Derpy wasn't sure why the idea of a talking racoon surprised her so much, especially in a circumstance such as this. She grew up in a world where magic was an everyday occurence-- a being could change reality with the snap of his fingers, more than likely to conjure up cotton candy. But the sight of one in space, a fully dressed one at that just made her eyes widen all the more. And of course there was the fact that this racoon was bipedal, and heavily armed if the huge object in it's paws said anything. Where her feelings could described as surprised, the racoon was clearly not happy to see her.
"What was the point of leavin' if we're just gonna run into another one of them...?" It sighed between pointed teeth.
The plant being pointed a tiny figure. "I am groot!"
"I don't care, they're all bad news and big mouths." The beast's eyes took notice of Maud and Trixie, the latter which gasped at the sight of him. He holstered his object and peered inside. "Okay then, any more of you furry freaks in here? What are you even this far out here for?"
Derpy was just regaining control of her jaws when a much bigger bipedal creature ranked right next to the raccoon. She blinked up the oddly metallic mask of the thing, and the glowing red eyes that blazed down upon her. She gasped and fell back with a yelp, then a grunt as her back hit the floor. "I-I-It's the metal beast! The one that was in Equestria!"
"Metal Beast? That is actually a cool name now that I think about it." The figure asked with a tinge curiousity, much to the racoon's chagrin. "What? It is! I could name my blaster that! You know how people,like, name their weapons and then--"
"Self-Destruct in two minutes!"
"Self-Destruct? Why th' he'll is this thing in Self-Destruct mode?" The racoon didn't sound so concerned, as much as genuinely confused. "Who set it to Self-Destruct?"
Trixie pointed a hoof at Derpy, who shrank instantly. The metal faced thing counted each of the ponies and nodded up at their own ship's interior. "Eh, let's take 'em with us."
"Wait, how do we know you aren't bad like those guys?"
As Derpy finished, a series of shots were fired from underneath the metal floor, slicing upwards around Maud who still desperately kept the hatch door shut. She looked at the smoking holes around her and promptly raced towards the opening in the cieling, where the Racoon and the other creatures waited. "Well, for one, they aren't shooting at us." And she disappeared above just like that.
Derpy reached forward with a hoof and grasped at Trixie's, already flapping upwards towards the large hole. "Time to go!" She might have heard Trixie mutter something about being able to levitate herself, but she was too busy rushing through the small opening above. The hatch closed behind them and the large ship vanished with a smooth hyperjump.
Kraglin was the first to burst through the opening hatch and crawl onto the familiar floor of their ship. Three things appeared to be missing though. "Hey! Where'd them critters go?"
"Blast." Tulik growled as he too found his way from the bottom.
"Self-Destruct in one minute."
"AW,SH!T!!! DIVE, TULIK!" Kraglin hopped right back down into the second ship below them, but his partner sighed at his panicked state. Tulik stalked over to the dashboard and quickly disarmed the Self-Destruct so that the ship went back to normal. He turned in time to see Kraglin peeking from the hatch. "Oh. I knew you was gonna do that."
"Just get up here. We're lucky we survived that little run in with Gaurdians. I could hear their voices when you weren't blastin' like crazy." A vibration at his side led Tulik to remove his communication device and examine it's holographic surface while Kraglin sighed.
"Well now what?" He asked. "Try to follow them?"
Tulik shook his head. "Neh." He help up the screen for Kraglin to see and watched his expression turn serious. "Yondu is calling us all in for somethin' important."
Kraglin nodded. "Where?"
"Iron Lotus."
"That was close." Derpy exclaimed in an out-of-breath fashion as the hatch was locked behind her and the ship lurched forward in another hyperjump. It had been a while since she'd carried another pony by herself, and Trixie wasn't the heaviest pony...but she certainly wasn't lightweight either. "But at least we're not in danger, anymore."
The Racoon flashed her a dangerous grin and took a step closer. "Oh I wouldn't say that."
The plant being poked him roughly. "I am Groot!"
"I was just playing around with them, you have no sense of humor."
The taller creature removed his own face with a series of metallic whirs and clicks. His real face was surprisingly more fleshy and pale with hints of a beard growing in. He stared in the mirror carefully, patting his styled rusty colored hair back into place, smiling and winking in addition. "Thanks for the Jump, Gam. We needed it." He called to some unseen figure down the hall.
"I told you never to call me that, again." A disgruntled feminine voice answered. "And Drag did it without my permission."
A masculine voice spoke up sharply. "You never let me press it before!"
"For a reason."
"You never told me that reason either."
The tall, non-metal creature gave a dry laugh and began a path down the hall. "Alright, ladies. Let's go meet the other A-holes of this vessel."
Trixie and Derpy exchanged glances while Maud blinked, and the three ponies followed the three creatures down the hall warily. They entered a spacious area with several seats in front of several dashboards, all stationed underneath a giant glass shield. The infinite reaches of a star-filled blackness greeted them, as well as a very muscular and shirtless figure.
"Quill! I did not know you brought food for us!" The figure speaking was rather tall and entirely covered in dark green skin, though one would barely see that under all of the brown tattoo-like markings on his body. His face seemed to hold recognition, though the ponies were certain they'd never seen him before. "And Zvrathns at that! Come, and I shall you all how to prepare the meat!"
"They're not Zvrathns, you idiot." The Racoon deadpanned. "They're...'ponies'. Like the ones we saw when we visited that planet a few days back.
"Oh. Well, I'm sure they'd still taste very good."
"The point is that we're not eating them period. " A feminine figure strode away from her seat behind the shirtless being, dressed in darker clothing that somehow went nicely with her light green complexion. The straightened black hair from her scalp was tinged with a few locks of violet red, near her stone cold expression. "They were the ones piloting the Ravager ship?"
"Not exactly. More like captives in the process of escaping." The more pale out of the others gestured to her. "That's Gamora, our professional frowner and expert fighter! She could kill you as soon as look at you. And that's Drax, the big guy! Built like an Ox, but definitely nicer than one once you get to know him."
Drax blinked. "But I don't have shaggy fur or horns--"
"And thats Rocket, our weapons expert and bomb-maker...when he need him to be. The tiny dude--"
"I am Groot!"
"Yeah, what he said. And I..." He paused for some obvious dramatic effect, but all he got was a scoff from Gamora. "Am the Starlord. I'm sure your Princess Molestia has told you a lot about us."
"It's Celestia. And No." Maud answered.
"Really? Is that name ever gonna become famous?" He deflated slowly.
"Did the Ravagers abduct you from your world?" Gamora questioned. "It's unlike them to venture so far out of this Galaxy to enter yours."
"If you mean the two back there, then no. It's really her fault we got so far out here." Trixie shot a pointed expression at a frowning Derpy and pretended to inspect her own hoof. "Some random ship wrecked my home, so I went to investigate with the aid of these two. SOMEpony thought it would be a good idea to start pressing buttons, and that's how we eventually ended up with them. So it'd be appreciated if you could get us home, pronto."
"Geez, and I thought you were the prissy b!tch." Rocket blinked with faux amazement at Gamora, not noticing the way Trixie's pupils shrank down. "Its been like three seconds and I already hate her voice. 'So it'd be appreciated if you could us home, Pronto!' It's so nasally."
"What my friend means to say," Starlord wisely interrupted the beginnings of an arguement. "Is that we can get you home...but it'll be a while. See, where the Gaurdians of the Galaxy." He pondered for a moment, then spoke again. "It's like those six from your world, only we protect the universe itself instead of one singular world. And we just got through with a bunch of things on our to-do list, and a bunch of those were practically jokes."
Rocket snorted. "Yeah. Reports of some guy using a green stone to loop time and fight a giant face. Man, people will go into detail for the best laughs, I tell ya."
"And now we've just two more problems to handle before we're free until...some other apocalyptic issue springs up." He held up to fingers, already counting off the remaining items. "Let's see...now that we've got you, we have only a few more minutes before we're in the third Quadrant to handle the asteroid issue."
"Asteroids?" Despite her expression, her bored tone held the smallest bit of interest. "That could be interesting."
"Oh come on, don't you want to go home any faster?!" Trixie huffed at Maud. "I don't know about you two, but I have a house to replace and a best friend to welcome home! Who knows how much time will have passed when we get back?!"
"Well, you could always walk home. Horses are good at walking." The Racoon shrugged when she glared at him. "What? It's true isn't it?"
"I liked you better on my world," Trixie narrowed her eyes even more. "Where you talked less and ate my trash."
"I liked you better as glue,Sweetcheeks."
Drax scratched his head. "You have tasted her cheeks? And what cheeks are we talking about? The facial or--"
"Drax!" Rocket gagged, while the pony who's cheeks were mentioned more glowered more fiercely. "That's distugusting, man! No one thought that! I was making a joke off her fur color and her cheeks!"
"Yes, but which cheeks?"
Derpy watched the conversation with a sigh, then poked at the leader's leg. "Uh, Starlord?"
He glanced down casually, though he looked more interested in the arguing and the further conversation about pony flanks. He was honestly glad to have picked up these small things, if they provided this much in the way of entertainment. Gamora wouldn't approve, but she never did like entertainment. "Yeah?"
"Can anyone join this group, or...?"
"Well, it depends on physical or mental contributions to the group and then the ability to hold a--"He blinked owlishly. "Wait, are you--?"
Derpy shook her head quickly and even added a dismissive wave of her hoof. "No, I was just curious! I'm,uh, always curious about good guys like the ones back on our world, and was just wondering if...if..."
"Iiiiif...?"
"...if that giant rock has always been hurtling towards us?"
Starlord whirled around in time to shriek at the sight of a huge asteroid becoming larger and larger.