Cryo-7

by Metal Pony Fan

Lock Down the Truth

"It's happened again!"

"Huh?" Astral rolled over in his cot. "What has?"

"No, no, no!" Scratch ran over as Astral continued rolling out of the cot.

The unicorn remembered his surroundings just in time to grab the cot as the first hoof off the cot slipped through the cloud floor. He hung on to the cloth with his other hooves as it twisted around, dangling him like a teabag over boiling water. Only, instead of boiling water, it was a lake on the outskirts of the city, and it was hundreds of meters below.

Scratch scrambled to a small chest, the small tent's only furniture aside from the cot, and quickly dug out a small vial. Before he could do anything else with it, it was yanked out of his hooves. Astral grabbed it with his magic, uncorked it as it traveled, and drank it down in under a second. "Now get me up!"

Scratch grabbed the unicorn, and twisted, pulling him up through the hole he already made in the floor, and dumping him on soft cloud beside it.

"Sheesh!" Scratch kicked the floor around, spreading out the clouds to fix the hole Astral left. "How do you forget that you're sleeping in the clouds? And why wasn't there any magic when you grabbed the potion?"

"I can hide it. And maybe I forgot the cloud thing because somepony ran in here shouting about something?" Astral slicked himself off with his hoof. His contact with the cloud before drinking his cloud walking potion had left him coated with cold dew. "What's going on?"

"It happened again," Scratch repeated. "The scanner was just talking about it."

"What happened? What scanner?" Astral shook his head. "And has there been any luck on that subnet connection I asked for?"

"Well, I found a place with free subnet, a coffee shop, unicorns only, but I don't know if it can connect as far as the Galactic Assembly. And, I dug up a pad with privacy software, but the pad's owner wants some assurance that he's going to get it back." Scratch picked up the empty vial, and swapped it for a full one from the chest. "But I came running in here to tell you that the police scanner picked up a heavy response team talking about another incident like what happened at our restaurant. Some unicorn appeared in an explosion, but this time, it was in a clothing store, earth pony run. She says it was a teleportation accident."

"When did this happen?" Astral demanded quickly.

"It's happening now," the pegasus answered, pointing back the way he came. "I came over here as soon as I heard it. They still have to sort through the-"

"I need to get down there," Astral interrupted, "I need to get down there, now. This may help me find out what happened to Twilight, and why we didn't teleport together."

Scratch shrugged. "Why don't you just teleport down? I can point out the location from the cloud edge."

"Aside from the fact that something is clearly disrupting teleports in this area, I can't teleport." Astral sighed miserably. "Twilight was the one teleporting both of us earlier."

"Wait, I thought you said she was a pegasus?" Scratch crossed his hooves, clearly upset. "You mean she's a unicorn? You lied to get us to help you?"

"I never said she was a pegasus," Astral countered, "and she isn't a unicorn, either. She's both. Or neither, I'm not sure. She calls herself an alicorn. She has a horn, powerful magic, and the softest wings I've ever felt."

The pegasus shook his head. "You're crazy if you think I'm going to believe that."

"It gets crazier," Astral continued. In for a penny, in for a pound. "What if I told you she can fly through space? Or that she's thousands of years old? A princess from an ancient civilization that long ago colonized the galaxy by way of sleeper ships carrying ponies in cryogenic suspension?"

Scratch glanced down at the vial of cloud walking potion in his hoof. "...the buck's in these things?"

Astral groaned. "Please? Just help me get down there. You can leave me down there, then come back up here and go about your business as if I was never here."

Scratch chewed it over for a moment. "You know, you say that like you aren't the most exciting thing to happen in the cloud slums since Wingless tried to torch the place. Come on, I know a guy with a hovercar. It might even work."

---

"Haven't I told you enough?" A black unicorn mare rolled her eyes as the chief of the heavy response team continued questioning her. Her garrishly-colored mane was cleanly and professionally styled, contrasting heavily with her facial piercings and bright eyeshadow. "Just give me a damn phone, or a headset, already."

"As soon as we are finished here," promised the sky-colored police pony. She gestured to the building, blown out glass littering the street. Inside, a small crater stood in ruptured tile and torn clothing. "This is the second time in twenty six hours that I've seen this happen, so I'm not exactly sure I buy your story. Give me something that makes me trust you."

"Were you teleporting with another pony?"

"What the hell?" The chief turned to face the interrupting stallion, eyes going wide as she saw him. "You? Get back," she hissed, "get back, behind the building." She shoved him around the corner, out of sight of the rest of her team, watching to make sure they hadn't seen. "What the hell are are you doing here?"

A wave of toxic green magic slammed Astral into the wall. It held him there, pinned as and angry black mare stomped up to him. "And how did you know I was teleporting another pony?"

The chief looked over. "You didn't tell me that part."

"File a complaint," the unicorn scoffed. She pressed Astral harder against the concrete and got in his face, spiked nose rings clinking together. "And you, bub, had better tell me everything you know about what happened. Otherwise, me, and my boss, are going to be very unhappy."

The chief tried to pull the other mare back, but it made no difference with the magic. "Excuse me, but interrogations are my job, miss...?"

"Kettle," she snorted, "and it actually is, 'Miss Kettle,' if you want first and last. Happy? I don't answer to you, got that? And what's your name, anyway? I'm pretty sure you aren't Cheif Chief."

"It's Cirrus," the chief replied calmly, "Chief Cirrus. And unless you work for the Chairman himself, you do answer to me."

Miss Kettle smirked. "Really, now?"

Meanwhile, Astral squirmed against the wall, unable to choke out even a single word.

The chief gestured at the struggling stallion. "Do you mind letting him go?"

"Why should I?" Miss Kettle lifted her nose into the air. "He hasn't answered my question yet."

"I don't think he can," the chief pointed out.

"Oh, shoot!" She dropped Astral, and he dropped to the ground choking and gasping. "But don't think that lets you off the hook. I want to know what happened to my friend."

"Mine too," Astral managed as he sat up, rubbing his throat. "My friend is missing too."

"Twilight Sparkle?" The chief took Astral's sudden surprise as an affirmation. "We have files on both of you, and arrest warrants. And, unless you want me to act on those warrants, you tell me everything, right now."

Astral nodded helplessly. "There was an accident when we teleported from the cargo station, and-"

"Hold up," Miss Kettle interrupted, "from the station? From the cargo station? The cargo station? The one in space?"

Cirrus held up a hoof to stop her. "No, no, wait a minute. The arrest warrants came directly from Mayor Greenhoof's office, and it was about something that happened on the station. Mr.Plane, when were you last on that station?"

"About five minutes before we first met," Astral answered quickly before continuing, "We were on our way to meet with Chairman Steel Catch when-"

"You're the ones he called about the Cryo-chambers," Miss Kettle blurted out.

Chief Cirrus looked back and forth between the two unicorns. "Wait, Chairman Catch?"

"I'm his secretary," Miss Kettle shrugged. "These cryo-things were confiscated from this radical anti-pegasus group, the Ground Guard, by his private security detail. We thought they were some kind of weapon, and so did they. They thought they had gotten their hooves on a binary thermo-coupled nuclear device, but it was actually two cryogenic suspension chambers from long before our civilization ever existed."

The chief listened intently to the explanation. She knew of the Ground Guard, and that they had been wanting to pull off something big as a response to the increasing rights offered to pegasi. But, that ended when they were all but wiped out a few weeks ago. It was thought to be another criminal group, or an internal dispute, because of how quietly it all happened. If it was an executive decision by the Chairman's personal forces, so much the better. "What was in the chambers?"

"A mother and daughter," Miss Kettle answered with a smirk. "They're masquerading as his niece and personal housekeeper." Her smirk turned into a scowl as she looked back at Astral. "And now, Dinky's mother is missing, because something happened during my teleport. She's a light grey pegasus, with a blonde mane, and the same golden eye color as him. Only, one of 'em's all..." She wiggled a hoof erratically. "Wobbly?"

The chief groaned loudly. "Why didn't you tell me any of this earlier? Either of you? This is a missing pony case now, with two victims, and we need to find them."

Miss Kettle rolled her eyes. "So you can toss them in jail for breaking curfew?"

"Excuse me?"

"I mean, that's what you do, isn't it? Keep the streets clear of the pegasi menace?"

The Chief scowled at her. "That is not fair to-"

"Not fair?" The unicorn mare interrupted, fur nearly bristling in anger. "You know what's not fair? This is Heavy Response Team One, isn't it? Twenty years ago, this team raided the cloud slums with enough force and firepower that the rest of the city thought they were putting down a rebellion. Buildings were leveled, above and below. At least a hundred pegasi were hit with stunblasters or teargas, and dozens were carted off to prison for unspecified crimes. Three were reported killed in the incident, and two more died in custody. All to take one little filly, and give her to her mother's rapist."

"None of my team were even on the force then," the chief shot back. "We're a fraction of the size they were back then. The pony in charge was investigated, and later jailed, for corruption. Even the mayor at the time suffered consequences for allowing it. Yes, it was a terrible thing that happened, but it was a lifetime ago."

"My lifetime!" Miss Kettle grabbed the chief by the front of her ballistic vest. "I had to live with that sadistic fuck for fourteen years. I had to play the good daughter, and spout his vile, hateful views back at his friends and business associates, or, guess what? No food! I had the most advanced magic training available beaten into me, day after miserable day because I had some small amount of natural talent. He tried to set me up with the sons of businessponies or politicians he wanted support from. More than once, I had to fight him off of me after had gotten just a little too drunk, or too high. And worst of all, he did all this while my mother was wasting away in prison. So, excuse me if I don't exactly trust you or any of the local peacekeeping system."

"You're Black Pot's daughter," Chief Cirrus slowly realized, "the founder of Wingless Dawn." With an angry grunt, she slapped the other mare's hoof away. "Don't you dare think you're the only one that suffered at that bastard's hooves. Until he and his ilk are locked away for good, this entire city is at risk. And I will be the one to do it, even if I have to take down the whole Mayor's office to do it."

"Don't make promises you can't keep," Miss Kettle cautioned, "go after my genetic donor if you want, but keep out of the Chairman's way. We'll be handling mayor Greenhoof."

The chief scoffed at the notion. "Go ahead and wage your political battles, but the moment they start spilling into the streets, I'm putting a stop to it."

"Is that a threat?" Miss Kettle smirked. "Do you really think your little team is up to the task of stopping Greenhoof's private army, Wingless Dawn, and the Chairman's Security Forces?"

"We took Wingless down once, and we'll do it again. Anypony that gets in our way will quickly regret it."

"Alright!" Astral stepped between the two angry mares as they stared each other down. "You guys obviously have the same goal, why don't-"

Miss Kettle punched him in the side, knocking the wind out of him before shoving him out of the way. "I don't care if he's right. There is more at stake here than you might imagine. Stay away from Green hoof, or it could mean an all out war."

Coughing and gasping, Astral pushed his way back into the argument. "What the hell is your problem?"

"My problem?" Miss Kettle scoffed. "My problem is that the pony I was tasked with protecting is now missing, days before what could be a turning point in our history." She looked over at chief Cirrus. "Do you have a radio on you? A recording device of any kind? If so, shut it off."

"I don't," she answered with some annoyance. "I left the comm with Red when we landed. Why?"

Miss Kettle scowled at the chief for a moment, trying to decide if she could trust her. "You can't tell anypony this. if you do, it can be considered treason. Same goes for you," she glanced over at Astral. "Green hoof is planning to assassinate the chairman." She looked back at the chief, and her jaw fell open. She grabbed the earth pony that just rounded the corner in a wave of magic, throwing him against the wall before the shock of what he heard could wear off. His comm-set, luckily deactivated, was smashed between brick and hoof, and she was in his face without giving the stallion any chance to recover. "You heard nothing, understand? This is a direct order from the Chairman's office, you say anything, to anypony, and you will be considered a traitor."

"Put him down," Chief Cirrus demanded quickly. "Miss Kettle, put him down, right now."

"No," she answered without looking back, "not until he understands how important this is."

The chief brought a hoof to her face, but said nothing. She had no words to explain to her the sheer magnitude of her mistake.

Pinned to the wall, the stallion could barely even shake his head. "No, I don't believe you. He would never-"

"He is a power hungry snake! He happily treads on lives of this city's pegasi, every single day. Do you really think he would mind hurting one or two unicorns to get his way?"

"Miss Kettle," the chief urged, "stop this, please."

"No," she poured more magic into holding the stallion as he started fighting against her magic. "Not until he understands how important this is. Greenhoof can't be allowed to-"

"No!" He broke one hoof free, swinging it at the black and green mare holding him, but it fell short. "My father isn't a traitor! He would never betray the chairman!"

Miss Kettle stepped back, but kept him pressed to the wall. "Oh, hell," she whispered to herself, "this is bad."

"Miss Kettle, put him down!" The chief shoved her hoof into a vest pocket, and once she withdrew it, a small bracelet like device was clamped around her hoof. It hummed to life as she aimed it at the unicorn. "This is your last warning."

She dropped him to the ground, but kept her hold on the red earth pony. "Fire, and your entire squad will face the consequences. Or, you can detain this one, temporarily, twenty six hours should do. Quietly. No contact with the outside world, no paperwork, nothing that could tip off-"

"Like hell!" Chief Cirrus interrupted. "Redhoof is one of my most trusted officers. Whatever conspiracy you may think his father is involved in, it has nothing to do with him."

The unicorn shook her head. "I'm sorry, but I can't just trust that."

"Then, we can't trust you."

Miss Kettle quickly dragged Red in front of her, blocking the Chief's aim. The aura surrounding her horn glowed brighter and crackled as she charged it with lightning energy. But, she forgot that there was a fourth pony.

One reluctant sucker punch later, Astral stood over the groaning Miss Kettle. His fur stood on end from the electrical discharge as her spell released early, but he was unharmed. Redhoof was released from her telekinetic grip, and the chief sighed wearily as she put away her stunner.

"This is not how I wanted this to go," she muttered.

"Chief, what was she talking about?" Red demanded to know. "Who is she? And why are you back here talking with a wanted criminal?" He brought his hoof to his back, and a pair of mechanical arms wrapped around his foreleg, pulling away from his armor. He pulled them, and the attached weapon came free from its latch. It was a larger weapon than the Chief's, and he aimed it's short barrel at the grey unicorn that had just saved him. "I'm arresting him. Call the others."

"Red..."

"Call the others!" He flexed his hoof, and a holographic sight popped up from the weapon. It locked on to Astral, flashing green as gimbals under the barrel tracked to compensate for any movement. "If you move," he cautioned the unicorn, "I will stun you."

On the ground, Miss Kettle groaned. "You moron."

"Shut up!" Redhoof flexed his hoof, and his sight flashed green over her as well. "If either of you move, or try to use magic, I will fire."

With a sigh, Astral tilted his head to the side. At the same time, the power pack ejected from Red's weapon. He scrambled to grab the little battery as it clattered across concrete. He snapped it up and back into place with a practiced hoof. The mechanical arms then unlatched, and the entire weapon slid off his hoof. He grabbed for the weapon, but when his hoof neared it, it clattered away.

A hoof on his shoulder kept him from lunging after it, the chief, softly holding him back. "Red, please, stand down."

He looked back at her, stunned by her apparent betrayal. "You're siding with them?"

"No," she answered calmly. "Red, my only side is the protection of this city. But, your father just pardoned known terrorists that we worked hard to detain. We can't just dismiss this without hearing them out."

He shook his head, unable to accept it. "There has to be another explanation. I'll talk to him, he wouldn't lie to me about-"

"Strength," Miss Kettle said from the ground, "strength is the highest ideal. Through strength, life is forged. Battles are won, leadership is respected, and bloodlines grow..."

"Only through strength," Redhoof finished for her. "Why are you reciting common platitudes? What does that gain you, after what you just pulled?"

She sat up, angrily eyeing Astral as she dusted off. "My father beat that platitude into me with a stick." She looked back at Redhoof. "Yours was there for it."

Redhoof stomped towards her. "I have had about enough of your lies!"

She didn't back down. "You must have met my father at some point, his name is Black Pot!"

The earth pony blanched, but only for a second. "My father cut all ties with him years ago, when it was revealed he had a hoof in the formation of Wingless Dawn, as well as the procuring of-"

"Hah!" Miss Kettle interrupted him. "Who do you think funded him?!"

"If you have proof," Redhoof ground out, "then by all means, show us, but-"

"I was there!" she screamed in his face. "I was forced to train alongside those monsters. Your father would watch as they trained to capture and maim pegasi. I was a stronger than average mage, so I was expected to be able to cut a pegasi's wings off in flight. Your father once congratulated me for demonstrating this on a training dummy."

"Why should I believe you?!" He screamed back. "How do I know you aren't just looking for revenge? I bet you want my father in prison for cutting ties with Black Pot."

"They haven't cut ties at all, and I want them both to rot for what they've done. And I hope my father pulls one of his famous break outs, because then, I will have an excuse to hunt him down, and kill him for what he did to my mother!"

Chief Cirrus listened to them argue, holding her hoof over her eyes. They were getting absolutely nowhere. She heard hoofsteps behind her, and lowered her hoof. She didn't know which member of her team it was, but they were likely about to ask what the hell was going on back here.

The chief reached back into her pocket, and pulled her stunner. Without warning, and without giving them a chance to avoid it, she stunned both arguing ponies. "Padlock protocol," she commanded, "call dispatch and request delivery of the Mobile Command Unit. No other contact, and provide no information, relay this order to the rest of the team."

"Yes, ma'am," came the answer after a short hesitation, "Isn't that unicorn the one in the dispatch? Do you need restraints on him?"

"No," Chief Cirrus looked back. It was Grey Hound, a light grey unicorn with a scruffy flop of greying brown mane. He was the oldest team member, the only one that had been on the team before her, and not always the most by the book individual. "He turned himself in, so I'm willing to take that into consideration."

The older unicorn nodded, quietly taking in the mess that was two stunned ponies in a heap. One of them was a team mate, the other the supposed victim of the accident they were investigating. It went without saying there was more going on than the chief was letting on. "I'll relay the Padlock order."

"Padlock?" Astral asked as the older stallion walked away.

"A gag order, pretty much." The chief sat down with a sigh, slowly packing her stunner away again. "We're going to call for our mobile command unit, and shutter ourselves in there until this is all sorted out. The padlock command is for instances where absolute secrecy or discretion is needed for a time sensitive matter. For the next fifty-two hours, this unit is outside the normal chain of command. We can choose wether or not we will accept any outside communications, and not even the mayor, or chairman himself can override that."

Astral nodded slowly. "That doesn't sound like the sort of thing you can do on a whim."

The chief smiled weakly. "It isn't. There will be a review afterwards, and it could mean my job, if not prison time, if the order is found unnecessary. To my knowledge, nopony's ever kept their job after a padlock incident. But, if Wingless Dawn is involved, I believe this is important enough to take that risk."

"This group is that bad?"

The chief laughed at Astral's naive question. "You heard Miss Kettle say she was taught how to cut a pegasi's wings off with magic. Wingless Dawn believes that the only path to equality for pegasi is for them to cease being pegasi. They are a cruel and horribly misguided group even in the eyes of the proudest ground-pounders, and you would do well to avoid them." She tapped her forehead for effect. "They aren't above taking a unicorn's horn if they think he's a pegasus sympathizer."

Comments

[N4rwh41]

Poor Astral. Every where he goes, he ends up in someone else's plot, and hers there tragic backstory spewed out. Surely he must get bored of it at some point.

[Timuri]

Lovely...so this Wingless Dawn is one of those sorts of groups.
Groups like that...every member deserves to lose all extremities and be left completely helpless.

[Starlight Nova]

Are the Celestials anything like the ones from Marvel comics?

[Metal Pony Fan]

9293700 The Celestials that destroyed Astral's homeworld are fiery shadows of the alicorns. They have great magical power, but not the ability or will to contain or harness it. Their own energy burns them from within, mind and body, while sustaining and repairing them, holding them in a hellish limbo of perpetual self-immolation. They are mad and bloodthirsty creatures, barely recognizable as pony, and anything that touches them is doomed to burn.

Short answer, no.

[HURTBOTPEGASUS9]

It💩 sure hit the fan quickly

[HF Fury]

9293622
All I can think of is Blackjack from Project Horizons when she finally encounters a villain that spills everything and her mind locks onto the fact that the villain for once has no tragic backstory and is just cruel for the sake of it.

[Foxfax]

I like the Chief, she seems both pragmatic and willing to listen.

[dah884]

realized this a few chapters back, but Astral is Jet, Twilight is Spike, Berry is Ed, and Radio is Faye. Right?

[Metal Pony Fan]

9370060
I think it's time we blow this scene.
Get everybody and the stuff together.
Okay three, two, one, let's jam!

[Dragonwaz]

9370060
The power dynamic is different but Astral would be Spike, and Twilight and Radio could interchangeably be either Jet or Faye. They're both smart enough to be Jet, but Jet is ex police force similar to Radio's ex military and Fey might actually have inspired Rainbow Dash's fate. Similar ideas but not the same.

An accident occurred on the ship, killing both of Faye's parents and severely injuring her. Faye's injuries were so serious they could not be healed with conventional medicine, so she was cryogenically frozen until a cure could be found for her condition

I'm leaning towards Twilight being Fey cause she was frozen, woke up, and is now on the run to settle her own perceived debts in saving her friends.

I don't think Astral is smart enough to be Jet, Astral is more street smarts than book smarts. I think Astral is pretty close to a mix between Spike Spiegel and Riddick.