed of."

Fluttershy glanced up at him, then over at the rest of the room. Of all the odd creatures, human, reptilian, and otherwise, not a single one spared a glance their way. That, and the hunger, mostly the hunger, Astral guessed, seemed to be enough convincing for her. She looked back at the plate, slowly licking her blood from her lips, and Astral nudged the plate towards her.

---

"Hey, Radio, where do electronic parts come from?" Berry followed the colt through the halls of the Solomon's Ring. The repair had been rather boring. The crew came by and replaced a burnt out component in a control panel with an identical part. They were done in about forty seconds, and the rest of the time was spent testing and double-checking the rest of the lift. There was no scrounging, no jerry-rigging, none of the fun stuff that she was used to with electronic repairs.

"Well," the pegasus cleared his throat, "when two computers love each other very much.."

"Huh?" Berry shook her head. She knew the pieces of technology littering the Sevus junkyards had to come from somewhere, and she shouldn't have been surprised that there would be places that didn't know a shortage of parts, but she didn't expect it to be so boring. She sped up a little to match Radio's pace. "So the computers have AI systems?"

The colt stopped and looked over at her. "What? No, that was a joke, a bad one, but still a joke."

"Oh." Berry shuffled her hooves. "I don't get it."

"That's probably for the best." Radio pointed to a hologram in front of a door down the hall. "Besides, we're here."

"Where?" Berry didn't recognize the animal that the hologram represented, but after a moment she realized it was a stuffed toy, all stitched together with little button eyes. "You never told me where we were going."

"We're going to a toy drive," Radio answered, walking up to the hologram. "Hospitals hold them all the time. It's basically a way to gather a bunch of toys to hand out to sick foals and children, especially if they have a contagious disease, and their toys have to be burned because of contamination."

Berry stared at the hologram for a moment. "So, they're gathering toys for the foals on Sevus?"

"Most likely." Radio pointed at the hologram. "This is a teddy bear, so it was probably made by someone from earth, and the stitching is really good. It ought to last an entire childhood, then maybe go on to the next generation."

"Who makes the toys?"

"Everypony." Radio smiled and opened the door. A shrill whistle sounded inside, and a dozen assorted aliens seated at a table in the center of the large room sprang into action. Scraps of fabric were pulled from piles, cut with scalpels, and sewn together. It was a race, one determined by speed and dexterity with a needle and thread. "It's good practice for stitching and fine motor skills."

Around the outside of the room, smaller tables were set up in a similar manner. Groups of three to four sat around them and talked as they worked at a much more leisurely pace. Sometimes, someone would get up to swap fabric from another table, and sometimes a few of them would stop to compare printed patterns.

"Wow!" Berry ran over to the nearest table as a human woman held up her finished toy, a little grey goose with a straw hat. "That looks just like the geese old Mare Maroony keeps in the bell tower! Only hers were mean and didn't wear hats."

"You like it?" the lady asked. "It's my first time making one without a pattern. It's mother goose." She looked up as Radio approached. "There aren't any ponies on the crew, are you two the guests we picked up at that terraforming station?"

The colt shook his head. "We're from the shuttle that got picked up last night."

The human nodded. "The ones who relayed the information about Sevus. We already have the pharmaceutical plants manufacturing extra medications for respiratory problems based on the report your medical officer wrote. He was quite thorough."

"Thank you." Radio smiled proudly. "That's me, by the way, the medical officer? I wrote that report."

"Is that so?" Asked a human male from a nearby table. Young and confident looking, with short hair that looked like it belonged to a hedgehog, he leaned his chair back to look at the colt. "You don't look old enough to be a doctor. Then, this shuttle of yours could only afford a nurse?"

"Hey," the colt said with a smirk, "I could say the same thing about you. When do you graduate medical school? Or have they even let you in yet?"

"For your information, I am a full-fledged doctor of xeno-vetrinary medicine." He crossed his arms. "What are you?"

"Trauma surgeon." The colt's wings twitched. He wanted to cross his hooves like the human was doing with his arms, but that would require him to sit down. Lucky bipeds. He pointed at his unfinished toy. "I notice your Furian floatfish is in the dormant summer stage."

"I just haven't stuffed it yet," the human said defensively. "Impressive that you recognized it."

"They're rare, but I'm from Furia. You won't find a pegasus on the planet that hasn't gone floatfishing at least once." Radio looked at the table's contents. "No pattern?"

"I prefer to wing it," the human chuckled, "if you'll pardon the pun."

"Yeah?" Radio glanced over at the main table, where it looked like a four-armed creature was about to win this round of the race. "You know, I've got an idea..."

---

Twilight smiled as she entered the officer's lounge. Quieter than the other common areas she had seen so far, it was set up more like a coffee shop than anything else. The central area was filled with tall single-legged tables and matching chairs made of shiny white plastic. Off to one side was a simple coffee bar and a glass case for pastries. The other walls were lined with low, wooden tables with cushioned armchairs on either side.

After stopping at the counter and ordering a hot chocolate from the pink-skinned waitress, she headed to one of the shorter tables in the back. Not only did the seats look more comfortable, they were at a more reasonable height for a pony's stature.

The moment she sat down, the human two tables over looked up from his pad. "Miss Sparkle?" he asked, setting down the electronic device.

She stared at him for a moment before recognizing him from the video call she made a few minutes ago. "Dr. Margozzi? I'm sorry, I didn't recognize you. You look different without your glasses."

"I get that a lot. My wife is pushing me to get my eyes repaired, but I like wearing glasses." Twilight started to stand up, and he held up a hand to stop her. "I needed to stretch my legs anyway." He got up and walked over to the alicorn's table. "So," he mused as he sat down, "you're an instructor at Luna Academy. A high ranking one at that."

Twilight touched a hoof to the hem of her robe. The thin silver and gold threads spaced out through the lining denoted the ranking, a tiny detail, and an obscure one. Several other instructors held the same ranking, but only Luna, or her double, had a higher rank, and thus solid gold thread. "You're familiar with the uniform. Are you an Academy graduate?"

He nodded. "Twenty-two years ago next month."

"That was before I started teaching then." By a long ways. Twilight took a sip of her drink, then set it on the table. Odd to think of a decade or two as a long time when you're millenia old. "So, you had the item I was looking for, how much are you looking to get for it?"

"I think eight hundred bits sounds fair." He shrugged. "I'm pretty sure the conversion rates have changed since I left Canterlot, but it isn't that big a deal."

"Oh." Twilight pulled a pouch from her robe pocket, suddenly wishing she had asked Silver to withdraw more cash from her account before they left. She wasn't expecting to make any large purchases, much less in cash, so she only had gotten enough to give all three ponies leaving Canterlot two hundred bits. Though, the intended split was two hundred and fifty for her, two hundred and fifty for Mac, and one hundred for Astral. Were there any banks on board this ship? "I have six hundred bits on me. I honestly didn't know what it would cost."

"I'm willing to negotiate, but six hundred is far too low. I guess you didn't do much research on this.” The human brought a hand to his chin. "Though, I may have a way for you to make up the difference."

"Uh..."

The doctor straightened up in his chair. "Wait, no," he said quickly, "I didn't mean that like it sounded. I just need some help for my daughter's birthday. It's tomorrow, and I wanted to make it special, so she remembers a little more than that mommy and daddy both had to work."

"Oh." Twilight chuckled nervously. "Of course, that's what you meant. How old is she?"

"She's five, turning six, and she's lived her entire life on this ship. Well, except for a vacation or two moonside, but she probably barely remembers that." He dug out a wallet and flipped it open to a holo-projector. "This is her." He showed Twilight a picture of him holding a little girl while standing next to a human woman who shared the girl's hairstyle, if not the color.

"Then that must be your wife next to you?" Twilight asked, pointing. "Are you both doctors?"

"No." He shook his head as he put his wallet away. "She's a pilot, a good one, and she left for Sevus on our advance shuttle yesterday. We meet up with them later today, and she gets to spend the day with Sarah after that. Unfortunately, that's when my job begins. I'll be overseeing the equipment setup team, and that could take the whole day."

Twilight nodded. So far, she understood the situation, except for one little thing. "Where, exactly, do I fit into all this?"

---

"Done!" Shouted the human vet, slapping his hands on the table after tying off the last thread on his plush Talkan Goomhound.

"Done!" Shouted Radio less than a second later, snipping the excess thread off the last stitch of his stuffed tortoise.

"Yes!" He clapped his hands and leaned back in the chair. "Man, that was tough. I wasn't expecting you to be able to use your wings like that."

Radio pulled his wings away from his toy, revealing an identical tortoise concealed behind his feathers. "Yeah, it surprises a lot of people."

The human lifted his feet, letting his chair slam back to the ground. "You made two?!"

At a neighboring table, Berry struggled with a pair of scissors under the watchful eyes of two human women and a short blue creature with a bald, crested head and giant, jet black eyes. The other women had referred to this creature as Mary.

"Maybe if you held them more like this?" Suggested one woman, with brown hair.

"Perhaps like this?" wondered the other, blond hair showing streaks of artificial color.

"Maybe it just isn't possible?" The first woman shrugged.

The second shook her head. "I've seen a pony use scissors before, and it wasn't a unicorn using magic."

Berry tried adjusting her grip according to the contradicting advice and ended up flinging them past the silent blue spectator when she tried to actually cut with them.

Seemingly unfazed by the proximity of the flying cutting implement, the blue being blinked and lifted a two fingered hand to a thin horizontal line of seemingly decorative metal on her lapel. The metal was pulled free and lifted to the creature's small mouth and she made a noise like a trilling series of computer beeps. The metal lit up in several spots, points of light changing color rapidly as information was processed. "Perhaps," said a synthesized voice, "a scalpel would be safer after all?"

"Ooh!" Berry smacked one hoof on top of the other. "How about a laser pen? I've used one of those before."

---

Four steaks, a dozen eggs, and two kilos of bug-boar later, Fluttershy finally seemed full. Fried chicken seemed to be a new favorite dish, and bacon topped cupcakes were apparently a thing on earth. Astral had even tried the chicken. It was a lot lighter than the beef and he really liked the coarse, crunchy breadcrumb coating it had. The breading would probably be even better with some sort of vegetarian center.

"So," he asked Fluttershy as she wiped her plate clean with a napkin, "is that enough for you?"

Fluttershy nodded her answer, then stacked her plate with the other seven. She was still gnawing on a bone from a Rilian bat leg, and it didn't look like she was about to give it up any time soon.

"Just remember, we can come back anytime you want." Astral stood and stretched. "You don't have to worry about going hungry."

---

"Sarah?" Dr. Margozzi sat down on the bed slowly, easing his weight on to it so he wouldn't jar his daughter awake too abruptly. He eased her dark brown hair away from her ear. "Sarah? Honey, it's morning, and there's someone here that wants to say happy birthday."

The little girl stirred, but didn't wake, pulling her covers tighter. The light panels on the walls were slowly getting brighter, mimicking the sunrise streaming through curtains, and Sarah buried her face in the pillow.

Margozzi leaned in close and whispered, "remember how you asked for a pony?"

That woke the girl up quickly. She rubbed her eyes and looked up expectantly.

"I guess you do." Her father patted her head. "Now, do you remember how I told you there was another type of pony?"

She nodded. "You said the one I wanted was just a small horse, and the other was an alien."

"I said intelligent being, but close enough." He looked over at the door, waving in their guest. "I want you to meet someone."

Twilight walked in and stopped a meter short of the bed, giving a slight bow. "Good morning, Sarah," she said with a smile, "and happy birthday."

With a gasp, the little girl looked up at her father. "It talks?"

"She talks," her father corrected. "And why don't you ask her?"

She nodded quickly and looked back at the pony. She thought for a moment, having already had one question answered, she needed another. "Do ponies have names?"

"They do," the unicorn answered. "My name is Twilight Sparkle."

The girl giggled. "That's a funny name."

"I suppose," Twilight said with a shrug, "but to me, Sarah Margozzi sounds even funnier."

Sarah giggled even harder, fidgeting with barely contained excitement. "I like your colors. Green's my favorite, but purple is nice too."

Twilight tilted her head in curiosity, exaggerating the motion and earning a fresh round of giggles. "And why is green your favorite?"

"Cause it's the color of mommy's uniform," she answered, "duh."

"Right, duh. How silly of me." Twilight gave her head a light smack. "So, what do you want to do today?"

Sarah shrugged. "I don't know."

"Well, how about we get some breakfast, then you can decide."

The little girl twisted her lips to one side, then held both arms out in front of her. "Ok." She made a grabby motion with her hands, keeping her arms high. "Ride."

"Sarah," her father sighed, "I told you, they're not horses."

Twilight held up her hoof. "No, It's fine, she doesn't look too heavy." Twilight walked up to the bed, standing sidelong against it. "Just be careful not to-" Sarah jumped onto her back, wrapping her arms around her neck to keep from falling off. Twilight stumbled, but caught herself before toppling from the sudden shift. "Ack!"

"Sorry," the doctor apologized for his daughter. "I guess she's pretty excited about this."

The alicorn coughed lightly, using her hoof to loosen the little girl's grip. "I can tell."

---

Astral waved to Berry and Radio as he headed for the door to their room. They were heading down the hallway from the opposite direction, with smiles on their faces, and some sort of grey lump on Berry's head.

Astral glanced over at Fluttershy. She was still gnawing on the bat bone, but she stopped and waved as well. They waited at the door for their crewmates to catch up.

"Hey!" Radio was the first to make it to them, leaving Berry behind without even thinking about it. "You went shopping?"

Astral gave the mylar bags he towed along a little shake. "Just a little. You need to go pick out medical supplies when you get a chance. We've got credit, and I want to make sure we're stocked, especially with radiation meds, hyperoxy-tabs, and the like."

Radio nodded. "Standard space-faring assortment, I can do that."

Berry sprinted to catch up, her unidentified head ornament revealing itself to be a small grey goose wearing a straw sunhat. The pink ribbon around the hats brim matched the earth pony's coat. "Radio and I went sewing, and we made some new friends, and look what one of the nice ladies from Radiology made for me!" She bobbed her head, bouncing the stuffed animal in front of Astral.

Astral picked it up for a closer look, chuckling at the button eyes. "We used to raise geese on Serus, but what's with the hat?"

"Cu, coo." Fluttershy mumbled, reaching for the toy. Astral let her take it, and she looked it over with a smile. "Coot." She nodded and set it back on Berry's head with a small pat. "Cute."

"See," Berry looked back at Radio, "I told you they'd like it." She added a whispered, "meanie," making the colt roll his eyes. Behind him, down the hall, Berry saw the last member of their group walking down the hall. "Miss Sparkle!" The earth pony waved wildly. "Come look at this!"

With a sigh, the alicorn waved back and started trudging towards them, dragging along a small metal case, a long cardboard box, and two more mylar bags like the ones Astral had. Each step was slow, worn out, like she was walking through tar, and her bleary eyes belied the exhaustion she felt.

Astral raised an eyebrow as she finally made it to them. "Well, you look like crap."

"Thanks," she muttered, walking past Astral. "I'd hate to think I look like I feel." She walked straight to the door control and pressed the side of her face against the panel, letting out another weary sigh as the door slid open.

"What happened to her?" Radio asked as she wobbled into the room and collapsed on the blanket he left on the floor earlier.

"No clue." Astral motioned everyone in, and waited until he closed the door behind himself to ask, "Twi, are you alright? Normally you would bite my head off for a comment like that."

"I'll do it after a nap." With a groan, she worked her way out of her Academy robes and tossed the velvety fabric onto the nearest bed. "Human foals have too much energy in the morning."

Astral set his items on the opposite bed. "Care to explain that?"

"Maybe later." She moved her head, sluggishly, like a snake on a cold morning, to indicate his shopping bags. "You made another candy run?"

"You catch on quick." Astral hopped on the bed with a chuckle. "Everybody, up here, form a circle." When the only response was an exchange of glances, he added, "Captain's orders." He patted the bed, and urged them along with a, "hup-hup."

That was more than enough of an explanation for Berry, who responded with an enthusiastic, "ok," before leaping for the bed. Her top half made it onto the bedspread, but her dangling flank slowly dragged her back to the floor, landing tail-first and falling backwards. Undaunted by the failure, she waved at the nearest pony, Fluttershy. "A little help here?"

Blinking, Fluttershy looked left and right, convinced the earth pony had to be waving to somepony else. Seeing that she was the only possibility, Fluttershy tapped a hoof to her chest. "Eh?"

Berry nodded quickly, then rolled onto her hooves. "I just need a little boost, so give me a shove whenever you're read- Eeeeh!"

Too eager to help, or perhaps, too excited about being needed after so long, Fluttershy moved to Berry's side and flicked her up with her feathered wing. The pink pony sailed up and over the bed, crashing to the floor on the other side.

"Berry!" Twilight bolted upright, while Astral and Radio leaned over to check on her.

"I'm ok," she groaned, raising a hoof in a valiant attempt to appear strong while lying on her back next to a poorly located pillow. "Next time, less shove." Fluttershy ran around the bed, to help the earth pony up. Worried, crooning noises escaped her throat as she checked the smaller mare for injuries. Berry giggled as she was jostled about. "I'm really ok," she insisted, "I've fallen from worse heights than that."

Twilight's shoulders sunk in time with her sigh, worry for Berry's well-being leaving her, though the adrenaline rush would not. She made her way to the bed, and crawled up next to Radio, opposite Astral. Berry and Fluttershy joined them, the pegasus holding out a hoof to help Berry scramble up, then easily climbing up on her own. They made their way across the bed, between Astral and Twilight, completing the small circle.

Astral looked around at them, and each one met his gaze. Berry, the family he never knew. Fluttershy and Twilight, ponies out of time, each beyond normal in their own way. Radio, the headstrong, soft-hearted supersoldier. He sighed and looked at Twilight one last time. She nodded to prod him on, and he sighed.

"I feel-" The unusually high tambour of his voice stopped him, and he cleared his throat. "I admit, I may have broken into the candy ahead of time." Actually, it was the fact that he spent almost the entire time walking with fluttershy talking, explaining all the new things they came across. It was more talking than he had done in a very long time. "Anyway, I feel like I should say something profound and leader-like right about now, but to be honest, I feel that speeches should be Twilight's job. I haven't known any of you all that long, but you are all amazing ponies with unique abilities. Radio, Berry, I am astounded by how quick you both agreed to follow me on a quest I don't fully understand myself. I had to be hounded into this position, but you guys are able to put your trust in me and each other so easily that I am quite frankly embarassed by my own reluctance."

"You have nothing to be ashamed of," Twilight answered him. "If I had handled things better on Philomena, we might have been able to trust each other a little easier." Twilight looked over at the younger crew members. "Even so, he surprised me by agreeing to help in the first place. But like you two, once he made his decision, he put everything he had into this mission, without doubt, without hesitation, and without mention of compensation."

Astral raised his hoof to her. "No, there will be mention of compensation, there will be lots of mention, you can be sure of that." He lowered the hoof quickly with a sigh. "Even so, this job is quickly shaping up to be one of the most interesting I've ever taken on, and the most fulfilling. I think I would be able to live with not getting paid for it." His eyes made the rounds again, each pony around sat comfortably, listening to what he had to say. Radio leaned back on a pillow he folded up a few times. Berry sat straight, a pillow between her hooves and her little plush toy on top of it. Twilight had folded her hooves under her. And Fluttershy sat next to her, close enough for their sides to touch. "So, thank you all for your hard work."

Radio scoffed loudly, rolling his eyes as everyone turned his way. "Dude, Berry and I sat on the shuttle the entire time you and Twilight were fighting your way across the planet of the monsters. You two did all the work."

"You're kind of right." Astral leveled a glare at the colt and lifted the pillow beside him. "But I meant all the work you did before that, so learn to take a compliment."

Radio lifted his in response, rolling back as he yanked it out from under himself. "Bring it on." He jerked his head towards Berry. "She's on my side this time."

The pink pony glanced down at the pegasus, then at the pillow she held. "Yeah!" she agreed happily, raising it like a shield. "I'm on his side."

"Then," Astral pointed across the bed, at Twilight and Fluttershy, "I guess they're on mine."

"I surrender," Berry said quickly, dropping her pillow.

"Hah!" Radio snatched up the abandoned fluff weapon, holding it out in a defiant pose, a pirate pointing his cutlass down at a stronger foe. "You can't scare me off that easy. I'll take on the galaxy alone if I have to."

Astral chewed his lip for a moment, then raised an eyebrow. "If I can't scare you off, can I buy you off with chocolate?" He looked in one of his shopping bags. "Milk chocolate with mint, white chocolate with orange, caramel filled-"

"Cookies and cream?" the colt asked quickly, pillow never wavering.

"Done!" Astral scooped a foil wrapped bar out of the sack and held it out.

Radio tossed one pillow behind him and used his newly freed hoof to snap up the offered candy. The other pillow, he pulled it to his chest as he fell forward, landing on top of it, and using it to prop himself up as he used his hooves to tear at his candy's packaging.

"Well, that was easy." Astral dug out some more packages. "All right, who wants what, we've got a lot to choose from."

Everypony surged forward at once, grabbing, inspecting and swapping rapidly. Eventually, Astral dumped everything in a pile in the middle of the bed.

"I call mint," Twilight called out, magically flipping any candies with a label facing down.

Berry carefully pored over each one, trying to compare it to those around it. "I don't know how to pick. Which one's good?"

Fluttershy sniffed intently until she found one she liked and struck out like a snake, impaling it, foil and all, on her fangs. She looked down at it for a moment before smiling wide, and everypony shared a much needed laugh.

---

After an hour of talking, laughing, and indulging in the finest cheap candy earth had to offer, most of the crew lay sleeping. At least, Astral assumed it was sleep, and not a collective sugar coma. They rested where they fell, the five of them crammed into the same oversized mattress with little room to spare.

Each pony was surrounded by bits of foil and paper, and each had one other item with them, worn like a badge. About twenty minutes into the candy, Twilight brought out the gifts she bought.

Radio received a black and red pair of saddlebags specifically made for pegasi. They were small, but would hold his scanner along with a few other supplies , and buckle together in a way that wouldn't move around or get in the way during flight.

Fluttershy had gotten a new spear, one with a proper scabbard, an etched meteor pattern blade, and a matching knife. There was an adjustable strap that would let her sling it over her back, and the extendable, reinforced carbon fiber shaft had a lifetime, no-questions-asked, warranty. "Which we guarantee you won't need," as the included paperwork boasted. Still, Twilight had gone and given it some extra enchantments.

Berry's was kind of cheesy, but she loved it. It was a cheap set of basic tools. Astral promised to make sure they were all upgraded to proper tools eventually, but she was more interested in the case. Originally designed as an angled utility belt for a human, it fit like a bandolier on Berry, putting all her tools within hoof's reach.

The only crew member left was Twilight, and she wasn't asleep either. "I've got a gift for you too," Astral whispered.

"Same here," the alicorn whispered back. She gingerly climbed across sleeping ponies, paying close attention that no careless move would break the fragile soap bubble of sleep. Once across, she turned and fell, landing on her back propped against the pillows at the headboard.

"You did good," he told her, watching everypony asleep with their gifts, "those were perfect choices for each of them."

"Thanks." Twilight told Astral as he laid back next to her. She watched carefully as he offered up his last shopping bag.

With a smile, he dropped it between them. "Let's see if yours suits you at all."

She took the bag with her hooves, immediately feeling the soft give of the fabric inside. Looking inside, she saw dark canvas, possibly brown, possibly black in the dim light. It wasn't until she pulled it out that she could tell the color. It was a jacket, rich chocolate brown, with a cream fringe of faux fur at the neck and sleeves. The bomber style was similar to Astral's jacket, but it was tailored in a much more feminine style. the waist was taken in by a sewn in belt, and the brass buckle was engraved with a simple floral design. The shoulders were smoothed out, and topped by a small buckled bit of fabric, and there were several pockets, inside, and out.

"I love it," she said with a smile. She folded it up and crossed her hooves, pulling the jacket tight and running her face through the soft fringe. "I guess this means you get to keep yours from now on."

"That's definitely a plus." A contemplating nod bridged the silence for a moment. "You were so used to borrowing mine, I probably should have just bought myself a new jacket."

"Nah," she said without raising her head from the fake fur. "I would have just asked for the new one anyway." Her eyes snapped wide open as she remembered something. "Wait a minute! Midnight! I haven't seen her since we left Canterlot!"

"Calm down," Astral said with a wave of his hoof, "Midnight stayed on Canter Delta with Ribbon. We can pick her up on the way home."

Twilight sighed in relief. "Oh, that's good. I was having an Odysseus flashback."

"A what?" Astral asked, eyebrow raised.

The purple mare bit her lip. "Well," she said with some hesitation, "when I was a filly, my foalsitter, Cadence, gave me a goldfish. And, his name was Odysseus. I loved that little guy. I fed him, I read to him, changed his water, took him for walks, and carefully monitored the oxygen content and nitrate levels in his bowl."

"Hold on." The stallion lightly grabbed her shoulder. "Did you just say you took your goldfish for a walk?"

She shrugged. "Yeah? why? I put his bowl in a wagon and pulled him along with me when I went places."

"You've got to be the smartest idiot I know."

She gave him a quick whack in the gut, drawing small grunt from the stallion. "I was a foal, ok? Give a five year old their first pet, and of course they're going to want to take it everywhere."

"Not when it's a goldfish," Astral laughed. "But for a pony who's supposedly super-smart, you sure do a lot of stupid stuff."

Twilight frowned. "Add, 'getting you anything,' to the list."

"Oh, don't be like that." It was an exercise in willpower, but Astral forced down his laughter. "So, what ever happened to Oddyseus? I'm guessing you left him somewhere during one of your walks.

" I did," Twilight admitted. "I spent every minute I could looking for him, but he was nowhere to be found. I was devastated. After three weeks, I was convinced that I killed him, and that somewhere in Canterlot, there was a little wagon, a fishbowl, and a dried up little skeleton."

"That poor fish," Astral deadpanned. Twilight flicked her hoof to smack him, but he caught it. "So," he continued, "did you ever find the remains?"

"No." Twilight reached over and smacked him with her other hoof, drawing another grunt. "For your information, we found Odysseus alive and well after almost four months."

Astral grabbed for the hoof that hit him, and Twilight pulled it away. He lunged for it, ending up laying halfway across Twilight, pinning down both hooves. "Alright, now you can't hit me. Where did find your goldfish?"

"The library." Twilight tried to squirm free. "I would have found him earlier, but I went to a different library than usual that day. The old mare that found him took care of him while she waited for the owner to show up. She even let him live at the check-out counter so he would be visible."

"You got him back?" Astral loosened his grip. "That's good."

"Nope." As soon as she was freed, Twilight flipped them both over,pinning Astral in the same way he held her down mere seconds ago. "He was so popular that the librarian asked to keep him. By then, she had taken care of him far longer than I had." With a sigh, Twilight let go of Astral's hooves. He looked up at her, but wasn't fighting back, and just holding him down held no interest for her. She tucked her hooves beneath her and sat there, leaning on his chest as she continued her story. "I didn't feel like I had the right to take him back, not after leaving him behind like I did. He deserved to be with somepony that could take better care of him."

Astral nodded slowly. "Pretty wise for a five year old filly." Astral reached up and brushed some pieces of candy wrapping out of her mane. "But, it shows how committed you are to those you care about."

His hoof lingered there a moment too long, and Twilight moved away quickly. "A-anyway," she stuttered, "you still haven't seen what I got you." She retreated away from his side of the mattress, lying back against the pillows she left earlier. Her horn lit up, and she lifted the metal case she brought back with her from its resting place on the floor. "I think it's the right model."

Astral's eyebrows furrowed for a moment. "The right model?" He opened the case, and smiled. Inside, sat a duplicate of his old pistol. "It's the right model. Earth-made, even. Nine millimeter, same caliber." He checked the magazines. "Twenty rounds, just like my old one. It's identical. Well, except the grips, but I'm not actually holding it. I- I was not expecting this." He smiled to himself, closed the box, then excitedly looked over at Twilight. "Hey, I wonder if I can get Fused Tannerac rounds for this one. Those things were pretty awesome, weren't they? Really knocked those golems on their stony butts."

"Yeah," Twilight quietly admitted. Then, she offered a shrug. "You know, I did check the subspace net, and you may not like this, but..."

Astral groaned. "Go on, Twi. I'm a big pony, you aren't going to hurt my feelings."

The alicorn raised an eyebrow. "That's funny, I'm quite sure I have done just that a few times."

"Getting on my nerves and hurting my feelings aren't the same thing," Astral pointed out. "And don't you dare look so proud about it."

"Fine." She bit back the smile that was spreading across her face. "Well, it turns out that you can't get Fused Tannerac Ammo anywhere but Furia, and only in one shop."

"I thought it was more common than that. The shop I visited had a stack of boxes about to the ceiling." It was Astral's turn to shrug. "Anyway, it was still cheap. I'll just stockpile a bunch next time we head by the place."

Twilight nodded. "It gets better, or worse, really. They only make it in the one, um, size, width..." Her horn glowed, and she looked down at her hoof, where glowing lines of letters appeared in matching color under the light of her magic. "Caliber. They only make it in the one caliber."

"You took notes?" Laughing, Astral grabbed her hoof to look at the writing. The letters faded the moment her hoof moved away from her face. He pushed the hoof back towards her, and the letters reappeared. He shifted over to be able to read them. "That is the coolest spell I've seen you do yet."

Twilight yanked her hoof away, elbowing Astral in the side because they were now squished side to side. She stuck her snout in the air as he rubbed at his side. "Are you gonna grab my hooves again?"

"Yeah," Astral said defiantly, and snatched for her hoof again. She yanked it away, and he grabbed her leg, wrapping his around it. "I'll stop if you get back to reading the notes."

"You wanna hoof-wrestle?" Twilight smiled confidently. "I'm an Alicorn, I have almost earth pony strength, you know?"

Astral narrowed his eyes, looking for signs that the other pony was bluffing. "I just want to get to the point."

"Fine," Twilight looked back at her hoof, ready to light her horn, and cleared her throat.

"What?" Astral glanced over, saw her looking at their legs, and untangled his with a muttered, "sheesh, sorry," followed by a much more reverrent, "forgive me, oh Princess of Personal Space."

Twilight fought back a laugh. "You are impossible."

"And you are smiling." Astral pointed at her face. "At least, I think that's what that is. I'm not sure because you usually don't do that."

"I know." She sighed. "These last few weeks have been hard on me, especially, espec-" She sniffed. No, she didn't want to do this now. She was trying to explain why she was better, not prove she wasn't. She moved to sit up, wiping her eyes with her hooves. "Sorry, I-"

Quietly, Astral put his hoof around her and pulled her back down, head to his chest. "Don't. Just, don't." Astral winced as her hoof tightened around the fur on his chest. "You're going to cry, so don't even try to fight it. There's no way of knowing when you're going to think of them, but you'll remember they're gone, and it's going to hit you so hard you just want to shut down."

"I'm sorry, it's just..." Her other hoof kept wiping at her eyes, trying to fight the buildup of tears. "Astral, Pinkie's gone. How am I supposed to deal with that? How do you not hurt after losing somebody?"

Astral sighed as his hoof flattened out her mane. "I don't think you do. You just move on. It's going to hurt, but you just survive."

"Survival!" Radio shouted in his sleep, throwing his hoof up and making the two waking ponies nearly jump out of their fur. "..is," the colt continued, rolling over, "victory."

Twilight took a deep steadying breath before burying her face in Astral's chest. For a moment, he thought she had passed out, but he heard her muttering something about Radio. Astral kept petting her mane for a moment, hoping it would help both of their heartbeats slow down, then continued what he was saying earlier. "Twi, the reason I agreed to help you... I- I know what you're going through. We both lost our entire planets, our friends, family, everything we knew. But, you have a chance to get it back, some of it at least, and I want to help."

"Astral," her voice was muffled, and the unicorn leaned in to listen to her, "why are we always fighting?"

With a snort, Astral let his head drop back to the pillow. "Hell if I know anymore." He chewed his lip for a moment. "But we sure keep each other on our toes, don't we?"

Her ear twitched. "Our what?"

"The tips of our hooves," Astral corrected, realizing he used the human form of the expression, "sorry."

With a sigh, Twilight brought her hoof over her head, draping it across Astral's leg. "It's a basic invisible ink spell, the type colts and fillies use to pass messages in class. It reacts to any sort of magically generated light."

"Back to business, eh?" Astral gave her one last pat on the neck. "We're gonna talk from now on, right?"

Her head wiggled up and down. "M-hmm."

Astral sighed. "Damn, I must be comfortable."

She lifted her head to glare at him. "Don't let it go to your head."

He bit back a chuckle and used his hoof to smooth out the fur on her cheeks. "I won't, promise." He looked her in the eyes for a moment before turning away. Even in the dim light, the redness was more than obvious. Even if the tears themselves had stopped for the moment, it wouldn't take much to start them again. "So, what other notes did you take about my new favorite ammo?"

He lit his horn, making what was now a conscious effort for him to cause a faint white light. The letters on Twilight's hoof appeared again, only this time, instead of showing up purple, they gleamed silver, written in mercurial precision.

"I had a night light like this once." Twilight pulled herself off and laid back down beside him so they could both read the writing. "An enchanted selenite rod. Cold, white light, but perfect for reading."

"I know a store on the surface of Canterlot that sells those." Astral looked down at her. His magic reflected coldly in her eyes, hiding the red he knew was still there. She wasn't holding back the tears, wasn't bottling up explosive emotions in the hope of sealing them away. They were just streaming out, and down her face. Whatever Radio said to her on the shuttle must have made an impact. "Since we're heading back to Canterlot anyway, we should stop by if we have any spare time."

She nodded without looking up. She blinked as the tears continued to fall. "I feel better now. Lighter." She still refused to look over. She didn't want to acknowledge that she was showing weakness, even if it was to a pony who didn't care. "Thank you, Astral."

"H-hey now," Astral flustered, "don't look at me, I didn't do anything." He pointed at some lettering on her hoof, eager for a change of subject. "Anyway, what does this mean? 'Kinda Armor Piercing?' Those bullets pierced armor just fine."

"On an organic target," Twilight let out a shaky sigh, "those poor Golems."

"Oh, I know," Astral rolled his eyes. "How sad, they tried to eat something that could fight back. And remember, Berry said it might have punched a hole in the ship if the shields weren't up."

"Might," Twilight pointed out. "Our shuttle is better than average, but it's still just a personnel shuttle with minimal armor. You can't compare it to say, an atmospheric fighter, or even Philomena. Though, she has a lot of aftermarket parts at the moment. And the shields were up, rendering the round completely inert."

Astral shrugged, making sure he hid his smile. Twilight was rapidly becoming more animated now that they were debating something. "The guy at the shop said it was useless against energy barriers. Something about an ablative reaction between the Tannerac and the core. The bullet basically disintegrates itself when exposed to too much non-kinetic energy. But, I bet it would still go through the armor on a high end fighter."

"At close range, yes. But, how about the particle decay rates?" Twilight flipped over, and looking down at Astral, continued her explanation. "Tannerac is one of the few ultra-heavy elements that breaks down into non-radioactive byproducts, making it the go-to initial source of energy for sustained fusion cores. When fused to a stable core and used as a projectile, the Tannerac shell starts to decay the moment kinetic energy is applied to the core. Even at a bullet's velocity, by the time it's traveled a few hundred meters, there's nothing left but the tungsten core. And even if you hit a ship without shields at point blank range, unless you hit a vital component, a hole the size of a small coin isn't going to disable it. Between self-foaming liquid in wall panels, and emergency containment fields, the odds of causing debilitating damage with that small of a projectile are astronomically slim."

Astral smirked. She was really getting into the explanation, and was now sitting over him. "Mmh, yeah, talk to science to me," he whispered, tacking a little growl on to the end.

Twilight's face went beet red, and she straightened up, realizing that their snouts were only centimeters away. "Wha- I- You- Ugh!" She tried to keep her voice quiet, but it was hard. "You are infuriating sometimes. I am trying to seriously explain that those Tannerac shells are a, "door-knocker," style weapon with limited effective range, and you're acting like a... a..."

"Doofus?" Astral offered.

"Yes." Twilight snapped. "The captain of Doofus... es." She crossed her hooves. "Doofus face."

Astral crossed his. "Come on, I know you can insult me better than that."

She looked away, raising her snout in the air. "I'm too tired right now."

Astral raised an eyebrow, but stayed silent. Twilight glanced over. Their eyes met, and she looked away again. Astral shook his head and started to roll over when he saw her look back towards him. He looked back, and she turned away again. He made a quick motion with his head as if he was turning, catching Twilight when she glanced over a third time. "You..." Astral started grinning like a foal on Hearth's Warming. "You didn't get to finish your explanation, and now it's bugging you."

"It is not bugging me," she insisted. "You just don't know the whole story yet. It's really interesting."

"It is so bugging you right now." Astral laughed, fighting the urge to rub his hooves together like a spy-novel villain. "I almost forgot you were a proffessor. What's wrong, did I interrupt a lecture? There wasn't going to be a test on this, was there?"

"Fine, I won't tell you." She grabbed her jacket and retreated as far away on the mattress as she could without ending up on the floor. "I already know the story. Why should I care if you listen or not?"

Astral winced. Maybe he took that joke a little too far. "I didn't say I wouldn't listen to the rest of the explanation. I just thought it was funny how much you wanted tell it. And I still love the gun you got me." He set the box on the nightstand before looking over at her. "And I will gladly carry it over that beast I bought on Furia. Oh, also, I promise I won't try to shoot you with this one."

"You better not," she said, unable to avoid a small laugh as she donned her new jacket. "You'd mess up the gift you got me." With a sigh, she looked over. "Plus, I told you that sort of weapon wouldn't work on me again."

"Yes. Yes, you did." Astral nodded. "So, truce? At least until tomorrow morning?"

Twilight shrugged. "I can live with that." She stepped in from the edge, and laid down next to Astral, back to him, and most definitely not touching him. "Good night."

Astral rolled over onto his side, putting them back to back. Half sighing, half yawning as his magic reached out to turn out the last small source of light in the room. "Goo-"

"Its a saboteur's weapon," Twilight said quickly.

Astral glanced back, but Twilight wasn't facing him. She had her back to him and was quietly finishing her explanation. He turned off the light and listened to her.

"The atmosphere of the original planet Furia was destroyed by a chemical weapon during the war. The chemical compound bound itself to the oxygen in the air, rendering the planet uninhabitable. But, it happened slow enough to allow the Furians to take shelter in ships, spacesuits, and set up oxygen sources in bunkers and military buildings. It was devestating, but nearly half the planet's population managed to survive.

They were still at war, but they had to figure out how they would survive afterwards. Their moon was, at the time, a purely crystalline formation, but it had its own atmosphere. They started transporting massive amounts of rock and soil to the moon, utilizing mass teleportation chains to load and unload every citizen ship, while stationing almost every military ship they had around the moon to protect it from another chemical attack.

Their enemy started to interfere with the supply chains by creating an asteroid belt between the planet and the moon, stabilized by massive gravitic field generators built in to some of the asteroids. They waited until the Furians figured out how to navigate the field, then placed automated weapons platforms along the supply routes.

Things got pretty bleak after that. The Furian forces were divided. Any ship strong enough to fight past the weapons platforms was too large to navigate the asteroid field. Smaller ships that could navigate the field weren't shielded enough to stand a chance. Only a few of the fastest ships could make it through, and they were too small and too few in number to continue the operation to rebuild.

It wasn't until the weapons platforms were upgraded, and one of those fastest ships was destroyed that things started to change. The pilot of that ship, a civilian by the name of Cube, managed to bail out in a spacesuit, and as he drifted through the asteroid field, he realized that the weapons platforms didn't recognize him as a target. He relayed that information back to Furia, along with scans of one of the platforms, and the plan that would eventually win them the war.

They started developing a new weapon, and ended up with the Tannerac round. They modified some old earth weapons they had, building clones from scratch while making improvements to the materials and mechanics. The new pistols had to operate in space, sometimes for days with no servicing, and hold up to the comparatively massive pressure of the new ammunition. And, the barrels had to hold up to the deposition of cobalt, iron, and several other heavy elemental byproducts of Tannerac's decomposition process.

They also developed new spacesuits, and retrofitted older ones with thrust systems. A saboteur, or a team of them, would jump from asteroid to asteroid until they found a weapons platform, and would put one or two Tannerac rounds through it at point blank range. The platform would be damaged, but not destroyed. The limited damage caused by the rounds enabled the platforms to send a distress signal, and the saboteurs would lie in wait for the responding ship.

Sometimes it was an automated drone, sometimes a rocket deployment of a new platform, but sometimes it was an actual repair ship. In that case, they would attack. Capture of these ships were the priority, and the saboteurs would aim for the pilots from outside the ship. They would then use the repair ship to go and disable other weapons platforms.

Eventually, scout vessels were sent to investigate losses, and a saboteur team was able to capture it. A team of volunteers then flew the scout ship back. They managed to dock with the mothership to lead an assault from within. The capture of that mothership was the main turning point in the war.

See, despite how little they knew about their enemy, the Furians managed to determine that they were facing two allied powers, and not an individual force. There were two distinct technologies, and three languages being used over communication lines. One of those laguages was a codified combination of the other two.

Once the Furians had captured a battleship, it was a simple matter of ramming it into the nearest battleship of the other faction, while sending out a distress signal. Reinforcements arrive, have seconds to decide which ship to help, pick the one on their side, and plunge themselves into a civil war that ends with them wiping each other out inside a generation.

Furia remained under attack, but to a much lesser degree. The last sighting of either enemy was a short string of attacks on the new Furian settlement by the remnants of one faction. The final attack was twenty-one years ago, and was fended off through the use of a secretive orbital defense program.

The enemy planet was, and still is an irradiated ruin, with no traces that either civilization ever existed. Even the bodies recovered from the captured repair ships provided no information about who the enemy was. Of seventeen enemy pilots, every single one was a clone of the same individual, and some of them weren't even completely formed. The atmosphere in the enemy ships was no different than most inhabited planets, except for a slightly higher oxygen content, and massive amounts of airborne antibiotic agents.

They still don't know who the enemy was, or why they were attacked.

Good night, Astral."

Astral smiled. "Good night, Twi."

Author's Note:

Special thanks to user Skydrake for the proofreading and in-depth character and story analysis.

Comments

[EclipseoftheRisingSun]

7845449 Generally, Kinetic weapons are great at punching holes in hulls, but not energy shields. So somebody said "Hey, lasers are made of energy, shouldn't that do more damage to something made specifically for kinetics?"(somebody's story, page random).

At least, that's my understanding of sci-fi.

upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/4/48/M900.jpg/200px-M900.jpg

EDIT: Or you could just read the chapter "A crew divided... Temporarily", that has a much more interesting explanation. At least, for the purposes of the story.

[Metal Pony Fan]

7879147
7845449

You know you've done your job as a worldbuilder when people are able to debate something, and there is enough info for both sides to raise valid points. Personally, I can see cases for both projectile and energy weapons, as there can be defenses, drawbacks, or advantages to any type of weapon. When Astral was attacked in the first chapter, it was with missiles designed to disable the ship and not destroy it. That would be hard to do with a plasma cannon or a railgun.

Not every combat situation is going to be the same, and not every enemy can be fought the same way. That said, I LOVE THESE DEBATES! Keep 'em comin'! It's great that people are getting into the story enough to talk about it in so much depth.

7848346 I'll try not to. It gets really slow at times in the comment section, but it picks up now and then. It may not get much response, but what it does get is generally positive.

[Batling]

Sweet, an update! You don't know how happy I was to see a whole 13k chapter just waiting to be read
This was a darn good downtime chapter, it's good to see the crew bonding more and becoming closer and you managed to include plenty of funny and heartwarming moments as well - it wasn't boring at all. I would love to see these sorts of chapters where we get to learn more about the characters and see them simply interacting from time to time. Makes it more emotional when the drama hits A slight shame you didn't have Twi talking with Fluttershy more - there has to be one heck of a conversation there just waiting to happen.

The best two lines were probably Berry asking where electronic parts come from, which caught me off guard and had me laughing out loud and Astral teasing twilight with his "talk science to me". He is good at pushing her buttons But it's getting hard to tell if they are arguing or flirting half the time ... don't tell me Chrysalis is actually going to win that bet she has going on and the two will be shacking up before this is over. Radio will be vindicated for poiting out Astral and Twilight are like his mom and dad

Which remind sme, I am confused about the letters on Twilight's hoof that only appear during magic light thing - did she actually scribble that down on her actual hoof with actual ink? Instead of simply making a note or something? Dang, I hope it washes out easily otherwise she will be glowing in dark soon enough if she keeps that up

And I see you are trying to reign in (horse puns, yeah!) how strong Astral's gun can be .... oh well probably for the best. Still better and more practical than silly magic though and we got some nice backstory out of it so all's good. Hmm ... not that much else to say about the chapter because not too much happened action wise but it's all good - can't wait for more

[Piemaster128]

I wonder if one of those clones that attacked Furia was named Gary...

[The Chronicler]

"Of course not!" Radio spun the pad around and read the listing out loud, "Transport tube number three, undergoing repairs until five A.M." He shook his head. "Berry, that isn't meant to be a spectator event. It's only on the schedule so nopony tries to use the thing."

Getting some Edward vibes (Cowboy Bebop) from Berry

Fluttershy didn't immediately dig into her food, much to Astral's surprise. Instead, she spent a few moments inspecting it, searching the tray for something.

I've done that before...