The light of another sunrise poured in through the window of Mark and Dragonfly's hotel room, bathing the two in warming rays that did their job by coaxing the pair out of the Land of Nod that Luna presided over. For Dragonfly, it was a chance to relax with her beloved before the next few weeks became a blur of travel and appearances as they were given rewards and ceremonies. However, deep down a seed had germinated and started to grow, knowing that with each passing day it meant another one closer to Mark leaving.
Even with his reassurances, the pain was still there, knowing she had to spend years without him at her side, protecting her as she tried to recover from almost dying and encouraging her to get back into space flight shape. Even after a long night with the two pouring their hearts out, and Dragonfly experimenting with a hybrid changeling/human form she was still in, a tiny part of her wished the world would stop turning so he could stay forever.
"No, he has to get home," Dragonfly chided, stomping down the selfish thought as she ran her fingers through Mark's hair as he slowly woke up himself. "He HAS to, if I tried keeping him that would only cause harm, and I would be a bad wife to hurt him."
"Dragonfly, do you have something troubling you?" Mark, who had until this point kept his eyes closed, looked into Dragonfly's baby-blue humanoid irises. "Your breathing seems a bit tense, had a bad dream?"
"No, nothing of the sort," Dragonfly said, sighing a bit as she looked out the window, Spitfire gliding past on a morning flight. "Just a tiny part of me is still thinking that you will be gone forever, and it is giving me some pretty selfish thoughts that I am having to beat back with a stick."
"Kinda ironic since your mom wanted us to do that to get you out of that pod," Mark chuckled, his laughter making Dragonfly ease just a touch. "As for your concerns, that is for future us to worry about, but for now, our main focus should be on getting through the next few weeks without collapsing from exhaustion. I'm sure that we will be able to find a few minutes together here and there when we aren't traveling, but it is really going to make me miss this really comfortable cloud bed."
"Maybe I will be able to get us a personal one, Rainbow does owe me a few favors," Dragonfly giggled, humming a tune that she had heard by her clutch nurse when she was little that helped to calm her nerves. "Say, Mark, you can't read emotions like I can, how were you able to tell something was wrong just off my heart beat?"
"We had to spend how many nights on that damned rock in a cuddle pile to keep warm?" Mark was fully awake, but he was not ready to get up due to being concerned about Dragonfly falling into another depression episode. "I learned little things here and there, like how Spitfire's right wing twitches when angry, but for you I learned by heartbeat. That and, well, isn't there a saying about 'something something soulbond' or whatever?"
"Touché…" Dragonfly huffed, taking extra care not to scrape Mark's forehead with her fangs as she kissed him just below the hairline. "I just don't want to lose you Mark."
"You won't," Mark said, a thoughtful expression crossing his face but Dragonfly felt his emotions sharply blue into sadness. "Thing is about humans, we have so many health things that could happen at any point I can see why you are worried. Heart attack, stroke, brain hemorrhage, cancer… not to mention being shot or killed in a car wreck. However, I promise, when I get back home I am going to make a will just in case the unthinkable happens. In it, I will have my final wish be made to be cremated and my urn given to my wife Dragonfly when the portal between universes is solidified. I'm sorry that we didn't talk about that last night, but then again, we did make an agreement to put all relationship stuff on the backburner now didn't we?"
"Y-yeah," Dragonfly stuttered, remembering the promise the two had made in the med bay of Horseton Space Center. "However, the deal was made on the grounds that I don't push our marriage, but after last night, anyone who heard would think we have been married for years! There was no pushing in that talk, or even this one, it just happened."
"Mmm, fair point," Mark said, looking back at the wall above the headboard of their bed. "Although, we probably owe Starlight and Cherry an apology…"
"No, they owe us one for Starlight's snoring," Dragonfly's response made the two of them chuckle. "Say, think you could help me come up with a name for a human form? No offense, but I don't think 'Dragonfly Watney' rolls off the tongue very well."
"Perhaps," Mark took this chance to pull himself up into a sitting position before standing, Dragonfly having to repress a sad pulse at hearing a couple of Mark's joints pop into place as he headed for the bathroom to take a shower. "Then again, my adorable cuddly love bug, perhaps you should have thought about that before making me your husband Mrs. Watney."
"Did he just…" Dragonfly said, softly enough that anyone without sensitive hearing could not have heard her as she heard the water turn on. "Hey, wait a second, I am not cuddly! I am going to get you for that Mark, just you wait!"
"Oh yeah?" Mark shouted, a smirk crossing his face that Dragonfly could feel the mirth of without even being able to see it. "What you going to do about it?!"
With a smirk on her own face, Dragonfly took it personally.
"Well now, look who finally managed to join us for breakfast," Spitfire, already on her fifth pancake, announced as Mark and Dragonfly made their way into the first floor dining hall. "You two are late, guess you are going native Mark? Got snuggly and cuddly?"
"Buck you Spits," Mark sneered, while Dragonfly had to put her head against Mark's stomach to keep him from getting too aggressive. In her natural form, her smaller stature really didn't have that many advantages that benefited the human, but she was using one she knew that worked as Mark took a deep breath. "Sorry, but since you seem to be a gossip mare, the reason we are late is because Dragonfly decided to literally bathe me."
"Oh course I did," Dragonfly smirked, noticing how even Fireball's cheeks colored. "You can't read our writing, and since you don't have fur, I had to make sure you didn't accidentally give yourself a chemical burn from applying the raw shampoo and conditioner directly to your skin."
"That is really sus Dragonfly, and doubly so since you are a changeling that is saying something," Cherry Berry said, ignoring the sticky cherry syrup that was plastered on her muzzle. "I am technically, and this was explained to me in a closed-door meeting, a member of the hive due to my position. As such, I have picked up a keen 'sixth-sense' over the years that is able to tell when a changeling is lying. I used it on Mars when you were starting to fall apart, and right now it is going off."
"Just couple business," Mark said, not believing that he had actually said those words and causing Dragonfly to facehoof. "Now are you going to keep prodding or are you going to allow two crewmates to eat Commander?"
"Way to spin that back on me!" Cherry laughed, motioning with a hoof towards the empty buffet line, silently thankful that everyone else staying in the hotel had already left to tend to their business. "One stack each, and double time since we have to meet Twilight outside in eight minutes."
"Not a problem bossmare!" Dragonfly saluted, pulling Mark over to the buffet and started stacking their plates. "Hey Mark, did you see the syrup around Cherry's mouth? Boy she is going to be mad when everypony sees the fur matted in the pictures that are going to be taken. Dried syrup is a pain to get out of fur, I should know since one of my prior infiltrations was as a syrup harvester. Worst mission ever that didn't involve the space agency."
"I can imagine, it is sticky on human skin as well," Mark said, looking over his shoulder and carefully noting that Cherry was timing them off the clock that was above the entryway door and each of the seated astronauts had syrup either on them or their uniforms. Each speck was small, but a strong enough resolution and close-up shot however could easily pick it up, which made a scheme form that he took great pride in. "Cherry said we had eight minutes, correct?"
"Less than that now, closer to seven," Dragonfly looked at her lover as she spoke, ignoring the whipped cream, chocolate chips, and strawberries that she was about to get. "Why do you ask?"
"I got an idea to get even with them if you follow my lead," Mark smirked, eying the four plain pancakes on each plate. "I think we can head back to the table now, don't you agree hun? Seven minutes isn't long enough to eat a stack and toppings."
"What are you- oh…" Dragonfly stopped her question as realization struck, having to hold in her giggles as she led the way back to the table with Mark close behind. "Think we got time to add syrup? I overheard a maid last night saying the apple-cinnamon was out of this world."
"Maybe tomorrow dear," Mark took his seat by Dragonfly, grabbing the silverware and cutting into the stack in record time as their friends looked on in confusion. "We gotta finish these so our Commander doesn't start to pout. Then again, don't you agree it is rather cute when she does?"
"I'm not-"
"Oh most certainly hun!" Dragonfly giggled, ignoring Cherry's interruption as she finished the first half of her pancakes and the Earth Pony's face started to go from pink to her namesake. "Very cute and adorable too! Why, I wouldn't be surprised if multiple stallions and mares try to set up dates with the Great Astromare Cherry Berry, just for the cuteness level alone. Now, I am sure that her language when angry would be a major turn-off to most, but I have heard the bat ponies of the Northern Lands just love a mare who could make an Admiral color."
"You two bucking sheep wranglers!"
"Seems you were right Dragonfly," Mark said, speaking in between bites as his mental clock ticked inside of two minutes and Cherry looked like she was about to jump them both. "We know from Mars she can be quite creative with stringing together swears, if you know a few, perhaps you could have a messenger arrange the meetings?"
Cherry Berry, to Fireball's point of view, had a vein in her forehead puffing to the point it could have been considered an ingrown changeling horn that was threatening to finally break free.
"Certainly!" Dragonfly excitedly clopped her forehooves together as she snickered at Cherry's face, Mark having a similar issue as he finished eating and putting his plate together with her own. "Although, you know what the best part is?"
"Oh, I don't know," Mark gave Dragonfly a quick kiss on the top of her head fin, giving her enough juice to teleport the two plates across the room and into the dirty dish bin as they both stood. "Maybe we just stalled long enough to not only eat, but make it so Starlight has to clean Cherry and the others with a spell to look proper for the cameras? Oh! Not only that, Cherry has to hold in her anger and force a smile in order to not make her look bad?"
"We have a winner," Heading for the lobby and front door, Dragonfly turned to look at her crewmates with a fanged grin, both her and Mark enjoying their moral revenge victory as the others stared in shock. "Hurry up guys! You don't want to keep Twilight waiting and make her itinerary late now, that would be just plain rude."
As the duo made their way outside, they found Twilight standing on the sidewalk while surrounded by guards to keep a perimeter so the astronauts wouldn't get rushed by the gathered crowd that blocked the street in both directions. The moment they started down the stairs, the crowd erupted with whoops and hollers as Twilight sprang into action.
"There you are!" Twilight said, stopping Mark and Dragonfly at the last step before the sidewalk as the others caught up. "I was about to come in there, but luckily we still have a few minutes of leeway that I had calculated into my planning just in case we get held up. I hope you all are refreshed because we got a walk ahead of us."
Moving as a group, with the guard line marching in unison to keep the crowd distanced, Mark took the chance to get a closer look at some of the buildings that made up the Manhattan skyline. Some brands that Dragonfly translated the signs of, such as Hoofshucks, MacBuckles, and the newly-opened Interdimensional True Range of Taste, were brands that he recognized, but others had to get a full explanation of as they made their way towards the starting point of the parade.
"You know Mark," Starlight said, taking advantage of a brief pause as Cherry Berry got a Hay Dog with extra sauerkraut and cherry drizzle from a street vender. Twilight had protested on the grounds that the Commander had just eaten breakfast, only to be shot down by a look that made the alicorn's blood turn to ice. "I don't think you and Dragonfly should ride in the same parade float, the Babelfish spell is proximity based, so it would be best I that ride with you."
"I agree," Twilight used the topic to avoid Cherry's glare, silently thankful to the sun and moon that she was given the opportunity. "Starlight is the best English speaker, but that spell is going to come in handy just in case anypony goes total fanfilly and we don't need any misinterpretations on any party."
"No arguments here," Dragonfly's remark was met with a lot of raised eyebrows from her friends, Mark's higher than the others. "I need to get used to not having Mark at my side all the time, so I have no problem having my own seat."
Mark felt a thump of pride at that.
"Glad that is settled, because we are here," Twilight motioned, indicating the line of pony-drawn carriages that were lined up in front of them, earning many confused looks from the six astronauts. "What? Oh! I know what you are thinking, but Princess Celestia personally insisted on these instead of the plain floats that were going to be used, which will be repurposed for the Appleloosa Harvest Fest. We got three carriages. The one in front will be for me, Chrysalis, and Cherry Berry, the one in the middle will be for Dragonfly and Spitfire, and the one at the back will have Fireball, Starlight, and Mark."
"Political move," Dragonfly smirked, making the Princess of Books look away ashamed. "Was the bits Sunshine gave you not enough, but speaking of my queen, where is she?"
"Mars made your senses soft Dragonfly," Everyone looked left and right, but an alley cat coming from the side of the next store over suddenly burst into green flames and revealed the queen herself and made several guards tremble. "As for your question, it is less a political move and more of showing the unity between Horseton and Cape Friendship. Cherry may be a CSP pilot, but is every bit the pony that Twilight is."
"Still politics," Cherry grumbled, climbing into her carriage as the others followed into their places as the parade began. Considering the prank she had pulled on her, she was not in the mood for anything out of hoof. Waving to the crowd was easy, she had done it countless times since diving head first into the Changeling Space Program for various appearances and pressers, but doing it while in a bad mood came in second behind Mars on the list of things that she hated. However, Marephy was not to be outdone as the Commander saw a marquee that made her blood boil and angerly wave a hoof. "What, what is that?!"
"Oh, that?" Chrysalis felt like she was in a volcano without being a dragoness from the anger the Earth Pony was putting off as she glanced at what Cherry was pointing at. She had tried, and failed, to talk several drones and a very insistant Coco Pummel out of making the show that was advertised. Not to mention, and she would never admit it, but the pink-coated mare was one she knew that she would never win an explosive shouting match with. "Well… funny story about that, you see…"
What followed was the greatest display of strung-together, non-swear words ever used as a swearful rant that anyone had ever heard.
"Oh come on Cherry, it wasn't that bad," Fireball, now directly in the firing line of Cherry's glare, tried to save face as the group minus Twilight stood outside the theater. Sure, it had been his idea, and they had got in free due to who they were, but in his opinion they had done a terrific job. "I think they did a pretty decent job considering the resources they had, and their imitation of you ranting was spot on."
"Spot on? Spot on?!" Cherry exploded, making everyone back off a few feet and Dragonfly cower behind Mark. Chrysalis, to her credit, kept a neutral expression but inwardly she was curious to see what the pony would think of next. "Now listen here you gem-eating lizard, the only thing they got spot on was my looks and that was because they were changelings. Changelings! That cow patty stomping fit? Blown out of porportion. The Filthy Frank bit? Out of context! However the biggest insult was making me sound like a total shrill when I get mad!"
"Um, I hate to break it to you, but your voice does crack when you get mad," Starlight instantly regretted speaking up for Fireball, the look she was getting riveling Fluttershy in the 'Judge your Soul' department. "Although! I do think they didn't catch how adorable it makes you look... to the outside observer that is."
She regretted saying that out loud, her Commander filling her vision as they bumped noses.
"Adorable?!" Being so close, the shout made Starlight's go flat, but Cherry was a steelly-eyed missile mare with molten iron in her viens. "Starlight, you think you regretted bucking up several timelines, you have no idea how much you going to regret saying that."
"Cherry, did Mars really make you that quick to violence?" Twilight's voice made everyone jump, being so wrapped up in the display that they didn't see her teleport in. Cherry, to her credit, muttered a 'sorry' before looking away. "Anyway, while you all were seeing the play, I had a matter I had to attend to at Horseton. The-"
"Hang on," Chrysalis said, narrowing her eyes at the second-youngest alicorn. "What gives you the right to attend to business there? Me and you agreed to stay out the center operations entirely, if anything, that would be my business and not yours!"
"Moondancer sent me a letter saying that Occupant was trying to reach you, but since the theater requires magic users to wear a ring indoors if not a performer, he couldn't reach you," Twilight's answer made Chrysalis look vulnerable and defenseless, silencing the queen as she found a pink and cyan polka-dotted trashcan looking awfully suspicious. "With you unavailable, I was next choice. We are to report back to Horseston ASAP, George Bull got a message from NASA via Angel 18 saying the… President? Yeah, President of Mark's nation wants daily updates on him for 'press reasons'."
"Fuck," Mark didn't care he had royalty, and his shotgun wife, present, he was not happy that he couldn't escape Earth politics even while being in another universe. He knew he owed them, and owed them big, but still… "Stupid buerocracy. Ok, fine, I will do the updates to get them off my ass, but why do we have to return to Horseton?"
"First, I would chide you for the language, but under the circumstances I am not," Twilight stated, keeping an unamused stare at the human that she swore made him look at her like an adult looks at an adorable foal. "Secondly, they specifically requested that the first message to them was about how the space center looks and operates. Considering you spend a week there recovering, you didn't get a proper full guided tour."
"That can wait," Dragonfly was not happy that Mark wasn't happy, and despite of her agreement she wasn't going to let anyone push her lovely ape around. "Send a message back saying we got a meeting with the Princesses of our nation planned for tomorrow and that takes priority because it isn't nice to keep them waiting. It took efforts to both planets to get us home Twilight, but I will be a damned mare if those beurocratic foot lickers are going to disrespect Celestia and Luna like that. If they don't like it, they can suck my egg sac!"
Mark just stared at her, unable to formulate a response for how quick Dragonfly flipped into 'I call the shots' mode and how she had made a changeling equivalent to a very American-like insult.
"You heard her princess," Chrysalis smiled, knocking Twilight out of her stupor by running a wing between the ailcorn's own, a gesture that gave her a rush of fear, surprise, and amusingly lustful curiosity. "Go tell Occupamt to send the itinerary that you made to them, the full bulleted list and in order. Dragonfly has a point, by pushing what they want, it is also an insult to you by discrediting your carefully thought out organization."
"I didn't think of that," Twilight said, ears drooped, as she thought over what Chrysalis had pointed out to her. "You guys head to Canterlot, I will meet you there as I try to choice my words without causing a diplomatic scene."
"You do that," Chrysalis said, waiting until Teilight teleported away before looking at Mark. "As for you, I think I need to have a talk with you about how corrupted you made my drone."
"Yes mother…" Mark squeaked, terrified of what kind of talk the queen had in store, the changeling licking her fangs not helping him any.