Cryo-7

by Metal Pony Fan

Greasy Hair, Dirty Coats, and Shaky Hearts

Shuffling around, nestled under a warm, grey wing, Growl yawned. "We should be doing this more often."

James pulled his wife closer to him, taking a deep breath through her mane. "Sounds good to me," he muttered sleepily.

She leaned her head back, nestling it against his neck. "I'm serious. If we really want to try for a foal, we can't waste time during my heat.

"What makes you think I wasn't being serious?" He stretched out with a mighty yawn. When he was done with that, he grabbed Growl around the waist, and rolled over onto his back. This left her mildly disoriented at first, but lying on a soft pile of fur and feathers and wrapped in his wings, so she got over it quickly. "Also, have you decided what to do about your possible old friends?"

"No," she said with a sigh. She let herself sprawl out, making herself comfortable. "I don't remember any of them, and I feel like admitting it makes me... soft."

"But you are soft," James pointed out, gently grabbing her face, smushing her cheeks as he craned his neck to rub his beak against her nose, "you are a soft and sensitive pony who cares for everyone." With a grunt, let his head fall back to the floor. He was mildly surprised that his actions weren't greeted with protest or retaliation. "And, it is precisely that softness that gives you strength, and makes you the militant hard-ass that everyone on this station knows and loves."

Growl propped herself up, staring down at James, looking her husband in the eyes. "Your choice, should I thank you or strangle you for that little comment?"

"Whichever one makes you happy." James shrugged, knocking her off of him and to the floor. "I'm beyond caring at this point." He stood up, and the roles were quickly reversed. He was looking down at his wife. "I'll still love you, whichever you choose." He leaned in, running his beak through her mane. "But... as much as you are known and loved on this station, there are others who love you every bit the same, and merely do not know you as you are in this moment."

She closed her eyes and leaned into the caress. His beak, hard and sharp enough to cut flesh and break bone, was soft and gentle against her skin. There was always a thrill feeling it so close. But she also felt safe. As dangerous as he could be, she trusted him more than anypony else in the galaxy, and knew that he would be there for her no matter what happened. "Just as I do not know them. James, it feels wrong to try and get to know them now. I'm not the pony they remember. I would be an imposter taking over for somepony who died a long time ago."

"Why don't you let them decide that?" He nudged her towards the bed, away from the mess they made of the meditation circle and its candles. One candle had dumped over. There was no carpet to burn, but the candle itself remained lit for a while, and the wax would have to be scraped off the floor. There was enough to reshape into another candle at least. "You don't know who you were before, so what makes you assume you were any different?

"Good point." Growl yawned again as she allowed herself to be guided by his little nudges. "I guess I should at least try."

"Yes," James agreed as they reached the bed. "But first, we sleep. I'm tired, and I'm going to need all the energy I can get in the morning. "

She climbed up first, turning around to face him before flopping down. "What's happening in the morning?"

He gave a mischevious smile, and leaned in close. He couldn't kiss her the way she could him, but he ran his coarse tongue over her cheek in a slow motion. He could taste the sweat, salty-sweet, and he wanted more. "You want to keep trying for that foal, don't you?"

---

Twilight slowly chewed another mouthful of hashbrowns as she and Astral sat in the rows of chairs near docking ring two. Her toast, having been packaged in the same box as the steaming potatoes, was soggy beyond stomaching.

She noticed that Astral didn't say anything when she started eating his food. It didn't look like he even noticed, despite sitting across from her and stealing little glances at her. Ever since they left Donut Joe's, he had been completely silent. And she was starting to get a little tired of it.

It wasn't even like she said anything that profound. If she had come out with a confession of love, or something like that, she would have understood the stunned silence. But, all she said was that they might make a good match. Might, not would, not should, but might.

With a sigh, Twilight decided she had enough awkward silence. "Astral?"

"When we get back from Tirassa," Astral suddenly blurted out, "um..." He took a second to gather his wits before finishing, "we should go somewhere, or do something..."

Twilight blinked, slowly closing the takeout box. This was an unexpected development. "You mean like a-"

Astral nodded quickly. "A date, yes. But nothing big, or serious, just to see if you really agree with what the other Twilight thought, or not."

She stared at him, and set the box in the empty seat next to her. "Astral, is that-"

"Appropriate?" He responded way too quickly. "Hell if I know. If I had any actual authority over you as Captain, I'd say no, definitely not appropriate. But, our circumstances are a little different, so really, it's entirely up to you."

She crossed her hooves, a look of quiet contemplation on her face. "Ok, sure," she said after a moment.

"I understand," Astral said, shaking his head, "it was just a thought, I didn't mean to creep you out or... anything... like..." The stallion blinked at the smirking mare across from him, and took a second to breath. "What?"

The smirk faded, and she offered a small smile in its place. "You can't honestly expect me to turn down the first stallion to ask me out in over five thousand years."

"But..." He lifted a hoof to rub his face, but changed his mind halfway, leaving the hoof waving awkwardly in front of him. "Are you seriously OK with it? You aren't just saying yes out of pity?"

"Of course not," she protested. With a scoff, she turned away from the stallion, only for a stray thought to turn her back around. "Wait, aren't you asking out of pity?"

"No!" Half way out of his chair after the sudden exclamation, Astral shrunk back down.

"I didn't mean pity, so much," Twilight ammended, surprised by the reaction. "Some sort of obligation to the other me in the crossover?"

The stallion sheepishly shook his head.

"Then, you really are asking me out? You and me, getting to know each other better, and stuff like that, that kind of date?"

Astral nodded.

"Why?"

He shrugged.

Her head cocked to the side, and her smirk returned. "Good answer."

With a groan, Astral rubbed the bridge of his snout. "Fine! I think I'm developing feelings for you. Happy? I don't love you, or even really like you yet, and our relationship level only reached tolerate recently, but I do kinda like you, and you're an attractive mare, and I feel like there's something there between us. Call it a seed, if you want put a metaphor on it. We're starting to get along now, and even though you said we were friends, it doesn't feel like that's what's going on. And it's been eating at me because I can't tell if you feel the same, or if I am just a friend, or if we're having some sort of miscommunication because of cultural differences, and I'm enough of a habitual loner that I will worry myself sick over something like that without seeking any help or advice, because I don't really know how to express these things."

Twilight pressed her lips together in embarrassment. She wasn't expecting a full-fledged confession, such as it was. "I'd say you expressed yourself pretty thoroughly."

"Yeah," Astral agreed, meekly running a hoof through his mane. "I wasn't planning on saying anything, but Growl was saying I should, and then you basically said I had a chance back at the booth. I didn't just make things weird for us, did I?"

"No more than usual," she shrugged, "actually, I'm kind of relieved. We've been dancing around saying it for the last few hours. To be honest, I think I've been starting to like you since Luna teleported us across Canterlot."

Astral raised an eyebrow. "We fought in a mud pit, then bickered the entire way back."

Twilight winced. "Well, yeah. But you took care of me when I passed out, when you could have just left me behind. I know the way we met wasn't ideal. And, it's kind of twisted, but you were the first stallion to challenge me, truly challenge me, as a pony, as an equal, since I became an alicorn." She sighed. "Have to admit, it made me happy. I've had plenty of enemies, one or two rivals, but never anything quite like this. And the bickering was actually kind of fun."

"You kept me on my hooves," Astral agreed, "that's for sure. But, by the time we reached the Solomon's Ring, I couldn't tell if we were arguing or flirting half the time." He shrugged. "Maybe we're both the same kind of messed up."

"No pony's as messed up as you," interrupted a loud voice, with a gravelly tone likely born of a love of whiskey. Astral's eyes went wide for a moment, then narrowed in angry recognition as it spoke again. "That blind girl didn't tell me I was pickin' up an old acquaintance and his filly."

"Excuse me?" Twilight snorted as she and Astral jumped out of their chairs, facing the jacketed pony walking their way.

"Damn," a whistle escaped parched lips, "she's out a' your league boy." The unicorn, dark sandstone in color and mottled with rusty markings, gave Twilight a disconcerting wink with an eye surrounded by scars. His mane was a little darker than the spots in his dirty fur, but it was hard to tell if that was the natural color, or a result of the grease holding it in place. "Let me introduce myself-"

Astral didn't give him a chance. Putting himself between Twilight and the newcomer, he let out an angry snort. "Why the hell are you here, Patch?"

The dirty stallion rolled his eyes. "Sure, Astral, shit all over my introduction." He tugged the collar of his jacket, clinking together dented metal plates sewn to the outside. "Did I ever do that to you, Beastmaster of Tana'ahklan?"

Twilight stepped out from behind Astral, casting him a confused glance. "Beastmaster?" She inquired.

Astral shook his head. "It was a long time ago, but that was one of my nicknames back when I was a bounty hunter." He glared at Patch. "There's no point bringing that up."

"No point?!" The dirty stallion busted out with raucous laughter. "I bet you ain't told her squat!" He tried to walk around Astral, to get closer to Twilight, but the grey unicorn grabbed the large metal plate on his back, arresting his progress. Patch pointed at Astral. "This grump and me used to be the best o' pals."

"And I," Astral corrected, "and what have you been smoking to be able to say that with a straight face?"

"Aw, that hurts, Plane, old boy." Patch laid his hoof on Astral's shoulder, leaving a black streak in his otherwise clean fur. "Why would ya say somethin' so mean?"

Astral scoffed, shooting Twilight a glance that told her his current level of frustration. Then, he turned back and shouted in Patch's face, "You shot me!"

"With a stunner," the messy stallion offered in defense, patting Astral's shoulder, and leaving two more streaks.

"I was a hundred meters up on a hover bike," Astral reminded him.

Patch shrugged. "We caught ya, didn't we?"

"No, Coolie caught me. You and Gutcheck were too busy shooting Fahl Bats to notice that you almost killed me."

"Ah, relax," the dirty stallion admonished, "we all knew that girl wasn't gonna let no harm come to you. Asides, what ever happened to her? I would a' thought you'd a' knocked her up by now, given that she was the only thing you took with you when you left Tana."

"I'm not you," Astral growled. "I know how to back off when a mare says no."

"You're damn right, you ain't me." Patch snarled back. "I wouldn't let a little thing like killin' a bounty scare me into runnin' away from my friends!"

"I was banished, Patch! And you only kept Coolie and me around because we were better trackers and fighters than anypony else you could get your hooves on."

"That's cruel boy, real cruel." Patch shook his head. "You two were closer to me than anypony. Except maybe Gutcheck, but she's a special case. You know, we went and had a kid."

Astral stepped back suddenly, eyes wide. "Who did?"

"Me and Gutsy did," Patch answered happily, "who else would I shack up with?"

"Patch," Astral's voice got real quiet, his face twisted into a look of severe social discomfort. "I, um... I honestly don't know what to say."

"You could try being happy for me," the other unicorn said sadly. "I mean, really? An old friend tells you he had a kid, and you look at him like he grew a sixth leg."

"Don't you mean fifth?" Twilight quipped.

Patch gave her a smirk and another wink. "You're a virgin, ain't ya girl?"

"Patch," Astral warned, "you leave her alone."

"Oh, look who gets all offended for his filly, but acts all disgusted when I talk about mine."

"Patch, she's your cousin!"

Patch poked a hoof at Astral. "Legally, maybe. But her ma was cheatin' on my uncle, and he was sterile from his first wife kickin' him in the jewels when she left him for knocking up a couple a' shopkeepers anyway, so technically she ain't."

"I'm gonna go wait over there while you two talk." Twilight quickly pointed over her shoulder and started walking away.

Astral jumped to stop her. "Wait! Don't turn a-"

It was too late. She had turned her back on them, and Patch's horn lit up with rust-red aura. A matching wave of energy slapped the alicorn across the flank, earning a yelp as she jumped away from the sudden shock.

Twilight looked back, a pleasant, yet insincere smile on her face. "Patch, was it? I don't think we've been formally introduced."

Astral scrambled away from the other unicorn as Twilight's horn lit up, and a wave of violet energy several times larger than Patch's spell tore through the air, tossing him across the room, upending chairs as he crashed through the rows. People and ponies all around took notice of the disturbance.

With a groan, Patch started pulling himself out of the pile of plastic and metal seats. Twilight calmly trotted over. She stood over him, and pulled a chair off of him to get a clear look at his face. "I am Twilight Sparkle, Princess of Equestria," she said in a calm, formal tone, "I am also a high ranking professor of Luna's Academy, and a class zero mage in all major disciplines. I am nopony's filly, and I do not tolerate invasions of my personal space. Do what you just did one more time, and you will spend the rest of your natural lifespan as an earth pony, and a gelding." She leaned in close to him. "Do I make myself clear?"

"Crystal," the unicorn whimpered.

"Good." Twilight marched away from the fallen unicorn. "Now, from the way you greeted Astral, I take it you are the transportation that Silver hired to bring Astral and me to Tirassa?"

"And I," Patched growled defiantly.

Twilight raised an eyebrow. "Not in this case. If I was alone, you would take me to Tirassa, therefore you will be taking Astral and me there."

"Ugh." He dropped his head in defeat, smacking his horn against a chair and wincing. "Damn boy, where'd you find this one?"

"She found me," Astral smirked, "and quit calling me boy, you're only two years older than I am."

"Fine!" Patch groaned. " Whatever! I got crew out purchasin' supplies, so we'll leave soon as they're back." He dragged himself up and started towards the docking tube. "There's quarters prepped. Let me make a call, then I'll show you to 'em."

Twilight started following, and Astral trotted up beside her, leaning in to whisper, "I'm starting to rub off on you."

Twilight smiled, keeping her eyes on their guide, making sure he behaved himself. "You say that like it's a bad thing."

---

Berry set her pad down on the bed, placing it back among the careful arrangement of two dozen others. It had been difficult linking them all together and loading them with scan data of the Philomena. More difficult, had been reprogramming the holographic display engines to run electronics simulations. Even more difficult than that, had been figuring out the concept of modern currency.

She grasped the numbers just fine, and she understood the basic idea of trading things of equal value. But why only accept a stand-in for goods and services in trade for goods and services? What if you don't have any of the stand-in? It makes barter impossible!

Berry looked over her web of pads. Luckily, the pony that contacted them from the surface had called again, and she had enough of the shuttle's comm system repaired to maintain an audio connection. Silver sounded like a nice pony, and once Berry explained who she was, and what she was trying to do, had given her a string of numbers that she could punch in at stores instead of paying.

She used those numbers to purchase these pads, and spent the last hour or so linking and reprogramming them. Once she was done, she would be able to plan and coordinate the repairs to both the shuttle and the Philomena.

She regarded the pad she just set down. That one was her favorite. It was the largest of the bunch, bright pink, waterproof, and had a rubberized, armored casing, meant for heavy use and abuse. She found it in a section of the store filled with similarly colored clothes for short aliens and smaller ponies than her. The internal components were crap though.

So, she swapped all the important parts with the best from the other pads. The antenna, storage, and processors from one, battery and speakers from another, and a dedicated holo-processor and high resolution, full-color projector from a third. Her last addition was a thermal charging circuit that would allow the pad to charge itself from changes in ambient temperature. Battery running low? Just hold it close, and charge it via body heat!

Now she just had to figure out how to fix the coffee maker she scrounged the last parts from. It wasn't something she had purchased, but an appliance in her temporary quarters. She probably should have found another source for the thermistor and resistive wire.

Her pad started beeping, and she reached over to tap the screen. It showed an incoming video call, and Berry excitedly routed it to the holo-projector. Time for a field test!

A unicorn mare materialized above the bed. Her dark fur was highlighted by the desk lamp beside her in an otherwise dark room, and showed up in beautiful, crisp detail. Her hair showed up wonderfully, no artifacting or compression patterning. And her eyes... "Oh my gosh, you have such pretty eyes!"

Silver blinked at the comment. "E-excuse me?"

"Your eyes," Berry repeated, "they're so bright and white. They're really pretty."

The unicorn chuckled. Shaking her head slowly. "Thank you, Berry, I think that's the first time anypony's ever said that to me." She looked down. "No, it's the third, but it's still a rare comment. I bet your eyes are pretty as well. Could you describe them for me?"

Berry's head tilted to the side. "Can't you see me?"

"No," Silver answered flatly.

Berry checked her pad, bringing up what was normally buried technical data with a few taps of her hoof. It showed that the camera was working, and her pad was properly transmitting that data. "Is your monitor broken?"

The unicorn folded her hooves on the desk in front of her. "No, Berry. My eyes are."

The pink pony gasped. "Really?"

Silver nodded. "That's why they look the way they do. I can't see anything."

"Oh," Berry mumbled, quietly looking down, "they're still pretty."

"Thank you, Berry."

Berry suddenly glanced up at the rows of pads and grabbed the nearest one. With it still off, she held it up in front of her face, angling the screen to get the best light for her reflection. "My eyes are pink, kind of like the rest of me, but a bit darker, like my mane, instead of like my fur, maybe a little closer to red though. I think they're a little small, but all of me is, kinda. My eyelashes aren't very long, but they're really curly. There's a small scar on my left eyelid from where a spring I was trying to remove from something sprung out and hit me because I slipped with the pliers. You can barely see it, unless you're really paying attention, but it is there."

Silver smiled again. "Thank you, Berry. Not many ponies are comfortable giving that much detail about their appearance to a stranger."

Berry's eyes went wide as she realized something. "Actually, that reminds me, who are you?"

The unicorn's smile disappeared. "It's me, Silver. Don't you recognize my voice?"

"Oh, hi, Silver," Berry responded happily. "The speakers on the shuttle must have been damaged, because your voice was much more, uh, metallic. I didn't recognize it, because your real voice is much nicer. Oh! And thank you for those numbers earlier, they were really useful."

"You're welcome, Berry, but that's actually the reason I contacted you. Or, rather, the reason I contacted this pad. You see, I was contacted by the bank, and I was trying to confirm a purchase. Did you, by any chance, purchase twenty-five data pads in the last few hours?"

"Nope." Berry shook her head quickly. "That's ridiculous. I only bought twenty-four."

Silver blinked. She scratched her chin, and for a moment, that was the only movement she made. When she spoke, it was little more than a mutter. "She finally bought a pad." With a smile, Silver spoke a little louder to Berry. "I'm in a good mood, so I'll assume you have a good reason for needing that many pads."

"Oh, I do," Berry answered quickly.

Silver waited for her to expand on her answer, but when the earth pony remained silent, she slowly sighed, "Good, I guess." She nodded. "Just, call me before you purchase anything else. I gave you Twilight's personal account number because I was paying her bills and had it nearby at the time. She might not be happy if you go on too much of a spending spree."

---

With a loud, miserable groan, Twilight collapsed on the lower bunk the moment Astral closed the door to their new quarters. Luckily, the bedding was clean. Extremely clean, in fact, the fresh scent of light detergent, and possibly a fabric softener emanated from the sheets. Actually, the entire room was clean, much cleaner than the common areas of the ship. Twilight wasn't sure if that should worry her.

The stallion nodded his understanding as he glanced around the small room. Bunk bed against one wall, table and a filing cabinet against the opposite, and a computer terminal on the third. Enough room to take two, maybe three steps in any direction. "You OK?"

"Ugh," Twilight threw a hoof in the air, "I thought he was never going to leave. Thanks to that jerk, I ended up using magic and setting back my recovery time. And what is up with expecting you to work in the cargo bay?"

Astral sighed and sat on the floor next to the bed. "Yeah, Patch is a jerk for sure," he muttered in sympathy, "and magical exhaustion can be rough sometimes. I went through a lot of it back when I took spellcasting classes at the academy. Too bad there isn't a good remedy for it other than sleeping it off."

Twilight turned and twisted on the mattress until she was able to look at the stallion without having to lift her head. "Actually, there is..."

"First I've heard of it," Astral responded, looking over. To his surprise, Twilight had flipped around, and was facing him. So, he turned around and folded his hooves on the mattresses,letting out a sigh as he rested his head on them. "So," he deadpanned, "why haven't you written a how to book on it and gotten rich yet?"

Twilight studied the stallion, now that he was closer. He looked almost as tired as she was, maybe worn down by his interaction with Patch? Though, come to think of it, not counting their nap in the medical closet, it has been roughly twenty hours since they last slept. "If it was easy, I probably would have. There are specific conditions in place that make the process difficult."

"Yeah," Astral yawned, "I should have guessed. So, what are these conditions?"

Twilight frowned. He just looked really cute when he yawned. That was one of the things that got to her when she was with Mac. Why did she have to find something so simple and common as yawning so irresistibly adorable? "First, how about you tell me more about Patch? If we're going to be stuck with him for the next few days, I want to know what we're in for."

Astral shrugged. "Not mutch to tell, he's a narcissistic asshole, and we were part of the same bounty hunting guild almost a decade ago. The only things he cares about are money, family, and harassing mares."

"I see," Twilight muttered, "so he's exactly what he seems."

"To a fault," Astral agreed, "he has a weird sense of pride, and as long as I've known him, he's never outright lied to anypony." Astral frowned suddenly. "Though, he forgets to say things at convenient times."

The alicorn propped herself up on her forelegs. "In that case, what did he mean when he said you didn't tell me anything?"

With a groan, Astral pushed himself away from the bed and paced around the small room. "He's just trying to start something. My stay on Tana ended badly, and he knows it. He also knows me well enough to know I don't like to talk about my past."

Twilight nodded. "I can understand that." She had so many questions for him, based on things both unicorns said during their conversation. But if it made him uncomfortable, they could wait. "I won't press the issue."

"No," Astral sighed, giving his mane a good scratching, "if anypony, you're probably the one who should know, especially if we're gonna be stuck with each other."

She raised an eyebrow. "That's awfully presumptive."

The stallion's eyes narrowed. "Huh?"

"Oh, right," Twilight chuckled sheepishly, "stuck with each other for the mission. Got it."

"Yeah, what did you think I-" Astral trailed off as he put the pieces together. "Oh, you thought I meant, um..."

"Sorry," Twilight quickly waved it off, "my mistake. Please don't worry about it. But just so you know, I'm only twenty-five, I've got plenty of time before I'm stuck with anything."

Astral frowned at the comment. "Yeah, and I bet you have an age reversal spell worked out, just in case."

"Says the stallion pushing thirty," Twilight countered, smirking. "Twenty-eight, you said? Plus change, that means less than two years until the big three-zero."

"Oh yeah?" Astral demanded, hopping up on the bed with a smile as Twilight sat up. "Well-" His well thought retort died in his throat as something came to mind. His gaze drifted off, and he brought his hoof to his mouth as he concentrated. "Wait..."

Twilight's head tilted to the side. She was already working out the next insult, why'd he stop? "What is it?"

Astral looked up. "What planet's year are you using?"

"Canterlot, now," came the immediate reply, "but the year is only fourty-six hours short of an Equestrian year, so there isn't much of a difference in the grand scheme of things. Why? which one did you use?"

"Uh," the stallion's snout scrunched up as he tried to recall, "a bunch?"

"Huh?" Twilight blinked. " What is that supposed to mean?"

Astral chewed his lip for a second. "You have your new pad, right?"

"Yeah, hold on." Twilight unzipped her jacket so she could access an inside pocket.

Astral raised an eyebrow, smirking. "You could at least buy me dinner first."

Twilight stopped, hoof just about to reach in the jacket, expression souring as she processed the comment. She leveled a glare at the stallion, and removed her jacket completely. "I want you to know, what I'm about to do, I do out of principle."

His smirk disappeared. "Uh-oh."

Twilight lunged forward, launching a slap at Astral's snout. He batted it away, noticing something odd. It wasn't fast enough, and she wasn't putting any real force into it. With a laugh, he batted away the next slap. Twilight shared in the laughter, and launched one last playful slap.

Astral didn't bat this one away. Instead, he caught it. And Twilight turned sideways, taking advantage of his occupied hooves by flicking him in the the snout with a wing tip.

Astral let go of her hooves and grabbed his snout. "Alright," he groaned, "you win this round."

Twilight giggled as she reached for her jacket. "We were just arguing about age, and now we're playing like a couple of foals." She tilted the garment upside down in front of her, emptying the interior pocket she had unzipped. A quill, a parchment wrapped with a single red ribbon, and a clattering bag of-

Astral grabbed the small item that just dropped to the bed. "Are these marbles?" He opened the little satchel and tilted it into his hoof. Inside were a mix of colorful glass marbles, gems, wooden dice, pumpkin seeds, sunflower seeds, and ball bearings, and other tiny knick-knacks. He dumped them back in the bag and closed it up. "I don't even want to know."

"I'll show you once my magic recovers," Twilight said with almost giddy pride.

"Can't wait to show off, huh?" Astral grabbed the parchment next. "You know, I'm going to be really disappointed if you just launch the things like bullets."

"Don't worry," Twilight gave a cat-like grin, "I'm not that boring."

Astral stared at her for a moment, then shook his head. "Nah, it'd be too easy." He looked down at the parchment, undid the gold medallion's magnetic clasp, and unrolled it as the red ribbon fell away. "Let's see..."

Twilight dropped to her belly, head propped up on her hooves as Astral picked up the quill in his magic. "You know," she told him, "if I knew you could get pads like this, I would have bought one years ago."

"I thought you might like it." Astral tapped the soft, stubby business end of the quill to the parchment's surface, and the electronic ink display came to life, playing a startup video that made it look like ink had splashed from the quill and was being absorbed across the page. "Say what you want about dragon tech, they make some badass versions of everyday items."

"Yeah," Twilight nodded slowly, staring at the ribbon that had fallen to the bed, "I guess."

Astral glanced up. "Something wrong?"

Twilight shook her head. "Just remembering a good friend. Back to what were you doing?"

"Ok," Astral glanced down at the drawings that appeared on the page, and started tapping around with the quill. "You know," he added quietly, "if you ever need to talk about anything, I can be convinced to listen without giving you a hard time."

She glanced up as he started scribbling with the stylus. If nothing else, her echo was right in thinking Astral was a good pony. "I might take you up on that someday."

Astral offered a brief smile, which faded before he spoke again. "Watch out, I might expect you to return the favor."

"Only fair." Twilight looked back down at the notes and equations Astral was writing. "So, what is this?"

"Well," Astral's voice jumped in pitch as he scratched his head, "I'm not exactly sure how old I am anymore. See, I, um, up through sixteen, I used the Serus Callender to determine my age. That's three hundred and thirty-seven days in a year."

"That makes you," Twilight thought for a second, "fourteen and a half in Canterlot years?"

He shook his head in disagreement, then pointed at the next equation. "Shorter day. Makes me thirteen. But then I worked on a farm on Gorai II for one of their years."

"Really?" Twilight laughed. "What would you do on a farm?"

"Lots of stuff," Astral replied defensively, "my dad ran a farm on Serus."

"Huh?" Twilight looked up. "I thought you said he ran cargo."

Astral looked up as well. "Where do you think the cargo came from?"

"Oh." The alicorn shrugged.

"Anyway," Astral pointed back down the important thing is that Gorai is a slow revolution planet in the dragon territories. It has one day for each of its years, which is seven hundred and sixty three Canterlot days long."

"Then, by the time you were fifteen, it all evened out?"

Astral sighed. "But then after working on convoys for a few months, I spent several years on Tana, which has a shorter year than Serus did, a year on Lunara, Two on hoofton, a year running cargo in the Sol system, earth and mars mostly, then back to hoofton. And I switched calendars each time I changed systems. And then, I switched back to the Serus calendar when I starting making intersystem cargo runs again, right up until three months ago when I returned to Hoofton, switched to their calendar again, bought the Philomena, and started using her computer's calendar."

"Hoo boy," Twilight brought a hoof to her forehead, "Astral, why would you do that?"

Astral struggled to come up with an answer, but ended up shrugging. "I have no clue. It must have made sense at the time, but now it's just a mess."

Twilight pointed at the parchment. "You forgot to carry the two here."

Astral quickly made the correction, muttering as he went. "makes that nine an eleven, carry the one, an this changes this, this and here."

Astral continued making changes until he was satisfied. The moment the quill stopped moving, Twilight grabbed it, and started working his equations back, substituting certain values.

"What are you doing?" He asked, watching her carefully and reading her upside down numbers. Every so often, she pulled up a general reference app, closing it once she gleaned some piece of data from the search function, and returning to her notes.

"You might be satisfied with a rough number, but I'm not. I'm guessing you don't have the exact dates you switched calendars, but I just want to be a little more..." She trailed off. "Wait, why are we doing this? What was your birth date and year by the Serus Calendar?"

"Fifth of harvest, fifty-four P.C." he answered quickly.

Twilight checked one last thing in the reference app, made some final scribbles, then circled her result, tossing the quill down. "There, hah!" Her head tilted. " Huh."

Astral looked down at the number she circled. "Wait a minute, that's only-"

"Yep," she interrupted him with a smile, "Astral, your birthday is in three weeks, and you're turning twenty-six."

"Huh." He scratched his mane as he considered it. He was two years younger than he thought. As long as you count it by Canterlot time. "I expect a nice gift."

Twilight cleared the screen after saving the notes, then started rolling up the electronic parchment. "Hmm..." She stuffed it back in the jacket. She did the same with the quill-shaped stylus and bag of trinkets. "Too bad my birthday was two months ago." She held up the jacket. "You pick out good gifts."

"So?" Astral shifted over and leaned against the wall. "Mine's coming up."

She stared at him for a moment. "How does that help if I want a gift?"

Astral pushed away from the wall, straightening up. "Everypony gets gifts on a birthday," he said with some confusion.

Twilight could help but giggle. "You're saying that the birthday pony gives everypony else gifts?"

"Yeah," Astral answered cautiously, "that's kind of the point. You might get one gift from everypony as a group, then maybe a personal gift or two from somepony close. But for the most part you're expressing your gratitude to those around you, for their contribution to your life over the previous year. As well as expressing your hope that they will continue to be a part of your life."

Twilight's laughter slowly subsided, but her smile stuck. "That's beautiful, Astral, but please tell me there's still a cake."

To Twilight's horror, he scratched his mane. "What's a cake?"

Her smile fell faster than a satellite knocked out of orbit. "You can't be serious."

Biting back a smile, Astral shrugged. "We grew up in different cultures, Twi, and I didn't know yours existed until recently." He frowned, sadly, desperately hiding the fact that he was inches away from exploding with laughter as he lied through his teeth. "You can't expect me to know every obscure ritual you remember, if any at all."

"What? But, a cake isn't a ritual," Twilight protested, "it's a type of-"

"No." Astral held up a hoof, tears forming in his eyes as he bit his lip. This shouldn't be so easy. "I'm sorry. All this talk of birthdays is bringing up bad memories. If you want to, you can incorporate your customs into my birthday, including this cake thing. It would actually mean a lot to me to learn more about your culture."

Twilight gave a determined nod. "I will. I promise, this will be a birthday to remember. I'll incorporate Equestrian customs, both from Ponyville and Old Canterlot. And I want to learn more about your culture as well."

Astral nodded, a soft chuckle slipping out. "That's so sweet of you. I'll do my best to teach you what I can."

Twilight smiled warmly, and Astral returned it, still fighting his own face for control over his expression. That honest, sincere look on her face though, it just wasn't fair! He turned away, and hopped off the bed. He wouldn't be able to maintain his composure if he kept eye contact too much longer.

Twilight hopped out of bed beside him. "Astral, is something wrong?"

"No." Astral took a deep breath and sighed. He was almost back under control. "It's just... I want to be fully rested if I have to work a shift in the cargo bay tomorrow. I'm going to see if it was part of Silver's arrangement, or if I can get out of it first, but just in case, I should probably get to sleep."

Twilight nodded. She was more than a little tired herself, but wouldn't mind staying up to talk a little longer. She watched Astral for a moment. She never really thought about it before, but he was really easy to talk to. His quick wit made conversations interesting, and they had a surprising number of things in common. Chief among those was that both of them knew what it was like to lose their entire planet.

Twilight glanced back at the bunk bed. It was then that she noticed there was no ladder. There was a bracket for one, and the bolts were hanging in the holes. It had been removed, and judging by the scuffs on the floor below, it was removed recently. Most likely Patch's last attempt at revenge, forcing them to share the lower bunk.

She couldn't stop the smug grin that showed on her face. Patch didn't know she had wings. But, it made her think. She and Astral had taken the first steps towards a relationship. These sort of things would eventually come up.

Eventually. It was way too soon to even consider it. But, back on Equestria, she had been a princess, a public figure, responsible for maintaining a certain level of decorum, tradition, and discression. It would have been, as one of her friends would put it, absolutely scandalous if she were to share a bed with a stallion she hadn't married.

Nopony would care now. Hell, she already slept next to him once. She could do it again, and there would be no consequences. They could do more than sleep, and nopony would care. Not that it was going to happen anytime soon.

But, she reminded herself, it might, someday.

She looked back at Astral. He shook his head silently, eyes closed as he worked the muscles in his mouth. He was fighting to keep his expression neutral, as Twilight watched sadly.

He was a stallion with pain in his past. He was used to being alone, and even if he wasn't alone anymore, he was used to dealing with things on his own. She could sympathize. Old habits like that weren't going to change themselves overnight. Should she offer to listen? Would he take her up on it?

Deciding against it, she walked over, sat next to him, and did the only other thing she could think of to comfort him. She gave him a hug, like he had done that night on Picus, like he had done when she accidentally turned out the lights back in medical.

She felt him freeze as she pressed her face into the side of his neck, as she wrapped her hooves around him. She heard his gasp of surprise.

"T-Twi," came the unsteady whisper, unsure, questioning.

"Shh," she she admonished as she tightened her grip slightly. She felt him relax into the embrace, even return it. His hoof hooked around the back of her shoulders, brushing against the soft sensitive down and fur at her wing-joints, before pulling her closer to him.

She shivered, despite the warmth. Chest to chest, pressed together like they were, she could feel the rise and fall of each breath. She didn't move. For long seconds, she stayed still. She held him there, even as he leaned his head down, and she began to feel those breaths against her mane.

She gripped him even tighter, burying her snout into the base of his neck with a soft sigh. He shuddered as hot breath spread through his fur, and she closed her eyes as she inhaled his scent.

He sat down, pulling her back with him. His hoof slipped up to the back of her neck, and she felt his other hoof wrap around her to make up for it. Lower on her back, but without pinning her wings to her sides. Which was good, because as his hoof started to stroke down her back, she could feel muscles loosen and feathers start to unfold against her will.

She didn't care at this point. She felt him lean in a little closer, nuzzling his snout through her mane. The hot wind of his breath started to fall on the back of her neck. She tensed up. She wrapped her wings around him, giving him clear access to her back as the soft stroking became more erratic. As he continued to muzzle through her mane, he started pressing harder on her back, pulling her closer and closer to him.

She sighed into his neck again. He was strong for a unicorn, not that she ever expected to learn that about him in quite this way. His hoof kept pulling tighter, and his snout more insistent against her.

If he kept pulling her like this, they would end up on the floor. From there, who knew what would happen. If he went too far, she didn't think she would want to say no. He could probably suggest they take this to the bed right now, and she wouldn't say no.

She lifted her head a little, slowly opening her eyes as she returned the affectionate nuzzling. A little lock of blue hair hung there in front of her, and she gave it a nibble, almost like it was a bit of grass. He stiffened up at the unexpected tug, hoof freezing on her back.

In one small move, she had turned the tables on him. She gave another tug, a little higher up, working her way to his ear. He stopped pulling her, but she made up for it by pressing herself to him.

His hoof started moving again, gently tracing the leading edge of her wing. She pulled one hoof back, tracing along the side of his neck, and up to his cheek as she nuzzled and nibbled her way up the other. She pulled back a little, laying her muzzle just shy of his ear. "Astral?" she whispered, breathless, and panting.

He pulled his head back quickly, looking her in the eyes. His surprise showed on his face, and he was breathing as heavily as she was. But he remained silent, face flushed. Leaning back like he was, it would be so easy for her to step forward right now, putting him on his back beneath her.

But, what would she do after that?

She looked away, realization setting in. So much for not happening anytime soon. "I, um..." She had lost herself in the moment, the sheer physicality of it. Her wings quickly folded themselves. "Astral, I..."

The stallion regained his composure faster than she did, even if the red hadn't completely left his face. He shuffled back and stood up, clearing his throat.

Twilight looked back at him, and he caught her in another hug, careful, delicate, and much less intimate. A single hoof around her shoulder, a chin beside her horn, and a few soft pats. "Good night, Twi."

The alicorn smiled and rested a hoof on his leg. He was purposely keeping the distance between their bodies, and she wasn't going to jeopardize that. Her heart was pounding again just from this little touch. She wasn't sure she could stop herself a second time if things went any further. "Thank you, Astral."

He pulled away, offering a shrug and a nervous chuckle. "Like I said, you gotta buy me dinner first."

Twilight's face went bright red.

Astral saw the reaction to his joke, and winced. "Sorry, that wasn't as funny as I thought it would be."

"I was just trying to cheer you up," she mumbled, staring at the floor.

"It worked," Astral responded quickly, "it definitely worked."

"Ok, great," Twilight answered just as fast, eager to turn around and break eye contact, "good night then, and see you in the morning."

"Right, good night."

Astral turned towards his bunk, and Twilight flew up to hers. He switched off the light, and she retrieved her jacket. Both ponies were still thoroughly flushed from what transpired, both still embarrassed by how far it almost progressed. And as they each climbed into bed, and pulled the covers over themselves in awkward silence, they each came to a realization.

"There is no way in hell I'm going to be able to sleep after that."

Twilight chewed her lip for a moment. She wasn't satisfied with leaving things like this. "Hey, Astral," she whispered through the bunk, "are you asleep?"

"No," came the quiet answer, "we climbed into bed less than a minute ago."

"Right." Twilight peeked over the side. It was dark, but she could make out Astral's shape as he laid there. When he glanced up at her, she asked him, "what happened on the Philomena after I left?"

---

Mica held out his plasma rifle. "Happy Birthday, Ma'am."

Growl looked at the weapon, then shot her deputy a dirty look. "Even if I celebrated it, I don't know when my birthday is."

He pulled the weapon back, since it was clear she didn't want it. "I know, it was a joke. I figured that after everything that happened, you of all people could use a laugh."

With a sigh, she sat down, turning her eyes on the ship taking up most of the cargo bay. Somehow, it was even more damaged than last time she saw it. "I'm sorry, Mica. You just picked a sore spot there."

The human pulled over a crate so he could sit down as well. "What, the birthday thing? I say that every time I hand you something. It's never bothered you before."

She nodded. "I know, but now it does."

"Well, whatever, boss." He shrugged. "I know you'll tell me when you're ready to. James came by yesterday and did a sweep of the ship before the rest of us got here to secure things, but scanners still show three remaining. Sure you don't want the rifle?"

With a laugh, she shook her head. "No, I'm good." After a moment of silence, she glanced back up. "How many were there before James came through?"

"Eight ma'am." Mica shrugged. "He was complaining about being cooped up all the time."

"Of course he was," Growl laughed, "that man has never learned how to sit still, and he never will." With a sigh, she looked up at Mica. "You know what? Go ahead and clear the ship. Thank you for alerting me to the situation, but use it as a training experience for some of the newer guards. Build their confidence a little. Subdue the surviving creatures and deliver them, alive if possible, to the Planetary Defense Labs for analysis."

With that, she marched off towards the exit.

Mica stared in stunned silence. Did his boss just decline to fight? This was a historic first occasion, the sort of thing you mark on a calendar. "What- I mean, if I may ask, what will you be doing instead?"

She smirked as she entered the lift and turned around. Before the doors closed, she shrugged. "I'm going back to bed."

Author's Note:

Happy Thanksgiving! Here's a chapter. This update puts this story over 300,000 words! Whoo!

I'm considering breaking future chapters up a little more. Each section separated by a horizontal rule could be its own chapter. This would allow me to update more often, but with shorter updates.

Comments

[PrincessLunaTheGamer]

Yes, finally Astral and Twilight fu- I mean realized their feelings for each other!

[Batling]

You get huge props for what you are doing with Twilight and Astral, it has truly been a while since I have read a romance development that's so satisfying to follow - the reason romance stories (or stories with romance in them) are often so infuriating to read is because the writer drags things out wayyy tooooo long, the characters never communicate properly, everyone remains oblivious to each other's intentions because they have no capacity for picking up obvious cues, density and indecisiveness reigns supreme and the whole thing beats around the bush until the final chapter of the story.

This? This is an excellent read in comparison. The characters aren't oblivious, they actually talk to each other about their feelings (for several chapters now!) like reasonable people, they aren't being held back by weird hangups that only serve to drag things out needlessly, the mutual desire for companionship feels real and palpable and the chemistry you have going between them just clicks. This is very, very good - it truly has been a awhile since I have read a developing romance that had the characters meshing this well on many levels.

And even them breaking off the sudden influx of desire felt kinda fitting (at this time), both because the location isn't really the best (you probably want to be some place more comfortable than the bunk with questionable privacy onboard a sleazy captain's ship who would probably record the whole thing for your first time together ) and because by now Twilight and Astral have established their penchant for talking things out.

So I fully expect them to have a conversation about this before taking the plunge as it fits their established MO ... and I'm not disappointed because of how well you have handled the relationship up to now, so I'm not too worried about frustratingly indecisive delays either. I have always found that the most interesting things in a relationship start after the people in question get together, and it looks and feels like Twilight and Astral are just about ready to take the plunge (ha ha) and I can't wait to see what comes from their relationship once it truly gets going :)

If there is one thing I found weird in this chapter though, to the point I'd call it immersion breaking, it was Twilight mussing how back in her Princess days it would have been a hassle if the public found out that she took an unmarried stallion to bed. I mean ... the reason this topic used to pop up in western society is pretty much thanks to conservative Christian values, when the mainstream culture still adhered to them. And taking a human practice of specific religious origin (meanign it's not likely to be something that just pops up on its own) and assigning it to alien society was kinda a WTF moment. I mean, I realize it's just a throwaway line and doesn't really matter in the grand scheme of things, but it felt so jarring to have it suddenly pop up and it felt so inapplicable to alien society that it made me bounce out of the story and go "wait, what?"

But yeah, that little bit aside this was a great chapter and I can't wait to read more - both for the plot advancement and for the advancement in Twilight's and Astral's relationship!

[Metal Pony Fan]

8572987
Well the "absolutely scandalous" part was a throw away line referring to Rarity. Culture wise, it was referring to Canterlot, which is (loosely) based off the idea of Camelot, which is the very heart of Western idealism. Not that they actually adhered to any of those ideals. It was also meant to refer more to how it would be front cover of a gossip magazine, and Rarity would probably have the first copy.

Glad you liked the rest. Also, They do talk it through first.

[Batling]

8573985

Oh, I'd certainly expect it to make the cover of a magazine if news came out that a Princess is seeing somepony - that has potential implications on a national scale after all! (Speaking of which, wouldn't Twilight have gone through that twice already? She did date Mac and one other pony before him, no? Or was the world too focused on doomsday at that point to spare the attention for anything else?).

It's just the part where sex before marriage would have broken tradition and decorum part that threw me for a loop, because those are very specifically some oldschool christian values that would even think to pay attention to that part, so it's kinda weird to see something with such specific origins assigned to an alien culture.

And ha, looking towards said conversation - should be all sorts of adorkably awkward. Here's hoping we don't have to wait too long!

[readsponies]

It is a well-known rule that any showing off of grammatical knowledge on the internet ensures the inclusion of another grammatical error. Yours was here:

More difficult, had been reprogramming the holographic display engines to run electronics simulations. Even more difficult than that, had been figuring out the concept of modern currency.

Neither of those sentences takes a comma. "More difficult" is the object of the sentence, not an independent clause. I know it looks like the subject, but these two sentences are examples of subject-verb inverse construction, such that the subjects come after their respective verbs. Specifically, they are an example of copular inversion, as the finite verb is a form of the copula "be." As such, one would thus not be far off to conclude that the English language is fucking complicated.

[Metal Pony Fan]

10047782
Good catch, and great explanation. I'm sure I have worse errors further on in the story. Most likely in the chapters where I didn't have enough free time to give myself multiple editing passes.

[Mocha Star]

Thanks for the author's note, but like so many of them; they're out of date and don't relate to now.
Fantastic chapters up to now and I'll let you know I've read this far and it feels like no time has passed, practically; like a great movie.
👍