//------------------------------//
// Unfriendly Conversation 
// Story: Cryo-7 
// by Metal Pony Fan 
//------------------------------//

The door to the security office slid open, and two gryphons in security uniforms, but not armor, ushered a grey unicorn through.  Growl, who had picked her head up at the sound, straightened up in her chair, rubbing the flat spot out of her forehead fur.  "Mr. Plane, Welcome back to Canter Delta."

The unicorn didn't look at her and instead glared at the guards accompanying him.  "What's with the armed escort?"  Astral adjusted his jacket before turning to face Growl.  "Still don't... uh..." he trailed off as his eyes fell on the wall behind her.

The older mare raised an eyebrow.  "I've redecorated, like it?"

"Subject matter aside, I have my doubts regarding the medium."  Astral pressed his lips together and took a deep breath after delivering his witty remark.  "Please tell me you didn't do that," he muttered quietly.

"Please," the mare rolled her eyes, "I can be much more creative.  But, lately, I've been too busy.  And wouldn't you know it, your name just keeps popping up.  I didn't mind the apples.  Fresh fruit works wonders at improving station morale, and we've been selling them hoof over hoof, after scanning each and every one for radiation, of course.  I didn't mind parking your radioactive rust-bucket in the upper docking bay, even if it is split open like a tin can and ready to be scrapped.  The bounty on that criminal you brought in will pay for renting that space for another few months, even after counting in decontamination fees."  Growl pushed herself away from the desk and walked over  to a large display screen, activating a playback of security camera footage of recent events.  "What I do mind is having my station attacked by an unknown enemy, and finding your name scrawled in blood on my office wall."

Astral watched the footage in confusion, eyes widening at the sight of mutated prills, or yellow spacesuits.  Audio was lowered, but present.  He recognized the whining crackle and violent lightning arcs of a chain blaster when the drone used it against its armored attackers.

The unicorn looked over at Growl.  "You don't think I had anything to do with this, do you?"

She just gestured to the screen.  "Keep watching."

That event kicked off a slow moving firefight that was ended when a pony behind a scorched riot shield managed to get behind the drone and deliver a swift front-hoof punch to the back of the thing's neck.  The drone dropped, and the pony let his shield fall with it.  His leg full of green shards that were quickly starting to bleed.

"Mac?"  Astral leaned in.  "Is he ok?  Why is he on your security team?"

"The big fella couldn't stand not doing anything, so he's been helping out around the station."  Growl shrugged.  "he's a bit of an idiot, but we all like him.  Here comes the good part."

The video playback jumped from body-cam footage of two ponies destroying a horde of monsters, to a dark, almost empty room.  In the center of the room, spaced so you could walk between them, were four glowing, coffin-sized boxes.  A drone entered the frame, in an undamaged yellow spacesuit, and walked over to the only box whose lid was closed.

Astral watched as the lid was torn from the box, and a brown earth pony's body was revealed.  The camera's angle didn't catch the head, but Astral knew what it would have shown, the pony who greeted him at the apple farm and helped him load the Philomena.  Only, he would have a hole below his ears that Astral put there.

The unicorn rubbed his temples.  It was hard to believe that it could have been the same pony.  Loading those apples had taken a good three hours with the beat up equipment available.  They talked almost the whole time, even shared a quick lunch when the work was over.  At what point did that guy decide he would try to kill him and reclaim the cargo?  Given that the cargo containers were radiation shielded, it was before they ever met.

"This."  Growl pointed at the screen, sitting suddenly and crossing her hooves.  "This right here is probably the most important thing we've recorded."

The drone stared at the body, leaning in slowly, and lifting its artificial hoof with a hesitant, organic movement.  It reached in, and lifted the body, hugging it close.  It flung its head back, like you would expect of a pony releasing a terrible scream.  No such sound issued from the speakers.

Growl paused the playback.  "From here, the drone made its way to this office, wrote that," she pointed to the back wall, "and deactivated.  And before you ask, we keep active scanners in the morgue, and logs showed that it was truly a drone in that suit.  We also have an unbroken chain of security footage of the thing making the trip."

Hooves still pressed to the sides of his head, Astral fixed his eyes on the earth pony.  "And what do you want from me?"

Deactivating the screen, she sighed, "Honestly?  I need help."  She walked back to her desk and slid a pad towards him.  "I'm not trying to pin this on you, but you are the only lead I have.  Anything you can tell me, no matter how insignicant, would be appreciated."

Astral looked down at the pad, expecting a blank screen for him to start typing on.  He picked it up and found a massive file tree, nearly a thousand files, organized chronologically.  "What's all this then?"

"Everything we have.  On you, on the initial attack on your ship, and this recent attack.  Reports, footage, scan data, you name it."  Growl looked down at the floor in a quiet manner that Astral didn't think the older mare was capable of.  "I make no excuses for my treatment of you last time you were aboard, but we are on the same mountaintop now.  Whoever attacked us is after you.  We may very well need to work together to survive."

Astral looked down at the pad.  He opened the first folder.  From the dates  and filenames, it seemed to be reports from his rescue and subsequent medical treatment, including one titled, "Threat Assessment."

He opened that file, and it was what he expected, a threat assessment of him, detailing his weaponry, the capabilities of the other equipment he possessed, and thorough tactical musings on the various battle sites on board the Philomena.

He looked up at the other pony, staring at her carefully.  She must be extremely worried if she was sharing this level of information with him.  "I honestly don't think I know anything that could help."  He brought a hoof to his forehead.  "But, I'll tell you what I can, and put you in touch with somepony that might know more."

"That's all I ask," Growl replied with a grateful nod.  She sat behind her desk and pulled up a blank witness interview form on her computer.  "At this point, we don't know what's important."





Mezzo cracked the tiny tube open after giving it a good shake, then waved it under Radio's nose.

The unconscious pegasus reacted immediately, eyes snapping open as his body gave a jolt.  He twisted away from the awful smell and groaned loudly as he brought a hoof to his aching chin.  "She's gotten faster," he muttered, "or I've gotten slower."

Mezzo watched in silence as the colt picked himself up off the triage mat to stand on wobbly legs, wings spreading a little to help him balance.  The unicorn only looked away to recoil at the scent wafting from the tube he still held.  Shaking his head in disgust, he jammed the smelling salts back in the medkit, and sealed the lid.

"That stuff stinks, doesn't it?"  Radio sat facing the colt.  "I keep Stim-spray in my kits instead."

"Stim-spray?"  Mezzo glanced up at the colt.  "We used that during the war, but I haven't seen it since."

"War?" Radio asked, clearly caught off guard.

Mezzo went silent.  This was Ribbon's brother, he reminded himself.  He was most likely a telepath as well, and he didn't want to repeat the pain he had inflicted on her.

The pegasus stared at the unicorn for a moment.  "Dude, I'm not a telepath."

Oh, that was a relief.  Wait...

"No, really, I'm not."

Then how did he know...

Radio shrugged.  "I don't know, I'm just guessing."

That's exactly what a telepath would say if...

"Yeah," the pegasus put a hoof to his chin, "it is, isn't it?"

Ribbon's hoof swatted down, stamping her disapproval across the back of Radio's head.  "Cut it out.  Mezzo's different from the others, so I don't need him scared off."  She looked over at the unicorn.  "I'm sorry, my brother has been practicing that act for a while, so he can be really convincing, but he isn't a telepath."

Radio let out a sharp snort.  "We haven't seen each other in two years, and you hit me twice?"

Ribbon took a sudden breath, almost a gasp, except her mouth was clamped tightly shut.  The muscles controlling whether she smiled or frowned couldn't decide which ones were in charge, and the end result was a quivering motion as she shut her eyes.  "But, we can see each other any time now."

Radio smiled wide, and he let out a single laugh.  "Yeah."  He laughed a few more times, but by the third, it was quiet sobs.  "Any time we want."  Ribbon turned around, and Radio threw his hooves and wings around her.  The twins cried into each other's neck as they held tight, touching for the first time in far too long.

"Two years!"  Ribbon sniffed loudly.  "I've missed everypony so much.  Does this mean we can go home too?"

"Yep!"  Radio wiped his eyes with a wing.  "Furia's allying with Canterlot, and maybe even joining the Galactic Assembly.  We're all free to come and go as we please, even dad.  And he still has mom."

Mezzo's gut twisted at the mention of their mother, and Ribbon looked over at him.  The sympathy and understanding she felt from him tilted her expression firmly towards a smile.

She pulled back from Radio, but kept hold of a hoof as she gestured to the unicorn with the other.  "Radio, this is Mezzo.  He treats me like a pony, and his family has been really nice to me.  We like each other, and we're even going to try being special someponies."

"That's great Ribbon," Radio playfully knocked on Ribbon's head like it was a door, ignoring her attempts to ward it off and smiling.  "If he passed the ol' truth test, he must be a good guy."

The filly looked back at the other Unicorn.  "Mezzo, this is my brother, Radio."

The big colt nodded.  "Your twin brother."

Both twins answered with nods of their own, then Ribbon's face lit up and she looked back at her brother.  "That reminds me, Radio, we met a pair of twins earlier today.  A colt and a filly, they were the same yellow as Mr.Wheatwind."

The pegasus glanced up for a second, placing the name in memory.  "Oh!  He retired last year.  His nephew runs the bakery now, and his daughter opened up a noodle shop right next to it.  The food's pretty good."

"And I'll actually get to try it!"  Ribbon pulled her brother into another hug.  "Dad really made it happen.  It took years, but we made it."

"We survived," Radio agreed.

"Survival is victory," Ribbon reminded him as she pulled away again.

The brother crossed his hooves and smirked.  "Well, victory is freedom."

The sister blinked a few times.  "I think I like that better."

Radio's smirk became a proud smile.  "Of course.  Thought of it my-"  Something caught his eye behind Ribbon, and he focused on it.  "Dude!  Where are going with your arm like that?"

Headed past them, for the door, was Clak.  His lower right arm as mangled beyond the elbow, almost severed, with the exception of a few strands of sinew caked in a black crust of dried blood.  He looked up in surprise, eyes settling on the brightly colored colt.  He glanced down at his arm, clicked once, then looked back up.

"Uh..."  Radio looked over at Ribbon.  "Keep him here.  That James dude is still the main doctor, right?  I'm going to go find him, get permission to start helping out."

He was off before Ribbon could stop him, and the telepath sighed miserably.  "He was trying to tell you it will grow back on its own," she muttered after her brother.

The tall alien raised his other right arm to point in the direction Radio had run off.  This was accompanied by a series of inquisitive clicks.

"Yes, we're twins, and no, he isn't a telepath."  Ribbon shook her head.  "He's kind of the opposite, really, pshychically immune.  He didn't understand what you were saying."

Mezzo tapped her on the shoulder, and quietly asked, "But you do?"

The filly paused for a moment, blinking as she looked over.  "Huh?"

"You can understand him?" Mezzo repeated.  He looked between the two.  "I might be misunderstanding something here, but if neither of you speak the same language, aren't you going to think in different languages?"

Ribbon looked up at Clak with dawning realization on her face as the corner of his thin mouth lifted into a smirk.  He sat down cross-legged, lacing the fingers of his upper hands and resting his minimal chin against them.  His eyes moved from one unicorn to the other.

"He's doing it on purpose," Ribbon said slowly, eyebrows furrowing as she tried to comprehend the situation, "he's not thinking in any language."

The bony plates that served as Clak's eyebrows rose slightly.  She would have to describe it better if she wanted the colt next to her to understand.

"I don't know how to describe it," the telepath continued.  "He's not using words or images.  It's more... concepts?  I'm not sure.  But it's really easy to understand."

Clak nodded slowly, smiling at the compliment.

"Oh, um, you're welcome?"  Ribbon squinted at Mezzo.  "I don't know what he's doing, but it's letting us communicate.  Does it really matter?"

The colt scratched his neck.  "Not really, but I'm just trying to understand this.  Think about it.  He knows how to overcome a language barrier, but only via telepathic communication.  Is that even a thing?  That is just so specific, I didn't even know it was possible until a few seconds ago."

Clak held up the hand not currently folded in front of him.

Ribbon's eyes followed the motion.  "He knows how to do it because he's a teacher," she said quietly, translating for Mezzo's sake, "for telepaths."

Clak flattened the hand and gave it a wobbly little shake, telling the nurse she was only partially correct without the need to use her abilities.  He held up one long finger, and traced it in front of her in a criss-cross motion, one big, 'X,' across her chest.  Then after a moment's pause, he pointed that same finger at Mezzo.

Ribbon leaned towards the colt without taking her eyes off the alien.  "I'll admit, I didn't understand any of that."

Mezzo met Clak's gaze and nodded slowly.  "But I did."





Twilight sighed as she sat and watched the security guard across the shuttlebay.  "Please wait here," she said mockingly, putting her hooves on the belt of her new jacket, "we're in an emergency lockdown.  I'm not authorized to disclose anything further."  She held her hoof out towards the guard, even though he couldn't hear her, and wasn't even looking in her general direction.  "Then why do Astral and Radio get to leave?!"

With a disgusted grunt, she smacked her hoof against the shuttle's door frame.  Her magic focused on the dark green handkerchief sticking out his back pocket, and within seconds, it was a dark green pair of extremely frilly panties.  With a satisfied grunt, she added a price tag, because she wasn't completely evil, and headed back inside the shuttle.  "Not authorized," she muttered.  "Ha!  He probably doesn't know and won't admit it."

In the back, Berry and Fluttershy were playing some of the pronunciation games on the pad Cathy had given them.  Fluttershy was winning somehow.

"I'm not that bad at talking, am I?" The earth pony asked her half pegasus, half vampony opponent.

Fluttershy shook her head, then thought carefully about how she could explain that the game was penalizing the pink mare for adding extra syllables to her answers.  Before she could think of anything, a new word popped up on her side of the screen.  "Yesss..." she said, dragging the end out with a snake-like hiss.  The game played a funny spring-like sound, and awarded her partial points.  Fluttershy groaned and brought a hoof to her face.

"You're doing a lot better," Twilight encouraged.  "I'm surprised how far you've come with just hours of practice."

"Ooh," Berry exclaimed, "fire!"  After hearing the spring, she threw her hooves in the air.  "How do I get partial points for that?  I said fire as clear as the snout on my face."

Fluttershy smiled and carefully placed the the tip of her tongue between her fangs.  "Th-thanksss, Twi."

The alicorn smiled back.  No matter how different she looked, she was still the same old Fluttershy.  Quiet as ever, polite as ever, and she even had her old hairstyle back, draping it over one eye.  The red one, obviously.  "You're welcome."

Fluttershy glanced down at her next word before looking back at Twilight.  Her smile disappeared, replaced by a look of surprise.  "Mac."

After hearing the familiar springy noise, Twilight stole a glance at the screen.  "Actually, that's a map."

"Sign!"  Berry shouted in frustration, sighing happily when she heard the bell chime that had been eluding her.  "Finally, full points."

"Mac."  Fluttershy repeated, only for the game to buzz at her.

Twilight glanced down at the game in confusion.  It was showing a picture this time, instead of a word.  "That's clearly a dog." 

The earth pony that just entered the shuttle, and the pegasus watching him, tore their eyes away from each other to look down at Twilight.  "What?"  They asked in unison.

"Huh?"  Twilight looked up from the game.  "Wow, your voice sounded really deep there, maybe it's time to take a little bit of a break."

Mac reached forward and tugged on the hem of Twililight's new jacket.  "Behind ya."

Twilight looked back.  "Oh, hey Mac."  After the second or two it took to register who she was talking to, her eyes lit up, and she spun around.  She grabbed the stallion by the armored vest he wore, and pointed to her yellow friend.  "Mac!  Look, we found Fluttershy!"

The two mentioned ponies exchanged glances, then Mac looked down at the mare pulling on his armor.  "Ah can see that."

"Oh, heh, right."  Twilight sheepishly released the big pony, wincing as she realized something important.  "Crap!  Fluttershy, I forgot to tell you that we found Mac."

"Awkard!"  Berry shouted, pumping her hoof when answered by the bell.  "Now I get it.  You can only say the word on the screen."  She looked up when she felt the three sets of stares directed her way.  "What?" She said with a shrug, "it's got a single player mode."

"Pinkie?"  Mac asked cautiously.  This pony didn't seem quite like the Pinkie he remembered, too calm.  "That you?"

"Nope, Berry," the earth pony responded.  When the buzzer sounded, she shoved her face in the pad's camera.  "I wasn't even talking to you!"  With a huff, she looked back at Mac.  "Is everypony in the galaxy going to be bigger than I am?"

Mac looked down at himself.  "Bad example," he said simply.  He leaned down to Twilight and whispered behind his hoof.  "Who's the angsty teen that looks like Pinkie?"

"Pinkie's twenty-something year old granddaughter," Twilight whispered back.

Mac straightened up and shrugged.  "Oh."

"You don't seem very surprised."

The stallion let loose a heavy chuckle.  "Ah've been ta two different planets and a space station in the last week," he said with the pride of the adventurers of old, "fightin' robots and alien monsters, and negotiatin' for galactic peace.  Ain't nothin' gonna surprise me anymore."

Fluttershy made a concerned noise at the mention of monsters, and Mac turned his attention back to her.  She looked him over for injuries, but he grabbed her by the shoulders to stop her.  "Ah'm fine, Sugarcube.  All Ah've got is a sore shoulder from punchin' too many metal ponies.  A few cuts n' scrapes too, but nothin' ya need to worry yer..."  She straightened up, and Mac looked down at her hooves, then back up.  She was sitting before him, and they were almost eye to eye.  "Ah guess Ah lied.  Ah'm surprised right now."

"Mac," Fluttershy looked down quickly, bringing a hoof to her face as she remembered her appearance, "I'm sssorry."

The big pony shook his head.  He could feel her shivering in his hooves.  He also realized that he didn't feel the thin, fragile pegasus he remembered.  Under the yellow fur, which was longer and softer than the short silky coat he remembered, there lay a lean and powerful frame.  "No, Sugarcube, what have ya got to be sorry about?"

She kept her head down.  She didn't want to say it, didn't want him to see, but he would find out eventually.  She just didn't want it to be by seeing her face.  The brief moment earlier, she had gotten lucky.  Her mane covered her demon eye, and her mouth was closed over her fangs.  But, any more, and he would see what she had become.  She didn't want to see his reaction, she didn't want to watch his face twist in fear, or distrust.  She didn't think she could handle it.

Not from him.

Eyes locked on the floor, she spread her wings behind her.  One was normal, if not larger than the earth pony remembered, but the other was more like a dragon's wing.  It was little more than a thin membrane stretched between the fingers of a bony limb.

"Ah hell, Shy," Mac whispered, "Ya didn't just get woken up from stasis, did ya?"

She shook her head, still staring at the ground.

Mac continued to shake his head, looking from the top of her head to her outstretched wings.  He remembered at least two occasions where she had transformed into a bat pony, but both times, Twilight changed her back with ease.  If she wasn't changed back by now...  "Is it permanent?"

She nodded, still refusing to look up.

Mac knew she had to be close to tears.  She always looked down when she didn't want him to see.  "Look at me."  He brought his hoof to her chin, but she twisted away.  He felt the scrape of something sharp travel over his fur.  "Shy, please?  Let me see yer face."

Her hoof moved to her mane, and she pulled it back, revealing her ruby red eye for the first time.  The slitted pupil narrowed in the cabin lights, and tears pooled at the corners of both eyes.  "I..." her mouth hung open for a moment, baring the long fangs within, "I'm not te... the.. pony you loved."

She moved to walk past the slightly larger earth pony, but he tightened his grip on her, pulling her back to face him.  His eyes locked on hers for a moment, then slowly traced over her greatly changed features.  He saw now, the tufts of fur on her ears, the extreme length of her mane and tail, the scars on her forelegs.  So many things had changed, but he couldn't see a single one worth caring about.  "The buck you aren't."

The farm pony surged forward, pushing the pegasus back against the wall.  Her legs flailed about as her hooves were yanked out from under her, struggling meeting an abrupt end at the locking of his lips with hers.  Her eyes went wide for a moment, confusion giving to joy when she remembered the feeling.  She closed her tear-filled eyes and let herself relax into the embrace.

"Oh, wow," Twilight muttered to herself, "whatever works, I guess."

Fluttershy brought her hooves to Mac's head, brushing them against his cheeks before pulling him deeper.  How many nights had she dreamt of this?  All she ever wanted on those cold, dark nights in the jungle was to stop being alone.  But, this wasn't a dream.  This was real, and she didn't want it to end.

Twilight scratched her cheek as she tried to stare politely at the floor.  Berry did not partake in such bashfulness, she stared in open amazement instead.  And really, it wasn't like either them really cared what was going on around them.

Mac's hoof reached up and grabbed hers, to reassure him that she was really there.  He gave it a squeeze, relishing the warmth and soft fur.  How many times had we walked by her stasis pod on watch and touched his hoof to the cold hard metal?  Night after eternal night, in that dark void, waking for one day every decade to check the scanners for a planet that could one day be called home.  Their home.

Fluttershy twisted her hoof to grab his.  She remembered how much he liked to hold her hoof when they sat by the lake, or under the trees in the orchard.  Even though she always preferred leaning up against him as they sat, she would always relent when he wanted to lay down and take her hoof.

Mac ran his other hoof through her mane, brushing it out of her face.  She would always blush when he did that.  Even if they were alone, and especially if he was in front of her, watching carefully.  So many things, little details came to mind so easily.  The way she would surprise him after work with homemade meals, the walks they would take through the abandoned stripmines that could no longer provide material for the space program, even the taste of cider on her lips during their last night together.

She stretched a wing out, sweeping the feathers over his ribcage with a delicate touch.  Her reward was a deep, rumbling moan that echoed through her.  He always did like it when she would do that as they walked side by side.  She wrapped both wings around him, pulling them closer together.

"That's it," Twilight grabbed Berry in her magic, yanking the earth pony from her chair like a kitten, "we're leaving."

"But, they're not done yet," she protested, grabbing for the gamepad before being pulled too far from the table.  She didn't get hold of it in time.  "Aww."

Twilight dragged berry out, shutting the door behind them.  As Fluttershy squeeked in surprise, Twilight picked up the pace until she exited the shuttle.  She sat on the steps with a loud harumph, and dropped Strawberry beside her.  "He never kissed me like that."

The earth pony sat next to her rather tightly, hooves pressed together in front of her.  "I'm not sure what I feel about seeing that."

"I know how you feel."  Twilight rolled her eyes.  "I'm happy they're back together, but that doesn't mean I want a front row seat to my best friend sticking her tongue down my ex's throat."

Berry's eyes grew a size as she stared at Twilight.  "There's tongues involved?"

No sooner than twilight could open her mouth to respond, Astral entered the cargo with a green mare in tow.  As she waved the security guard out of the shuttlebay, Twilight recognized her from their first call to Canter Delta, Growl, the Security Administrator and partial owner of the station.  As they grew closer, Twilight let out a gasp.  "Holy crap!"  She stuck her head inside the shuttle.  "Fluttershy!  Get out here!  You've got to see this!"

Shuffling noises were followed by the swoosh of the door to back compartment opening to let a glossy eyed Fluttershy stumble out with a tipsy wobble to her gait.  "Huh?" The pegasus blinked a few times, eyes refusing to focus as she smacked her lips.  The faint glow of a smile graced her daydreaming face, and her feathers were rather ruffled.

Twilight pressed her lips together, twisting the corners of her mouth to keep from frowning as Mac stumbled out beside Fluttershy.  A dopey grin was plastered on his face, and he was bleeding impressively from a cut on his lower lip.  Also, instead of the the far off look Fluttershy had, his eyes were clearly focused... right down her backside.

"I'm so sorry for interrupting," Twilight deadpanned.  "Why don't you two come see who Astral found?"

Mac was the first to recover, shaking his head and clearing his throat.  He wiped his bloody mouth with a hoof, then bit down on his lip to apply pressure.  "Worth it," he muttered to himself with half a shrug before strolling to the door.  He looked past Twilight, head panning left and right to see who it was that the other unicorn had found.  The only pony he saw was the green mare next to him.  " S'just Growl," he said out of the side of his mouth, keeping up the pressure so he wouldn't start bleeding again, "she's in charge a' stuff 'round here."

Twilight rolled her eyes and pushed past the earth pony.  "Shy?"

Fluttershy snapped out of her daze with a shudder and more smacking of lips.  She looked over at Twilight blinking her eyes back into focus.  "Huh?"

The unicorn pointed to the door.  "I need you to double check something, and make sure I'm not imagining things."

Fluttershy glanced at the open doorway, then looked back at Twilight with a determined nod.  "Kay."

The pegasus started walking past, but Twilight sighed and tilted her head to the side.  She bumped up against Fluttershy's side, horn lightly poking the soft spot before the point of her hip.  Her horn glowed for a moment, then she straightened up.  "It'll last for a week," she said quietly.

Fluttershy stared at the alicorn for a moment, smiling when she finally understood, and turned around to nuzzle into her friend's neck.  "Thanks, Twi."

"Yeah," Twilight sighed, returning the motion, "don't mention it.  I mean, really, please, don't mention it.  It's between you and him now, I'm fine being out of the loop.  Now, let's go."

Fluttershy nodded quickly, breaking the embrace with an affirmative grunt, and the two friends headed to the door.

Once they were out, Twilight knew she hadn't been mistaken.  Fluttershy saw the pony walking with Astral and took off, bounding happily towards her like a puppy to its master.  "Tee...  Tre... Tehu..."  She tried to call out, but she was still having trouble making certain sounds, and stringing them together as multiple syllables.  "Tre...hu..." Fluttershy stopped, worked her mouth to get the right shape, but couldn't quite tell when she had it.  With a snort, she gave up on skill and relied on volume.  "GRR!"

"Yes?"  Growl looked up from her conversation with the grey unicorn.  Her head tilted slightly at the sight of the pony who called her.  "Do I know you," she asked as they got closer, "miss...dragonpony?"

"This is Fluttershy," Astral explained, "She's a friend of Twilight's, and has recently been rescued from the deserted jungle-planet Picus IV."

Growl nodded at the explanation.  "I see."  She looked back up at Fluttershy.  "They must have told you who I am, but I am GR of the Ohlen Highlands.  Most ponies call me Growl.  Welcome to Canter Delta.  I wish it was under better circumstances."

The pegasus shook her head.  "No," she whispered.

Growl stopped halfway through the motion of extending a hoof.  "No?"  The earth pony repeated, glancing at Astral.  "What does she mean, no?"

"Uh," Astral shared her confusion, and showed it with a shrug.  "Well, she isn't a dragonpony, so maybe that.  Our medical officer can explain better, but she is a pegasus who was exposed to a retrovirus that contributed to her current appearance."

"No!"  Fluttershy barked.  "Fren..."  The pegasus scrunched her nose in displeasure.  Some words were coming back so easy, but others kept eluding her.  "Frien-duh.  We.  Are.  Friendsss."

Twilight made it over before Growl or Astral could respond, and she moved in to give the earth pony a hug.  She was stopped by a hoof before she got very close.  "Oh," the alicorn mumbled as she backed off, "I guess you're upset that I didn't recognize you."

"What are you talking about?"  She looked back at Astral.  "Do you know what is going on here?"

"Don't ask me," Astral held up a hoof defensively, "I'm also in the dark here."  He looked over at Twilight.  "Care to explain what you two are on about?"

The alicorn spared the captain a half second's glance, but focused on Growl right after.  "Don't you recognize us?  You're what?  In your late fourties?  That means it's been about twenty years since you've seen us, but-"

"No!"  Growl stepped forward, all calm gone from her body, and all kindness was gone from her expression.  Something flipped a switch in her, and she was ready to take a switch to the pony in front of her.  She jabbed her hoof into Twilight's chest, making sure the other pony appreciated the cushion that her jacket provided.  "You don't know anything about me, I'll tell you that right now.  If you did, you would know better than to bring up anything that happened to me twenty years ago."

Growl gave the alicorn a hard shove back before turning away.  She then looked over at Fluttershy, scowl softening slightly.  "I'm sorry," the security chief told the shocked pegasus, "I may look like somepony you knew, but twenty years ago, I was found in a snow drift on an uninhabited mountain, hurt, starved, half-frozen, and left to die.  My mane was so matted, the gryphons who found me had to cut it off to get at all my injuries.  And it was days after they found me before they could offer me any sort of food that I could digest.  And what little they could offer was just enough for me to spend the next several months slowly starving.  So, I dearly hope none of you were involved with what happened to me back then."

"And before that?"  Twilight asked.

"Does it matter?" Growl spat.

"You don't remember, do you?"  Undeterred, Twilight took a step closer to the mare.  "Treehugger, let me explain."

Growl looked back slowly.  "What the hell did you just call me?"

"Treehugger."  Twilight stood firm as the other mare walked back to face her, though, she did brace herself to get poked in the chest again.  "That's your name," the alicorn explained as she tried to ignore the snarling face centimeters away, "You were a friend of ours long ago, a good friend of Fluttershy's.  Member of the, uh, society for the preservation of magic...al creatures?"  Twilight glanced over at Fluttershy for confirmation, and received it in the form of a nod.  "You were the only pony to ever throw discord off his game, contributed to totally trashing the grand galloping gala, and when the time came to evacuate Equestria, you were instrumental in helping us figure out how to transport enough of our planet's wild creatures that they wouldn't go extinct."

"I never did any of that."  Growl shook her head.  "There have only been three planet scale evacuations recorded in my lifetime, and none of them was named Equestria.  And even if there was, how did I end up on Choria, alone, the only pony on a planet of gryphon mercenaries, and dragon priests?"

"We left equestria long before that."  Twilight sighed, Growl kept glancing away.  The aggression in her pose was slipping away with every small shuffle she took back.  She was considering it at the very least.  That was proof enough for Twilight that something was indeed missing from the mare's memory.  "We survived in stasis pods fueled by our own magic.  Any living being inside one could survive indefinitely, as if no time had ever passed.  Most of the pods were opened long ago, but a number of them were lost.  We don't know how, or why, but they are being opened across the galaxy."

"That..."  Growl was staring at the floor as if she was trying to read a passage of proof to the contrary.  Her hoof moved to her forehead.  "No..."

"A good friend of mine was woken on the planet Furia nearly thirty years ago.  They thought the stasis chamber was an ancient weapon, until their scientists figured out how to open it.  Another good friend was woken by a band of pirates, then abandoned on a farming planet 50 years ago."  Twilight stepped forward, raising a hoof in Fluttershy's direction.  "I don't know who opened Fluttershy's pod, but they left her on an abandoned world of monsters for nearly eight years.  Isn't it possible the same thing happened to you?"

"No," Growl shook her head, "Choria is home to some of the most feared mercenary groups in the galaxy, and some of the deadliest plants and creatures known to exist.  No one would risk going there just to dump their mistake.  What you're saying is impossible."

"What's impossible is always balanced by what is possible.  What is false, must be balanced by something true."  Twilight offered Growl her hoof, and a warm smile.  "The answer lies in balance.  You told me that."

The back of Growl's hoof cracked across that smile, dropping Twilight to the shuttlebay floor.  "I tell everybody that!" the old mare screamed.  "It's on the damn flyer we give out to buckin' tourists!  Don't you dare think that's enough for me to suddenly believe everything you say."

With a grunt, Growl kicked the dazed alicorn away from her.  Three ponies moved to to protect their fallen friend, but Fluttershy was the fastest.  She was in front of Twilight, facing down the smaller Growl with wings flared and fangs bared before the earth pony could take another step.

Growl snorted at the display, lowering her head to match the other pony's threatening posture.  "I've fought plenty of monsters in my life, honey, don't think I'm scared of you."

"Hey!"  Astral slowly inserted himself between the two mares, keeping his focus on Growl since he was reasonably sure Fluttershy wouldn't attack him.  "Let's everypony calm down here."

Growl spat, the glob landing at Astral's hooves.  "Whatever you want from me," she growled, "you aren't going to get it."

"I don't want anything," he countered.  "And Twilight just wanted to talk, then you haul off and belt her for no reason?"

"It was a mistake trusting you!"  Growl paced back and forth in front of the unicorn, chest heaving with agitated breath as she glared at him.

Astral shook his head.  He knew the look of desperation when he saw it.  Whatever issues where at play here, they were deeper seated than could be dealt with on the fly.  "What the buck is going through your head right now?"

"Do you know how many times someone has tried to take advantage of me?  You don't know what it's like, not knowing.  What it's like to trust someone who claims to know you, only to have them betray you."

"No," Astral admitted.  He had to drag her out of the past, back to now.  "But that doesn't excuse an assault on one of my crew.  You asked for my cooperation, and I gave it."  Astral shoved his hoof at her.  "You're the one who betrayed me!"  He drove his point home by slapping his hoof to his chest.

This seemed to snap Growl out of her anger, at least enough for her to notice the mare groaning on the floor.  She retreated slowly, shaking her head.  "I'll give you one chance," she muttered, before taking a breath and raising her voice.  "One chance to avoid being thrown in the brig.  The Tankrit were awoken from pods, if you can convince one of them, just one, that your story isn't rat piss, then I won't arrest the lot of you."  She spoke her next words barely a whisper, they were for Astral's ears only.  "Fail, and I will gift wrap you for whoever it is out there that wants you so badly."