Cryo-7

by Metal Pony Fan

The Calm Before the &#!@Storm

Astral reached for the control that would open the door to his and Twilight's temporary quarters. The Snake-wolf was finally transfered, safely on board the E.S.S. Audobon with the rest of its pack, and headed for a nature preserve on Mars. Their animal handlers were initially upset at the alpha's condition, but understood the situation quickly once it was explained. They even extended their thanks for not using tranquilizers, which could have killed the Snake-wolf, given their inherent chemical sensitivity.

Astral's hoof hesitated over the control. Ponies had been whispering, talking behind his back the entire time they worked to complete the transfer, and even while he had been talking to the crew of the Audobon. Because of that, he had rushed straight back to quarters, completely forgetting that there was another pony there.

How would Twilight react? He was injured again, and aside from that, the change that earned him the name Yardrin was still in effect. She would understand, right? It was entirely possible she had already seen him like this. Or, should he head to the infirmary, treat himself, and wait until he went back to normal?

The decision was made for him. Twilight opened the door, and he turned away quickly.

"Oh!" Twilight jumped in surprise, not expecting somepony to be right at the door. "Astral? You scared me there, how did work go? I still can't believe Silver paid for this trip by by trading labor for..." She trailed off as she actually took a second to look at him. "Astral, you're bleeding."

"Yeah." The stallion turned his back on her. "There was a bit of fun at work today. I wanted going to let you know before I headed to the infirmary. So, uh, don't worry if I'm not back for a bit."

Twilight stepped out, bumping against him. "I was just about to get dinner from the mess hall, I'll go with you."

He kept his head turned away. "Really, you don't have to."

"I finished drafting the lesson plans for my Academy substitute, and got all the essays she sent me graded and sent back, so I really have nothing else to do." She tried to walk around in front of him and he turned his head again. "Hey, can't I worry about you a little? What happened?"

Astral sighed. "There was a control failure, and the alpha Snake-wolf broke out of containment. One guy got his head knocked on the floor, and I got whacked pretty good, but everypony else is fine."

Twilight nodded slowly. "Then why aren't you looking at me?"

Astral winced. "Because I didn't want you to see my eyes right now. They change when I fight sometimes, and it scares most ponies."

Twilight was silent for a moment, and took a step back towards the door. "Astral," she commanded softly, "come here."

He glanced back. She wasn't looking at him, and seemed to be contemplating something. With a sigh, he turned and followed her. She wouldn't be scared, he knew that much at least. Why would he even say that? "I'm sorry," he said as she led him back into the room, shutting the door behind them, "I shouldn't have-"

"Don't." Twilight dimmed the lights as she sat on the bed. "If you don't want to tell me, you don't have to."

Astral sat down beside her. "I don't like it when my eyes turn this color. I didn't want you to see."

Twilight turned around, slowly, giving him time to look away if he wanted. He didn't, and he found herself looking into his eyes, the bright golden color shimmering in the low light instead of the expected steel-blue. "I wasn't imagining it."

Astral didn't hold eye contact. "You saw this when we fought on the Philomena, didn't you?"

She nodded, and with her hoof on his chin, she guided his head up until their eyes met again. "I thought it was a trick of your suit's visor. And when I teleported you and Fluttershy back to the station, you came to for a second before passing out. I wasn't sure what I saw, you opened your eyes less than a second. Astral, why hide this? There are any number of reasons why a pony's eyes could change color. You've seen mine go white before. They can also turn green, red, or even black depending on the type of magic I'm channeling."

Astral clenched his jaw, and Twilight could feel him shaking. "This is my father's eye color, and mine are only like this when I'm fighting. When I'm angry, or, more likely, when I'm scared."

"Well, I think they're beautiful." Twilight put her forelegs around him, carefully avoiding his injury. His voice was clearly angry. Was it directed at himself? "Why does it bother you so much?"

"Even in the end, I never saw my father show fear or anger. Every time my eyes turn this color, it's a reminder. I've always felt shame for that."

"You shouldn't." Twilight shook her head. "I don't have any right to tell you that something shouldn't bother you, not after how I've been acting, but you shouldn't be ashamed of how you feel. I'm certainly not. Weren't you telling me that bottling things up would only cause me more pain in the long run?"

"Yeah," he admitted in defeat, "I did say something like that." He leaned into the embrace, letting his head fall over her shoulder. Resting there, he let out a sigh. "I've never told anypony this. Back on Serus, when..."

He stiffened up, feeling something wet slide across the welt on his neck. He blinked. The obvious explanation was so absurd, he almost didn't want to say it. "Uh, Twi, did you just lick me?"

"Your wound," she answered in a straightforward, matter-of-fact tone polished by her position as professor of magic studies, "yes. Saliva contains compounds called defensins, they promote healing. Combined with the right spells, minor injuries can be healed quite rapidly."

"All right." Astral nodded. Cold, rational explanation, totally utilitarian reasons. He could agree with that justification. But, still... "Twi, we're alone in bed, and you're licking my neck."

Her face went red, and she was glad they weren't facing each other, but she didn't back down. "Yes, I am. But it's only to help your wound heal. I mean, you were in the middle of talking about... well... I assume this is something serious? I would never, uh...you know."

"No, I don't know." Astral pulled back, and when he saw her blushing face, bit back a smirk. "What would you never, uh..." He leaned in close to her, snouts almost brushing. "You know?"

"I, uh, it, but, um," Twilight stammered uselessly, mind unable to resolve her racing thoughts into words fast enough to complete a sentence. She eventually gave up and looked away. She glanced back at him, saw him smiling, and managed to get out an observation. "Your eyes are blue again."

Astral paused raising his hoof involuntarily before realizing there was no way for him to confirm that without a mirror of some kind. "Don't change the subject," he warned, "we were talking about..." He stopped and glanced to each side with exaggerated suspicion before giving a suggestive wink. "You know."

"Pfft!" Twilight clamped her hoof over her mouth to stifle laughter. "What?!" Her voice wavered, high with the repressed giggles she fought. "Astral, you are..." She stared at him for a moment. She was going to say crazy, but that wasn't right. The way he was looking at her right now reminded her of that look of concern he gave her back on the station. Obviously, there was no worry, but that focus on her was there. He was watching to see her laugh or smile. "I don't know, but I kind of like it."

"I know," he answered with mock seriousness before letting himself chuckle. Shaking his head, he pulled Twilight into a hug, pleasantly surprised when she immediately returned it. "Thank you."

She settled herself into the embrace, falling into it. For a moment, she thought about the fiasco on the first day of their trip, how hot and heavy a similar embrace had grown in the space of just a few moments. She didn't feel the same intensity here, not yet. This was more relaxed, a comfortable familiarity, leaning against him like this. Could this be called cuddling? It was nice. She looked up. "And what are you thanking me for?"

"Everything?" Astral shrugged. "Putting up with me?" He looked down with a smile. "Listening to me? Not killing Patch for harassing you? The list kind of goes on for a while."

Twilight rolled her eyes. It only took Patch three rounds of being swatted like a fly to get the point that she didn't tolerate being touched. "You owe me big time for putting up with him. You, you aren't so bad." She pushed herself up so she could whisper in his ear. "Want to know a secret?"

"Hmm." Astral's hoof ran in short strokes up and down her back as he considered it. "Sure," he whispered back, "why not?"

She shivered. His hooves were so close to her wings, and he probably didn't know what he was doing to her right now. "Why not?" Twilight repeated with a giggle, pulling a hoof back to trace along Astral's chest. So much for relaxed. Her heart was racing, and she was enjoying every second of it. She was looking at him the same way he looked at her, watching every little reaction, each desperately needing any feedback that told them they were making the right moves.

Recognizing that mutual nervousness was all the encouragement she needed. "You know how you keep correcting his grammar?" Leaning heavily into him, she shifted her weight, and they both fell sideways to the mattress. She saw his eyes go wide, and with a rush of confidence, pushed herself up just enough so she was looking down at him. "I think that's hot."

He stared up at her, completely unprepared for this. "Really?" He winced. "I mean, uh..." He saw her smiling down at him, and let his words die with a soft sigh. Both of them were so nervous just a second ago, and now, all that had evaporated like it was never there. He was lying in bed under her, and they were able to just sit there smiling. He sighed again, and let the moment stretch on a little longer. "Can I kiss you?"

Her smile turned into a smirk. "I don't know, can you?"

"I did that on purpose." Astral grabbed Twilight's legs, pulling them out from under her. She landed on top of him, earning a grunt. Now that they were so much closer, they both felt the nerves returning, but neither tried to move away.

Astral lifted his head slowly. Fur on fur. Heartbeat pounding. "May I kiss you?"

Twilight lowered hers. She could feel his heartbeat against her. His breath on her face, so close, but not nearly enough. "You may," she answered quietly.

She braced her hoof against his chest to give herself control, and his hoof hooked around her, taking it away. They quickly settled on a mutually slow pacing, eyes closing as they closed the last few centimeters of air separating them.

"Attention all crew!" Patch's annoyingly happy voice blared over the shipwide intercom. "Oh! And passengers!"

Twilight froze, millimeters away from her first kiss since she and Mac broke up. That is, if you didn't count the transport tube debacle, which she didn't. "I'm gonna kill him," she told Astral. "I am through putting up with him. If he touches me one more time, I am going to flatten him like the bug he is."

"Sensors have detected a navigational anomaly," the overly eager voice continued, "and we are going to check it out before resuming our course to Tirassa."

Astral groaned, letting his head fall back to the bed. "When did he grow a sense of curiosity?"

"Yeah," Twilight agreed, "he definitely doesn't strike me as the scientific type." She picked herself up, the mood broken, and Astral sat up next to her. She glanced over. "So, about what just happened..."

"You mean, about me telling you a very serious story when you suddenly licked my neck, pushed me down on the bed, and tried to seduce me?" Astral smirked as Twilight hid her face in her hooves. "I'm never going to get that dinner, am I?"

Twilight punched him in the shoulder.

Astral puched back.

She punched harder.

He suddenly leaned in with a frown, forcing her to lean back so their muzzles didn't bump. "I still want to kiss you."

"Hmph." She turned away quickly. "Maybe I'll let you."

"Really?" Astral prodded. "When?"

"Tonight," she answered without looking back at him. "I'll, um, stay down here, with you. That way we aren't trying to talk through the bunk all night like we have been. You can kiss me then."

Astral wasn't sure he heard that right. "You mean, we share the bunk tonight? You and me? Lights off? Together the whole night?"

"You don't have to say it like that, geez!" Twilight shook her head. "All we're going to do is kiss, and maybe cuddle a bit, right?"

"You tell me," Astral countered. "You're the one who buried her snout in my neck last time we so much as hugged. Then that nibbling the hair thing? I never even thought I could like something like that, but it was..." He cleared his throat. "So, there's no real questions about us now, are there?"

"I can think of a few." Twilight scratched her cheek. "But, we are definitely headed in the general direction of a romantic relationship, yes?"

"Can you word that any more noncommittal?" Astral frowned. "Noncommittally? Not sure which one's right. But, I will say this, you nibble on my mane again, and we'll be heading in the general direction of the nearest soft surface."

"Oh, wow, um-" Twilight pursed her lips and nodded slowly. "I'll keep that in mind."

"That's it?" Astral expressed his surprise. "You aren't going to berate me, smack me, or call me names?"

"What? No, I-" Twilight looked over, taking a deep breath as her eyes drifted to the side, gaze landing on the messy, trailing, edge of his mane. "I just, didn't think... Did it really feel that good?"

"It, I, um..." It was Astral's turn to stammer and blush. "Well, I guess."

"Well, now I feel left out."

"Welp," Patch's voice came back, "it's a rare occasion folks, but I owe everypony on board an apology. We have identified the anomaly. And... it's a void strand. Probably should have ignored it, but too late now."

"Damn it, Patch!" Astral jumped out of bed. He looked back at Twilight. "Grab your jacket, get it on, and get ready for a fight. There's an armory two sections over, we need to get there now!"

Twilight grabbed her jacket from the top bunk. "What's going on? What's a void strand?"

Astral stared at her for a second. "You've never heard of a-" He shook his head. They didn't have time, she needed to know what they would be dealing with. "What do you know about multiple universe theory?"

"Enough," she answered, slipping the jacket on. "But I've only been to a few."

"What?" He shook his head again, he would ask later. "Have you ever heard of the dark dimension?"

Her eyes lit up. "Yeah! I presented a thesis on it just before I started teaching at the academy. The dark dimension, also called the void, the crater of time, or any number of ominous names by countless cultures. It's a pocket universe below ours separated by the flow of magic through our reality. It was thought to be the inspiration for a number of authors and artists throughout history, possibly magically sensitive individuals who connected to the dark dimension via dreams or visions. Most notably the Curaxxan, H'Cklilin, Death Shroud and Tortured Soul, both ponies, and the Humans, Lovecraft and Geiger. The dark dimension's very existence is of great interest to scholars, as the entire universe is filled with creatures that can feed on magic or energy, yet are somehow able to exist without either as we know or understand. And the matter they are composed of is traditionally thought to be fundamentally incompatible with our laws of physics. Because, once summoned, these creatures can only exist in our universe for a few minutes without taking extraordinary measures to preserve them."

"I almost forgot you were a teacher. Thanks for the reminder." Astral headed for the door. "Now imagine-"

"Oh, I get it," Twilight said right over him, "it's an intersection, isn't it? An overlap between our plane of existence and the void. Hence, the void in the name. Calling it a strand means its probably a one dimensional phenomena. Length, but no width, or height. Like a string."

"A string that lets horrible nightmare creatures loose upon unsuspecting ships," Astral finished for her. "Now, let's get to the armory before the hallways are crawling with energy sucking abominations."

"Astral, wait." Twilight's horn lit up, and Astral heard the muffled sound of a zipper from inside her jacket. "I brought this. Hoped we wouldn't need it, but-" She shrugged as she pulled Astral's pistol out and held it up. "The big one wouldn't fit in any of the pockets."

"Thank you!" Astral took it quickly and checked it over. It was unloaded, but Twilight was already pulling spare magazines and a box of ammo from other zippered pockets. "Where was it? I thought I lost it on the Philomena. They wouldn't let me on board to look because there were still mutated prills roaming around."

"It was still on the Philomena," Twilight admitted. "when I gave it to you on the bridge, I put a charm on it that sort of acts like a targeting beacon for certain spells. That's how I found you and Fluttershy. It also let me teleport the thing directly to me. I'm just glad I charmed the entire box, because I would have forgotten the ammunition otherwise."

"Oh, I love you sometimes." Astral threw his hoof around her and gave her a good hard hug, before running back to the door.

"Only sometimes?" She quipped.

"And a little more everyday." He dropped everything on the floor in front of him, then contacted the bridge. "Patch, this is Astral, what's the situation?" While he waited for an answer, the unicorn started checking the magazines, filling them from the ammo box. "Patch? Everything ok up there?"

"Astral," Patch's voice finally answered, "everything's fine up here. We're stopped, and sensors don't show any intruders. We're safe for now, but we've got to move sooner or later."

Astral nodded, glancing over at Twilight as she stepped up beside him. "So," she said, "what's the plan? I'm familiar with the creatures we may encounter, and can provide assistance."

"That's mighty grateful of you, your highness."

"Gracious," Astral corrected, offering Twilight a wink as she stifled a giggle.

"Whatever." Patch cleared his throat. "We're staging on the bridge and in the main cargo bay. We'll lock down once everypony's in place and start moving out. If we end up intersecting the strand, odds are the creatures will appear in empty corridors. Then we just wait for them to disintegrate. And we'll stay ready to fight any that appear in the staging areas."

"Quick question," Twilight whispered to Astral, "why can't we just avoid the strand entirely, and why are we safe if we're stopped?"

"Because void strands aren't straight like most cosmic string events," Astral explained, "they coil and twist through a region, a tangled string. If you stop, and the strand isn't currently intersecting your ship, there's no way for monsters to board the ship. When you start moving again, you risk passing through the strand and being boarded. And sensors have a hard time picking them up because they only cause a gravity distortion when another mass gets close enough. And how close is close enough is different for every strand. The strand swells, and when you actually intersect it, monsters can tear it open and pass through."

She nodded. "So you minimize the chance of contact with the creatures, and use their unstable nature against them. I'm guessing the strand itself doesn't interact with matter in our universe then?"

"Right," Astral confirmed, "Energy either. It can pass straight through walls, shields, even an engine core, and nothing will happen. The things that come through are constrained by our rules of matter and energy, and can be shot, stabbed, or just locked up until they turn to dust. But like you said, they aren't traditional matter. Luckily, this means that even if one appears inside the fusion chamber of the engine core, all that will happen is a slight decrease in output as the monster gorges itself to death on the raw energy."

"What about power conduits and other energy transfer systems?" Twilight asked. "Aren't they vulnerable?"

The conduits are insulated, and inside walls most of the time. The things would have to tear through the walls to get at them, and most aren't that strong, or smart. Sometimes, you'll find one sucking on an electrical outlet, but it can't siphon more power than the outlet is rated for, or it'll just blow the fuse."

"Makes sense." She shrugged. "I'll have to study up on cosmic hazards. I wasn't expecting there to be a phenomena I hadn't heard of."

"Ain't you the cocky one," Patch scoffed, "that's my job, honey."

"I'm not being cocky!" Twilight shouted back. "Just confident in my teacher. And if you call me, 'honey,' one more time, your tail will be decorating the outside of the ship."

"Roger that," Patch gave a nervous chuckle. "We move in ten minutes, get your flanks to the cargo bay, it's closer to your current location. Oh, and Astral, check the bottom drawer in the kitchen, I left something for ya. Over and out."

"The kitchen?" Astral looked back. There was a hot plate, jug of water, and a coffee maker on the filing cabinet in the corner. "Is he calling that a kitchen?"

"Knowing him," Twilight started over, "I'd say so." She opened the bottom drawer of the filing cabinet. "Ah, and this is not something I would expect to find in a kitchen."

"What is it?" Astral headed over. "Oh," he poked his hoof around in the drawer, "that's a lot of knives."

Twilight picked one up, turning it around in her magic. Black handle, black scabbard, both made of the same rough, textured polymer. "Hefty, that's for sure." She opened it up and inspected the blade. "This looks like the knife you had when we first met. They all do."

"That's because they are." Astral picked one up. "Patch gave me that first one back on Tana." He dug through the drawer, fishing an envelope out from under the blade pile. He opened it up, and frowned at the folded paper inside. "A crayon drawing. Of me and you."

Twilight looked over his shoulder, and sure enough, the messy scribbles were possibly of them. The colors were right at least. "Your friend, Patch, is quite the, uh, artistic soul. And may I remind you how hot it is that always use the proper pronouns."

"Then I will continue to do so." Astral checked inside the card. "Hey, kid..." Astral sighed. "Crap. Patch is actually four years older than I am. Do me a favor, and don't tell him." He looked back at the card. "These are from all of us at the Hunter's guild. We know how much you like human weapons in general, and these combat knives in particular, so here's one for every year you've been gone."

Twilight raised an eyebrow. "How nice of them."

"Yeah," Astral agreed, "we're gonna need these. Let's get to the cargo bay."

Comments

[HURTBOTPEGASUS9]

Oh joy! First an Alpha Snake-wolk, then they get to deal with Shogoth!

[Xanderfox]

Oh goodie Shogoths, Starspawn, Deep Ones and Xenomorphs