• Published 16th Jul 2015
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Cryo-7 - Metal Pony Fan



Twilight searches the galaxy for the remnants of her world with the help of freelance pilot Astral Plane.

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A Station, Based in Space

"Now unloading, passengers, unnamed freighter from Tana. Anypony boarding this vessel, please standby."

The announcement was largely ignored. An airlock door opened into a sealed hallway with no witnesses save the two who opened it. Astral and Twilight left Patch's ship with no send off. They were alone at the airlock, stepped out, and it closed behind them. It was quiet, no fuss, and the inner airlock of this new, dark hallway closed behind them soon after.

Astral sighed. "Well, that's that."

Twilight bumped into him. "Don't be so sure. He may have gone about it in the worst way possible, but from what I understand, he took a pretty big risk for you. Despite not having seen or heard from you in years."

"And I bashed his face in, in front of his kid, who was named after me. I didn't even get to talk to him. He was passed out when you made me go see him." Astral sighed again. "Things are always complicated when Patch is involved. And with Gutsy, and... well, Astral... I just hope that video squares him with the king of Tana. Banishment may not have been that terrible for me and Coolie, but I don't want them to lose their homeworld. I've been there, so have you. You know how hard it is."

Twilight nodded slowly. "I talked to Gutsy, and, I've got to say, she is not what I was expecting. She copied the ship's subnet code to my scroll so we can contact them and see how it went when they get back to Tana in a few weeks. In the meantime, we need to avoid anypony else from the planet."

"Yeah," Astral agreed with a groan. "You guys went through so much trouble to clear my record, but there isn't much you can do for personal grudges. Or, on planets on the fringe edges of the Assembly." He pointed to the end of the hallway, where a solitary window on another airlock let warm light in. "Fortunately, I haven't come close to pissing off anypony else nearly as much as I did the king of Tana."

They started towards the light, and Twilight let out a quiet, "Hmm." She looked over at Astral. "You know, you still haven't told me why he hates you. I was waiting for you to tell me yourself, but if he wants you dead, even after banishing you from the planet, I only see two options. Either he's a petty being, the likes of which I have only seen once in my life, or you did something pretty terrible."

Astral stopped walking. "Terrible, right." He scoffed loudly. "Yeah, what I did went against a thousand years of culture and customs. In the eyes of Tana's ruling council, I am the most reviled criminal to walk the planet in centuries. Everypony who was actually there to see what I did called me a hero. Matter of perspective, I guess."

"Does it have something to do with what some of crew-members were calling you?" Twilight shook her head. "What was it again, Yardrin?"

"No, not really." Astral shrugged. "That just means, 'yellow eyes,' in some backwater dialect. It was a stupid nickname Patch stuck me with. Just so happens, it's the one that stuck when when I became a folk legend."

"And you still haven't told me what happened," Twilight pointed out.

"I will," Astral promised. He started walking again. "But, it's a long story, and not a happy one."

Twilight trotted over to reach the lit airlock before him. She watched as she waited for him to catch up. The window that was letting the light into the dark hallway was a bit above eye level, and she couldn't see anything meaningful beyond it, but it lit up the corridor enough for her to make out the sad look on the unicorn's face. She offered a compassionate smile. "We need to get started on that then."

"Started on what?" Astral asked as he reached her.

"Getting you some happy stories," she answered, hitting the only control on this side of the door. It was an unlabeled button, and all it seemed to do was light up a solid blue panel above the door.

There was a soft thud on the other side of the door, like hooves hitting metal. A pony's face appeared in the window, weary and tired as he squinted into the dark corridor. He looked back and said something, but the door blocked all sound.

His face disappeared from the window, and the blue light shifted to green. The airlock lock slid open, plunging Twilight and Astral into a much brighter and hectic environment.

The music was the first thing Twilight noticed. Not quite loud enough to be blaring, but it definitely demanded attention. No words though, and no recognizable melody, just a generic rhythm and accompaniment, like a karaoke machine. A quick glance towards the source showed a bizarre robotic contraption of brass, copper, and polished wood playing itself in the corner. Holographic words floated beside it. Was it a karaoke machine?

The lighting, though brighter than the hallway, was much dimmer than expected. The ceilings were low, and the combination gave the space a claustrophobic feel.

The pony who opened the door, an older pegasus with a well-trimmed beard stood before them. He was lean, and strong-looking, with dark, coffee-colored fur and a mane that was nearly black. Like his beard, it was neatly groomed. "Welcome to Tirassa Secondary Port and Cargo Station," he recited with a voice that matched his weary expression, "visitors to the system may register with any port staff, returning citizens may log their return with any open terminal."

Twilight glanced around. There were other ponies, but this looked more like a bar than a spaceport. There was a unicorn passed out drunk at a table a few meters away, and well stocked licquor shelves along the far wall, behind an actual bar. "Um, thank you."

The pegasus nearly gasped when Twilight spoke to him, relaxing after a moment. "Ah, visitors then. The bartender can handle the registration, or I can show you to the visitor's lounge."

"We can register with the bartender," Twilight replied, "but thanks for the offer. Is it that obvious that we're tourists?"

He cracked a wry smile, a short-lived expression that looked like it was not often seen on his face. "Sadly, yes." He looked over at Astral, who was busy staring at the floor. "But, you've been here before. Repeat tourists are rare, and no less obvious. Whatever brings you to Tirassa, you have my sympathy."

He turned around and started walking towards the bar. Twilight shot a worried look at Astral, who answered with a shrug, and a whispered, "don't say anything, you'll make it worse."

With a nervous gulp, Twilight nodded, and followed Astral over to the bar. The pegasus was already there, speaking with the silver coated earth pony tending the bar.

"There aren't any more ships scheduled until tomorrow." The earth pony shoved his hoof towards the end of the bar. Boxes labeled like the bottles behind him were scattered on the floor. The one open box had glass bottles inside. They looked heavy. "Get those crates stacked against the wall over there, and you can go sleep."

The pegasus nodded quickly. "Yes, sir."

"Here, let me." Twilight's horn lit up, and within seconds, the boxes were wrapped in violet aura and stacking themselves neatly. "Thanks again for the help."

The bartender started laughing. "Lazy bum, making our guest do your work? Maybe I should pay her instead of you today? Restack 'em!" He turned to Twilight. "I don't pay him much, but the full day's pay ought to be enough for a drink or two, depending on how expensive your tastes are."

Twilight's mouth fell open. "I... Wha-"

Astral's hoof grabbed her leg, out of sight of the bartender. "We need to register as visitors to the system, our names are Astral Plane and Twilight Sparkle."

The bartender sighed. "Straight to business then." He lifted a pad from under the bar, and held it up. "Hold still." There was a flash as he took a picture, then started punching in information. "All right, reason for visit?"

"We're here to see the Iron Hall," Astral answered, "business trip." He nodded towards Twilight. "She's a professor at some school, and I'm the guide."

The bartender finished typing, and raised an eyebrow. "Astral Plane, you've been here before. Freighter pilot, delivering luxury wine and tea from Tana. According to this, you're clean. Welcome back."

"Yeah, great to be back." Astral rolled his eyes. "When's the next shuttle to the surface?"

The bartender checked the time on his pad. "Fifteen hours from now. In the meantime, we offer food, drink, or company. Which interests you most?"

"How about lodging?" Astral asked roughly. "How much for a room until the next shuttle?"

The bartender slid his pad away. "Now, now, you haven't let the pretty lady get in a single word in. Surely she has something to say?" He smiled at Twilight. "After all, you still have a free drink or two headed your way. What can I get you?"

"What? No, I-" Twilight looked over where the pegasus was struggling to get the case of liquor off the top of the stack. "I was just trying to be nice, I wasn't trying to get him in trouble. I'll restack them, just tell me the order they need to be in."

"Nothing wrong with the order," the bartender shrugged. "But I'm not about to let him get away with tricking a unicorn into doing his work for him. Bad enough, we kept him around after catching him stowed away on a supply vessel, instead of shipping him back via central police." He laughed at the horrified expression on Twilight's face. "What? You think I'm being cruel? I don't get you Assembly unicorns. One day, those birds are gonna screw you over royally, and everypony on Tirassa will get to have a good laugh. Show me one pegasus that knows the meaning of loyalty, and I'll show you a filthy liar."

Astral's grip on Twilight's leg tightened as her hoof lifted off the ground. "Twi, stop."

She looked over at him, jaw clenched and shaking. He had yet to see her this angry. And in such a short time frame. "Astral..." She didn't finish her sentence, but her expression told him it likely had something to do with wanting to put her hoof through the bartender's teeth.

"I know." He sighed, looking up at the bartender. "Look, we just want a room to wait for the shuttle. We're here to see the Iron Hall, not socialize."

The bartender pointed his hoof at Astral. "Now, look here-"

"No, you look," Astral interrupted, "I've been here before, remember? I know everything at registration points gets recorded, and reviewed, by your government officials. They wouldn't like you annoying the tourists, would they? They're too rare as it is. Rest assured, I have no interest in making trouble for them, or you. But, I would like a room, and I wish to be left alone."

The bartender chewed over it as other patrons started looking over. "You're a smug one, ain't ya?"

"Thanks," Astral replied. "About that room?"

The bartender shoved his hoof towards where the pegasus had finally gotten the crates taken down and was taking a slight breather. "Around the corner over there, and down the hall. All the way down, on the right. It's the visitor's lounge. Kat can set you up with a room. She's the orange one." He glanced up at a security camera, and sighed. "And, since you asked, I'm required to inform you that lodging is free as long as you are waiting for the next surface-bound shuttle. You stay a minute past it arriving, and I'll make sure you get charged for it."

"You do that." He looked over at Twilight. "Let's go, I guess."

"Yeah," she agreed quietly, throwing the bartender one last glance. It would only take a little flick of her horn to swap his for a pair of wings. It was tempting, but it would probably cause trouble for the rest of the trip, priority one was finding the cryo chamber. As they passed the pegasus, she hesitated. "Astral-"

"Keep moving," he interrupted with a whisper, "I know."

"You know?" Twilight followed him around the corner, but before she could ask for further clarification, Astral stopped. He looked around, to see if there was anypony around, and to make sure the bartender couldn't see them. They were alone in a long corridor filled with numbered doors, out of sight to all but the pegasus about to start stacking boxes.

"Keep an eye out," Astral told her quietly, "I'm going to help him."

"You are?" Twilight responded in kind. With a sad sigh, she added, "thank you. I didn't think stacking the boxes would cause that much of a problem."

"That's because there is no sane reason it would." Astral concentrated on one of the boxes as the pegasus went to lift it. "Man, these things are heavy."

The pegasus stallion's eyes betrayed his surprise when he found the box much lighter than it was mere moments ago. He lifted it with ease, and worked it onto another. He stacked the next box onto that one in a similar manner, clearly confused by the lack of effort required.

Out of the corner of his eye, he caught sight of Astral and Twilight, waiting in the corridor. He glanced back towards the bar, then turned back to his work. The next box went up with a little more grunting and pretend straining, same as the box after that.

The last box was a real struggle, though, the pegasus was having a hard time hiding his smile as he faked a struggle. When it was finally stacked, he turned around and waited for the bartender to shout something at him. He answered it with a nod, and a, "yes, sir," before walking into the hallway.

He stayed quiet until he reached Astral and Twilight. "That was you, wasn't it?" He asked quietly. "I don't know how you did that without showing magic, but I am grateful."

"Don't be," Twilight shook her head, "it was my fault you had to redo it in the first place. And is there any way I can pay you back for the lost wages?"

"I forget how kind good ponies can be," the pegasus said with a chuckle. "My name is Coffee Break. The lost wages are unimportant. I make twelve chips a day, I'm charged twenty for food and lodging. Until the Chairman's new policies and minimum wage are enforced on this out of the way spacedock, no amount of work will buy my freedom. Maybe not even then."

"I'm so sorry."

"Don't be," he said with a shrug. "I tried to leave this planet on a cargo vessel. I was caught. Stupid mistake, made by a stupid kid. But, within my station here, I am able to help others who make the same mistake, and I am able to search out those who may be willing to help."

Astral and Twilight exchanged glances.

Coffee smirked. "You two catch on quick. What brings you to Tirassa? I overheard you talking about the Iron Hall, but I'm not sure I fully believe it."

"Then we aren't the only one that catches on quick," Astral pointed out. "How much do you know about the situation on the surface? I hear Steel Catch is a pretty controversial figure right now."

"Kinda." The pegasus shrugged and started down the hall, putting distance between them and the bar. "Honestly, his niece is the focus of all the media attention at the moment."

"His niece?" Twilight mulled it over a moment. "I don't remember seeing anything about him having a niece when I was doing my research."

"Well, the rest of Tirassa didn't know either." They came to a tee in the hall, and Coffee cleared his throat. "The community baths are to the left here," he pointed as a pair of earth ponies came down the hall towards him. He stepped out of the way as they turned in the direction of the bar. "Rooms for rent, and the lounge are in this direction." He watched until the earth ponies were out of sight before continuing. "He says she comes from a small mountain village, and that she's a pretty distant relative. The news just calls her his niece to make their jobs easier. She's a unicorn, surprise, surprise, maybe thirteen or fourteen."

A door down the hallway opened, and Coffee lowered his head submissively in Twilight's direction. "Was there anything else you needed me to show you, ma'am?"

Twilight glanced down the hall to see a brutish looking unicorn leaving his his room, and shrugged. "Show me to the lounge," she demanded in a disinterested tone, maintaining Coffee's cover.

"You keep that stowaway working hard," called the unicorn, before heading in the other direction.

Coffee shot an ugly look in his direction before heading away. "That's Silver Shaker, he owns the bar, and most of this port. He's also a distant relative of the chairman, and likes to flaunt it to anypony that will listen. He's the one who decided to keep me around as cheap labor, when he isn't beating me, or whoring me out to some of the freighter captains." With a smirk he added, "luckily, when stallions rent me out, they only want a punching bag."

Twilight shook her head, muttering, "this place is worse than I imagined."

"Yeah," Coffee nodded, "that's why I said repeat tourists are rare. But, things are changing. Slowly, and painfully so at that, but there is hope. Steel Catch has done more in the last few weeks than anypony else since the Storm King fell. Even now, there's a scandal going on, and it all started with his niece. She was with him at a state dinner. All sorts of important officials were there, from all around the planet, and it was broadcast everywhere. It was even on the video screens in the bar. The servers were all pegasi, of course. Got to show us being kept in our rightful, subservient place. Well, right there, next to the chairman, on live broadcast for all of Tirassa to see, she gave a pegasus a hug and thanked her for the food."

"That's messed up," Twilight said with a disgusted scoff, "a filly using her manners is scandal worthy?"

Coffee actually laughed, a rich deep sound, that reminded Twilight of a certain earth pony. "It's funny you say that," Coffee shook his head, "a filly, especially one as cute as the Chairman's niece can be forgiven for a lot, especially since it was explained she had never seen a pegasus before. The scandal part came from when some official, a fat, green earth pony, tried to explain why she shouldn't be nice to a pegasus. She blew him off with, 'That's stupid, didn't your mommy ever teach you manners?'" With a sigh, the pegasus rubbed his ribs. "Laughing at it was worth the beating."

"I like this kid already," Astral shrugged. "She have a name?"

"Yeah, it was something silly," the pegasus scratched his mane, "Dinky, I think? Dinky Hooves? Anyway, Steel Catch refused to discipline her for talking back, or making a fool of the official. Said it wasn't his place, and that her mother could take care of it, if she so chooses. All he would agree to do was to teach her more about Tirassa's history, and why pegasi are treated the way they are. And this was against the objections of nearly every governor and magistrate on the planet."

"Sounds like there's hope for this planet after all." Astral looked over at Twilight. "Don't you think?"

She didn't answer. She was deep in thought, hoof on her chin. "Coffee, did this filly have a blonde mane? With a faint, pinkish-purple tint to her grey coat?"

"Yeah," he answered in surprise, "how'd you know?"

"Because she used to be a student of mine." Twilight groaned quietly. "Astral, she's the one from the pod. We've got to get her off this planet. Do you think this is why Steel Catch wanted to see us in person?"

"Wait a minute," Coffee butted in, "are you saying you came here at the Chairman's request? What does he want from you?"

"We don't know yet," Astral answered him before looking back at Twilight, "we don't know much of anything yet. And until we do, we need to be careful."

"Well, your secrets are safe with me," Coffee reassured. "Any government official meeting with ponies from the Assembly can only mean good things for us pegasi. The chairman himself meeting with you, it's almost more than we could dream of." The pegasus chewed his lip for a moment, then glanced up and down the hall. "Ok, I probably shouldn't tell you this, but Kat is a pegasus sympathizer. If you talk to her alone, she can give you some good information about what's going on on the surface."

"In that case," Astral muttered, "looks like we're headed for the lounge."

Author's Note:

There we go, second chapter this week, and finally getting back to finding cryo-chambers!

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