Cryo-7

by Metal Pony Fan

Cut and Run, and Run, and Run

Lilybelle sighed wearily as she dragged the burn kit back to medical. Fabrication bay three was dedicated to the low-grade thermoplastics used in prototyping. The hottest thing in there was probably the coffee, so every once in a while, somepony would decide they didn't have to wear their safety gear. Without fail, that would be the day something breaks, or overheats, or catches a tail and runs it through a vacuum sealer.

Today, somepony had backed into a vat of molten plastic. It wasn't very hot, barely a little warmer than bath water, but it had dumped over and gotten caked in the pony's tail. That should have been the end of it. He should have gone to his supervisor, filled out a report, and headed to medical. His tail would have been cleaned of plastic in a minute or two, and he would have gotten the rest of the day off.

Instead, he tried to clean it off himself, without telling anypony. He basically sat in a break room sink and tried to rinse the plastic out with hot water. That was a good plan, but the pony was impatient and the water wasn't hot enough for his liking. Some jury-rigged heating element and a steam explosion later, and she was being called in to treat a roasted flank and a tail that was glued so far down a pipe, they had to cut out part of a wall.

Lilybelle sighed again as she entered the medical bay. Now came the hard part, paperwork. Equipment usage had to be logged, accident reports had to be filed with security, and bills had to be sent out. That wasn't the worst part though. She followed the meandering maze of canvas back to the office. The worst part was that the paperwork she needed was in there.

"Hello?" Came Ribbon Dancer's voice from inside. "Is someone out there?" The door slid open, revealing the brightly colored unicorn within. Her eyes widened when she saw her coworker. "Oh, Lily. Why are you all splo-" She shook her head to stop herself. The grey patches on Lilybelle's coat were a perfect match for a certain ex-patient, so it wasn't hard to tell what happened, and the mare probably wouldn't want to talk about it. "Nevermind, did you need some paperwork?"

Lilybelle gave the other mare a cold, hard glare. "I thought you couldn't read thoughts from in there."

Ribbon shrunk back. "I- I can't, I just heard something dragging, so I checked, and you never come by here for anything else."

Lilybelle rolled her eyes. It was then that she noticed the graffiti above the door, and Astral's message. She looked back at the colorful telepath. Astral didn't strike her as the sort to sign his name to something lightly. "Sorry, just give me the standard papers for a house call."

The younger unicorn picked a pink folder off the desk. "I put it together when I heard the... Did you just apologize to me?"

"What of it?" Lilybelle snapped. "Just give me the papers."

Head lowered, Ribbon moved towards the door. She set the folder down near the threshold and carefully started pushing it out to Lilybelle with a hoof.

Lilybelle sighed quietly. This was probably the longest she had ever spoken to the telepath one on one, and it was starting to change the way she saw her. Lilybelle had always been wary of her, but the pony in front of her wasn't something to be afraid of. If anything, Ribbon looked pathetic, like a zoo animal.

Lilybelle looked away. As pitiful as the other mare looked right now, it was still unsettling to know she had access to your thoughts. She looked back up at Astral's message. Had he actually gone in there? Or did he just talk Ribbon through the threshold? She sighed again. She was probably going to regret what she was about to do.

She cleared her throat impatiently and looked down at Ribbon. The younger mare had only gotten the folder halfway out the door. "What are you doing? Just pick it up and give it to me."

Ribbon stopped pushing it and looked up at Lilybelle. "But, my magic can't go past the shielding. That's why it's there in the first place."

The older mare tapped her hoof on the deck. "You have hooves, don't you? A mouth maybe?"

The multicolored unicorn looked up at her fellow intern. "But that would mean I have to go out there. You don't mind?"

Lilybelle sat down and crossed her hooves. "Of course I mind. But, if you keep it quick, I suppose I can live with it."

Ribbon nodded happily. "OK!" She picked up the folder in her mouth and was about to step out the door when Lilybelle held up a hoof to stop her.

"Just... don't do anything creepy, OK?"

Ribbon nodded again, and Lilybelle put her hoof down. The older intern then tried very hard not to think anything as the telepath stepped through the door.

Once outside, Ribbon went completely still, staring straight ahead with eyes as wide as space itself.

Lilybelle pointed at her. "See? That's exactly how I define creepy."

This pink mare's words seemed to snap Ribbon out her trance. The rainbow unicorn shook her head, then spit out the folder, spreading Lilybelle's paperwork across the floor.

"Hey! I needed those."

Ribbon made a break for the hospital's exit. "Astral's being kidnapped!" She ran out the door, and past the ever-present pinto welder. "And he thinks you're cute with spots!"

The welder blushed and gave Lilybelle a nervous wave. The mottled pink mare gave a nervous chuckle and returned the wave before chasing after Ribbon Dancer. The younger mare had a head start, but Lilybelle had a longer stride, and soon started to catch up. "You idiot! That's not something you just say out loud! And where are you even going?"

"Docking bay two!" Ribbon answered frantically. "They're headed for an orbital shuttle!" She took an abrupt left turn down a high-ceilinged corridor. "This way will be faster!"

"No! Ribbon, they're doing construction down here!" Sure enough, there was a sheet metal panel, two ponies tall, stretched across the corridor ahead. It looked like a wall panel, but it was blocking the way. "We'll have to turn back!"

Ribbon kept running towards it, ignoring Lilybelle's shouts. She didn't slow down either, and everypony around was worried she would end up crashing into something. But at the last moment, she launched herself off a nearby construction worker like a springboard, somersaulting over the barrier with an athletic grace that caught Lilybelle off guard.

"Where the hell did you learn to do that?" Lilybelle shouted. The pink pony had to stop at the sheet metal. There was no way she was going to match the other unicorn's athletic display, and she couldn't teleport because she didn't know what was on the other side.

One of the construction workers walked over to Lilybelle, pushing a welding helmet up and out of his face. "That filly's got some moves. Friend o' yours?"

"No." Lily growled. "Is this wall important?"

He glanced at the sheet metal. "This? Nah, we're getting ready to chop it up and haul it to recycling."

"Good." Lilybelle reached up and pulled the construction worker's helmet down over his face. She then launched a fiery blast of magic at the wall, melting a hole in it large enough for a parade to march through. She jumped through the hole, easily avoiding the glowing edges, and resumed the chase.

Ribbon Dancer was out of sight, but there was only one path to follow. Lilybelle followed that path until it came to an intersection with another corridor. "Oh, come on!" How was she supposed to catch up with the telepath now? There were two options, should she just pick one? A fifty-fifty chance is better than waiting around. But which one should she pick? The right fork would lead past the restaurant, but the left fork would lead past the security office. Lilybelle took the left path. Even if she didn't find Ribbon Dancer, she could tell Growl what was happening.

Ribbon Dancer immediately ran past her, headed in the opposite direction. "That way's completely blocked."

With a loud groan, Lilybelle followed her down the other path.

As they neared the restaurant, a familiar blue stallion was walking out with a takeout box. "Hi dad," Ribbon called out as she ran past, "bye dad." He threw a hoof in the air and she glanced back. "No time, Astral's being kidnapped!"

With a loud groan, Ribbon's father set the takeout box next to the ration bucket and set off after them. He caught up easily, overtaking Lilybelle and taking up a position alongside his daughter. He let out a loud snort.

Ribbon looked over at him. "That's what you get for making stupid bets."

"Somepony want to clue me in?" Lilybelle was starting to feel winded, but the other two seemed to barely notice that they were even running. "I don't have the benefit of freaky mind-powers."

Ribbon's father glanced back, and Ribbon slammed into his side as they ran. "Dad! That's not nice." Neither of them slowed down. Ribbon looked back. "Dad made a bet with James about how long Astral could stay out of trouble. Loser has to eat ration bars for a week."

They came across another obstruction. This one wasn't nearly as tall as the last one, but it was still as tall as the average pony. Ribbon flipped over it with ease, and her father jumped it like it was nothing, but Lilybelle had to clamber over it like an awkward monkey.

They ran into several more obstructions in quick succession, each one causing more and more difficulty for the struggling pink unicorn. When she cleared the last one, she was out of breath and standing in docking bay two's crowded loading area. Ribbon and her father were far ahead of her, but her father was stopped and talking to Growl. Ribbon was still running though the crowd, straight for where Astral was being dragged away by the largest pony Lilybelle had ever seen.

Ribbon kept running, straight for that monster of a pony. "Ribbon!" Lilybelle shouted. She didn't have enough air in her to say anything else. What was that filly planning to do against that red brute?

As she ran, the telepath came across a human mechanic carrying a large wrench over her shoulder. She leapt up, grabbing the wrench without breaking her pace, and ignored the woman's shouts as she ran off with it.

Ribbon let out a battle cry as she neared the red pony. The red giant looked over just as the young pony swung the wrench. He didn't seem to see the improvised weapon, but he sure saw the pony wielding it. "R.D? Is that you?"

Comments

[Moongaze14]

Seems like Ribbon is more athletic than expected.

[Timuri]

And all that martial arts training pays off.

Glad to see Lily already taking strides to get over her fear of Ribbon.

[GeorgeOfTheJungle]

"R.D? Is that you?"

Ok, there's some timey wimey stuff going on here.