//------------------------------//
// Late Morning Radio 
// Story: Cryo-7 
// by Metal Pony Fan 
//------------------------------//

Stormy Skies stretched out with a loud sigh.  She was perched on a branch in a large tree near the Crossroad Courtyard, the center of shopping district.  She had been flying all morning, and most of the previous evening.

Her attempts to find the colt that crashed through the ceiling had been fruitless so far.  By the time she made it to the top floor, the gym was empty.  There was a whole in the floor on that level, but not the ceiling, making that the level where the incident began.

The first thing she did after that was head to the infirmary.  If that colt was hurt, he would end up there.  No matter how serious his injuries, they could handle it.  After all, it was a cutting edge facility connected to one of the most prestigious medical schools on the planet.

But, he wasn't there.  There was a purple pegasus, with a bandaged leg, but a quick glance at his chart showed it was a sprained ankle from tripping down a flight of stairs on a lower level.  Presumably no involvement in the events that led to the prismatic meteor event.   Looking back, she probably should have asked, instead of sneaking a look at his medical info.

Striking out there, she switched focus.  If he wasn't hurt, odds are, he went on with his day.  So she started looking for him around the standard student hangouts.  Fast food places were first, the nearest parks, and any bars that sold food, since the ones that were alcohol only wouldn't let her in.

She struck out there as well.  She really didn't think it would be so hard.  A true rainbow mane is pretty damn rare.  The odds of having seven stripes of color in the mane are astronomically small.  One or two was much more common.  But then, add in the odds of having the right colors, then in the right order, and it was almost impossible.

Which brought up the possibility that his mane was dyed, and he might have washed the dye out, and had a completely different mane color.  Which brought up the possibility that she was really over thinking this.

Still, Stormy kept up the search.  She dropped by her dorm, dropped off the remains of her pad, and her shirt, then headed out via window to continue her search.

She was nervous to be out and about without any clothes, but as long as she was flying, nopony would be able to get a good look at her.  But, her search was in vain.  Every time she found the distinctive color pattern she was searching for, it turned out to be a human.  Why would so many of them dye their mane that specific color combo?

She had given up close to midnight, and set out again near dawn.  She had the day off, so she could spend it searching, if necessary.  But, so far, it wasn't going well.  She didn't see him at all during the breakfast rush on the food trucks, or heading into the main building when morning classes started.

She had no way to know if he made it by her, or if he didn't have classes today.  She didn't even know if he was a student!  But, if he was, and he didn't have classes, what would he do on his day off?  Stormy came to the conclusion that shopping was the most likely activity for a student with free time, and that led her to the shopping district.

Actually, she came to the conclusion that video games, extra sleep, or studying were the most likely activities for a student with time to kill.  But shopping was the only possibility that would let her continue the search without going knocking door-to-door in the dorms..  And, so far, the shopping district was devoid of rainbows.

She landed in a nice, leafy tree to take a short break.  Little white flowers bloomed here and there, with a slightly soapy scent.  With a weary groan, she laid down on a branch.  It didn't look like she was going to find him like this, and it was getting close to lunch time.  And she skipped breakfast.  She should probably head back to her dorm, grab her shirt, and get some food somewhere.  She could stake out the food trucks again during the lunch rush, then take another flyover of the shopping district sometime later.

She looked down.  The streets below weren't crowded, but they weren't empty either.  Perhaps you could call it pleasantly busy.  All sorts of ponies and aliens went about their day, calm and laid back.  There was none of the rush she witnessed at the food trucks, or at the academy entrance.

Groups talked among themselves, making jokes and laughing.  A large group of children made most of the noise, as they dragged a group of weary parents from store to store.  A pair of dragons waited for the hoverbus at a nearby corner, tails intertwined as they talked.  One pointed at the children, and whispered something to the other, prompting a surprised look.  As the surprise faded, it was replaced by a smile, and their claws, at their sides as they sat, grasped each other's with a gentle squeeze.

Stormy sighed, resting her chin against bark, and moving her head from side to side to scratch.  They looked so happy.  She wanted something like that someday.  She didn't want the sort of relationship that everypony around her called normal.  All the fighting, and drama, and social scrutiny could take a hike.

She was going to wait until she grew up, let all the pain and nonsense of these teen years pass, and let things develop naturally.  Maybe she'll meet somepony at work, or at a conference.  Maybe it will be somepony who works in the same field, and they can talk about their work days as they make dinner, or maybe skip that and head out to eat somewhere.  Quiet dinner and conversation, relaxing after a long day.

That was what she wanted.  Something like her mom and dad had.  Always smiling, laughing, supporting each other.  They played around like foals just as much as any of their kids, most of whom were literally foals.

It just seemed so different from what she saw going on at school.  It seemed much more real.  Much more sustainable.

With a sigh, she closed her eyes and listened to the voices below.  She would take a quick nap, then stake out the academy when classes let out.

"I like your mane, it's so colorful."

Stormy's eyes snapped open.  The voice came from nearby, behind her.  Well, behind the tree.  She got up, and moved from branch to branch to get a better look.

"Uh, thanks.  I've never gotten this many comments on it before."

That was a colt's voice.  Stormy could see a waiter at the outdoor cafe talking to someone who was blocked from view by the umbrella over his table.

"That's a shame," she replied, "it's so distinctive.  Anyway, does that complete your order?"

"Sure does.  Thanks."

Stormy saw a sky blue hoof hand the waitress a menu.  Could that be him?  A distinctive, colorful mane, one worth commenting on, and a sky blue coat.  That had to be him, right?

At that moment, Stormy realized that she didn't think things through as well as she should have.  There was a good chance she may have found him, and she can't even go down and check!  Why didn't she bring a shirt?  She could have just tied it around her neck or a leg to keep from losing it during flight.

She could go and grab one.  Her dorm was only a few minutes away, she could be back here and clothed in less than ten.  The question was, would he still be there?  Was he getting an early lunch?  Or just a coffee to go?  He could be here for another thirty minutes, or he could leave in the next two!

And why did it even matter?  Stormy shook her head, ending the doubt then and there.  This was all to satisfy her curiosity.  That made it matter enough.  When somepony crashes through the ceiling in front of you, you want to know why.  What string of events led up to that point?  She was owed an explanation at least, right?

He did break her pad, after all.

But, first, she had to find a way to go down there.

She could hit the clothing shop up the street.  If she was lucky, she could make a purchase and get back pretty quick.  Oh, but what what if there was a line?  Or if the pony down there was really just getting a coffee to go?  He could be gone in less than a minute.

She would just have to go down there as is.  If it wasn't the colt from yesterday, it was just a random pony, on a planet she didn't even live on, that she wouldn't even talk to him.  Even if he saw her, what were the odds he would even remember her tomorrow?

And even if it was him, she was just going to ask what happened.  No big deal, right?

Stormy swallowed hard, and leapt from her hiding place.  Every second she remained in the tree was a second she would have used to talk herself out of it.

She spread her wings and allowed herself to glide down.  She saw a flash of rainbow in the corner of her eye as she passed the umbrella.  Once she landed, back behind the umbrella, she looked back and confirmed it.

It was him.  It was that sky-blue colt with a Rainbow mane and tail that crashed through the ceiling and wrecked her pad yesterday.  And right now, he was happily playing on a pad of his own, ear buds in, and head bouncing to music!  The nerve!

Stormy shook her head, reminding herself that he probably didn't even notice that her pad was under him when he hit the desktop.  Even if he did, there was no way he could have avoided it.

She walked up.  She was nervous, but she refused to back down.  This was the only way she would find out what happened last night.  She walked up to the side of the table, leaning her head down to enter his field of view as he looked at his pad.  "Um, excuse me, hello?"

Radio looked up quickly.  "Me?"  He blinked, seeing Stormy standing there.  "Oh, hello.  You're the one from yesterday.  Are you OK?"

"Huh?"  Stormy was stunned by the surprise for a moment.  He remembered her?  "I'm fine," she finally forced out, "you missed me completely when you hit the desk."

The colt shook his head.  "Not that.  You seemed sad about something, and um..."  He swallowed as his eyes drifted down.

Stormy saw it and retreated to the far side of the table to hide herself.  She also raised a hoof to help cover her chest from sight.  This was a pretty common reaction when ponies saw the mess of scars on her chest.  They were so prominent, they could hijack any conversation if she didn't wear a shirt.  Turning around wasn't an option either, her back was just more of the same.

She and Radio were both silent for a moment, but he was the first one to speak after pulling out his earbuds.  "Those scars...  Are you allergic to nutrient gel?"

Stormy nodded, realizing she was looking away.  She looked back up, and the colt was looking straight at her.  He wasn't turning his gaze out of discomfort, or staring at her scars, but looking straight at her face.  It wasn't often that ponies did that, they usually looked away, or kept staring.  And most ponies would have asked a different question of her.  "Acute subdermal sensitivity, they called it.  The doctors didn't realize until it was too late," Stormy explained, "I suffered chemical burns in the wounds they were trying to treat."

Radio nodded.  "Nutrient gel reactions are extremely rare.  It's only recently become protocol on Furia to test for it before treatment."  Radio saw her sit and bring her other hoof around her chest, covering as much as she could.  "Um, you don't have to do that.  Put your hooves down, please?"

Stormy winced.  She didn't mean to.  It was a habit.  "I, um, sorry."  She forced her hooves back to the ground.  "I usually wear clothes out in public.  I didn't wear anything today because I was out flying."

"Well, it is a great day for it."  Radio looked skyward, only to notice that all he saw was the inside of the table's umbrella.  He frowned for a split second, then scratched his neck.  "So, um, not that it's any of my business, the crying yesterday, did that have something to do with..."

"My scars?"  Stormy finished for him.  "You're right, it isn't any of your business."  She took a deep breath, and let it out slowly.  "But, no, it's not related, not directly.  Was I really crying?"

Radio shrugged.  "Not really, like, you weren't sobbing, but there were definitely tears.  Are you ok?"

She nodded.  "Yeah, it's just some nonsense from back home.  Nothing important."

"Ponies cry all the time over things that aren't important."  Radio tapped his hooves against the side of his pad.  It really wasn't his place to say anything, but he couldn't stop himself.  "They don't cry like that."

Stormy stared at the colt for a moment, and he shrank back from her gaze.  He seemed almost shy.  It was kind of cute.  He also seemed younger than the other colts she had seen around campus.  "What do ponies cry, 'like that,' for?"

Radio shrugged again, looking firmly away from the other pegasus.  "For important things, when you lose them."  He looked down at his hoof, and she could see on his face that he was reliving something.  "When you lose them slowly, and you're powerless to stop it, and all you can do is sit by and watch as it slips away.  But it happens so slowly, that sometimes you have hope that things might get better, but that only makes it hurt more when things eventually get worse."

"Yeah," Stormy agreed with a sigh, "that's about it."  She stared at the colt some more.  For him to pinpoint exactly what she was feeling in the short time he had seen her, he had to be terribly familiar with the feeling.  As she looked at him, he shuffled his wings nervously.  He opened them a little, but Stormy didn't see any tertiary feathers on the underside.  They usually grow in between eighteen and twenty-five.  Any college aged pegasus should have them, even small ones.  "Wait, how old are you?"

"Seventeen," he answered sheepishly.  "Why?  How old are you?"

"Same," she replied with some excitement, "you must be in the off-planet trial program!"

Radio shook his head.  "Never heard of it.  I'm here for kind of a re-certification thing."

The waitress came by with covered trays in both hands, depositing them both on the table.  "The drinks you ordered should be ready in just a moment.  Will there be anything else?"

"Oh, um-"  Radio looked over at the other pegasus, and gestured to the empty chair next to him.  "Why don't you join me?  I can get you something to drink if you'd like?"

"Uh-" Stormy stepped back, shocked by the sudden offer.  "I, um, you don't really have to, I mean, I just started bothering you out of the blue and all."

"I don't mind," Radio said with a shrug, "I don't really know anypony around here anyway."

"Ok, um," she swallowed and made her way around the table, "could I have a water then?  No ice?"

"Right away," the waitress said with a nod.  She headed off immediately after.

"You can get something with a little more flavor if you want," Radio said quietly, "I really don't mind."

Stormy climbed into the chair.  "I might then, after my water.  I'm parched from flying around all morning."

Radio offered his hoof.  "My name's Radio, by the way, Radio Dancer.  So, training or leisure flight?"

She took the offered hoof and gave it a shake.  "Stormy Skies.  And, I was looking for you, actually.  I spent most of last night doing the same thing."

"Ah."  Radio tapped his hooves together.  "I spent last night searching for you in the school building."

"You did? Why?"

"I wanted to make sure you weren't hurt.  Why were you looking for me?"

"Because you crashed through the ceiling!" Stormy shouted.  "And you smashed a desk, and it scared the crap out of me."

Radio winced, cowed by the sudden outburst.  "Sorry."

"I thought you might be hurt.  You fell through half the building.  And landed right on my pad."

"Really?  Shoot, I'll get you a new one.  Sorry."

Stormy shrugged.  "Well, it's not like I tracked you down just for that.  The pad was getting kind of old anyway.  I really just want to know what happened."

"Well, that's kind of a long story."  Radio grabbed the nearest of the two trays and pulled it closer to him before removing the lid, revealing thinly sliced and fried potatoes covered in herbs and finely grated cheese.  "The short version is that I was sparring with Luna, and she doesn't pull any punches."

"Luna?"  Stormy scoffed in disbelief.  "You're telling me that you were sparring with Luna?  The Luna?  The one who runs Luna Academy?"

Radio sniffed at the fries.  "She said she was friend of my mom's."  They smelled good, so he picked one up.  "Then, in the middle of the fight, she hit me with some sort of gravity spell."  He ate the chip he held, and his eyes lit up.  He slid the tray over so that Stormy had easy access to it, grabbing a hoof-full before leaving it there.  "These are really good, want some?"

Seeing him stuffing them down, Stormy considered it.  She did skip breakfast after all.  "Ah, why not?"  She started with one, like he had, but quickly had another.  They were better than she was expecting.  Even fried, they were light, crispy, and not oily at all.  "Garlic-parmesan?"

Radio shrugged, grabbing some more.  "I don't know.  I just asked for jumbo orders of their best-selling dishes."  He saw her delicately take one more chip, and pushed the bowl a little more towards her.  "Don't hold back on my account.  I still have two more restaurants to go."

She looked over at him, hoof paused above the bowl.  "What?"

Radio's hoof slipped under hers to grab a few more chips.  "I'm eating fine alien cuisine for the first time, and I want to make the most of it.  I searched for the highest rated restaurants in the area, and I'm going to try all their best dishes."

Stormy's face was frozen in an expression halfway between confusion and shock.  "All at once?  How many have you been to?"

"Two today, three if you count the pretzel cart."  He gestured to his pad.  "I'm only going to be here a month, and there are seventy-something restaurants I have to try.  I only have time to try one or two on class days, so I have to make up for it on days off.  Five restaurants for a big breakfast, another two for lunch, then one big meal with Mr. Jones at a fancy place for dinner.  That'll keep me on schedule."

"Wow."  Stormy grabbed a bunch of chips.  She didn't feel bad about taking food from him now.  "How much can you eat?"

"Over five thousand calories a day," the colt answered without skipping a beat, thinking it a serious question.  "That's maintaining my current weight, and assuming I'm not doing anything too crazy.  You?"

"Uh, I-"  Stormy stammered a moment.  Her statement had been rhetorical, but she was half expecting an answer.  Only, she was expecting a joke, not an earnest analysis of caloric intake.  Well, her athletic habits had never really left her, so she could answer in kind.  "thirty-two hundred, maintenance of course, on an average day, assuming my standard exercise routine, and I'm not loading up for an extended flight."

"That's high, even for a pegasus.  How strenuous is your exercise plan?"

"Not too bad, I just have high metabolism.  Yours is pretty damn high too.  What's your excuse?"

"Genetic manipulation."

Stormy chuckled.  "Good one.  So, what's this re-certification you mentioned?"

"Oh, it's a re-certification for citizens of non-assembly planets, so they can get their medical licenses without having to go all the way through medical school again."

"No, seriously, what is it?"  Stormy shook her head.  "Who's going to beleive that a high schooler already has a medical license?  I'm working on one, and I'm already interning with a biotech company back home, but even if I study non-stop, skipping as many classes as I can, I'll be at least twenty before I have the degree I want."

"So, we'll be in the same field?"

Their hooves bumped at the bottom of an empty bowl, and Stormy jerked hers back like it had been stung.  "What?"

Radio was more than a little confused.  It was times like this that he almost envied Ribbon.  He had no idea what was going on.  "We're both studying medicine?"

"You are?"  It was just starting to hit her that she was eating at a restaurant with a young stallion in the same field as her, talking about their days, and laughing about things.  It was literally everything she was fantasizing about up in the tree.  She suddenly laughed out loud.  "No, life doesn't work like that."

"Huh?"  Radio was getting more and more lost by the second.  "What are you talking about?"

"Nothing," she waved it off with a hoof.  She stared at him a moment more.  His puzzled look was so cute.  "But, what if it could?"

Radio stared back.  "I really don't know what's going on right now."

"It's really nothing," Stormy reassured him.  "I'm just reflecting on how different I am from my friends."  She rolled her eyes just thinking about their last conversation before she left.  "Both of them think getting laid would solve all my problems."

"How would that help?"  Radio dragged over the other tray.  "Laying down and doing nothing is never a good way to approach problems."

This earned a healthy snickering from the young mare.  "Geez, Radio, you're a lot funnier than most of the colts I know."  She looked up, and saw that his signature look of confusion had only intensified.  His head was even tilting to the side as he tried to figure things out.  Stormy's laughter vanished.  "Oh, goddess, you're serious?"

"Yes!"  Radio threw his hooves up.  "How is ignoring your problems a joke?"

"Radio, um," Stormy kept her voice quiet.  She felt her face burning as she realized she would have to explain it.  "I don't know what planet you're from, that you've never heard it, but, 'getting laid,' is a euphemism."

"A euphemism for what?" Radio asked earnestly.  "And I'm from Furia.  It's a small planet outside the Galactic Assembly, but looking to join."

Stormy sighed.  Radio was looking at her, happily awaiting an answer.  He was so earnest in his answers, and eager for conversation, it was almost like... a dog!  It was like talking to a large, happy, fluffy dog.  Those bright eyes, that smile, even that head tilt earlier.  "Getting laid is a euphemism for sex."

Radio went bright, bright red.  Stormy almost expected to hear sizzling.  The waitress came back, and before she could set the tray of drinks on the table, or even speak, Radio turned and grabbed the largest glass on the tray.  He chugged that lemonade like there was money on the line, then slowly set the glass down on the table.  "Thank you," he said quietly to the waitress while staring straight ahead.

She left the tray and walked away without another word.

"That wasn't weird at all," Stormy offered sarcastically as she reached past Radio for her water.  "Nope, just two totally normal ponies here, talkin' 'bout euphemisms, creepin' out the wait staff."

"Sorry," Radio just about whispered as she took a drink.  "You caught me a bit off guard.  I've never, um, talked about sex unless it was in a purely clinical context.  And definitely never with anypony my age.  Or as pretty as you."  Radio was promptly sprayed by Stormy's sudden spit-take.  "Gah!  What was that?!"  He looked up to see her coughing, the rest of her water dumped on the table.  "Are you OK?"

She nodded, and forced out a, "yeah," in between coughs.

Radio started patting her on the back, hoping to help, but her face turned red.  Radio grabbed her hoof in his own, and his other hoof went to her cheek.  Stormy only went more red as he looked her in the eye with a stern, serious expression.  It was a complete flip from the earlier Radio.  He looked more like a stallion than a colt now, a confident and reliable one at that.  Also one that was way to close, but she was still coughing, and couldn't tell him that.

"Your heart rate is elevated," he said suddenly, all business and professional concern in his voice, "temperature too, face is flushed, and your pupils are dilated.  You might be having a reaction, do you have any food allergies?  The restaurant should have an epinephrine injector in their medkit."

Stormy shook her headshook her head violently, and held her hoof up to indicate that Radio just need to wait for a moment.  To her surprise, he did just that, and she was able to let her coughing subside in peace.  "Radio," she cleared her throat, "do you-"

Her eyes drifted down to her other hoof, the one he still held.

"You stopped coughing, but your heart rate just jumped again," Radio noted in concern.  "Are you sure you-"

"Radio," Stormy cut him off, "do my scars bother you at all?"

"What?  No, why would they?"  He shrugged.  "Everypony's got scars, whether you can see 'em, or not."  He was quiet for a moment, then quickly asked, "so, you weren't having an allergic reaction to the food just now?"

Stormy shook her head, maintaining eye contact.

Radio pointed his free hoof at the one he held.  "Then why is your heart rate still rising?"

"A cute colt just told me I'm pretty."

"A cute..."  Radio's eyes went wide.  "Me?"

Stormy nodded.  "How's your heart rate now?"

Radio looked down at their intertwined hooves, then back at her.  "Um, I didn't mean to, uh-"

"Did you mean it?"  She cut him off.  "When you said I was pretty, did you really mean it?"

Radio's redness returned.  "I said it, didn't I?  I bet you hear that all the time, and probably from better colts than me."

Stormy shook her head.  "You're the first to say it after seeing my scars.  And what do you mean by better?"

"Better," Radio shrugged, "I dunno."  He mulled it over.  There were so many things wrong with him, that he found it hard to choose just one.  There was the issue of his genetic modifications, his past violent tendencies, and his ability to say the worst things at the wrong moments.  "Somepony not... me."

"Whoa, harsh.  Give yourself some credit, dude."

"No, I shouldn't, and I'll probably be better off staying alone."

"Ok.  Gotta say, I would normally be the pony to understand feeling defective, but this, you're gonna have to explain."

"The Galactic Assembly has a term, I think it's GMS.  Sound right?"

"Genetically modified specimen?  As in, a genetically engineered individual of an intelligent species whose modifications go beyond the legal correction of congenital or hereditary defects."

Radio's expression didn't change, but his ears drooped with every word.  "Yeah, that's the one."

"Oh..."  Stormy realized what he was getting at, but she didn't quite believe it.  "You mean to tell me you're an illegally modified being?"

Radio winced.  "Well, Furia isn't part of the Assembly yet, so not really illegal."

"Slow down.  So, you are a GMS?"

"Yeah."  Radio looked down, finally letting go of Stormy's hoof.  "Sorry."

"Dude, what are apologizing for?"  Stormy grabbed his hoof, and pulled.  Once it was stretched out, she excitedly poked at the joints and muscles.  "What kind of work did ya have done?  You don't have super crazy muscles, so reaction times maybe?"

The colt gingerly tried to pull away, but she held on tight, and was working her way up his leg with her prodding.  Each poke made him more and more nervous, but it also felt kind of nice, especially as she made her way towards the shoulder.  After yesterday, he was far overdue for a chiropractic visit, or a massage.  "Um, that's all, kind of..."  Stormy's hoof skipped his shoulder, dug into the base of Radio's wing, and he let out a high pitched yelp, "Classified!"

"Classified?  By who?"  Her hoof continued to probe the joint, slowly working around where downy feathers met fur.  "Whoa, there's no ligament tension at all.  Muscles are well defined, but not bulky.  Either you were very carefully trained from day one, or this is one of your augments."

Her hoof moved to the other side, dragging across his back, right between his wings, and his eyes started to roll back into his head.  "Whoa!"  Radio jumped suddenly, wings flapping as he tried to keep himself in his chair.  Stormy had lost her grip on his leg, and was staring in surprise at the sudden commotion.  Radio was staring back, surprise showing on his own reddened face.  "What was that?"

It took Stormy a moment, but the scandalized look on the colt's face told her she may have been a tiny bit too excited there.  "So, your wings are sensitive," she said with a chuckle, eyebrows pulling together in a wince, "I'm so sorry."

Radio wanted to tell her not to worry about it, but he was still too flustered.  It was just her hoof, but it felt like electricity running through him.  Such a brief sensation.  The colt couldn't tell if he liked it or not. "Does it always feel like that when somepony touches your wings?"

"Shh!"  Stormy blushed.  "Dude," she said in a harsh whisper, "I already said sorry, you don't have to embarrass me like that."

"Like what?  I've never felt anything like that before, so of course I'm going to ask about it."

"You've never..."  Stormy trailed off.  "Radio, this might be a bit of a personal question, but when was the last time somepony touched your wings?"

The colt shrugged.  "I guess when I was about ten?  I dislocated it, and my dad set it.  That's the last time I remember.  The other doctors had to use automated equipment to work on me.  Let's just say they didn't like to get close to me.  And, I didn't like them touching me either."

"Really?"  That explained it for the young mare.  If nopony touched his wings since puberty, he really wouldn't know what they could feel like.  But, it was kind of sad, the way he described his past.  It didn't seem like there was anypony he was close to.  "Radio, what's it like being..." it took her a moment to find her words.  "What's it like being different?  Being genetically modified?"

He shrugged again.  "I don't know anything else, so I'm not sure what you're asking.  What's it like being normal?"

Surprisingly, this brought a smile to Stormy's face.  "Ha," she said dryly, "if I knew, I'd tell you."  With a sigh, she leaned against the table.  Looking out at the surrounding traffic, she realized that, to them, both she and Radio probably looked perfectly normal.  "So, I work at a biotech company.  It's an internship for now, but I've been promised a full-time job if I get a medical degree.  I'm helping with research, but I'm also the subject of said research."

She looked over at the colt, and he dragged his chair closer to hers.  "Go on," he said quietly.

She offered a small smile.  She only met him today, but she had already talked to him more than she had to any colt from her school.  A little more wouldn't hurt.  "I'm allergic to one hundred and seventy-three common medications, and approximately four hundred specialized ones.  Finding out about two of them nearly killed me.  I've been tested before being given anything ever since.  That's how I found out about most of them, simulated sample testing at work.  We find another medication I'm allergic to every couple of days.  I don't have any food allergies, oddly enough, but so many pharmaceutical compounds that everypony takes for granted cause me anything from pain to hives to... the worst reaction nearly shut down my kidneys.  I had to be put on dialysis until the medication was flushed from my system."

Stormy glanced back at Radio, and he was still looking at her, listening intently.  "At least I wasn't allergic to karma," she continued, turning away with a wry smile, "everything else about me is fine.  More than fine!  I have a high metabolism, no chronic conditions, and excellent athletic capabilities.  Some of the testing we've done at the lab shows that I have the ability to form antibodies faster than most ponies, a natural resistance to negative magical effects, and stronger than average magic of my own.  I also don't show any of the genetic markers that indicate cancer risk later in life."  She chewed her lip for a moment, and rubbed her foreleg, where the smallest of her scars sat.  "And, if I ever have an accident, all it would take to kill me is for the EMT to give me a painkiller before checking my medical chip."

She looked back at Radio one more time.  "I want to be like you."  She folded her hooves on the table and rested her head on them.  "I will be like you.  Once my research is complete, and I figure out all the mechanisms responsible for my allergies, I'm going to change them.  I don't care about the legalities, or moral debates.  These allergies are a defect.  They're my defect, and I'm going to repair them.  That's as far as the discussion needs to go."

Radio rested a hoof on her shoulder, surprising himself more than her.  "Nopony can complain about that."  His other hoof went to his chest, where he felt almost physical pain from how close to home her story hit.  "But that would make you like everypony else, normal.  You wouldn't want to be like me."

"Why not?"  Stormy asked, crossing a hoof across herself to touch the one on her shoulder.  "You're easily the kindest young stallion I know.  Even if that bar isn't set very high.  Not to mention the best listener."

"Why does everypony keep saying that?"  Radio pulled his hoof away from her, and brought it to his head.  "It isn't right, not even close.  I try, I want to be, but I still can't control myself.  Even if I'm better than I was, I get condescending, or overconfident, or caught up in my own head playing hero, and somepony gets hurt.  If I'm nice, it's only because nopony's been around me long enough to find out who I really am."

"Then how long does it take?"  Stormy straightened up, and fixed Radio with a stern look.  "How long does it take to find out who you really are?"

Radio looked away and shrugged.  "I don't even know."

Stormy touched his shoulder, to get him to look back at her.  "How about you tell me now, and I'll let you know?  You listened to me, so it's only fair for me to listen to you, right?"

Radio met her eyes for a moment then looked around.  "I wish I could.  I can't tell tell you everything, even if we weren't in public."  He sighed.  "I probably shouldn't even tell you this, but I was engineered to be a weapon.  My father was part of a program, and his genetic code was heavily rewritten.  My mother, she wasn't an average pony by any stretch, but she was, I guess you could say, natural.  Because of this, my sister and I have undergone genetic monitoring and therapy since before we were born.  Most of it was to smooth out the defects and artifacts from our father's genetics, and having been the lead scientist in engineering his own augments, he performed most of the treatments.  But, there were also some tossed in by other scientists that he only found out about later."

Radio shook his head.  "Anything more detailed is classified, but everything was fine for a while, and then it wasn't, and I was the reason for it, my aggression, my anger, and it took me a long time to figure out how to be who I am now, and I don't think it makes up for anything I've done, and I don't get why anypony cares, and I feel bad about it, and I just can't understand why anypony else cares about me."

Radio finally stopped and took a breath, letting it out in one big sigh.  It happened again.  He hit a point of no return, and let out way too much information at once.  Why did he always do that?  Come to think of it, the rest of the crew had episodes like that too.  Everypony around him had a painful past and nopony to really talk to about it except each other.  Was that enough?

"Hey, dude," Stormy waved a hoof in front of his face, "I hate to interrupt your moment of introspection, but, I bet they care about you because you care about them.  That's all it takes, really, isn't it?"

Radio looked over.  "Yeah," he wearily agreed, "I guess."  He shrugged.  He did care about everypony, but he cared about them because they cared about him first.  Or did he?  Who cared first?  Or was it because they cared about his mother, and those feelings extended to him until they could become something of their own?  If that was the case, who cared first back then?  Quite the paradox, this whole friendship thing.  "Do you have anypony you care about?"

"Sure do," Stormy smiled proudly.  "I've got a pretty big family, lots of brothers and sisters, but I'm the oldest.  Everypony looks up to me, and I help my folks out a lot."  She leaned back, crossing her hooves with a confident air.  "I bet mom and dad are pulling their manes out trying to get along without me for the month."

Radio smiled too.  Stormy's happiness talking about her home was infectious.  "And how about friends?  I bet you have a whole bunch."

Stormy's expression soured immediately.  "I used to."  She groaned just thinking about the call with Spot yesterday.  "And there was one really close friend in particular, but he's changed, and I can't really call him that anymore.  The sad thing is, I still care about him, but I don't think he cares about me the same way, and I refuse to be dragged down by the toxic crap surrounding him."

"That's sad," Radio agreed, sorry he asked, "but, if he made his choices, there's nothing you can do."

A hoof slammed on the table.  "That's the thing!  He didn't really choose any of it!  That bitch used him for her own gratification, betrayed him, then tossed him aside when that other guy knocked her up."

Radio blinked.  "Huh?"

"Spot didn't know how to handle any of that," Stormy quickly continued .  "It was so easy to see how much that hurt him, but everypony pushed him to keep on like nothing ever happened.  If somepony had just tried to talk to him about it, or maybe tell him it wasn't his fault, maybe he wouldn't have just started hopping from bed to bed and treating our classmates like shit.  I know I tried, but nopony listened to me after that thing with the water bottle."

"I'm not sure what you're saying anymore," Radio admitted.

Stormy pointed at him.  "I'm saying that if you're popular, you can be the biggest, most manipulative bitch in the universe, and ponies will still believe you over the damn class valedictorian.  She ruined five ponies' lives, dropped out, and still got a freakin', 'we miss you,' float in the year end parade.  I was banned from attending!"  With a strangled sound of frustration, the young mare crossed her hooves.  "It's been almost two years, and I'm still not over it.  I don't think I ever will be."

Radio looked down at his hooves, scratching one with the other as she fumed.  She was clearly mad, but he didn't have a clear understanding of the reason.  So, there wasn't anything he could say that could make her less angry.  Maybe he could at least make her feel better about it?  "Would cheesecake help?"

Stormy's eyebrows furrowed.  "What?"

"A cheesecake," Radio repeated.  "My dad used to give me a piece of sugar candy to keep me from worrying when I had to have an electro-magical gene therapy session.  I still like to distract myself with sweets when I'm worried about things I can't change."

"Radio, that's... touching."  Stormy chewed her lip for a moment.  It was touching, but in more ways than one.  It was sweet that his dad found a way to ease his worry, but she knew from her research that any em genetic manipulation performed on somepony older than a young toddler would cause unspeakable pain, and that it would get worse with age.  That was one of the reasons adult gene therapy was so highly controlled, and why viral methods were so preferred.  EM therapy basically forced a doctor to torture their patient for up to several weeks before any benefits were seen.  "But, I'm fine, don't worry about it."

"If you're sure," Radio said with a sly smile, and pulled the cover off the remaining tray, "more for me."

Her hoof went up, stopping him from reaching his other hoof for a fork.  She didn't realize he had already ordered the thing.  "Is that blueberry?"  She asked quietly.

"Blueberry lemonade, with a sugar cookie crust," Radio corrected.  "Seems like a strange flavor for a cheesecake, but it had over a thousand positive reviews on the campus discussion forums, and comes highly recommended by a pen pal."

Stormy squinted at it.  She had missed the  swirls of yellow at first glance, hidden among the rest of the blue and white marbling.  The crust was much more pale than a regular cheesecake crust, almost the shade of beach sand, and sparkling like it was peppered with crystals.

Radio smiled as she stared.  "I'll ask for another fork."

"Yeah," she grabbed the one on the table, "you do that."

"Hey!"  Radio reached to snatch it back.

Stormy pulled it away, clutching it close to her chest.  "Unless you want to share."  Radio went red in the face and withdrew his hoof.  The smiling filly laughed and held the fork out to him.

He gingerly took it from her, his eyes lowered and not meeting hers.  "You have a really nice laugh."

This made her smile even more, and she found herself coming up with a crazy idea.  She was a long way from home, they both were.  "Say, Radio, do you have anypony special back home?"

The colt froze for a moment, fork halfway to the food.  "I gave up on that happening a long time ago."  He jabbed his fork into the cheesecake and ripped up a good sized bite.  "Who would ever want to pursue a relationship with a living weapon?"

She leaned against the table and stared at the colt as he brought the fork to his mouth.  She didn't say anything as she watched him, just waited for him to try the colorfully swirled dessert.

He came close to chomping down on the morsel, but hesitated.  He stared back at her, lowering his fork and closing his mouth.  "You're going to stare at me until you get to try it, aren't you?"

She gave a playful nod.

"Fine."  Radio sighed and held out the fork.  "Here."

Stormy regarded the fork with a smile before looking back up at Radio.  Without breaking eye contact, she leaned towards him, opened her mouth, and closed it around the offered tidbit.

Caught off-guard, Radio tried to pull the fork back, but she held on to it.  And she was looking right at him with a big, beautiful smile.  He was offering her the fork, not just the food, but this worked too.  He felt it again, that odd sensation running through him, like a cold stimulant was pumped into his veins, and he felt it coursing through his veins for a fraction of a second.  Too short to properly analyze, but long enough this time to know he liked it.

Smile turning shy and sheepish, Stormy pulled back.  She brought a hoof to her mouth as she chewed the cheesecake, its rich sweetness cut with just the right amount of tang to keep it interesting.  But the tingle of lemon on her tongue wasn't the only tingle she felt.  She knew the feeling of adrenaline, and this was similar.  She felt it down her back, and had the urge to move her wings, almost a fight or flight response.  This could actually work.

"Nopony on Furia wants a genetically modified colt-friend," Stormy took a deep breath, "and nopony in the solar-domes wants a mare-friend covered in scars."  She shrugged, trying not to appear as nervous as she felt.  She spent years avoiding this sort of thing, so she had no clue what to say.  But she knew this was a once in a lifetime chance for her.  Somepony that could understand her more than anypony back home, and that she could understand as well.  And, as they say, what happens on Canterlot, stays on Canterlot.  "This could be a win-win situation for us."

Radio barely stammered out his response.  "You, uh, r-really?  Like, you, and, um, you and I, uh, being..."

"A couple," Stormy finished for him.  "At least, for as long as we're both on Canterlot.  I mean, we're from different planets, and we both have different things going on in our lives.  It would be crazy to think our first relationships are going to last forever, right?"

"Oh, yeah," Radio quickly agreed, "Totally.  I mean, we're still kids basically.  There's no way we know what we're doing.  I don't even know what couples are supposed to do."

Stormy sat there for a moment, and did nothing but blink.  "Huh," she finally said, "I don't either.  The only relationships I've seen are either complete train wrecks or utter shitshows.  Sometimes both.  Except for my parents and their friends.  They're all happy."

"Ok," Radio nodded as he processed the info, "so, what do they do differently?  What stands out about the way they approach things?"

"Hmm," Stormy scratched her chin, "well, they're always laughing.  That's the most obvious one.  My parents are old and married, and obviously more mature than any of my classmates, but they smile more than most of the couples at school.  They are always laughing and playing, and sometimes you think you're looking at two foals that drank a growth potion."

Radio chuckled.  "That sounds like how my parents used to be."

Stormy saw the sad look that flashed across his face, the one he tried to hide.  "Used to be?"

Caught, Radio debated telling her the truth or trying to dismiss it as nothing.  Honesty quickly won out.  His parents wouldn't lie to each other, and if he was going to follow their example, he wouldn't either.  "My mom was badly hurt long ago, and she's been in suspended animation ever since.  It's why I chose to study medicine.  I want to be able to bring her back."

"Oh," came the soft reply, "I feel selfish now.  I'm studying medicine to cure my own allergies."

"But you'll still help countless others with the research," Radio pointed out.  "Lots of ponies have allergies, how many are locked in ancient cryogenics chambers with injuries that require treatment before the chamber can be opened?"

"Obviously not none," Stormy answered.  "But I'm sure there will be other benefits to your path.  I can't imagine a kind colt like you not helping tons of ponies."

"Th-thanks," Radio stammered, blushing brighter than he had yet.

Stormy laughed at the sudden change in color.  "If you keep reacting like that, I'm going to keep complimenting you."

"That might not be too bad," the colt said sheepishly, only to see a mischievous smile spread across her face.  Probably a good time for a subject change.  "Well," he said, nervously tapping his hooves together, "since we're a couple now, we need to start dating, right?"

Stormy blushed as her smile was replaced with a look of shock.  "I, uh, I guess?"

"In that case..."  Radio leaned in close, maintaining his air of confidence even though his heart felt like it would explode.  Stormy really was a pretty young mare, and fun to talk to.  He was lucky just to have run into her again, not to mention hitting it off like they had.  "And, remember, this is your idea."  He took a deep breath, unable to contain his smile.  "Let's go on a date!"