Cryo-7

by Metal Pony Fan

Wake Up, Little Pony, Wake Up.

She woke up to the sound of music.

It was a violin, deftly navigating the notes of a simple melody. A second instrument joined it, a piano, or possibly a second violin, playing counterpoint. Sometimes both. The more Ribbon listened and tried to make sense of the sounds, the more confusing it became.

Ribbon leaned into the warmth of something that definitely wasn't a blanket. It was a little too scratchy for that. She opened her eyes and was greeted by a layer of bright blue. The carpet of color moved as Mezzo shifted in his sleep, reacting to the snout ruffling through his mane.

The violin playing in the other room shifted to playing an ascending series of scales, and the second instrument faded as Mezzo descended back into the depths of sleep. Ribbon carefully pulled herself away from the colt's back, quickly missing the comfortable warmth.

She moved quietly, letting herself out from under the covers and realizing she should probably be more freaked out about this. She climbed down from the bed, avoiding the clothes chest without even looking. She smacked her shin on it last time. Luckily, there was no one around at the time to hear her roll around on the floor in agony. She wanted to be a little quieter this time, for obvious reasons.

She walked around the bed, towards the door, and the music changed. Whoever was playing the violin was done with scales and switched to a little foal's lullaby. Ribbon recognized it as one her mother used to sing to her. She could also hear the memory of Mezzo's mother singing it to him. Or was that Mezzo's mother outside, singing it now?

The colt shifted in his sleep again, as the music came to an end. Ribbon walked up to him and reached to pull the blanket back over him. She stopped when she saw his side. The scar was hidden there, under his coat. She could see the faint line where the direction of his fur changed slightly. It was such a terrible memory that he had to relive, but she understood a little better now why she had been drawn to him.

She placed her hoof over the scar as she remembered the searing pain he had remembered. "It all heals," she whispered. "Even if you don't think it will."

She stayed at the bedside for a moment. His face was more peaceful now than she had ever seen, even with the matted tracks of fur under his eyes where he had cried. She pulled the blanket over him, and made her way over to the door.

She paused for a moment at the door. She could sense that there were others out there, but their thoughts were quiet, subdued, not intruding on her like they usually would. Mezzo's tranquil, sleeping mind was still drawing hers, shielding it from other thoughts.

She slipped out the door, shutting it quickly behind her. Her eyes took a moment to adjust to the brighter light, and after blinking a few times, she found herself being stared at. Minuette sat on the couch, quietly watching Ribbon as she polished the rosin dust off a small violin.

For a moment, Ribbon was terrified, imagining the filly's gaze to be far more judgemental than it was intended to be, and gave the filly an awkward wave. She could tell that the little earth pony was hopefully waiting for her to say something, and she wasn't smiling at all.

"Um, good morning?" Ribbon spoke quietly.

"Good morning!" The filly shouted happily, smile finally spreading across her face as she stuffed the violin back in the case. Oh, she was just concentrating. "Did you hear me playing?" She asked as she hopped from the couch. "I hope I didn't wake you up," the filly looked down, "but Mezzo says that his room is soundproof, so it doesn't bother him at all."

A blatant lie, Ribbon realized, she could hear the violin clearly. Apparently Minuette realized it too, and was seeing if Ribbon would confirm her suspicions. Sorry, filly. "Aw, I missed it?"

"I can play for you later," the filly suggested, slightly upset that she didn't get to play for her new friend. "Maybe Mezzo and I can play our recital piece?"

For a second, Ribbon got to see Mezzo as his little sister did. It was a brief image, brought up by the memory of playing in a recital. The colt was standing tall beside a large instrument, much like the filly's violin, sweat clinging to his mane under hot stage lights as he jumped into a powerful solo. He was covering the fact that the filly was playing too hard because of nerves, losing a string in the process, and giving her time to replace it. The look of determination on his face, his concentration on his instrument, and the simple fact that he saved her from embarassment, made him a hero in the filly's eyes.

Ribbon listened for a moment. Booming staccato notes, played low gave way to a mid-range melody that climbed and ebbed, leaving you wondering when it would break one way or the other. Every so often, a harsh run of bassline would drop into the melody, providing a dark contrast, leading up to a frantic, thundering finale. Sweat flung from his mane, sparkling in the lights as his body moved with every stab and draw of his bow that hid the sound of the filly tuning her new string.

Then, just as suddenly as the cello solo started, all sound from his instrument ended, and the light songbird tones of a single violin took it's place. Its peaceful melody, soft and complex, was soothing compared to the angry power of the other instrument, and it drew the song to a soft and simple resolution.

"I... I think I would like that," Ribbon finally managed.

"Mini-Tavi?" Called a voice from the kitchen, a tired sounding Vinyl, "did you detension the bow? Big-Tavi gives me lectures when I let you put it away tight."

"Sure did, Aunt Scratch," the filly answered as she ran back to the violin case to double check. She didn't want her aunt getting in trouble for something she did.

Ribbon peek in the kitchen to find Vinyl leaning on the counter, watching the filly from the pass-through. Her sunglasses were absent, scar on display, and her mane was a little flat, yet to be brushed. On the stovetop behind her, a pot of oatmeal simmered, stirred by a spoon grasped in magic. The smell of cinammon filled the kitchen, along with a hint of something that the nurse couldn't quite identify.

"Mornin', Colors," the mare said without looking up.

"Oh, um, good morning," Ribbon responded, quietly.

Vinyl glanced over.

"Oh," the mare's question caught her a little off guard, "uh, I'd love to stay for breakfast."

Vinyl smiled.

"Oatmeal's great." Ribbon looked over at the stove. "And it smells amazing."

"That's because I added brown sugar, apple, and a little bit of shredded carrots." Vinyl looked back through the passageway. "Somepony left some on the counter. Fresh ones too, not reconstituted. I'll make cookies out of the leftover oatmeal, and maybe a cake out of the rest of the carrots."

"You must be a good cook," Ribbon prodded. This mare was calm, and her thoughts were distant, muted and detached. She could barely hear anything. "And you must have gone through some sort of mental training."

"Guilty as charged," Vinyl said with a shrug. "On both counts. I didn't exactly choose to be a good cook though. As for the training, well I pulled a bounty on a telepath once, the training was provided by the government of Curaxxa for the job, because almost no one wanted to take it on. Paid well though." A cup of hot chocolate floated towards her from near the stove. "I bet it makes you a little uncomfortable that you can't tell what I'm thinking. Welcome to the average world."

"It's not that bad." Ribbon joined her at the counter, crossing her hooves on the clean, cool surface. Minuette had adjusted the bow, reorganized her folder of music, and was now bringing the violin case back to her room. "I always thought my life would be easier without my powers." Ribbon looked over at the other mare. She didn't seem all that uneasy around her, and the mental shielding seemed less self defensive, and more curious. She was feeling her out, seeing how it worked. "You could just ask me. My telepathy is caused by a mutation in the parts of my brain that is responsible for processing magical input in most unicorns. I hear and see thoughts in a sensory manner, like most unicorns can sense magic, only stronger. I don't have much control over it, but I do have a little because of how closely it's tied to my magic."

Vinyl nodded. "Growl told me about the limiter. It's kind of a punch in the gut to find out it was mine."

"Things were so quiet when I was wearing it." Ribbon sighed. The memory of the jeweler's anger and guilt twisted in her gut. His condescension, just for being a pony, let alone a telepath played over in her mind. How was it possible to be so terrible? Even that scientist that got banished from Furia, for experimenting on her and Radio, believed he was doing the right thing for all involved. So much so, that he even convinced them to participate willingly. That gryphon though, he just didn't care.

Ribbon buried her head in her hooves. She already told Growl everything about the jeweler. She didn't really have a choice when it came down to it, but the arrest was made, and once the facts got out, it would only be a matter of time before mass paranoia made her more of a pariah than usual. The nurse looked over at Vinyl. "I really thought it was the answer I was looking for."

"You could always get another limiter," Vinyl suggested, "there are safer ones out there, used for magic training."

"I can't use a limiter," Ribbon shook her head, "not now, not after learning what happened to you and Mezzo."

Vinyl looked over, and some worry slipped through the cracks in her mental armor. "Colors? What did you see yesterday?" She was quiet for a moment, then looked down into her mug. "I wasn't there when my father died, but Mezzo was. He's never told me exactly what happened."

The mare's mental wall continued to crumble, and her concern kept leaking out, along with images and fleeting memories. Including a face she would remember for the rest of her life.

"Who is that stallion?" Ribbon asked, voice nearly a whisper.

With a sigh, Vinyl took a sip of her hot chocolate. "The king of Tankra. Leader of the descendants of the goddess." She downed the drink. "A filthy slaver. The stallion who cut my face,beat me, and took the hearing in my left ear away." Without warning, Vinyl scooped up the mug with her hoof and threw it at the wall with an angry grunt, shattering the hapless dish into pieces.

Ribbon grabbed her ears. Not from the sound of the breaking mug, but at the pain that hissed through the gaps in Vinyl's mental wall like steam. Screaming, pleading, unbridled anger, the fear of silence, and the desire to kill. It lasted less than a second, but it left Ribbon disoriented.

Vinyl sat on the floor, back to the spot she had been leaning. Her head tilted back until it met the cabinet, and she sat there breathing heavily. "And he's probably Mezzo's father."

Vinyl looked over at Ribbon and chuckled at the look of shock on the nurse's face. "I guess Mezzo doesn't know then." The mare sighed, rocking her head back and forth against the cabinet. "Bastard raped me while I was in heat. The stallion Mezzo knows as his father was Tavi's husband. A scrawny pegasus, and a bumbling idiot on his third marriage, but his heart is in the right place, usually. I bedded him as often as I could over the next week. I know it was a terrible thing to do, to ask of your best friend and her husband, but they understood. I just wanted Mezzo to be born with with wings, or an ugly green coat, something that could prove he wasn't..." Vinyl laughed, a heartbreaking hollow sound. "Obviously, it didn't quite work out."

Ribbon sat down next to the mare. "It did... He looks like you. He... cares for others, like you do. I know he takes after you and your father more than you can ever imagine."

Vinyl looked over and let her mental defense down. "I know, Colors." Images, memories, swirled behind her words. They were powerful, though tame compared to Mezzo's overwhelming presence. But the memories were no less sad. No mother should have to spend that much time sewing their son shut. "He's my son, that's all that matters. And he looks and acts so much like dad did that I know he's going to be a great stallion. I just wish he could have had a better life. I wish I could have protected him."

Ribbon stayed quiet. Very few ever accepted her for who she was this way, trusted her like this. Vinyl had the ability to keep her out, but was making the conscious choice to let her in. Very few ponies ever accepted this way. Ribbon wanted to do something for her, to make her feel better, somehow. But didn't know how.

After a few seconds, Ribbon lifted her hooves for a hug, but Vinyl noticed and let her know it would not end well. The nurse settled for a pat on the shoulder. "You did the best you could."

"If you really want me to feel better, Colors, go give Mezzo a hug." Vinyl shook her head. "He's a bit of a loner. Takes too much after me like that." She smiled weakly. Dishes clattered in the cabinets above them as bowls and spoons were magically removed from their cabinets. Vinyl spooned some oatmeal into each of five bowls, and floated one down to Ribbon. The nurse took it in her hooves as the mare stood up and dusted off. "You know, Colors, I only cook for ponies I really like. Growl, Tavi, the kids, and a very short list of other friends." She took a bowl of oatmeal for herself and left the rest of them on the counter as she walked off. "Come by whenever you get hungry." With a smirk, she added, "Or next time you feel like taking a two day nap in my son's bed."

Ribbon's eyes went wide, and she scrambled off after the mare, oatmeal in tow. "Two days?!"

---

She woke up to the sound of scratching.

"Is somebody at the door?" Lilybelle called from bed. Her alarm hadn't gone off yet. Who could it be this early? The young nurse laid in the dark, and immediately realized that was a silly question. This was a space station. It was only early because she decided it was early. Time of day meant little compared to when she and Annabelle where attending Luna's Academy on the surface. But, she chose to maintain her old school schedule, and right now, it was early morning in the Canterlot Lunar timezone.

She heard the scratching again.

It was nearby, inside her room.

Her magic lashed out, activating the lights. At the same time,she kicked the blankets off and her hooves went to her head in a defensive pose. Her eyes scanned the now brightly lit room. Nothing seemed out of place.

The quarters weren't exactly, small, but the open layout meant you could see everything from anywhere in the quarters. Her bed, and Annabelle's next to it, sat against one wall, opposite a row freestanding floor cabinets that made up one side of the kitchen. Additional cabinets hung down from the ceiling, with doors on both side for easy access to their contents. Beyond them, the kitchen consisted of space for one pony to move around, with a mini-fridge, stove, and other appliances along the wall.

To the left was a walk in closet without a door, and a washroom with the door open. The bistable mirrors were switched off, thankfully, so instead of seeing her reflection, she saw a charcoal grey panel of glass. Lilybelle didn't want to imagine what she might have done if she saw a reflection while panicked. She had to replace all of Annabelle's clothes last time.

To the right was the combination living room and foyer. Two small couches, the coffee table from their old dorm that Annabelle refused to replace, and a pair of beat up end tables that she just hadn't gotten around to replacing. And the closed entry door. The piece of tape in the corner was still intact, so it hadn't been opened since she closed it.

Old habits. Lily sighed, shaking her head as she pulled herself up to sit against the headbord. Sleepily staring into the room, her mind wandered back to a recent conversation about old habits, one she had with a nice pinto stallion about a year older than her. Did he mark his door like she and her cousin did? Looks like that's something to ask when they meet for dinner after work.

Lilybelle's eyes snapped wide open.

They were going out for dinner after work! She had a date tonight! How the heck did she pull that one off? She brought her hooved to her forehead, pulling her messy mane back.

She remembered exactly how it happened. They had been talking, and the mini messaging screen clipped to his old, scorched bandanna had beeped. He checked the message, and he had to leave. He got three steps before turning around and telling her he wanted to talk again sometime. She had agreed. He asked when they could meet, and they hurriedly discussed work schedules. She gave a time. She asked where, and he had given the first location he could think of. She agreed, he thanked her, they hugged, and went their separate ways, him running so he wouldn't be late.

She dragged her hooves over her face. They were meeting at his quarters. She could never let Annabelle learn of this. The needling and teasing would never end. Why did she even agree? Dinner was great, after work was great, but meeting somewhere in the commisary would have been less embarassing. Maybe even the cafeteria?

Lilybelle dropped her hooves to the mattress. Ew. Just... Ew. There was no way they were going to the cafeteria on a date. Holding hooves at a candlelit table amongst a backdrop of sweaty cargo workers on lunch break and Pops the cook shouting every five minutes when they added a new dish to the buffet. There was that smoothie stand, or the coffee shop, for alternatives, but neither one served any substantial food.

You know what? Forget it. "I, Lilybelle Crocus Lane, am a fully grown mare. I have a date with an amazing stallion who understands me and my past, and we both find each other attractive. I am going to meet him at his quarters for dinner." She smiled, proud of her assertive claim. As long as Annabelle never finds out, everything will be fine.

Which means she would have to set a curfew for herself. She could just imagine coming home late at night, or heaven forbid, in the morning, and finding Annabelle reading one of her stupid magazines on the couch near the door. "You're home late," she could almost hear the sing-song voice now, "did you have fun?"

"Not now, Anna," would be the response. Of course, it would be ignored.

Annabelle would just smile, flipping pages, maybe filling out little personality quizzes. "Have fun with your coltfriend?"

"He is not-" Lilybelle would catch herself, but only after shouting the first half of the sentence. How did Anna always know exactly what to say to get her riled up? "It was a first date. Isn't it a little soon to be calling him that."

Anna would shrug, and smile mischeviously. "You guys gonna have a second?"

"That's a good question actually,"the young nurse mused out loud. If things go well, it wouldn't be outside the realm of possibility. It might be nice to have a Coltfriend, and put an end to all the teasing. Maybe she would get to be the one teasing Anna for a change. And she was ripe for targeting, given her recent interest in that dragon they met the other day.

Come to think of it, that was the first time Annabelle had shown that sort of interest in anypony. For all her teasing, and pervy antics, she never got close to stallions. She stayed away from other ponies in general, but especially stallions. Sadly, Lily new there was a reason for it, but if this dragon could help coax her out of her shell, she wasn't about to make a big deal out of it, and would support them as much as she could.

"You owe me one, Annabelle," Lily smirked, "and you don't even know it."

She heard the scratching sound again.

She looked around the room, trying to pinpoint the source. It's amazing how a little light turns something scary into a mere annoyance. With a sigh, she rolled out of bed. That sound was probably something in the hallway. Hooves on the blanket she tossed earlier, she checked her clock. She still had two hours before her shift. It was a patrol shift, one of three each nurse had to do every week. Well, Ribbon was exempt, for obvious reasons.

A medical patrol was actually a pretty easy shift, and consisted of walking around the station with a medkit. You were basically waiting for emergency calls, helping out with non-emergencies that you come across, as well as performing a bit of PR for medical. You would also talk to anyone that seemed new to the station, and make sure they knew where the basic station utilities were. Mainly the medical facilities, but also the cafeteria, security office, and the lost and found.

The medkit she was supposed to carry with her was there on the nightstand. Next to her bed. Open.

She blinked at it a few times. "Huh?" She picked it up with a hoof, and checked inside. She could have sworn it was closed when she left it there last night. Inside, the bandages, and the sterile wrapping from disposable tools, were shredded and packed together to form a round depression, akin to a bird's nest.

Something brushed past her hoof as it darted under her bed.

Lilybelle shrieked and dropped the medkit as she stomped back from the bed. The nest of shredded paper and gauze fell onto the floor, revealing that the other components of a medkit were absent.

Lilybelle took a few deep breaths. She just had the misfortune of picking up a box that a small creature had turned into his home. Nothing more, nothing less. She was a unicorn, bearing the power of magic. She could handle a little stow-away creature.

With a sigh, Lilybelle picked up her blanket, giving it a shake before tossing it on the bed. The only question now was what kind of creature it was. Was it a rat? A Kolem? A space spider? "Oh, please don't be a space spider." Who wants a winged, immortal spider with an indestructible, organo-ceramic exoskeleton under their bed? Annabelle would probably name it.

Lilybelle ducked down to peer under her bed. She stayed a few steps away, just in case she spooked the hiding creature. She didn't see anything immediately, but it's not like it was empty under there. She had three pair of boots, which she would burn if there was ever a Kolem within four meters of them, and some storage boxes of random items.

Then again, it definitely wasn't a kolem. The smell was absent.

She started moving items around, with magic, of course. Who in their right mind would stick their hooves under there with an unidentified creature? She took extra care in shaking the boots out. Tucked in the corner, she noticed some paper in between a pair of boxes. Odd. Nothing under here should be out of a box, except for the boots.

She grabbed the papers, and it all came out in a bundle. Lilybelle frowned at it when she saw that it was a single book, printed off and hastily bound by hoof. She sighed when she saw the title. It was the abridged version of the textbook for this semester's anaesthetics course. Lily flipped through the thing, wondering what they left out to make the large textbook fit in such a small package.

Her face hit her hoof when she realized it was the same textbook, but with four of the original pages printed small on each page. Lilybelle incinerated the front cover, but made sure the rest stayed intact, then tossed it on Anna's bed as a message. Luckily for Anna, it wasn't a copy that abridged the actual text. If it had been one of those, Lily would have followed through on her original threat, and the entire thing would have been left as a pile of carbon on her pillow.

With her search finished, and no little creature under her bed, Lilybelle's eyes moved to the next logical location. Maybe it kept running and ended up under Annabelle's bed?

Lily walked over, but hesitated for a moment. She didn't really want to invade Anna's privacy like that, but she had to find that critter. Annabelle would understand. Plus, she had already gone under a bed that wasn't hers to stash her book. This would merely even the score.

Steeling herself, Lily looked below.

"Ugh, what a mess!" Nothing was organized. Nothing was in boxes. There were nine boots, but only one full set. One thing stuck out to the nurse. A stack of papers stashed in the back. It looked like a duplicate of what had been stashed under the other bed.

Lily pulled the papers out, one after another. They were pamphlets summarizing the concepts of various methods of psychological therapy for overcoming past trauma. The individual pamphlets were paperclipped together with contact information, peer reviews, and client testimonials. With a sigh, Lily put them back and made a mental note to give her cousin a long overdue hug next time they crossed paths. And also maybe get a copy of some of those contacts.

Sorting through the other items, Lilybelle came to the conclusion that whatever was running around, it wasn't under there. Retreating from the bed in confusion, she heard the thunk of a cabinet door shutting.

Lily belle ran over, and started opening cabinets one after the other. She paused at the last one. It also happened to be the door closest to the beds. It was very likely that it was in there, whatever it was. She held both doors shut with her magic, and grabbed a pan from one of the previous cabinets. No, not to clobber it, well, unless forced to, but what she really wanted was a container to capture it in.

Pan at the ready, Lilybelle threw the cabinet open, prepping the neural disjunct spell to immobilize the creature if necessary.

Her eyes met those of a terrified baby prill, and neither of them moved. A prill, a creature ranked among the most popular and harmless pets in the galaxy, right up there with kittens, puppies, and Talkan bark hamsters. The prill's eyes slowly looked over at the pan, then back at the pony.

With a sigh, Lilybelle set the pan down, and let the electrical magic she was storing dissipate. When it was gone, she held her hoof out to the little creature. "Come on, you. Let's get you out of here."

The prill stared at the hoof for a moment, then reached one of its legs to latch on to Lilybelle's, making the purring, trilling sound the species was named for.

---

She woke up to the sound of chaos.

A chorus of screams punctuated the crash of buildings collapsing under the claws of an unstoppable monster. Annabelle stretched as she lay across the arms of her seat, forgetting the bag of overly salted popcorn balanced on her belly, and dumping it on the floor.

"Oops." She picked it up with her magic, carefully saving as much as she could, then cramming a hooffull of it in her mouth as she continued the slow process of waking up.

The monster movie marathon had been rather boring so far. There was supposed to be a decent mix of films, from Curaxxan, pony, and human, to a species or two that she had never heard of, and promised everything from holo-vid, to full immersion, to the current black and white flat screen. As much as she used to love Godzilla, watching him destroy a city loses some impact when a fire-breathing dragon paid for your popcorn.

Visiting the tiny theater had been his idea, the monster movies had been hers. Though, there were only two screens, and therefore two choices. It was this, or Kitty Takes Canterlot, a young gryphon farmgirl uses her life savings to move to the big planet in search of fame, fortune, and most importantly of all, love. Blegh, snoozefest! Annabelle bought the tickets, Softy bought the snacks, and then it was monster time. Too bad they didn't even make it to the first movie's credit sequence.

She assumed the second movie was playing now, because the dragon destroying the city looked a little different. Though, he still looked like he was made out of lumpy paper mache. Lily looked over at the blue-scaled dragon passed out in the seat next to her.

Real dragons looked a whole lot nicer.

Softy was still in his, 'secretly handsome,' form, as she called it. And she would continue to call it that for as long as he continued to get flustered by it. Three empty extra-large drinks were tucked beside him, and a half-empty fourth occupied his seat's only cup-holder. His claw was wrapped around a crushed box of spicy candies.

Anna's mouth pulled into a smirk as she looked at the dragon, the fire-breathing dragon, she came with. She looked down at the mess of popcorn she made on the floor and scooped up as much as she could in a cloud of aura. She floated it over to him and moved the hoof that was resting on the yellow scales of his stomach. "Hey, wakey-wakey, tough guy. I need some flames."

Softy stirred, flicking his claw to brush away whatever was tickling him. His claw found something more solid than he was expecting, and he opened his eyes. He stared at the hoof for a moment, then his sleepy eyes looked over at the pony it was connected to. "Huh?"

She giggled at the tired response and kicked her hoof up at the floating ball of popcorn. "Get rid of this for me, would you?"

The sluggish dragon glanced up, noticing the buttered snack hanging above him and leaned up, taking a big bite.

"Ah!" Anna quickly sat up straight at the sharp pain behind her horn. It was gone by the time she sat up, leaving behind nothing but a throbbing echo.

Softy jumped up at the cry, claw reaching out. "Are-" he jammed his mouth shut. When he opened it to speak, some smoke had escaped. He swallowed the popcorn and the rest of the smoke, and watched the escaped puff rise. The pink, sparkling puff of smoke that shimmered and swirled before starting to fade. "Oh crap."

"What?" Annabelle looked up just as the last of the magical smoke disappeared. "Was that my magic?"

She looked down at her bag of popcorn, and lifted it in her magic. It worked, same as always. She folded the paper. Unfolded it. Changed the color. Teleported it left. Teleported it right. Incinerated it. Everything worked, everything was normal... felt normal, at the very least. She looked over at Softy. His claws were clenched in fists held tight to his chest, and his face screamed, "Oh shit, I screwed up." His voice merely whispered it, over and over.

"Softy?" Annabelle sat with the best posture she could manage, crossed her hooves , and rested them on the arm rest between their chairs. In the calmest voice she could manage, she asked, "What the hell was that?"

"Uh, um," the dragon stammered, staring at where the smoke disappeared, "Anna, this might be an odd question, but how do you feel? Any dizzyness? Is your magic working?" He looked over at her, biting his lip in worry. "Any family history of genetic disorders? Plans to travel?"

She flexed her hooves in place. "Softy, I am trying to remain calm, but if you don't start explaining what just happened, I will start plucking your scales off one by one."

"I'm sorry, I'm so, so sorry." The dragon buried his face in his claws. "I don't know what I was thinking. I wasn't thinking! I was still asleep."

"Softy," Annabelle cautioned, lighting her horn, "last warning."

"Gah! How could I see the popcorn and not realize you were using magic? What kind of idiot takes a bite of magic floating popcorn the second he sees it?"

Annabelle grabbed a scale, a really small one, and yanked it free. It's fine, she thought as she rubbed her chest. Dragon scales grow back, just like pony fur. It just stings a little. A little pinch. It probably feels like this spot near her shoulder.

Softy rubbed his chest, a spot near his shoulder, where she had pulled the scale free.

Annabelle's hoof froze.

"Oh, crap," she whispered. "I've become Ribbon."

"Augh! I'm such an idiot!" Softy jumped out of his chair and stood in front of Annabelle, grabbing her hoof with his claw. "Look, I didn't mean to do this, but I will do my best to fix it. No matter how long it takes."

Annabelle looked down at him. "Just tell me what happened!"

"Hey!" yelled another theater goer as badly drawn heat-beams lit a row of model buildings on fire, "keep it down!"

"Yeah!" Another voice agreed.

Softy looked back at the other voices with a scowl, but his expression softened when he looked back at Anna belle. With a sigh, he looked down, a look of guilt on his face. "Let's go somewhere quieter. I'll do my best to explain."

A little worried, Annabelle nodded. She let herself out of her seat, followed the dragon out of the theater. Their snacks were left behind. The nurse could see the dragon's jaw working as they walked through the lobby. He was chewing through his words, trying to decide what to say, which ones worked, which ones didn't.

Outside the theater, a short distance away from the entrance, Softy turned around and sat down. He raised his claws in front of him like was holding a box. "Ok, it's like this, I-"

The station intercom interrupted him. "Attention all cargo handlers, Cargo Bay Three, non-hazardous liquid spill, forty liquid tons of Surberry juice concentrate. All upper level crews respond immediately. Cargo Bay Three, non-hazardous liquid spill."

"Really?!" The dragon shouted at the ceiling. With a groan, he looked back at Annabelle. He did his best to calm down and look confident for her sake, even though he was still freaking out a little inside. "Look, I'm sorry about freaking out back there. It's a magic thing. I... ate some of yours back there. It's kind of a big deal for dragons in my clan, but you aren't in any danger whatsoever. If anything, I am, and I'm going to need your help to fix it. But you don't need to worry about it." After a short pause, he added, "just, don't leave the station until I get to talk to you, ok? Please, you have to promise me that."

"Where would I even go?" Annabelle looked down at the floor in worry. "Softy, did I just poison you? Maybe we should head to medical? Magic contamination can be treated. It's tough, but-"

"No," Softy said quietly, resting his claw on her neck, quickly pulling it away in embarassment, "no, nothing like that. My grandmother described it like this." He ran the back of his claw in a loose arc around the front of his neck. "Your magic is tied like a rope, right here, and you are holding the other end in your hooves. If you go too far, the rope will pull tight. You won't feel a thing, but I will end up in a great deal of pain... if I don't up and die, but that's really unlikely given one exposure."

The pony's eyes went wide. The dragon just described a Palmont's chain, an enchanted device that kept its victims bound to each other by causing physiological harm when they separate. But it only affects him? Then what was that she felt earlier? "That's terrible!" Annabelle grabbed his claw. "We have to go to medical. If we can purge my magic from your system, it should undo this, right? The sooner we start the better it will work."

"Wait, Anna, yes, we can undo this," The drake brought his other claw up, wrapping it around her hoof, "but, there's a process. I have to contact my clan's elders, they'll help us. It's a complicated ritual, but they can gather all the materials we need. Until then, as long as we both stay on the space station, there won't be any problems." He let go of her and stood up. "Now, I have to go, but I'll come find you as soon as cargo bay three is cleaned up. Ok?"

Annabelle nodded, rapidly calming down. "You're sure it's going to be ok?"

"We~ell," the drake grimaced as he drew the word out, "your hooves might feel cold and wet in a few minutes, try to ignore it. Oh, and later on, you might feel like you've been lifting heavy objects all day. Basically, you're going to physically feel some of the stuff I feel for a while." The dragon shrugged, then quickly reassured her, "That goes away, like by the next day."

Annabelle winced. "This is going to be really weird, isn't it?"

"Yeah, maybe," the drake answered truthfully.

"Thanks for the warning," she muttered.

"Softy!!" Shouted a new voice through the loudspeakers, drawing a lot of eyes towards the ceiling. Annabelle recognized it as the tall human with the braid from the protein-pro competition. "Get your scaly, blue butt to the cargo bay right this instant!" A clicking sound interrupted him. "Shut up, Clak! I don't care if that dragon finally got a date with his pretty little nurse pony, we're up to our knees in fruit juice!"

Softy blushed bright red, and stammered, "I, uh, I- I've got to go."

Annabelle's blush was more subdued, a light peach on her denim blue coat. She reached out, hoof barely brushing against his scales as he turned to leave. He looked back, glancing down at the hoof before meeting the pony's eyes.

The nurse glanced away shyly. "You, uh, really think I'm pretty?"

The dragon swallowed, realizing how dry his mouth was. "Duh!"

With that, he ran off, heart pounding, leaving Annabelle unable to repress a squeal of excitement. It escaped slowly, like a teapot, only quieter. This date turned out awesome! Sure, there was a bit of a rocky start with the boring movies, and a bit of a scare in the middle there, but holy crap! That was exciting! Especially there at the very end.

Annabelle blinked herself out of the adrenalin-slash-endorphin-feuled haze. "Did he just say, 'duh?'"

The nurse laughed and shook her head. She could overlook it this time. She just hoped he would forgive her for that thing with her magic, and for accidentally feeding him a hoof full of theatre-floor popcorn. Wait, he didn't know that it came from the floor. It should probably stay that way. And maybe, just maybe, they could go on another date after they got the magic thing sorted out.

With a happy sigh, Anna headed off in search of something to eat, something a little more substantial than popcorn and candy. She was feeling a little giddy, and with it, her stomach felt like it was hosting a butterfly breakdance battle. A little solid food should calm it down.

As she walked, she calmed down more and more. Her mind was finally able to slow down and process the day. For the first time, she was able to actually go on a date. She was able to be close to somepony, and even let them touch her without going full nuclear meltdown on them. Sure, he wasn't a pony, and that may be the only reason it worked out, but it was something.

Softy was really nice, too. She wasn't sure what she was expecting dragons to be like, but that wasn't it. He was pretty much like a pony, just not one. Plus, fire-breathing and weird magic stuff. Still...

And he was pretty much the same on their date as he was during the shopping spree. He didn't wear anything, or do anything stereotypically date-like, and was generally just as easygoing as he was before. That was pretty nice.

In fact, the only real difference was that his scales were so polished she could almost see her reflection. That was probably the dragon equivalent of spending extra time on your mane. It didn't go unnoticed. She also realized she should have mentioned that to him.

Annabelle was so caught up in thinking about her date, she wasn't paying attention to her surroundings. Going around a corner, she didn't see the other distracted pony, and hit the white wall of fur hard, tripping him.

He fell, pinning her. It was just for a second, but her mind didn't realize that. He was off of her and offering a helping hoof to the flailing mare before she even opened her eyes. When she opened her eyes, she saw the white fur, and smacked the hoof away with a terrified grunt.

Mezzo stood there in confusion for a moment, as the filly scrambled back to the wall. He took a step towards her. "Are you ok?" he asked softly.

"No!" The hyperventilating nurse glanced around, seeing the familiar surroundings and closing her eyes. "Just back off!" She kept her eyes closed and leaned back against the wall, breathing heavily. "I'm sorry," she said between gasping breaths, "I'm fine, just... stay back."

Mezzo, kept his distance, but raised his hoof in a questioning gesture. "Are you sure you're all right?"

Annabelle opened her eyes, then snapped them shut. "Please put that hoof down."

"Sorry." Mezzo complied, setting his hoof down, and took another step back. The pieces clicked into place pretty easily. "I guess I forget that I look like them."

Annabelle opened her eyes again, but kept them down, not looking straight at the other pony. "Them? Are you from Tankra?"

Mezzo nodded. "Last wave, from the forge."

Annabelle slowly looked up at him. "First wave, from the mill." His coat and mane looked so much like the guards that made their lives miserable, and he was almost the same size. Tall, proud standing, and strong looking for a young stallion. But no guard ever had that many scars. Her eyes were practiced enough to see scars under fur, even from a distance. His body was covered in them. "I'm sorry I freaked out on you. I was attacked by a guard once, and if my dad hadn't come along... I don't like to think about it. My dad was publicly beaten until he couldn't move, then I was beaten for screaming at them to stop. So, it's nothing personal, I just have a bit of a thing about white fur... and, you know, hooves."

With a sigh, Mezzo turned to walk away. "I can understand that. I'll be more careful."

Annabelle saw the largest of his scars, there, torn into his side, and gasped. She had seen that wound when it was fresh. A sword wound that didn't bleed, a cauterized track of skin, traced in a jagged line from point of hip to shoulder. It was the wound that made her and Lilybelle decide to study medicine. "Wait, you're him."

The colt glanced over. "Hmm?"

"I remember you. I saw you the day Needle Scratch was killed." Annabelle shook her head, chiding herself for not remembering him sooner. "You weren't wearing your limiter, and the king of Tankra was injured. That was the day things started to change. Ponies that once refused to listen to his ideas started banding together, making plans. Then, Growl, and the gryphons, came looking for him." She looked down, quieting for a moment, and noticing that her hooves suddenly felt cold, like she stepped into water. She did her best to ignore it. "Needle Scratch is the reason we're all free right now."

Mezzo's jaw clenched tight. "Yep," he said tightly, trying not to show any emotion. How many times would he be forced to relive this memory? "Grandpa was a great pony."

Annabelle opened her mouth to say something, but froze when something hit her shoulder. What was that? Nothing actually touched her. She winced as she felt her ankle twist, and cold liquid splashed her back. Was this what Softy was feeling right now? Did he just slip and fall?

"Anyway," Mezzo forced himself away from the memory, "I was looking for Ribbon, have you seen her?"

Anna shook her head. "No, I-" A wave of heat washed over her, and she turned her head towards it on instinct. There was nothing there, and the sensation faded quickly, but she knew she felt something. "What was that?"

Mezzo turned his head in the same direction. He didn't see anything. "What was-"

Annabelle screamed, collapsing and clutching her side. Mezzo moved to help, but the station shook violently beneath him. He crashed to the floor. Lights flickered out as the commisary rang with shouts of confusion and surprise. Mezzo heared the sounds of emergency systems activating, specifically, the secondary air processors. That only happened in the event of contamination, decompression, or a loss of life support.

Something was terribly wrong.

Comments

[Hiirome]

First, Yaaaaaaay, update !
Second, less yay, seems there's an attack on the station...
Third.... Well let's hope that that the Twi-Team is on their way, i don't remember if they were going to the next planet, or going back to the station to talk to Ribbon immediately...
Welp, next chapter is gonna be a rough one.

[PrincessLunaTheGamer]

Yay update! Just a few days after I asked for one too

[Elfendrago87]

i dont know how many times i re-read this story since the last update but yessss finally it continues please keep going and dont stop for half a year again there are so many stories on this site that were really well done and then they just arent updated anymore and/or are cancelled and it really makes me sad

[Vinx]

ill resist the temptation to scream about "omg its alive" and stuff...
...
...who am i kidding? OMG ITS ALIVE! Im glad to see you back!

[Timuri]

Oh no.....that seems like a catastrophic accident in Cargo Bay Three....

[dah884]

so does that mean she was raped by Bluebloods descendants who are assuming the nephew was the son. now there is a scary thought, a whole world of Bluebloods.

p.s. i would like to point out making Pinkie an engineer would have made sense. due to her having possibly made a helicopter and a mechanical welcome wagon.(possibly because episode 100 showed Time Turner might have made the helicopter) but, she did design and build her own party cannons.

the only problems i found were you have been missing words in a few sentences, duplicating words and using a few wrong words.(words where it's clear you meant to use something else.) sorry i can't give you specifics but i'm a slow reader and i read most of this on my phone.