Mark was feeling beside himself. Finally able to relax in a comfortable bed, he enjoyed looking out the viewport to the planet below. It looked so much like Earth, but at the same time so different. The blue-green ball of life floating below had distinct continents, mountains, and a large northern ice cap that would rival Antarctica in size. Each astronaut had taken to themselves as the Concordia slowly drifted down towards the atmosphere to prepare to detach the carrier pod they were in, Chrysalis having executed the deorbital burn several hours before. Fireball had not stopped eating, and as a result, was slumped in his cot complaining from stomach cramps.
Spitfire, as soon as she completed her meal, had dropped to the floor doing a modified pushup with her wings. Due to doing it for several hours straight, she now looked like she was about to collapse.
“You really should stop Spitfire,” Mark’s tone showed his annoyance, but never once stopped petting Dragonfly, who was laying in his lap. “According to Lucky Cricket, we should be doing reentry any moment now, and even with the current .4G environment, you will be pressed to the floor.”
“Leave. Me. Alone. Mark.” Spitfire huffed, speaking between her downstrokes. “Must. Get. Stronger… Must. Fly. Again…”
“Spitfire, you will fly again,” Cherry Berry, whose muzzle, suit, and sheets were stained from cherry juice, said as she looked up from her cobbler. “But Mark is right, and if you don't stop on your own, I'm going to order you to stop.”
“No. Fair…” Spitfire snorted, slowly rising up and returning to her bed. “First thing I'm doing when we land is flying to Cloudsdale and back.”
“Sorry Spitfire, but you know with your medical training that your goal is a long way off.” Starlight's statement cut like a knife, and she didn't even have to look at the pegasus to know her point got across as she worked on the Babelfish spell in the crystal. “We are going to be in a full G environment again, and due to atrophy, our bodies are going to crash hard.”
“So quarantine then,” Spitfire said, crossing her forehooves at the fact Starlight was right. “Then I'm going flying.”
“May I address the elephant in the room?” Chrysalis’ question caused the others to jump, Dragonfly nearly falling out of Mark's lap as a result. “We are scheduled to arrive back in Horseton in roughly forty minutes and are currently doing final re-entry check with Goddard and Pinkie Pie. When we land, there is a full team of drones waiting to put you in the quarantine chamber, and you will stay there until cleared. Chances are you all will be fine in roughly five or six days, but Dragonfly will require another two. In the meantime, each of you will be put on a strict liquid-only diet, and the most potent antibiotics available.”
“We aren't leaving without Dragonfly,” Mark said, his level gaze startling Chrysalis with how he was standing up to her, and she could feel his fierce loyalty for her drone. “We’re a team, we’re a crew, and if Mars couldn't separate us then no little sickness will either.”
“May I remind you that my crew is the reason you're alive?” Chrysalis said, returning Mark's gaze with one that made the room feel like ice. “Our magic fixed and repelled everything that world threw at you. In fact, you should be grateful, but you are letting your feelings cloud your judgment, search them and you'll know I'm right.”
“You don't know that Chrysalis,” Mark rebutted. “I could have managed to get off Mars alive on my own ingenuity and skill, and I probably did in another dimension. I may be a botanist, but you have no idea just how thankful I am. We may be different species, but we all see each other as friends, and as for me the crew that I never got the chance to have a mission with.”
“Mark’s right Chrysalis,” Cherry Berry said, steeling her own look. “I want him recognized as an honorary member of the Amicitas crew for his hand in keeping us alive. We were discussing this earlier just after we finished dinner, and if it means an extra two days of isolation, then Celestia be damned we will stay there with her.”
“You would have to take that up with Twilight,” Chrysalis sneered, doing her best to keep her emotions in check but she was nearing her limit. “In the meantime, I need to have a quick word with Dragonfly about a changeling matter before we land, so I need to see her in the hallway immediately.”
A wave of uneasiness spread through the astronauts, none of them liking Chrysalis’ tone. Dragonfly, to her credit, showed no fear as she got off Mark’s lap and trotted through the door with her queen in tow. Once outside and the door closed, Chrysalis fired her horn, enveloping the two of them in an illusionary bubble of silence.
“So, it seems that Lucky's report was correct," Chrysalis said, making Dragonfly nervous due to showing or giving no emotion. “He said that you love Mark, and going by how saturated you are right now, you have no excuses. Have you forgotten the one known as Filthy Fred? Or do you want to end up like Thorax's lot of drones who look like a filly's dream?”
“If it comes to that point then so be it, My Queen,” Dragonfly was agitated, and she was going to hold nothing back. The months after getting out the cocoon had left her a lot of time to reflect on her life, and she made a mental vow to protect what was her's. “Even if I end up like Thorax, I will still be a part of the Changeling Space Program and assist in any way possible. Mark's love is sweet, but heavily tainted by a strong aroma of uncertainty. I will take my time, My Queen, but I fully intend on expressing my feelings for him.”
Dragonfly didn't give Chrysalis the chance to speak before continuing, a strange feeling of boldness pulsing in her at defending the one she loved. “Mark and the rest of the Ares crew have assured me and the others that people like Filthy Fred make up a minority, but they are a powerful minority. In a way, I can respect that, because they're no different than us My Queen. We are the minority in society, outnumbered by ponies 300:1, but until recently were feared. If Earth won’t accept our relationship, then he could always relocate here.”
Chrysalis was struck numb. She had a feeling since the Changeling Space Program began that Dragonfly would cause her trouble, but to outright revoke all her teachings was something that Chrysalis had not expected. If Dragonfly had not gone to Mars, and had consumed a large quantity of royal jelly, there was no doubt in Chrysalis’ mind that the drone would be a queen and challenge for the throne. For the briefest of moments, she considered shuttling Mark back to Phoenix and launching him back to his own world, but those thoughts were mentally put into the “Dumb Ideas that Instantly Backfire” folder of her filing cabinet.
“Spoken like a true changeling,” Chrysalis finally said, a predatory look returning to her eyes as she smirked. “That is your goals, but have you taken into consideration Mark's? He has made it crystal clear he wants to return to Earth, and the hypothesis is that if you go for an extended period of time it will kill you. We don't have the funds to do that kind of single purpose round trip every few months, that's at best by the way, so don't ask. In this universe is fine, but for now, multiple dimension hops are off limits.”
“I know what it is like to be blinded by love,” Chrysalis continued, and to Dragonfly's utter shock she had a smile on her face. “She was the most wonderful mare I could have ever met, and I could be around her undisguised at that. Well, that all changed and we split apart. I wanted her to rule at my side, but her ideas of rulership were quite different from mine, so I tried to forcibly turn her around to my thinking. That backfired, literally, and during the bad old days ‘back chitin heat’ was the term used for relationships ended by a drone revealing themselves.”
“Wait, you and Celestia were lovers?” Dragonfly blurted, thankful for the spell bubble in place once she saw her queen blush. “So that explains-”
“How during one of your infiltration missions, specifically the wedding, Celestia told Twilight to go retrieve the Elements?” Chrysalis said, raising an eyebrow at the shell-shocked drone. “She knew that wasn't going to work, but I have to admit that she was a clever mare in trying to do a forced redemption. Only a love surge can fully beat me, but she tried anyway. Keep that between us, now go back in the room so I can be in my pod when we land.”
Dragonfly nodded, zipping back into the room and noticing it felt different than when she left. The air was still heavy with anticipation and concern, but she felt a great sense of pride coming from Starlight, who was comfortably relaxing with the comm crystal glowing by her bed.
“How did it go Dragonfly?” Mark asked, wincing as the ship bucked once to signal reentry. “Everything alright between you and your mother?”
“In fact it is Mark,” Dragonfly's curtness gave the human pause, causing her to flatten her ears. “I mean, I'm not in trouble or anything, she just wanted to express how she felt on a few topics. I will tell you about them later when we get the chance and are alone.”
“Fine by me,” Mark shrugged, nodding his head towards Starlight as he spoke. “Gonna tell her the good news Starlight or should I?”
“Let me guess, she finished the Babelfish spell?” Dragonfly knew she had guessed right, especially when both Mark and Starlight stared at her in shock. “I felt pride coming from Starlight when I came back into the room, that and the fact the crystal is glowing its the only possible conclusion.”
“The only snag is I can't read your language,” Mark said, sighing in the process. “Like at all. I can tell the drawers and cabinets are labeled, I noticed that when I first stepped in here, but I can't tell what is what. Spoken language is fine, but I am going to need help with written translations for books and documents.”
“We can all help with that.” Fireball said, causing everyone to look at him with skepticism. “Look, I know that I was second worse only to Spitfire when it came to learning English, but this is a chance to return the favor Mark gave us. He knew the only way we were going to survive was if we could communicate, and with us cut off from home he took it upon himself to teach us his language.
“Each of us had trouble, some more so than others, but in the end, we pulled through. Now, the situation is reversed, and without the crystal, he would be seen as a pony equivalent of Filthy Fred with how his natural pronouncing was. We speak and write in Ponish, since it makes things easier for all involved with the space agencies. I know he won't be a natural like Dragonfly or Starlight are with English, but we can still do our best to return the kindness and generosity he gave us. We're aliens to his kind, like he is one to ours, so it all balances out.”
A wave of silence enrolled the room, the only sounds being from the fireball lapping at the heat shield and from workers moving around outside. Fireball had raised a good point, and one by one they each nodded in support of his statement.
“Yeah,” Starlight said, smiling at the dragon before looking at Mark. “We'll teach you like you reached us.”
“We’re a team.” Cherry Berry added.
Spitfire was next. “A unit.”
“A crew,” Dragonfly finished, the Horseton Space Center coming into view out the window as she looked at her crewmates before smiling at Mark. “But most importantly…
“Friends.”