• Published 3rd May 2019
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The Line Between Fire and Light - Stolenalicorn



A father goes to great lengths to find his daughter’s heroes and finds something he wasn't looking for ... friends.

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30 The Fan Beside You

After the wholehearted approval Twilight's idea received from her friends Twilight walked excitedly towards the library to make plans for distribution of their friendship journal.

She was diligently calculating the first store they should go to when Starlight walked in. There were any number of places to start distributing the book, Canterlot would be a great place to start for popularity, but what about Cloudsdale …

“You know who else might want a copy of the journal?” Starlight asked as she looked over the plan so far. “James. He admits that his world isn't as friendly as ours. Maybe your lessons could do some real good there.”

Twilight stopped and thought about it for a minute. A smile spread across her face as she considered where to start. “That's a great idea Starlight. Let's get James and his family a copy, then drop off a box of copies at Newleaf Books in Truce.

The evening sun shone through the windows of New Guardia castle as James reviewed the latest reports coming in from his fleet going to the Vulcans. The new shipments were as well received as one can expect form a Vulcan and their payment was prompt. There had been some Klingon and Romulan activity to watch out for, but James's relations with both empires in the future let him get some useful information to stay mostly ahead of them.

The fledgling Federation was starting to strike out and even though he declined joining he maintained close relations with them. Everything was looking well so far. A few more hours of work and he could call it a day, followed by a trip to this morning first thing tomorrow.

He'd started an exercise routine for Amber and Sara since they were insistent on learning how to fly. They didn't understand why they had to practice martial arts to do that, but the explanation was a little beyond them at the moment. Though he looked forward to seeing their faces when they finally did start to fly.

James knew immediately that he had a visitor as he heard the familiar clop. Which one he couldn't entirely be sure, but it was probably not Rainbow Dash as she preferred flying. Mostly so she could startle him. Also likely not Pinkie Pie as her bounce made a distinct sound as she hit the floor. And if it were Derpy she would have crashed by now.

He could just sense their energy and tell that way, but this was more fun. This was too purposeful to be Fluttershy and too heavy to be Scootaloo, but they weren't the strikes Applejack made either. James smiled as he tried to make one last guess before they were too close to continue the game.

They weren't the careful steps of Rarity leaving the most likely candidate as either Starlight or Twilight. The door opened and he immediately knew it was Twilight. Even if he had not seen her he would have known as Twilight rarely knocks.

“Hi James.” She happily said. “I've brought a surprise for you.” As she spoke her horn glowed and a book flew from her saddlebag. It was a purple faux leather hardback book with gold binding and a gold horseshoe on the cover with a gem representing her cutie mark in the center.

James smiled and politely took the book and opened to the first page. There was no introduction, just a date and it started with an entry from Twilight. “So you gave me your diary?” James asked with a sly grin.

Twilight groaned out a laugh as she clarified. “No. It's the friendship journal I kept with the girls where we wrote down the friendship lessons we learned. We've decided to publish it so all of Equestria can learn from our experiences.”

James nodded as he flipped through a few more pages. “Not a bad idea.” As he spoke something in the back of his mind was telling him that this was a bad idea. He had stopped watching the show over a year ago since he was so entangled with Equestria now there was no guarantee that it was an accurate barometer anymore. That and things were certainly more interesting when he didn't know what was going on.

“I've actually got one for all of your family.” Twilight happily added as five more books floated from her bag.

James gave her a grin. “Looks to me like there's one missing then. Though I would understand if you forgot about Liara, she lives in her office after all.”

Twilight kept her smile as she realized that she had forgotten about Liara as James had said. “Oh, Well …”

“It's okay Twilight.” Liara's voice came from the intercom laying flat on James's desk. “I'm more likely to read it once it's in the Grand Archive anyway.”

“Liara?” Twilight asked, looking for where a camera could be.

“It's easier to think of her as omniscient rather than realize she's just listening in all the time.” James said.

“I'll take that as a compliment.” Liara said, her tone clearly amused. “By the way, Lucca is just drinking replicator Raktajino now.”

“Must be getting close to finishing this prototype. I'll have to drop by with some protein for her so she doesn't getting shaky.” James commented. “Thanks Twilight. I'll be sure that Lucca Tenyo and Tali get their books. Though I bet Amber would love to see you since you came all the way here. She's just downstairs training with Sara. You'll be able to hear the shouting. I'd come, but I've gotta finish this.”

“Shouting?” Twilight asked as James took three more books from her.

“You'll understand.” He calmly said before collecting his packet and getting back to work.

Twilight followed James's instruction and went downstairs and sure enough she could hear shouting. Though it was rhythmic and not angry. She easily followed the sound to a room in the castle she hadn't been before. Opening the door she saw the room was outfitted to practice fighting. There were human dummies, punching bags, and curiously wrapped poles. James stood in front of his daughters as they practiced a series of punches and blocks.

Twilight could recognize that they were practicing martial arts, which would explain the shouting. She'd never learned any herself but knew that it could be a useful tool. Especially for James's daughters who might have to use what he taught them at some point.

“Good job girls. Let's take a break, it looks like we have a guest.” James said as he smiled at Twilight.

“Oh, that's alright.” Twilight awkwardly laughed, she assumed that this James was from the future given his lack of surprise. “I just came by to give your daughters something.”

Amber was ecstatic when she heard Twilight talk and she ran right over to hug her. “Twilight!” She happily shouted. Sara was much more reserved and it was hard to tell what she was feeling from her expression.

Twilight let out a grunt as Amber squeezed her. Even Pinkie Pie's hugs were gentle compared to this.

“Careful Amber, you're a lot stronger than you used to be.” James warned. “Sorry about that Twilight. They just got back from Jurai and this is part of helping them control their new strength. Once that's done I'll really start training them. You need any healing?”

Twilight was glad to be released from the grip of the unusually strong, very happy girl. “Well, martial arts is a good way to learn control.” She said. “But I didn't come by just to say hello, though I'm glad I did. I came to give you two these.” Twilight brought out her two remaining copies of her friendship journal as she spoke and gave them to each of the girls.

Amber took the book eagerly while Sara calmly took her copy with a quick thanks. Sara's dispassionate response was a little disheartening until Twilight caught a small smile on Sara's face from the edge of her vision. No matter how she acted she was still that girl Twilight met happily screaming years ago.

“I'd love to stay for a while, but I've got a lot of work to do. I'm going to be taking copies all over Equestria!” Twilight was getting more excited as she thought about it. She was already planning on getting to Cloudsdale today as the fastest way to spread news to other cities was to get the Pegesi talking. Amber was all too happy to hear about her plan and where she was going.

Once Twilight was gone Sara approached her father. “You know that was a bad idea, right?” She calmly said.

“What, giving us copies of her book?” James asked, somewhere he knew the copies had been a bad idea but he had convinced himself that it was just his imagination.

Sara shook her head. “No, dad. Selling them was a bad idea. Don't you remember the show? Ponies obsess over the book and make them miserable.” Sara explained. “The farm gets overrun by ponies pretending to be family. Everyone picks on Fluttershy, nobody buys from Rarity, and everyone ignores Twilight.”

James scratched the back of his head, now he did remember it clearly. While their world was close to that of the show it wasn't quite the same. Bad things did happen there. Suddenly James's face went ashen as he realized another problem with mobbing obsessive fans.

“Thanks, Sara. I had completely forgotten.” James bent over and kissed the top of her head. “I guess we're cutting it short today. Either of you want to come with me to the Citadel?” He smiled to his daughters, they could stay on the Presidium while he went about his other business and then take them for a treat afterwords. His assigned C-Sec guard would definitely watch them while he was unavailable.

He had a lot of work to do before the book got popular.

After two disappointments about the book Twilight finally heard what seemed to be a positive outcome, that however was quickly dashed as she listened from behind the bushes. And watched as Rarity ran off crying. Starlight urged her to follow as she would handle the offending ponies.

Twilight was held up briefly by Pinkie Pie who was, as with most things, over excited about what was going on. … Until she realized that they were just laughing at everything she said, then it began to get creepy. Twilight couldn't stay longer as she still had Rarity to catch up with.

Even Rainbow Dash was having trouble with fans latching onto the wrong parts of the lessons, or ignoring them all together. But more curious was what was happening around Fluttershy. She was flanked by two bald blue unicorns who seemed to be keeping other ponies away. As she approached she recognized the Asari head crest and realized these were people from New Guardia that James had polymorphed to blend in better.

“I told you, if you can't be respectful of her wishes you need to leave!” A gruff sounding female voice said as a blue light pushed an earth pony back half a meter. Fluttershy was cowering behind the two Asari and shivering. Clearly this was all too much to deal with at once.

“But we demand answers!” He said holding up the book.

“And we demand you change your tone!” She countered, snarling at the pony.

“What is going on here?!” Twilight demanded as she came to land.

One of the Asari turned to Twilight and seemed to relax. “Hello Princess. We're a special dispatch hired out from C-Sec to provide security until the commotion from the book dies down. And these people are here are harassing your friend. All we're doing is keeping them at a distance until they can show enough respect to ask their questions peacefully without mobbing the poor girl.” As she spoke she turned back to the group and snarled at them.

“Well, what do they want to know?” Twilight asked.

“We want to know why Fluttershy keeps learning the same thing over and over again. Be assertive already.” A pony with a beehive hairdo said.

“And if you'd been that calm from the start instead of shouting at her you'd probably have had an answer.” The gruff Asari said.

“Even I've learned more than she has. Why can't I be in the book?” A crystal pony complained to Twilight as Starlight walked up.

Starlight's horn glowed, lifting the crystal pony as she approached the group from behind. “What?! Really? Are you attacking my friend because you want to be in a book?!”

Fluttershy carefully stood up and stepped forward. “It's alright, I've got this girls.”

The two Asari stepped to the side as Fluttershy began to aggressively ask the gathering if it's easy for them to change a lifelong trait overnight. Even taking to the air to appear larger and get her point across. She landed with a confident smile, which didn't last as the ponies began comparing her negatively to how she came across in the book.

As Fluttershy flew off the Asari ran close behind.

It was a surprise when Twilight and Starlight found another Asari standing outside Rarity's boutique. With only a quick glance she opened the door for them. “Good to see you, ladies. She's inside right now, I'm just making sure no one hostile comes in.”

Twilight and Starlight tried to comfort Rarity when they saw her stress induced madness. However it was short lived as Applejack charged into the boutique. “I need a hundred blankets and I need 'em now!” She said urgently before adding. “Sorry Twilight.”

“Right away, pony who still likes me!” Rarity said without thinking.

“It don't need to be nothin' fancy!” Applejack added in a rush as she grabbed material from the shelf.

“What's the matter Applejack?” Twilight asked her hurried friend.

“I'm popular, Twilight.” She said as her exhaustion began to peak through. “I'm popular and I don't like it one bit!” With that she ran out, leaving the three alone again.

At Starlight's offer Twilight ran out of the boutique. She stopped suddenly as she saw it was a different Asari guarding Rarity's door. She was clearly winded and resting, even with the protestors nearby she just sat staring at them.

“What happened to the other guard?” Twilight asked.

The Asari looked to her and shook her head. “You have no idea how bad it is down on the farm.” She answered. “Amanda offered to take over for me just so I could get a breather. How can anyone keep up with that family?”

“Oh no.” Twilight said as she flew off.

The farm was filled with ponies, and more were arriving even as Twilight showed up. It was easy to find each member of the Apple family as there was an Asari right next to each one, there were also four others going around helping them.

The guard hadn't exaggerated, the moment it seemed anyone could take a break for even a second there was more to do, just to try and keep the ponies happy.

Amanda sat next to Applejack as she handed out blankets. Twilight tried to understand what was going on and Applejack did her best to explain it. But clearly her desire to please everyone meant she was destroying herself. The Apples were running their security ragged and still coming out worse themselves.

It was then that a call came out down the road. More ponies were arriving much to Applejack's confusion and exhaustion. Her face lit up, however, when she saw who it was. Brayburn and half a dozen other Apple cousins were coming.

“Woowe cousin. I knew there was trouble, but I didn't guess this much.” He said as he walked up to her.

“Brayburn? Not that I'm not appreciative, but what the hay are you doin' here?” Applejack said, not knowing what to expect. “We're a bit short on blankets and beds right now.” She added as an after thought.

“We're not here to visit cuz, we're here to help. That friend of yours, Green Apple, well he came to Appleloosa and told us what was going on here. Made a real show of asking for us to help out too, not that he had to. Once we knew what was goin' on we left with as many hooves as we could spare. Now you four take a break, we'll take over for a while.”

“But Brayburn, what if I …” Applejack started to argue.

“Git goin and get some rest!” He said sternly. “You've helped us often enough, let us help you out now.”

“Everyone needs to take a break sometimes.” Amanda gently said approaching the exhausted pony. “And Tassan says you've been working since before dawn.”

It was both horrible and a relief to watch the exhausted family get inside and see the Asari stand at the entrance blocking everyone who tried to follow them.

“I'm sure glad he came and told us about this.” Brayburn said as he looked out over everyone there. “I mean, havin' folks be grateful and admirin' ya is good, but this is just destructive.”

Twilight's heart sank as she looked over what had happened, what she had caused. “I wish I had never released that book.” She lamented.

“Ah … about that.” Brayburn said with a hesitant smile. “When things calm down … could I get my copy signed?”

Twilight quietly turned and walked back to her castle. She barely noticed the two Asari guards posted at her door as they welcomed her and got the door for her. How had things gotten this bad? How could stories about friendship lead to so much anger and obsession? Why did she do this to her friends?

“…Window staring huh? Was it that bad at Sweet Apple Acres?” Starlight asked as she finished her update.

Twilight got up from her couch and walked to her dresser. “It's that bad everywhere! I thought I was doing something good, I thought I was helping! How could our Friendship journal have led to so much … Anti-friendship?!” She said as she picked up the original journal. Once a beautiful idea, now a repugnant reality.

“Twilight, it's not your fault.” Starlight calmly said as she tried to comfort her friend.

Twilight's freakout would not be stopped, however. “Of course it's my fault. If I hadn't had the big idea to make copies, none of this would have happened! I've made life awful for my friends!”

“I really think you're being too hard on yourself.” Starlight insisted.

Twilight got nose to nose with Starlight, her eyes desperate. “Am I?!”

As she spoke an Asari walked in. “Princess, your friends are here.”

Twilight ran past them both and down to the Foyer.

“Who are you?” Starlight asked, looking the odd unicorn over.

“My name's Tannis Amani.” She said as the two followed Twilight. “I'm with a special dispatch of C-Sec at King James's request. I'm just here to keep the princess safe. And I don't normally look like this. I have no idea how, but King James changed my form for this assignment.”

“Oh no.” Twilight moaned. “Are things this bad in New Guardia as well?”

“Seemed peaceful when I passed through.” Tannis said with a shrug. Not that she'd seen much of it during her brief training and orientation.

Starlight awkwardly laughed. “A bit of good news for a change today.” She wasn't helping.

They looked over their friends and the pain it had caused them, their Asari guards standing nearby relaxed that their charges were safe. Starlight tried to rationalize the situation but Twilight refused to be let off the hook for it. As Starlight tried to talk her down an idea came to her and in a burst of magic she vanished.

“Gotta learn that trick.” One Asari whispered to another.

“I can't wait any longer, I've got to fix this.” Twilight said as she walked to the door. “Tannis, Amanda, will you please clear the doors, I need to speak to them.”

Tannis and Amanda nodded and the two other Asari guards at the door dropped their barriers as the doors opened.

Twilight tried explaining the situation to the ponies outside, and the group even sang a song in an attempt to get them to understand, but nothing was working. Eventually they retreated back inside.
James grumbled to himself as he walked towards Twilight's castle after spending the day running around trying to salvage some of what the rabid fans were destroying. I should have got Limestone Pie. She'd have either chased them off or gotten them working by now. Sweet Apple Acres is a mess. He thought as a few stray notes hit his ear.

There was a near riot going on as he got closer to the castle. But true to their word, the Asari didn't interfere, they just kept the doors closed and the inside secure.

They calmly let James pass and he saw the group hug going on inside. He watched, leaning against the wall as they finished.

“Glad to see things are going well in here.” James said once they let go of each other.

“James!” Applejack said happily as she walked up to him. “I'm so glad you got Brayburn, I don't know if I could have made it without their help. They just kept comin' and comin' …” She took a deep breath as she remembered that things could be worse.

Fluttershy smiled as she looked his way. “And these nice girls helped me feel safer when the crowds got to be too much.” A couple Asari actually blushed as she spoke.

“Wait, you've got something in your hair.” Rarity said as she pulled several pieces of pie from James's hair. “What happened.”

James nodded. “I didn't realize I had made it in the book. And clearly there were a few with less than favorable opinions of me.” Twilight began to look downcast again as James quickly added with a laugh. “Trust me, I've had far worse thrown at me than some fresh pastry. I got dinner on the run today.”

“How did you know this would happen?” Twilight asked.

James sighed, this was ultimately inevitable. Not everyone reacted well to the news he was about to give them, he just hoped that this wouldn't destroy what had been built over the years.. “Because honestly, I'm no better than that mob outside. Worse possibly.”

“Please, James. You're way better, for one you respect our privacy. I've never had to shout at you to leave me alone … for other things yes. But not to leave me alone.” Rainbow Dash said.

“You're nice to everypony.” Fluttershy added.

“You help us out, even if we don't know we need the help.” Applejack said, still mentally back at the farm.

“And besides, you haven't even finished the Friendship journal yet if you didn't know you were in it.” Starlight said dismissively.

“Tannis, would you please escort the children to their homes. I need to speak to these ladies in private.” James calmly said. Tannis quietly complied and James led the ponies to the library. “Do you remember how I told you that you were my daughters' heroes?”

“Of course, that's the whole reason you first came to Equestria.” Twilight answered. “But what does that have to do with you being just like the fan ponies outside?”

James looked to each of them. “There is one thing you absolutely need to understand about Parallel Universe theory. Every universe is just a story for another one. Even my life is just a story to someone else.”

“My daughters saw your story and it helped them learn things I could never hope to teach them. They became fans like the ones outside.” James chuckled for a moment as he remembered Amber's 4th birthday. “Amber still has a Twilight Sparkle plush toy I gave her long before finding your world. After I came to this world I watched the series too, to learn about all of you. I stopped a while ago though, it just felt weird. That's also how I know you would have been just fine without me. Because I've seen how things go when I'm not around.”

“Wait. “Saw” and “watched?”” Starlight asked as James finished talking. “Like some kind of movie?” She wasn't upset, it was certainly a surprise though.

“A long running television show. It's gone through a few incarnations, the first just being a toy commercial and had nothing similar to what my daughters watched.” James explained before adding after a pause. “Except Spike I think, maybe Pinkie … my sister in law would know. I don't, being a boy there were similar shows meant to market to me. Again it wasn't until I had daughters and heard that there were genuine values being taught in the incarnation similar to your world that I decided to let them watch.”

“So in your world we have fans just like the ponies outside, but from a television show?” Twilight asked, trying to wrap her head around the situation.

“Yes, mostly children but there's other groups. There was a reason I got security out here. While this world is similar to the show, there are enough differences that I needed to be sure you were safe. So actually thank Sara for the security, she's the one who reminded me about what was going on.”

“But you said the show was similar, not the same. Meaning there are differences.” Starlight reasoned.

“Yeah, excluding myself there's not as many, but they're there.” James answered calmly.

“So you weren't watching us, you were watching someone's stories about us. Kind of like the friendship journal, just with a few extra lessons tossed in.” Starlight reasoned. “And when you knew something was going to happen it would be like me going back in time now and helping out with what I knew. Not to change things, just help them end better.”

“Good point.” James said, genuinely impressed.

“That's a lot to take in.” Twilight said as her head swam with the revelation.

“What's so hard about it? We're so awesome that other worlds make shows about us. Sounds right to me.” Rainbow Dash confidently said.

“If it's too much just think of it like I do Liara. It's easier just to think of her as omniscient rather than realize she's just watching everything.” James suggested.

“I don't mind.” Rainbow Dash said with a shrug. “It's kind of like when I met Daring Do, only I am Daring Do. I get to be the awesome pony who you find out is actually real.”

Rarity sat and thought about it for a moment. “Actually when you put it like that, it is rather exciting.”

“It does make a lot more sense now.” Applejack said.

The room went quiet, though not uncomfortably so as most of the group was simply tired.

“Well, I guess we should make the most of this time we have while our fans cool down and get some rest.” Twilight eventually said.

“Guest rooms in my castle are free, and it's still night so that should help you get some sleep if you want.” James offered.

“Yes. Sleep sounds good.” Applejack yawned as she stood up. There was a general murmur of agreement and soon the group was walking through the door into the dark castle beyond. Everyone not sleeping followed James to his den where he had a great deal of books and board games ready for anyone.

“So James.” Starlight said quietly as she followed James out of the den while he went to get drinks and snacks. “I can probably guess already, but which pony was your favorite? You did say it was just a story until you found our world.”

James smiled as he looked down to the unicorn. “You, believe it or not.”

“Wait, me?” Starlight did a double take as she first realized her guess was wrong, then at the news that she was his favorite.

“Yeah, there are a lot of reasons.” James answered. “But let's just start with I can sympathize with your situation. I've done terrible things in my past. And much like you, my association with these girls has changed me. Hopefully for the better.”

– – – – – – – – – – – – –

Tannis woke up in a bed she didn't know. This wasn't the first time this had happened, but she hadn't been drinking she was clothed and she was alone. Something about last night was different.

She tried to think about what could have happened but nothing came to her as she walked through the apartment. Stars flew past a nearby window and she realized she was on a ship. How do you get a room this big for one person on a ship? She wondered, awestruck. The roomiest cabin she had ever been in until now was only the size of the bedroom in this one. This was nicer than her apartment!

Her attention wandered to the coffee table and the note placed on it. As she opened it a credit chit fell out. Her wages as a C-Sec officer weren't great so any little bonus was welcome.

“Officer Tanis Amani,” It read.

“Thank you for your recent services to New Guardia. Included is a credit chit with your pay and a signed copy of your Non Disclosure Agreement. A citation commending you for your service has been delivered to your commanding officer.”

She checked the credit chit and found it had more than a month's pay for her. As she tried to remember just what she did there was a chime somewhere in the cabin. She waited to hear it again to try to find out where it came from.

Another chime didn't help, but she did have a guess. She walked up to the door and looked for an interface. “Just a moment.” She called.

“If you're looking to open the door, it's the pad to the right, just touch the space near the bottom.” A female voice called.

Tannis carefully touched the pad as instructed and the door slid open as a young human woman in a New Guardian service uniform smiled at her.

“I guess this is your first time on a Federation style craft.” She said. “It takes some getting used to, even with it's upgrades. I've heard the Juria style ship is more difficult to get used to though, as you have to walk through walls that can become solid at any time.”

“So where are we?” Tanis asked as she looked out into the hallway.

“We're just a short way away from the Citadel. That's why I came here, your shuttle back is ready whenever you would like to leave.” She answered.

“I think I'd like to look around for a while.” Tanis said as she saw the various species going about the corridors. Even though she couldn't always tell the species at a glance she could tell their rank that quickly. As a C-Sec officer she had to since New Guardia was a strong ally of the council races, and the Citadel itself.

The uniforms were understandably fit to the species, but they were all readily identifiable as New Guardian with the blue and gray coloration and emerald green spiral and shield insignia. Rank was denoted by the decorations on their shoulders, this girl was a lieutenant commander. High rank to be running errands that would normally go to an ensign.

“Very well, I still have to debrief you before you leave but we can do that at any time.” The girl said politely.

“What if I never want to leave.” Tanis said as she walked along the corridor. She was joking, but she did want to see what she could. She had been saving up for a vacation to New Guardia after her coworkers had talked about it. And she could remember that was part of why she volunteered for the special dispatch, both for the extra pay and a chance to see the place for herself. Much to her great frustration now that she couldn't seem to remember it.

The girl smiled. “That would be a different and much more involved process. I don't know the process myself, I was actually born in New Guardia. But if you want I can get you the information for the Citadel's liaison office to New Guardia and they can get you more information.”

“Why are you the one helping me? Shouldn't this job go to an ensign?” Tanis asked. That one detail bothering her more than it really should.

“I may be an officer, but I'm in communication. So I deal directly with other cultures after they've done contract work for us. It's kind of a political matter, we don't want our guests thinking we don't care about what they've done for us.” She explained calmly.

This human is seriously cute, and very forthcoming. Tanis thought as she eyed the girl again.

“Thank you. Though I'm not human, I'm Betazoid.” Her smile now concerning though still charming.

Can she actually read minds? Tanis thought, suddenly panicked and trying to hide every other thought going on at that moment.

“Yes. Again, I'm Betazoid. And you're practically broadcasting your thoughts so I don't have to actually read so much as listen.”

The girl giggled as Tanis desperately fought off another thought that came to her the moment she realized this girl really could read minds. Why is it when I can't think dirty thoughts that's the only thing I can think of?!

“Maybe because you can't hide from yourself. Asari are very emotional and open beings. It's actually refreshing to be around others who don't police their thoughts so heavily.” She said. It wasn't hard for her to know where this was going, even without her telepathic ability.

“I should probably get ready to return to the Citadel. I'm sure my boss is wondering where I am.” Tanis said quickly, not daring to think any harder about an excuse.

“Or we can go to the bar on board and get a drink and talk.” She suggested with a grin. “Besides, of all the things spinning around your mind, there's one thing you haven't thought to ask yet.”

“What's that?” Tanis asked, no longer sure about what she was thinking herself.

“My name.” The girl giggled.

Tanis was blindsided. “Uhm … okay. What's your name?”

Author's Note:

Everything is just a story in the end. Sometimes happy, sometimes sad. Sometimes good, sometimes bad. Sometimes there’s even a love story in there.

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