> Cryo-7
>  by Metal Pony Fan
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------

> An Angel's choice
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------











“Why don’t you just kill me already?”

The stallion clutched at the knife buried in his shoulder.  If it were to move, even a little bit, his environmental suit would lose pressure and he would be at the mercy of the vacuum around him.  Not that it mattered at this point.  “You damn Celestial!  If you plan to abandon me here, on this dead husk, just finish the job.”

It turned around.  In the deep of space, it couldn’t possibly have heard him, but still, it turned around.  Eyes, deep and purple, aglow with magic beyond the natural, met his.  Its head shook slowly, as if to refuse his demand.

“You can hear me, can’t you?  I don’t know how, but you can hear me.”  He dragged himself across the fractured metal plating of the ship’s hull.  “Tell me!”  He screamed at the creature beyond his suit's faceplate.  “Why did you do this?  Why me?!  Haven’t I lost enough to your kind yet?”

It walked towards him.  Despite the lack of gravity, it moved gracefully, anchored to the hull without a spacesuit or even magnetic shoes.

“If you can hear me, you have to have some way to answer me.”

He felt a stabbing pain in his shoulder, different from the pain of the steel, but centered on the same spot.  When he realized what it was, he ripped the knife away, and did his best to hold pressure on the tear it left behind.  The knife, dead cold from exposure to open space, had started freezing his wound.  He kept an eye on the suit’s pressure level, but there was no drop, no change.

He slowly moved his hoof away from the tear.  His own blood had frozen in the cut, sealing it tight.  “Pathetic, isn’t it?  I must look like a bug to you, struggling to survive even as I’m crushed underhoof.”  He looked up.  The Celestial was standing over him.  “Three times.  Three times, I’ve wished I was dead.  Three times, I fought and survived.  Three times, you’ve taken everything from me.  At least have the guts to finish it this time!”

It lowered its head, closing its eyes and lining up its horn with the pony’s forehead.

“No.  Not like that.”  He laughed.  “At least look me in the eyes when you do it.”

The celestial opened its eyes and looked at him without moving its head.  “As you wish.”

The voice rang in the stallion’s head.  It wasn’t the voice that such a monster should have.  It was a beautiful voice, clear tone and timbre laying bare the emotions its owner hid.  It echoed in the pony’s head as he closed his eyes.  And, as light consumed him, he had one final thought.  “She gets to live.  Why is she so sad?”





92 minutes earlier...

Eternity was a breathtaking sight.  Faint, twinkling stars littered the arms of the Horsehead nebula.  Their light shone clean and unbridled through light-years of void, only to be obscured by the hazy reds and blues of nebular dust.

Here and there, giant, glowing clusters of gas dotted the stellar clouds.  They weren’t quite stars, but they burned bright all the same.  They burned before there were any to witness their splendor, and they would most likely to continue to burn long after any spectators joined the swirling dust of the cosmic wastes.

It was a sight Astral Plane had seen many times, but it was one that he would never tire of.  With a loud sigh, he ran a grey-coated hoof through his mane, forcing the unkempt, night-blue locks back into place.  As much as he liked to gaze at eternity through the viewport, there were other things that demanded his attention.  He looked down, turning his attention to the rest of the bridge.  The view here was as ugly as the previous one was beautiful.  Drab, dusty controls were splayed out like the pieces on a Karno grid, spreading across a bank of consoles designed for a crew of at least three.

There was only crew member here, though.  Astral had lived on ships like this for most of his life.  He had years of experience to draw on, and, being a unicorn, magic, for the times when even that experience fell short.  In all his years, he had never run into a problem he couldn’t solve on his own.

He leaned back in his chair and exhaled slowly.  A curling wisp of vapor marked his warm breath as it mingled with the cabin’s glacial air.  That was the next problem he would solve.  He fought back a shiver and pulled the collar of his jacket tight.  Well, it wasn't so much a problem, but an inconvenience.

According to diagnostics, the comfort chip was broken.  The ship’s life support systems were functioning properly, keeping the ship’s environment in that tenuous band of temperature between hot-death and cold-death.  But the small piece that allowed fine tuning of the ship’s environmental conditions was dead, and its optional back-up, MIA.  There were several redundant processes making sure that the ship’s occupants stayed alive; so many, that the ship would have to be torn in two to stop them all.  And, for all these redundancies, the comfort chip was considered a luxury.    Without it, the ship's temperature could be anything between three and thirty degrees Celsius, hardly comfortable, but livable.  As such, it would have to wait a while.  

The pony steeled himself and hopped out of his chair, wincing as his hooves came into contact with the frigid deck plating.  “Computer?”  The gentle whirr of machinery was his only answer.  He sighed again, hanging his head in frustration.  He really thought he had that fixed.  “Philomena?”

A series of chirps and beeps preceded a poorly synthesized female voice, “Functioning, please input command or inquiry.”

“Give me the estimated time of completion for calculation check delta.”  He glanced at the tiny speakers tucked along the corners of the ceiling.  No matter what he tried, he couldn’t reset the ship’s computer.  Again, not a problem, an inconvenience.  One of the previous owners had given it a name, and programmed it not to respond to anything else.  He waited a moment before hanging his head again.  Unfortunately, the name wasn’t the only quirk programmed into it.  “Please?”

Another set of chirps.  “Completion in seventeen seconds.”

You had to be polite in order for it to listen.  “Thank you,” he replied with a sarcastic sneer.  If he had known about the computer before leaving the shipyard, he would have haggled with the dealer a bit longer.  But, now that he was in space again, he was determined to make the best of his first voyage on the Philomena.  He wasn’t going to get bent out of shape over swapping pleasantries with a low-capacity A.I.

He walked over to the last console on the right.  It was the engineering station, linked directly to the ship's engines and a set of similar consoles in the drive bay.  Dimly lit dials flickered, keeping an even rhythm with the pulsing hum of the ship’s main drive.  Once the calculation check finished, he would either kick the engines into gear, or he would need to shut them down.   It all depended on whether his math was right.

As the last few seconds of the check ticked away, he idly wished he knew more about how slipstream engines worked.  He knew everything there was to know about keeping the engines running, and about slipstream generation, but how a ship traveled once it entered the slipstream was a mystery to him.  He knew it was based off a specific series of equations regarding engine output, and you’d be hard-pressed to find somepony that couldn’t follow the steps to solve them, but being able to follow a recipe doesn’t mean you know what baking powder does.

A warbling sound from the speakers broke the unicorn from his thoughts.  It was followed by Philomena’s familiar, synthetic voice.  “Slipstream calculation check completed.  Slipstream jump from current location to Canterlot system confirmed.  Calculations will remain valid for seven-point-two-nine-three hours at current engine error exacta.”

“Seven hours of play?  I don’t think we’ll need that much.”  Astral smiled to himself as he leaned a hoof onto a lever and held it there.  Whatever complaints he had about the computer, he had none about the engines.  The ship-dealer was able to confirm that the ship had a history spanning at least a hundred standard years, but its engines had as much kick as anything manufactured today.  “They just don’t make them like they used to.  What’s our current triple-e?”

A grating buzz issued from Philomena’s speakers.  “Please re-state request, units not recognized.”

The pony shook his head.  He had a lot of complaints about the computer.  “What is our current engine error exacta?”

“One-point-four percent,” came the immediate reply, “engine maintenance check reveals that a proton flow-channel alignment would result in an engine error exacta of zero-point-nine percent.”

Astral laughed.  “It’s on my list Philomena, right after a comfort chip.”  With his magic, he flipped a switch on his chair’s command panel.  Almost immediately the hum of the ships engine rose to a whine.  “But first, we’ve got to get our shipment of apples to Canter Station Delta, and get our money.”  He released the lever and the stars outside the viewport seemed to twist in on themselves.  The nebula became a shifting pool of light and energy that swirled around the ship before going black.

Beep.  Beep.  Beep.  “Slipstream generation successful.  Estimated time until system arrival, zero-point-five-six hours.”

“Thirty minutes?”  Astral Plane got back in his chair.  “You were quite a bargain, Philomena.  That time’s on par with a commercial cruiser.”  After a few moments of silence, the pony chuckled.  “That was a compliment, you know.”

Chirp.  Beep.  “Thank you.”

Astral smiled.  Maybe Philomena wouldn’t be so bad after all. 

Now, there was nothing left to do but wait.  He looked down at the canvas sack he had tied to the side of the chair.  It wasn't a large bag, only big enough to toss over a shoulder, but he had it stuffed nearly to bursting.  Its threads were strained at the sides, showing the angles and creases of its contents trying to poke their corners to freedom.

He took one item out of the bag.  It was a book, sort of like the ones used for drawing or note-taking, but with information already filled in.  Books like these were a historical oddity, and were becoming increasingly rare.  Astral could still have anything he wanted made into a printout, but something about these old books just drew him in.  He owned hundreds, if not thousands, of them and, until recently, a small portion of every job’s pay went to acquiring more.

He kept the best books in a deposit vault.  Anything with value, either to collectors or historians, was nestled safely in the Bank of Canterlot, with strict instructions on what to do if… well, space travel can only be so safe.  The books he had with him were ones that were relatively common, the type that can be found at thrift shops or flea markets.

He looked over the book he had chosen.  Interestingly, it was one that he had found tucked away on the Philomena.  The cover was worn, but the words, “Daring-Doo,” were still legible on the spine.  He had found it hidden behind some water pipes in the residential cabin, down the hall from the cargo bays.  The book had probably belonged to one of the ship’s previous owners.

He opened the book and started reading.  The Daring Do series—it seemed to be spelled two different ways interchangeably—was familiar to the unicorn.  He had a few of the books, and would find new ones every so often, usually out of order.  For most stories, that didn’t matter, but Daring-Doo was one of those series that regularly referenced events from previous installments.  It was rather annoying to find one of those, read it, and realize that the volume it referenced may not exist anymore.

But, there was no use thinking about searching for books now.  Until he finished a few cargo runs, and made some money, he wasn’t going to be doing much of anything else.  The purchase of the Philomena had eaten through nearly all of his monetary assets, and a good chunk of the physical assets he’d kept in storage on Manehatten and Hoofton.  Aside from the bits he carried with him, all he had to his name were his books and a few supply caches.  He needed to start rebuilding his funds as quickly as possible.

Which was exactly what he was doing now.  He had been lucky to find a job before leaving Hoofton.  It was a simple mission, transport cargo from Laguna Madre, planet Hoofton's smallest moon, to Canter Station Delta.  It was pedestrian cargo too, if slightly time-sensitive.  A harvest of apples bound for some fancy restaurant.  Hardly exciting, but Astral didn’t mind in the slightest.  He’d had his share of commotion already, and this mission was exactly what he needed.

Besides, the Philomena didn’t have combat capabilities.  It was a situation he planned to rectify before leaving Canterlot, but escort missions, scouting, and asteroid prospecting were out of the question until then.  It was too bad, because those jobs all paid more than cargo runs.

Astral yawned widely.  “Compu- Philomena,” he corrected himself, “how long until we reach Canterlot?”

Beep.  Chirp.  “Twelve seconds.”

The pony clicked his tongue.  “So close.”  He marked his page with a snippet of tinned wire from the collar of his jacket and stood up, setting his book on the chair behind him.  Swirling pinpricks of light appeared through the view port as the Philomena left the slipstream, and they quickly settled into a wide, homogenous starfield.   “Philomena, chart a course for navigation buoy designation c-s-delta, and proceed on auto-pilot.”  Astral stared out the viewport for a moment.  Nothing happened.  “Please?”

Beep.  “Charting course.  Preparing for intra-system travel.”  The engine’s hum slowly changed pitch, becoming a deep throbbing noise as the pulse engines took over from the slipstream drive.  “Engaging autopilot.”  Thrusters fired, and the ship turned.  Through the viewport, Astral could see one star come into view that was much larger, no, closer, than the rest.  “Estimated time to course completion, four-point-three-four hours.”

The viewport automatically dimmed the star's light to a level that would be safe for prolonged viewing.  The rest of the view remained untouched, and he could see the pinprick light of planets in the distance.  Much closer to his ship, the dead rocks of the Caspion belt ringed the entire system.

Those rocks grew larger in the viewport as the ship moved towards the center of the system.  In the Caspion belt, several small planetoids stood out from the rest of the rocks.  They were much larger than any of the other asteroids, and a few of them had even been turned into space stations.  The others were merely used as navigational way-points.  The largest, and deadest of those planetoids, Caspion VII, was off to port.  He would be passing it in a minute or two.  That particular rock marked the edge of the system.  It was the farther out from the system’s sun than any other natural object in the system, just a desolate rock in the middle of nowhere.

Beep.  Beep.  Beep.  “Proximity warning.  Ship detected.”

“Where?”  Astral walked over to the navigation console.  Two large screens gave a graphic representation of the ship and the space around it.  One showed a view from above, the other from the side.  The green outline of Caspion VII filled a large portion of either screen, and two small dots, representing ships appeared on either side of it.  One dot was purple, and marked the Philomena’s location.  The other, blood red and flashing, had to have been the other ship.  It was on the other side of the planetoid, and moving away from him.  “It’s probably just another freighter.  Identify the ship.”

Chirp.  “Not possible.  Identification transponder is offline.”

“Scan for weapons!”  Astral ran to the engine panel.  There were only two reasons to turn off a ship’s transponder.  One was if you were parked on a planet, or station, and completely powered down.  The other was if you were doing something illegal, and you didn’t want anyone to know who you were.

Beep.  “Scan complete.  Extensive weaponry and defensive capabilities detected.  Ship designated as possible hostile.”

“Modify our course to avoid the ship, and route main navigation display to overhead monitor.”  Astral ramped the engines to their maximum output levels.  Then, he looked up.  Above the viewport, a holographic display flickered to life.  “Please be smugglers.  Please be smugglers.”

The red ship veered from its course.  It shot around the planetoid and headed straight for the Philomena.  The Philomena’s autopilot changed course in response, switching to vector directly away from the other ship.

"Raiders.  Of course."  Astral watched the display carefully.  The Philomena’s engines were a match for any ship, but that didn’t mean he was safe.  Slowly, the distance between the two ships started to grow.  His was the faster ship, but just barely.  “Philomena, is it possible to chart a course to any navigation buoy with an ‘inhabited’ sub-code while still evading that ship?  If so, how long will that course take to complete?”

Beep.  Beep.  Beep.  Beep.  “Requested course is possible, and will take approximately fourteen hours to complete.”

“It’s better than nothing,” he growled.  “Philomena prepare to-“

Chirp.  “Warning, missiles detected.”

Astral’s eyes shot to the overhead display.  Two blinking red dots sped from the other ship.  They were much faster than the hostile ship, and would catch up to the Philomena in a matter of seconds.  “All engine power to shields!”

A blue ring appeared around the Philomena’s icon, and the engine’s hum quieted.  The red indicators on the display seemed to speed up, continuing to accelerate as the Philomena coasted on momentum.  Astral braced himself against the console just as the missile indicators hit the shield ring.

Nothing happened.  The expected explosion didn’t occur.  There were no warning klaxons, no automated damage reports, nothing.  There was no sign that anything had happened.  Then, the viewport started to glow blue.  Electricity crackled along the bubble of the shield, surrounding the Philomena in a glowing veil.

Beep.  “Ionizing radiation detected.  At current levels, lethal exposure will occur in four-point-seven-two minutes.  Use of protective equipment recommended.  Additional electromagnetic activity detected.  Active electronics may be damaged.”

Astral ran for the row of lockers at the back of the bridge.  He used his magic to fling open the doors, releasing their contents to spill out onto the floors below.   “Disengage all non-essential systems, switch all remaining systems to manual controls, and engage mechanical overrides for navigational and engineering subsystems.”   All but two of the lockers contained food or survival equipment, completely useless in this situation.  One of the lockers was devoted to medical supplies, and he dug into that one.

After seconds of searching, he found several foil pouches of radiation medication.  They ranged from old standbys like Prussian blue and dtpa, to modern powerhouses like Kyrocaine and Zytaphil.  He ripped open one of each and downed them all at once.

The last locker held only one item.  It held a dark brown hazardous-duty spacesuit.  Astral put it on as quickly as he could.  It was common sense to keep a spacesuit on a spaceship, but Astral always made sure he had one of these particular suits.  It was built to be used around damaged engines, so it was designed to provide radiation shielding.  It also had one other important feature, one that was about to become very important.  It was heavily armored, as well armored as military-grade suits designed specifically for combat.

Before sealing the suit, Astral reached into his jacket and pulled out two things.  He slid both objects into a specially made holster on the spacesuit’s left shoulder.  One was a large fixed-blade knife, and the other was a pistol.  It wasn’t a sleek pulse gun, or a bulky plasma blaster, but a simple gun, a weapon of steel, powder, and lead.  In terms of technology, this gun was about as advanced as the knife it shared a holster with.  It didn’t even fit the pony’s hoof, having been made for a race with claws, or some similar appendage.  Still, it was the weapon the pony chose to carry, the one he trusted his life to time and again.

Astral ran to his chair. His gun had never let him down.  The fact that he was still alive was proof of that.  Still, he wanted to avoid using it at all costs.  He knocked the unfinished book to the deck before climbing into his chair.  From his perch, he could see every important display, and use his magic to manipulate any switch, lever, or knob on any of the consoles.  “Philomena, can you hear me?”

There was no response.

Astral cursed under his breath.  The interference was either messing with the suit’s com-link – not likely considering the suit’s original purpose – or the computer had to shut down to avoid being damaged.  The flickering of the main holographic display lent itself to the latter explanation.  It was probably a matter of seconds before that shut down as well.  The unicorn pushed the throttle as far as it would go.  That meant lowering the shields, but as long as he still had the sensors, he would be able to detect another missile in time to react.

The Philomena shuddered violently.  The sudden turbulence threw Astral from his chair as the engineering panel erupted into showers of sparks and fried electronics.  On his back amidst the rubble, the unicorn could see the holographic display above him.  For a moment, the words, “Hull breach,” were visible in bright blue letters.  Then the display fizzled out.

"No, no, no!"  The pony rolled to his hooves and checked the navigation console.  The engines were still running at max thrust, and the hostile ship was still visible on the flickering flatscreen, but the display showed that the enemy ship and the Philomena were running circles around each other.

Astral slammed his hoof against the console.  They had harpooned him.  He ran off the bridge, and into the corridors leading into the guts of the ship.  Lodged somewhere in the Philomena’s hull was a cable connecting the two ships.  He had to disconnect it.  If he didn’t, the stress of playing fish on a hook could tear a hole in the Philomena that he wouldn’t be able to fix, and that was the best case scenario.  Worst case, the engine decides it’s had enough, ruptures, and gives birth to a new star.

Astral followed the twists and turns of the corridors to the drive bay.  The philomena was a large ship, larger than most civilian vessels, and the trip took much longer than he he had wanted.

He would have to hurry.  His first priority was to get the engines shut down.  He ran through the drive bay without stopping, and flung open the reinforced side doors to the control room.  He flung them shut just as quickly.  In the short moment they were open, he saw bright green coolant raining from ruptured pipes, twisted metal littering the floor, and one wall open to space.  He also saw something standing in the middle of it all.  He didn't get a good look at it, but it was alive, angry-looking, and ugly as hell.

He took a breath to steady himself.  Whatever it was, it was standing between him and saving his ship.  He drew his weapons, letting them hover beside him in the grip of his magic.  He then threw the doors open with enough force to kick up a spray of coolant.  Through the toxic-colored slime, he could see the creature ahead of him.

It was a prill, a common creature, usually kept as a pet.  This one was a vile monster, all teeth and radiation burns.  It stood taller than he did on its three tripod-toed legs, and what little fur remained on its oozing skin bristled as it snarled at the pony.  This was not a pet, this was someone’s twisted idea of security system.

Astral fired.  A single bullet from his pistol buried itself in the creature’s forehead, right between the eye-stalks.   The creature let out a terrible shriek, but didn’t fall.  The prill charged at its attacker,and Astral charged right back.

He fired two more shots, each one removing one of the creature’s eyes from its stalk.  The monster continued its rush in blind rage.  Astral leapt out of the way and launched his knife into the creature’s side.  The molecularly sharpened blade barely penetrated the thing’s mutated hide, and wedged itself several centimeters short of the prill’s heart.

“Damn!  What are you made of?”  Astral shot the creature three more times, putting bullets down its throat as it shrieked at him.  The extra lead barely slowed the creature down.  It lunged for the pony again, forcing him to dive out of the way.  “I don’t have time for this!”  Astral yanked his knife free of the monster’s ribcage.  He found a warped chunk of sheet metal, probably the remains of the wall, and stabbed his knife through it.  When the monster pounced again, the pony held up the metal like a shield, with the knife pointing out.

The prill crashed into Astral, knocking the pony to the ground and breaking his concentration.  The magically suspended pistol fell to the coolant soaked floor.  The beast lurched forward.  The metal plating pinned to its chest kept it from directly attacking the pony, but it knocked the fallen weapon out of Astral’s sight.  The pony beat the creature back with his hooves, striking the butt of the knife and driving it deeper into skin and bone.

After several strikes, the creature reared back, howling in pain.  Astral dove for the nearest intact console.  He furiously worked the controls, trying to make something happen that everything on the ship was designed to prevent.  Behind him, the creature freed the blade from its chest.

The monster leapt at Astral just as he completed his task.  The Philomena’s artificial gravity turned off, and the monster slammed into a bulkhead before floating harmlessly about the room.  Astral started to drift off the floor before the electromagnets in his suit kicked on and pulled him to the floor.

As the monster above twisted and snarled at him from a safe distance, Astral took a moment to close his eyes and overcome the jarring nausea of instant weight loss.

When he opened his eyes, he turned his eyes towards the hole in the bulkhead.  An emergency force field kept the atmosphere in, but it wouldn’t do much to deter intruders.  He set about shutting down the engines, but thought about his next course of action.  No matter what happened now, there were only going to be more intruders.

He looked up at the flailing prill.  He didn’t want to have to fight another one of those.  He inspected the rubble littering the room.  Most of it was visually similar to the construction of the Philomena, and probably came from within her walls, but there were fragments that didn’t seem to match up.  They probably came from whatever made that hole in his ship.  There was no sign of a cable, or anything that could function as a hook, or harpoon, so that only left one explanation.  There was some sort of pod or vehicle that carried the prill, something designed for a one way trip.  There were probably more of them.  Probably launched at the same time as the harpoon.  Who knew how many of those things were now roaming the Philomena’s corridors?  Who knew how many pods had missed their mark, and were now tumbling through the dead of space?

He looked back up at the prill.  “I’m sorry about this, but blame your master.”  He opened a panel at the panel’s base and yanked several wires free.  He then hit a button on the console’s top.  Throughout the ship, airlocks opened, and life support systems turned off, including the emergency backups.  Atmosphere and loose debris exploded out of small room, no longer confined by the thin emergency force-field.

Astral’s suit kept him firmly rooted, and with grim determination, he watched the debris fly past.  Among the twisted metal, he saw the two shapes he was looking for and grabbed them with his magic.  He had his weapons back.

He left the engineering compartment and doubled back towards the bridge.  His destination was the main cargo bay, situated immediately behind the command center.  He stuck to the smaller service corridors and maintenance tunnels in order to avoid any intruders.

At one point, he found another pod.  It was intact, and wedged in a crawlspace along the outer hull, blocking his path.  He approached it slowly, weapons at the ready, but its occupant was already dead.  Whether it was from the crash, or from the decompression, Astral couldn’t tell.

With a bit of shoving, he was able to free the pod from the damaged hull and force it back into space.  Through the wound it left behind, he could see the other ship and the cable connecting it to the Philomena.

“Shoot!”  Astral had assumed the ships were connected by a simple cable, but this looked like a docking tube, a flexible construct designed to connect  two ships and allow for the transfer of goods and personnel.  If that was the case, the marauders weren’t dependent on pods and shuttles, and could simply invade his ship at any time.

“I’ll have to hurry.”  The unicorn doubled his pace for the cargo bay.  He had to keep whoever was attacking him from getting to his cargo.  One hard-earned lesson that Astral learned was that the moment marauders think a ship is worthless is the moment they try blow it out of the sky.  The cargo that the Philomena was hauling was so worthless to anypony but its intended recipient that Astral would have to make sure it stayed secret in order to stay alive.

The maintenance crawlway ended at a ventilation station.  He was close to the cargo bay.  There was a heavy grate that would lead him back into the corridors, but he couldn’t see what lay beyond. “No time to hesitate, I guess.”   Gravity and life support were still down, so any remaining intruders would have to be in protective gear.  He could only pray that would slow them down enough.

In his helmet, he bit down on a small control patch.  Through it, he could take control the suit’s functions.  There weren’t many on a suit this old, but he was only interested in the magnetic coils under his hooves.  He switched the magnets from automatic control to negative bite pressure and lightened his grip on the sensor.  All he would have to do now was bite down on the sensor, and the magnetic field would disappear.

He undid the latches on the grate and climbed onto the wall across from it.  Without gravity, the grate now seemed to be directly above him.  He crouched low and drew his gun.  He then bit down on the control sensor as he kicked off the wall.

The gate tumbled into the corridor, and he followed close behind.  Astral spat out the control sensor as he spun through the vacuum.  With the pressure removed, the suit’s magnetic coils engaged.  The unicorn stuck to the first surface he hit, the wall across from the grate.

Astral regained his bearing and quickly surveyed the hallway.  Nearby, a single, pony-shaped figure in a cheap, yellow hazard suit stood before a large, reinforced door.  It was facing away from Astral, and didn’t seem to notice his sudden entrance.

By Astral’s perspective, the other pony was above him, even if the other pony was on this deck’s floor.  Astral grabbed the free-floating grate and nudged it towards the suited figure.  He started walking across the ceiling at the same time.  If he timed it right, the grate would bump against the other pony’s hooves, making him look down as Astral passed above.

The metal mesh tapped the pony’s leg.  The yellow suit spun around, and lifted a hoof clad in some sort of electronic housing.  The hoof lashed out at the grate, unleashing the characteristic energy blast of a plasma weapon.  The broiling energy consumed the grate and burned through the deck, leaving a hole edged by glowing metal.  The molten alloy left in the blast’s wake cooled and hardened into an aimless rain of silver spheres.  They bounced off walls, floors, and ceilings, filling the corridor.

The suited pony immediately looked up, straight at Astral.  Its weapon-clad hoof lifted towards the unicorn.

Astral brought his own weapon to bear.

Astral stood there blinking.  Darkness.  He looked left and right.  Blurry shapes floated in the darkness, but they were hard to make out.  The pony faintly remembered a flash, but he had the feeling he was forgetting something, something important.  “What was I doing?”  He muttered

A yellow shape drifted into view, snapping the unicorn back.  He ducked, and aimed at the shape, only to find he no longer held his gun.  Cursing, he drew its bladed counterpart.  He shook his head, but instead of clearing his vision, he only felt a searing pain behind his eyes, and a drumming sound from his ears.

If there had been gravity, the unicorn would have collapsed.  Instead, he swayed slightly, with only the suit’s magnetic tethering keeping him grounded. 

As the pain faded, Astral’s vision slowly returned.  His pistol spun slowly nearby, and he quickly retrieved it.  The yellow suited figure stood like he did, motionless, most likely at the mercy of his suit’s built in magnetics.  Not that it mattered to him anymore.  He was dead.  Had to be, globules of red liquid leaked from a hole in the suit’s neck.  Blood, no doubt.

Astral brought a hoof to his own neck as his memories came back.  Two ponies, two weapons, the desire to kill, and the desire to live.  It wasn’t all there though.

The unicorn was still alive, so he obviously fired first, but why did his head hurt so badly?  And why was he blinded?  The powder flash from his pistol shouldn't have been bright enough for that.

He stretched his neck inside the suit, moving his head around the helmet.  He felt something touch him behind the ear, something hard, round, and definitely out of place.  He brought his to the back of his head, clumsily feeling his helmet for damage.  He found what seemed like a small dent.  Did he get hit from behind?

Astral looked back.  There was a blackened crater behind him, the obvious remains of a plasma blast.  He was on the ceiling of the Philomena's top deck, and the center of the crater opened to the stars beyond.  Astral rubbed his helmet again.  He must have gotten hit by debris from the blast.  A concussion would be bad, but at least the suit was intact and he was conscious.

The unicorn turned away from the hole.  Just as he was about to continue towards the cargo bay, his eyes locked on the blacked-out visor of the yellow suit.  A hundred different images flashed through the unicorn’s mind, pains and memories of a life fought to live.  Two of those images stayed in front of the rest.  Bloodshot eyes staring through him as life trickled through a hole between them, and another pair of eyes drifting closed as a blade ran red.

Astral vomited in his suit.  Suction pumps automatically kicked in, pulling in the sudden regurgitation and venting it before the pony could asphyxiate.  The scent hung in the suit though.  Bits of vomit stuck to Astral's fur, around his mouth, and he had to spit out the last of it that stuck in his teeth.

Breathing heavily, Astral looked at the yellow suit's visor again, almost as if to prove that he could.  He started walking towards the cargo bay, each step heavy in the wrong way as he pulled his magnetic shoes off the bulkhead. If there gravity to hold him, he would have fallen to his knees.  He felt weak, and he wasn't sure it was all from the head wound.

As he opened the cargo bay door, he spared the yellow suit one final glance.  "Why is it always the eyes?"  He asked himself.  He leaned against the open doorway for a moment, shaking his head to clear out thoughts he would never be rid of.  He glanced back one more time before walking into the cargo bay.  As he shut the door behind him, he felt glad that he hadn't had to see the other pony's eyes, but he also felt an odd sense of guilt for that relief.  He stared at the door and sighed.  "That visor's going to haunt me."

At that moment, the door slid open, and Astral found himself staring at the same blacked-out visor.  The plasma blaster was held out in front of it, and blobs of red still leaked from the yellow suit's neck.  The other pony adjusted its position slightly, aiming its weapon squarely at Astral's head.

The unicorn ducked, pulling himself to the ground as the plasma blaster let loose its angry green bolt.  He could feel the static on his fur as the highly charged pulse traveled past him, close enough to set off the temperature alarms in his suit.

It slammed into the far end of the cargo bay, missing the large crates littering the floor and punching a hole through an auxiliary airlock.  Astral jumped to the side as another blast was fired at him, leaving another hole, this time in the floor.

"Why the hell aren't you dead?"  The unicorn yelled as he fired two shots at that cursed visor.  The first hit dead center, cracking the blackened plate as it went straight through.  The second bullet hit off center,  tearing away part of the cheap suit's helmet and answering Astral's question.

The glint of metal showed where fur should have been, and the faint, red glow of an optical processor shone through the cracks in the ruined faceplate.  It wasn't a pony in the yellow suit, but a construction drone.  The red fluid leaking from its neck was hydraulic fluid, not blood.

For what seemed like the hundredth time that day, Astral cursed under his breath.  He had gotten in a lucky shot and nicked a hydraulic line, temporarily disabling the drone until the backup servos kicked in.  He walked backwards as he started shooting at the drone, focusing his fire on the energy weapon on the drone's right hoof.  The first nine shots had no visible effect on the weapon itself, only tearing away at the suit and stabilizing frame around it, but as the drone lifted the plasma blaster, shot number ten hit the weapon straight on the emitter casing, splitting it in two and rupturing the power cell beneath.

The plasma blaster exploded in a shower of light blue sparks and battery acid.  Astral was far enough away from the drone not to get covered in the corrosive fluid, not that it would damage his suit, but the drone was covered with enough of it for it to start eating away at the cheap yellow hydroplastics of its own suit.  As yellow smoked away, giving way to bronze-colored alloy, the drone performed a uniquely un-drone-like gesture.  It shook the hoof that once held the plasma weapon like a pony reacting to a nizador sting.

"Oh, I've got you now."  Astral holstered his pistol.  He only had two shots left, and without its main hydraulics, a construction drone was only as strong as an average pony, and half as fast.  And this particular drone was being controlled via neural interface.  There was somepony, somewhere, controlling this thing, and he or she got a nasty shock when the plasma blaster overloaded.  An even stronger shock could shut down the interface completely.

Knife at the ready, Astral charged the drone.  Before its operator could react, he slashed through the drone's optical processors, destroying the visual feed back to the operator.  They would have to rely on sensor readouts to navigate now, and that would slow down all but the most experienced drone operators.  Not content with just that, Astral spun around and bucked the drone hard enough to break its magnetic connection to the deck, sending it tumbling through the cargo bay.

Now that he had bought some time, Astral sheathed his blade and set off in search of something to permanently take out the drone.  The cut through the drone's face felt sluggish to the unicorn, after all the abuse, his knife's edge was starting to dull.  He would have to be careful how he used it from now on.  He was no good at combat magic, so he needed something else to use as a weapon, and somewhere among the metal crates of the cargo bay was just the thing he was looking for.

He headed for the far wall through the maze of crates.  Somewhere near the main airlock, there should be some cargo loading equipment.  It was the first half of Astral's pay for the cargo run.  Since the Philomena hadn't come with many frills, he had to purchase the tools to complete the job after taking the job.

When astral reached the rear wall of the cargo bay, he found himself staring at a black wall of space.  He couldn't see it earlier because the crates were in the way, but the main airlock was open.  It must have been on the same circuit as the other airlocks, the circuit he fried when he shut down life support.  Anything nearby that wasn't tethered to the deck was most likely pulled into space during decompression, and that included nearly all of his cargo equipment, everything from the grav-field forklift to the plain old ropes and chains was gone.  The only thing left was a long, thin chromed box tied to a handrail with a piece of titanium ribbon he had been playing around with.

He opened the box and gave it a little tap, causing its contents to slowly float into the cargo bay.  Most of it was useless at the moment, pulleys, chain hooks, more titanium ribbon, and the like, things that could be used to make traps if he had one more ingredient.  But that ingredient was time, something he didn't have much of.   For now, he would have to rely on something more immediate, and there were two of them in the box.  They were dark blue electronic devices, the same color as the now missing forklift, with a safety toggles on their bulky, misshapen handles, and three metal prongs extending several centimeters from one end.

Movement in the box's reflection caught the pony's eye, and he turned around, grabbing one of the the two devices as he moved.  He launched it at the drone as it rounded a corner, flipping the safety switch with his magic as it flew through the vacuum.

There was a single, bright spark between the device's prongs as it came into contact with the drone's metal frame, discharging five hours worth of power for the now missing forklift.  The drone stopped moving.  Forget disabling the interface, enough power ran through the drone to weld its metal hooves to the deck plating.  Every circuit, servo, or piece of wire in the thing's mechanical body was now cooked beyond repair.

Astral grabbed the second forklift charger, and was about to head back to the cargo bay's main door when a purple Pegasus mare walked out from between two boxes.  She seemed to be inspecting the cargo crates, and was followed by three more yellow hazard suits wearing plasma blasters.  For a moment, Astral assumed she was their leader.  Then one of the suited drones raised its right hoof, aiming its weapon at the back of the mare's head.

"Watch out!"  Astral flung his last charger at the drone and ran towards the mare.  The charger's prongs punctured the hazard suit, causing a small spurt of flame as the small amount of escaping air was ignited by the intense discharge and quickly burned away.  The other two drones reacted quickly, raising their weapons, but they seemed unsure of their target, trying to decide whether to shoot Astral, or the unarmed Pegasus mare.

Astral tackled the mare as they made up their minds.  A familiar static sensation accompanied the suit's temperature alarm as the bolt of superheated plasma flew past him and out the open airlock.

Then, Astral's blood ran cold.  He looked down at the mare he had saved as they floated through the cargo bay.  She looked up at him, purple eyes filled with anger, and two-toned purple-pink mane floating free.  In the irradiated vacuum that filled the ship, she wore nothing but her natural colors.  They bumped into a wall, and inertia pulled her mane back, revealing the horn it hid, a horn that quickly lit up with magic as purple as its owner.

Astral tried to push himself away from the mare, but she grabbed him by a utility hoop on the front of his suit.  He looked down as a glowing, blue ball of energy formed in front of him, attached to the chest of his suit.  It took less than a second, and once it was formed, the mare pushed him back and dove out of the way.

The blue sphere exploded, creating a shockwave of the same color.  It kicked Astral back into one of the crates with enough force to rip it free of its moorings.  Astral's vision blurred as he flailed about, struggling to find purchase with his magnetic shoes.  He bounced off another shipping crate, its aluminum surface offering no grip, and found himself floating towards open space.

Panic started to set in.  If he didn't find something to grab onto, he would end up floating through space until his suit's power failed.  He came close to another cargo container, and kicked at it as hard as he could.  He wasn't able to stick to it, but he was able to divert himself towards the edge of the airlock, instead of straight out the middle of it.

A plasma blast hit the crate Astral pushed away from, superheating the produce inside and causing it to erupt in a blast of steam, pulp, and twisted metal.  Astral wasn't sure what happened next, but a loud crack was followed by a high pitched hiss, and that was followed by a sickly slurping noise.

When his vision cleared, the first thing Astral saw was the blobby line of emergency sealant across his visor.  The next thing he saw was that he was stuck to the outside of the Philomena by a single hoof.  He carefully pulled himself to the hull,  and took a moment to catch his breath.  He was safe for the moment, but why was there a Celestial here?  On his ship?

Astral leaned over the edge of the airlock, peering into the cargo bay.  There were now five working drones in the cargo bay, and the Celestial was fighting them.  The lack of gravity and atmosphere meant nothing to her as she danced and flew through the cargo bay with a Pegasus' natural grace, effortlessly dodging every plasma blast fired at her.

Watching the fight, Astral could see that the Celestial was avoiding the cargo containers, purposefully staying in the open and drawing the drones to her.  Why?  She should have been using the crates as cover.

Two of the drones came into the open, and the Celestial pounced between them and the crates.  They were instantly vaporized in a blast of magic easily twice as powerful as the energy weapons they carried.  A third drone came up behind the Celestial hoping to catch her off guard.  She looked back as the drone raised his weapon, and a pink sphere sprung up around the drone as it fired.  The blast hit the force field's inner wall and detonated, reducing the drone to molten slag plastered against the opposite side of the sphere.

The pink force field disappeared, leaving the jagged semisphere of metal standing as it cooled.  There were only two drones left now, and they were being much more cautious than their scrapped counterparts.  One of them was anyway.  While it ran towards the other end of the cargo bay, the other one had taken off its weapon and lobbed it at the the Celestial.

Astral turned away the moment it touch the wall.  The blaster exploded like a grenade, creating a flash of plasma a dozen times larger than its normal discharge. Green flame burned through the cargo bay wall and dissipated into space beyond.  It left a cauterized gash several decks high and as wide as the cargo bay.

Astral looked back into the ship.  Half the cargo bay was gone, vaporized in the plasma's wake, but the cargo containers were somehow untouched.  They had all been pushed to the far end of the cargo bay, away from the explosion.  The Celestial stood in the same spot as before, ignoring the fact that she was now positioned over open space.  Her fur displayed slight traces of scorching, but other than that, there was no sign that she had gone through a plasma detonation that would have reduced a normal pony to ashes.  With an involuntary flutter of her wings, the Celestial hopped forward, onto the remaining deck of the the cargo bay.  She then walked over to the nearest metal crate.

Astral could only watch as she ripped the crate open, magic tearing it in two like she was cracking an egg.  She tossed the broken shell towards the hole in the Philomena's side and sifted through the fruit it contained before nudging that towards space as well.

Why?  Astral ground his teeth as the Celestial ripped through three more crates in the same manner.  Why was she doing this?  She had to be looking for something, but did she have to destroy all his cargo to find it?

There was movement among the crates.  A yellow clad figure climbed out from between two them.  From his displaced vantage point, Astral could see it clearly, but the Celestial was facing away from it and was distracted by her search.  The drone pulled its weapon off its hoof, mimicking its counterparts previous action.

Astral drew his gun.  He had two shots left, he had to stop the drone with them.  The Celestial probably wouldn't even notice another plasma blast, but the additional damage to the Philomena would most likely render the ship unsalvageable.  Not to mention, he could get caught in the blast.  He aimed for the blackened faceplate.  If he could blind the drone, he could buy a few seconds to do something about the plasma blaster.  He held his breath and pulled the trigger.

The flash of powder was followed by the splatter of red against a crate.  The bullet had gone straight through the head of the suit, barely slowed down by what was inside.  This led Astral to the horrifying realization that this suit didn't hold a drone.  It held a pony.

Astral felt sick again.  He had been so relieved to be fighting drones that he never considered the possibility that their operator was hiding among them.  His stomach twisted, but had nothing more to give, and only caused Astral pain.  That pain became festering anger, anger at the situation, anger at himself, but most of all, anger at the Celestial tearing through his cargo.

He didn't care about the apples anymore, or his mission.  He barely even cared that his ship was nearly destroyed, or that he would probably never be able to get another one.  The only thing he cared about was making sure the Celestial didn't leave.

Every time, every single time, a Celestial shows up somewhere, ponies' lives are ruined.  They reap destruction from everything they touch, be it by their own hooves, or by events they set in motion.  Astral knew this first hoof.  Though most of the galaxy viewed Celestials as mysterious creatures of legend, Astral had seen them twice before.  The first time, his parents and home planet had paid the price.  The second time, it was his old ship and a space station full of innocents.  This time, he was going to make sure it ended here.

Inside the cargo bay, the Celestial continued to tear away at the cargo crates, oblivious to the rage directed at her.  Eventually, she ripped open a crate that had more than just apples in it.  Among the bright red fruit, there was what looked like another shipping container, only this one was of a vastly different design.  Instead of the cheap, mass-produced aluminum of the other containers, this one brought to mind the containment chamber of a small reactor, precision made and reinforced in several spots.  It had a small glowing panel on the front, and what appeared to be an observation port covered by a hinged metal plate.

With this new container in tow, the Celestial wasted no time in heading for the exit.  She walked to the cargo bay's open airlock, then out onto the ship's hull.

Astral stood there, waiting for her with weapon drawn.  He said nothing as he glared at the Celestial.  She met his gaze, and they stared at each other for several moments, each one waiting for the other to make a move.

The Celestial made the first move, but it wasn't an aggressive one.  She slowly turned away from Astral and started walking off.

"Oh, no you don't!"  Astral ran across the ship's hull and placed himself in the Celestial's path.  "One way or another, this is the last time a Celestial ruins my life."

The unicorn leveled his gun at the mare's head, sighting down its barrel.  She didn't move, didn't flinch, she just watched Astral, looking past the weapon and locking eyes with him.  Her expression didn't show the fear or anger he would have expected from a pony, and it didn't show the barbaric fervor and condescension he had seen from Celestials before.  If anything, her expression showed sorrow.

Astral's will wavered for a second, and so did his weapon.  In that second, the Celestial lunged forward.  She was past the gun and crouched in front of Astral before he could react.  She immediately wrenched Astral's gun away, forcibly breaking his magic with a heavy-hoofed burst of her own.  Then, she slammed her shoulder into his chest.

There wasn't much force behind the blow, but it was still enough to break his suit's magnetic hold on the ship.  Astral drew his knife as he tumbled away from the Philomena.  After his third spin, he sliced across the side of his suit's chestplate, rupturing his main air supply.  Air exploded out, and Astral was thrown back against the hull.

Astral cried out in pain as several bits of sharp plastic dug into his back. The force of the impact had been enough to shatter most of the internal supports, and according to the alarms that were now screaming in his ear, dislodge the suit's main battery.  The backup had kicked in, but with main air and battery both missing the suit was now in recovery mode.  Temperature and oxygen levels were reduced drastically, only maintaining survivable levels, and the four magnetic coils in the shoes had turned off in favor of a single, much more powerful, magnet in the suit's belt.

Astral had to struggle to right himself.  He had to contort his body and use his neck and head to push against the new magnetic field holding him to the Philomena.  Every movement made the broken plastic in the suit dig in deeper.  After a few seconds of wriggling pain, Astral was belly-down against the hull.

He immediately reached out for the weapon held in the Celestial's magic.  His own energy hit hers like he was hitting a wall.  It was much more powerful than anything he could ever hope to achieve.  But, there were cracks in the wall.  There were fluctuations in the Celestial's magic, and Astral forced a thin thread of energy through them.

The Celestial noticed what he was doing as his magic wrapped around the trigger.  Astral was sure that she would counter the gun's discharge somehow, but it was only a diversion.  Using a separate thread of energy, he flung his knife at the celestial as he pulled the trigger.  At the same time, the Celestial changed her grip on the pistol.  Instead of letting go, or pushing the barrel away, she squeezed.  She pinched the barrel shut just as the hammer came down.

The resulting explosion tore the gun to pieces, and turned those pieces into bullets of their own.  The slide and hammer were blown back, and bounced of astral's faceplate, leaving a crack that quickly sealed with the last of his suit's emergency sealant.  Jagged pieces of the barrel hit the left side of the Celestial's face, peppering her with small cuts, and slicing a notch in her ear.

Blood welled up in the Celestial's wounds, but didn't flow or drift into space.  It was almost like atmosphere being held in by a forcefield.  Astral winced at the sight of it.  It was red, same red as anypony's, and except for having both wings and horn, the Celestial looked like a regular mare.

Astral fought the sentiment back.  The last Celestial he saw laughed while ripping individual walls out of a space station.  Every Celestial he had ever seen was responsible for the death of at least a dozen ponies, why would this one be different?  She certainly proved herself a capable fighter.

Astral tried to stand up, and immediately started screaming in pain.  His shoulder, something was wrong.  He looked over.  His knife was buried in his suit, blade first.  It must have been thrown back when the gun ruptured.  The unicorn stayed still, waiting for the pain to die down, and the Celestial watched him passively.  This was it, he realized. He couldn't fight back anymore.  He looked up at the Celestial, wanting to at least see what was going to happen to him.  They stared at each other for a moment before the Celstial turned around, and started walking away along the Philomena's hull.

“Why don’t you just kill me already?”  The stallion clutched at the knife buried in his shoulder.  If it were to move, even a little bit, his environmental suit would lose pressure, and he would be at the mercy of the vacuum around him.  Not that it mattered at this point.  “You damn Celestial!  If you plan to abandon me on this skeleton just finish the job already.”

It turned around.  In the deep of space, it couldn’t possibly hear him, but still, it turned around.  Eyes, deep and purple, met his.  Its head shook slowly, as if to refuse his demand.

“You can hear me, can’t you?”  He dragged himself across the fractured metal plating of the ship’s hull.  “I don’t know how, but you can hear me.  Then, tell me.  Why did you do this?”  He screamed at the creature beyond his suit’s faceplate.  “Why me?!  Haven’t I lost enough to your kind yet?”

It walked towards him.  Despite the lack of gravity, it moved gracefully, anchored to the hull without a spacesuit or even magnetic shoes.

“If you can hear me, you have to have some way to answer me.”

He felt a stabbing pain in his shoulder, different from the pain of the steel, but centered on the same spot.  When he realized what it was, he ripped the knife away, and did his best to hold pressure on the tear it left behind.  The knife, dead cold from exposure to open space, had started freezing his wound.  He kept an eye on the suit’s pressure level, but there was no drop, no change.

He slowly moved his hoof away from the tear.  His own blood had frozen in the cut, sealing it tight.  “Pathetic, isn’t it?  I must look like a bug to you, struggling to survive even as I’m crushed underhoof.”  He looked up.  The Celestial was standing over him.  “Three times.  Three times, I’ve wished I was dead.  Three times, I fought and survived.  Three times, you’ve taken everything from me.  At least have the guts to finish it this time!”

It lowered its head, closing its eyes and lining up its horn with the pony’s forehead.

“No.  Not like that.”  He laughed.  “At least look me in the eyes when you do it.”

The celestial opened its eyes and looked at him without moving its head.  “As you wish.”

The voice rang in the stallion’s head.  It wasn’t the voice that such a monster should have.  It was a beautiful voice, clear tone and timbre laying bare the emotions its owner hid.  It echoed in the pony’s head as he closed his eyes.  And, as light consumed him, he had one final thought.  “She gets to live.  Why is she so sad?”

When the light faded, she answered him.  "I don't get to live, I am forced to live, alone, while my friends are denied their lives."

Astral opened his eyes.  He was on the bridge of the Philomena.  His suit's emergency magnet had him glued to the deck in front of his command chair.  He felt weak, tired really, but the pain his shoulder was so dull he could barely feel it.  The Celestial stood over him like she was a moment ago, and behind her, one wall of the bridge was open to space.

"This ship is heavily damaged, but it should be enough to bring you to safety."  She nodded to the navigation panel.  "I've already set the autopilot and sent out a distress call.  You should be rescued within the hour."

Astral tried to lift his head, but he found himself feeling heavy, too heavy to move.  "What did you do to me?"  The words came out as a hoarse croak.  "What do you want?"

"You should be able to sleep peacefully until help comes."  The Celestial turned around.  "As for what I want, I see no reason to tell you."

She started walking towards open space, and her hoof hit something that had been floating near the deck.  She grabbed it before it could drift away.  Through the haze forming in his vision, Astral recognized it as the Daring Do book he had been reading during the slipstream jump.  She looked at its spine, then wiped a hoof across her eyes.  What appeared to be a single, frozen tear drifted away from her, catching and reflecting the light from stars and the bridge's emergency lights.

The Celestial carried the book with her to the edge of the hole in the ship.  As she spread her wings at the threshold of open space, that frozen tear bounced of a Astral's faceplate and broke into pieces.  Just before the dull fade of sleep took him, the Celestial took off amidst a shower of short-lived stars.

It was a breathtaking sight.

> Doctor, My Eyes...Are the Only Thing Unhurt
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------

When Astral woke up, the first thing he tried to do was scream from the pain.  The tube stuffed down his throat wouldn't let him.  He gagged and choked on it, but the tube kept him breathing.

The next thing he tried to do was pull the tube out.  The robotic arm clamped to his hoof wouldn't let him.  It held tight as smaller arms jammed sharp bits of metal into his already injured left shoulder.

The third thing he tried to do was to close his eyes and try to wake up from the nightmare going on around and within him.  The powerful lights above wouldn't let him.  He was awake, and this was real.

"He's awake!"  The voice came from above him, from somewhere in the light that filled everything beyond him.  He couldn't understand what was being said, the pain was taking up too much of his mind. "Sedate him, now!"

"We can't." There was another voice, and Astral became aware of shadows moving in the light above him.  "He's bordering on overdose already.  Anymore, and we'll have to do a liver replacement, and that's only if he survives."

Astral reached out for the shadows.  Grasping blindly at the hope that they might take away the searing pain that clouded his world.

"Fine, just get him to stop moving before he tears his leg free."

"Prepping neural disjunction.  Clear the table."

Several voices answered in unison.  "Clear!"

There was sharp jolt that cut through the pain.  It didn't hurt, it was more like an absence of any feeling, and it only lasted for a moment.  The pain returned seconds later, but those few seconds were all Astral needed to steel himself and maintain his sanity.

His eyes adjusted to the light, and he could see his surroundings clearly.  He was in a hospital.  Everything seemed to be made of glossy, white plastic, from the walls and equipment, to the surgical scrubs worn by the operating staff.

There were four of them that he could see.  His shoulder was being repaired by a blue, white-maned, earth pony operating through a complex series of robotic arms.  Another doctor, a gryphon, was removing bits of plastic from his body, deftly maneuvering a scalpel and a pair of forceps with his claws.  Two unicorn mares assisted them.  They were much younger than the doctors, either nurses or doctors in training.

The gryphon looked Astral in the the eyes for a moment.  He was large, even for a gryphon, and grey.  And the unruly feathers around his beak gave him the appearance of a bearded old hermit.  "Looks like the dysjunct was successful.  Hang tight young colt.  It may not seem like it, but this will be over soon."  His voice was low and gravelly, accented perfectly to match his appearance, and he offered Astral a warm, reassuring smile before looking away.  He addressed someone standing behind the pony.  "You should call Ribbon Dancer in.  He might be able to tell us something that could help."

"Already done, doctor."  The voice was feminine, and seemed to belong to somepony more mature than the two unicorns.  "She should be here any moment now."

Astral tried to look back, hoping to put a face to the voice, but found himself unable to.  He couldn't move his head at all.  He tried to move his hoof, the one that wasn't currently an automaton's pincushion, but it wouldn't move either.  With increasing levels of panic, Astral tried to move other parts of his body.

He stopped when he felt a gentle pressure on his neck.  He looked up.  His eyes worked at least.  The gryphon had set down his scalpel, and was holding him as if to restrain him, unnecessary as it may be.  "Calm down, buck.  That's just the disjunct working.  It disables conscious motor control from the neck down, you won't be able to move. Understand?"

Astral blinked.  He couldn't respond any other way.  He then blinked twice.

The gryphon smiled.  "Let me guess, one for yes, two for no?  You are surprisingly quick witted given your current circumstances."  There was a sound like an airlock, and the gryphon looked behind him.  "But that won't be necessary.  Ribbon Dancer, over here.  You can take my spot, and I'll get to work on his back."

The grey gryphon moved out of Astral's view.  He didn't walk, more like he just slid away.  Behind him, just inside a hermetically sealing door, stood another unicorn mare.  This one seemed to be even younger than the other two, by at least a year.  Her coat was a lighter, brighter shade of blue than the doctor, and she seemed a little smaller than she should be.  Her mane was bright and flamboyant, a full spectrum, laid out in hair, but her body language was the exact opposite.  She walked slowly, head held a little low, like she was trying to avoid some pony's gaze.  

She walked towards the operating table with her eyes glued to the floor.  About halfway to the table, she looked up at Astral.  Her eyes were filled with pain, and her hooves started shaking.  When she tried to take another step, her front left leg gave out.  She crashed to the floor with a soft whimper.

"Ribbon!"  The earth pony doctor left his machine and went to the unicorn's side.  He gave her neck a gentle, unprofessional nudgee.  "Ribbon, are you ok?"

The unicorn weakly pushed him away.  "Dad, I've been trained for this.  I'm ok."  Even to Astral, her words didn't seem very convincing, and he was trying not to pass out.  She took several deep breaths, and pushed her father away again, managing a little more force this time.  "You need to focus.  Do your job, and I'll do mine."

The earth pony reluctantly listened.  He went back to his machine while his daughter struggled to get back up.  Neither of the other two unicorns offered Ribbon any help, and one of them even seemed to be glaring at her.  The brightly colored unicorn limped up to the operating table and leaned against it for support, making Astral wonder just what her job was supposed to be.

"I... I'm sorry."  She was breathing heavily and seemed to be in a great deal of pain.  "You're handling this better than I am."  She closed her eyes for a moment.  Her eyes opened, and she made a big show of closing her mouth.  Her cheeks puffed out a little, and she looked like she was trying to hold her breath.  The funny face confused Astral, but it brought a smile to his face despite the pain and breathing tube.  "My name's Ribbon.  What's yours?"

Astral's smile disappeared as those last two sentences echoed through his head.  The unicorn was very careful to make sure he could see that her mouth hadn't moved, and Astral now knew exactly why she was here.  She was a telepath.  They were commonly used in medical situations like this where the patient couldn't speak, but the Celestial had spoken to Astral the same way.

Ribbon recoiled from Astral like he was a snarling dog.  "W-what's wrong?  You weren't angry a second ago."  She was still communicating telepathically, and she could sense him get even angrier.  "If something's wrong, tell me.  Just think it out in your head, and I should be able to hear-"

Astral didn't let her finish.  "Get out of my head."

She nodded slowly.  "I understand this may be unsettling for you, but it's the only-"

"Get out of my head!"

Astral's heart rate and blood pressure spiked, alerting Ribbon's father via panels on his machine.  The levels were almost as high as when Astral first woke up.  "Ribbon, something's wrong.  What's he saying?"

The unicorn frantically looked back and forth between Astral and her father.  She put her hoof on Astral's uninjured leg.  "Please, I'm only trying to help."

Astral didn't care.  He didn't see the young mare, in pain and nearing tears.  He saw the Celestial, tearing apart his ship and leaving him for dead.  He pushed her away with his magic, sending her sprawling.  He then turned his magic on the breathing tube.

"No!  Please don't!"  She clawed her way up.  "I'm sorry!"

Astral pulled the tube out.  It burned his throat until it finally came free with a sickly, wet pop.  He coughed, dropped the tube, and yelled as loud as he could, "Get out of my head!"

Everypony in the room stopped.  The young unicorn his shout was directed at worked her jaw, but no words came out.  Tears started rolling down her cheeks, and she ran for the door.  "I'm sorry!"  She shouted as she hit the control.  "I'm sorry! I'm sorry! I'm sorry!"  She kept hitting the panel while the door cycled, and ran through the moment it opened.

"What are you two standing around for?"  Ribbon's father shouted at the two assistants.  "One of you go and get her!"

"Don't bother."  Astral wheezed.  His throat felt like he had been chugging drain cleaner.  "You only needed her because I couldn't speak.  That's changed now, so you can save us both the pain."

A sharp pain in his back made Astral cry out.  It was followed by the gryphon's voice.  "Sorry, that one caught a bit of skin.  It might leave a mark."

The earth pony sighed loudly.  "James..."

"What?  It did."

After another sigh, Ribbon's father spoke to Astral.  "Just let us know if you feel any change in the pain."  His tone had changed.  Before, it was kind, filled with concern.  Now, it was cold, forced and professional.  "You aren't in any real danger now, but we're looking at another hour or two of reconstructive work on your shoulder, and at least another on the various holes you've managed to punch in yourself."

Astral hissed as he felt a needle enter his back.  "And, why am I awake for all this?"

"I'll answer that while the two of you get back to work."  The owner of the older female voice walked around the operating table so Astral could see her.  She was greenish mare with a greying red mane.  "I've been monitoring your blood work for the last 20 hours, trying to filter it, but the medications you took are notoriously slow to metabolize.  Until we can get most of them out of your system, we can only give you limited amounts of local anesthesia."

Ribbon's father cleared his throat.  "I will say this though.  If you didn't take those medications when you did, we wouldn't be focused on patching you up.  We'd be doing our best to keep you comfortable."

"How much radiation was I exposed to?"  Astral wheezed.

"Barely enough to mention."  James finished pulling pieces of Astral, and set about preparing the various cuts for dermal acceleration.  "Between the medication and that suit we had to cut you out of, you've probably been exposed to more radiation by our imagers and sterilizer fields."

The older mare nodded in agreement.  "All in all, you're a lucky one.  Far luckier than that body they dragged in with you."  She glanced back at the door.  "Since you're unable to move, I will mention that station security is waiting outside to speak with you about it."

"Of course they are."  Astral winced as some sort of chemical was brushed on his smaller wounds.  It burned at first, then cooled as it evaporated, much like alcohol, but with less burning.  "I'm not worried about that."

She nodded once.  "Yes, well, I had some questions of my own."

Astral raised an eyebrow, one of the few conscious motions he could make.  "Why do you care?"

"I'm curious."  She gave Astral an annoyed looked.  "Among other reasons, I had to help identify that pony.  You use a frighteningly efficient weapon for something so primitive."

"Not efficient enough.  You didn't see what else I had to fight."

"I assume you're talking the mutated prills?  Or maybe those robots in the cargo bay?  You seem to be quite the resourceful fighter, well trained.  Military, or a bounty hunter?"

"Nothing like that.  I'm just a pilot who's in the wrong place at the wrong time on a regular basis."  There was something odd about the way she asked that last question.  It didn't seem like simple curiosity.  "This was just supposed to be a simple cargo run.  Two dozen crates of apples to a restaurant on Canter Station Delta, some quick cash, and an easy break-in for my new ship."

She nodded slowly.  "Space has a way of wrecking the most carefully made plans.  There's just one thing I don't understand.  Your cargo bay looks like a war zone.  Not to mention there is damage on the ship that can't be explained away by the weapons used by you or those who attacked you.  Was there anypony else on the ship?"

Astral watched her carefully.  She was feigning casual indifference, and not doing it very well.  Her tone was light and conversational, but her questions were too direct.  "Who are you?"

"I am the head nurse of this hospital.  Answer the question.  If there was somepony else on the ship, they may need medical attention."

"There wasn't another pony."

"Then how do you explain the damage?  There's evidence of military-grade spells, and your body isn't capable of generating the base magic required for most of them."

Astral's upper lip pulled back.  He did not like being lied to.  "Who are you?"

The supposed nurse didn't seem to even notice his anger.  "Answer the question."

Astral scoffed.  "Would you believe me if I said a Celestial did it?"

"Who would?"  She turned and walked to the door.  She hit the control and looked back at Astral.  "I deal with criminals, not fairy tales.  That body I mentioned belonged to a criminal I've been after for a long time, so you aren't in trouble yet, but you better keep your hooves clean while you're on this station."

The door opened, and she left.  As soon as she was gone, Astral asked again, "Who was that?  She's not a nurse."

James chuckled softly.  "Just so happens, she is.  She's head nurse of this hospital, just like she said.  She's also my wife."  There was a short pause.  "But she also happens to be head of station security."

"Great."  Astral sneered.  "One big happy family."

"You two finish this up."  The gryphon came back into Astral's view, moving like before, a strange gliding motion.  "Look, buck, I don't know much about you, but I know you've never been here before.  And, if you're telling the truth, neither has the pony who gave you that cargo."  He backed away from the operating table, and Astral noticed for the first time that the gryphon was sitting on a small motorized cart.  He used a small joystick on a pedestal to control its movement.  He gestured to the walls around them with the claw not on the joystick.  "This is Canter Station Delta.  I run the hospital, where you are now.  We have one more room like this, then a lobby, and an office the size of your average closet.  The point I'm trying to make is, we're small.  We have one permanent restaurant on this station, and I haven't seen so much as a fresh vegetable on their menu in two years.  They wouldn't have room for two crates of anything, let alone two dozen of a single item."

Astral groaned.  "I was set up."

"Unless you're lying, it looks that way."  James moved his cart a little closer to the table.  "It also looks like you're going to be here a while.  That ship of yours isn't going anywhere anytime soon."  He took Astral's uninjured hoof and gave it a shake.  "Welcome to Canterlot."
> Read Between the Minds
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------

The surgery lasted a little longer than the earth pony's original estimate.  He was called away to deal with an emergency, leaving James and the assistants to finish the mostly automated work on his shoulder.

As the gryphon explained it, the machine Astral was bolted to was basically a glorified sewing machine.  It was stitching together the cut muscle fibers, nerves, and blood vessels at the cellular level using a microscopic protein thread that would dissolve over time and promote healing.  Damage to the bone had been repaired first, through the use of a plaster-like synthetic calcium compound.

When the internal damage had been dealt with, the two unicorns started closing his wounds.  They slathered any broken skin with a thick, gooey nutrient gel, and used a combination of electrical pulses and guided magic to accelerate the growth of skin cells and fur.  It was a slow, messy process, and when it was over,  Astral, the operating table, and the floor around it was covered in grey goop.

But, he was healed.  The regnant pain, overwhelming and unbearable a few hours ago, was barely more than a memory.  There was a dull ache in his shoulder, something James assured him would only last a day or two, but other than that, there was nothing.

"I'd say that just about does it."  James gave Astral a final once-over, both visually, and with various diagnostic devices.  “There’s still this scar on your hoof though.  If you ever want it taken care of, it would be cheapest to do the dermal reconstruction now, while we have the equipment and nutrient gel set up.”

“Don’t touch it,” Astral said quickly.  “I just want out of here.”


“Very well.”  James shrugged, then turned to his assistants.  "He should be ready to move now.  Do either of you know the spell for undoing a neural dysjunction?"

The two unicorn exchanged glances, then one of them slowly stepped forward.  It wasn't exactly confidence inspiring.  "I do, doctor... I think."

"Be more confident, Lilybellle.  You're learning from the best."  The gryphon maneuvered his cart behind the volunteering unicorn.  Then, much to Astral's surprise, he stood up and walked away from it, flicking the joystick with his tail.  The cart started forward, bumping into Lilybelle who fell back onto its seat.  "And I told you, it's James!"  The cart stopped short of the table, unceremoniously dumping the pink-coated Lilybelle in a pile of goo.  "Oops."

Astral had to stifle his laughter as the mare tried to get up.  The nutrient gel was apparently a rather slick substance, and it took her several tries to make it to her hooves.  "Are you OK?" Astral asked as she wiped the goop from her face.

"I'm fine."  Lilybelle shook her head, sending bits of nutrient gel flying.  She then gave her giggling counterpart a short glare.  "Laugh all you want."  She turned back to Astral.  "Nutrient gel is wonderful for the fur.  Gives your coat a beautiful shine that lasts for weeks."

Astral sighed and let out a low, drawn out, "great."

She looked down at her hooves sadly.  "But it's dyed to match the patient's fur color."  She whined.  "I'm gonna be all splotchy."

The other unicorn was giggling even louder now.  "Cheer up, some colts like the pinto look."

James started chuckling, and Lilybelle magically launched an easily dodged glob of gel at each of them. "Shut up, Annabelle."

Astral would have shook his head if he could.  "Um, is it really safe to be playing with that stuff like that?  I mean, isn't that technically medical waste?"

James shrugged.  "Technically, I suppose, but it's perfectly safe.  Everyone in this room, yourself included, went through a thorough decontamination and screening.  Combine that with our sterilizer fields and nutrient gel's inherent properties, and there isn't a microbe in this room that even a compromised immune system couldn't fight off.  This stuff is so clean that it'll be scooped up, processed, purified, and recycled into fresh gel, pet food, cosmetics, or survival rations."  He nodded slowly.  "But Lilybelle's right, this stuff stains like there's no tomorrow."

Astral looked down at the goo with newfound horror, at a little blob of it just a few centimeters from his snout.  "They don't really make rations out of this, do they?"

"Sure they do," Lilybelle said as she wiped nutrient gel off her coat and onto the floor.  "That's why no pony eats those things unless they absolutely have to."

Astral swallowed dryly.  He had been living off of ration bars for the last two weeks, blissfully unaware of their origins.  "Let's get this over with.  I'm getting a little stir crazy being stuck like this."

"Oh, OK!"  Lilybelle took up a standard concentration stance and starting taking deep breaths.  "This may sting a little, but don't worry.  I've been practicing."

Astral waited patiently, prepared for what he assumed would be a small shock, or a sensation similar to the neural disjunction.  Instead, he got a jolt that felt like a taser.  His body jumped and twitched of its own accord as every muscle tried to respond to the artificial nerve signals Lilybelle provided.  It was over a second later, and Astral hung limp, halfway over the edge of the operating table and slowly sliding on nutrient gel.

James rushed towards the table.  "Watch out!  We need to-"  Gravity was faster than the gryphon, and Astral's slide ended with him slumped against the side of the operating table, headfirst on the floor.  "-catch him.  Sorry."  He cleared his throat.  "So, do you think you can move, buck?"

Astral groaned.  "I'm surprised you ponies haven't been sued out of orbit."

James pointed at himself.  "I'm not a pony."

"Fine.  You folks, or whatever.  The sentiment still stands."  The upside down unicorn slowly moved his right hoof.  It responded like it was supposed to, even if it did feel like it was made of lead.  Astral tried his left hoof next.  Aside from a tight ache from his shoulder, there didn't seem to be a problem.

James laughed happily as Astral slowly stood up.  "How's that girls?  Your first 24 hour surgery."

The two mares smiled proudly.  "It wasn't so bad," they answered in unison.

James laughed even louder.  "You're just interns.  Wait until you become doctors, and have to do three of them in a row while babysitting interns of your own.  Caffeine addiction is a serious risk in this line of work."  The gryphon walked up to Astral and patted him on the now repaired shoulder, making the unicorn wince.  "You didn't immediately collapse in a ball of tears and agony, that's a good sign.  You're free to go, but make sure stop by the office.  We've got some paperwork for you, info that will help your recovery along, tips, precautions, exercises, and the like.  In case you're the impatient sort, I'll summarize.  Don't use your leg for anything beyond walking or picking up a glass of water.  Try to keep your movements slow and steady, and use your magic for anything requiring any sort of effort."

"Thanks."  Astral bent and stretched his left leg, slowly testing its range of movement.  "I might be impatient at times, but I want this to heal up right."

"Finally, a reasonable patient."  James pointed to the door.  "You'll be able to get cleaned up out there.  Press the blue button when you enter the decontamination chamber, and hold your breath when you see the red light."

"Red light, got it."  Astral walked over to the door and hit the control panel.  "Well, thanks again, James, Lily, Anna.  I hope I don't have to see you again."

James chuckled softly as the door opened to a small room visually similar to the operating room.  "Likewise, even if it is just a pipe dream."

Astral walked through the door confused by the gryphon's words.  He took it to mean that they would see each other again, but he wasn't sure if it was another reference to the size of the station, or an insinuation that the unicorn wouldn't be able to keep himself in one piece.

The door closed behind him, leaving Astral alone in the small room.  Room probably wasn't the right word though.  Closet might be better.  Booth might be even better.  It was quite small, comfortable enough for a pony to stand in and turn around, but it would be cramped for a gryphon like James.  In addition to the door that closed behind him, there was a door to the left.

There was only one other feature in the small room, a control panel with three shaped buttons and a display screen opposite the entrance.  The buttons were a green circle, a tall blue rectangle, and a red diamond.  Right now, the display panel showed a big green circle.  The words, "no harmful contamination detected, press green button to open door," scrolled across the screen above and below the circle like news tickers.

Astral glanced back at the door.  He was pretty sure that James said to press the blue button.  He looked back at the control panel.  The buttons themselves weren't labelled, and the screen currently gave no info regarding the red or blue buttons.  He tapped the screen, hoping it would be a touch screen, and display a menu, but no such luck.  For a moment, Astral debated just hitting the green button, but followed the doctor's instructions and hit the blue one.

A small chime sounded.  Then, the green circle on the screen spiraled away, and was replaced by dozens of little blue arrows, all pointed down, parading across the screen from top to bottom.  The word, "preparing," pulsed on either side of the parade.

There was a mechanical sound from beneath Astral's hooves, the sound of a latch, followed by a whirring noise.  The unicorn looked down.  A small section of floor, roughly the size of his hoof, had pulled away to reveal a polished metal grate.

A beep sounded from the control panel, and Astral looked up.  All traces of blue were gone, replaced by a solid red screen with the word, "cycling," in bold black letters.

Astral remembered to hold his breath just as another mechanical sound, identical to the one below, played above him.  He looked up and saw that another panel had opened up.  This time, instead of a grate, there was something sticking out that sort of looked like a nozzle.

Astral screwed his eyes shut and ducked his head in time to avoid a pressurized blast of water to the face.  Instead, the jet of water hit the back of his neck before tracing along his spine.  The water was warm, almost uncomfortably so, and even though he was trying to hold his breath, Astral could smell a strong fruity smell, like surberry soap.

The water jet traced up and down his back a few more times, and Astral moaned happily.  It had been a while since he last had a shower, let alone one with warm water, and this was actually kind of nice.  He chuckled as the small room started to steam up.  Why did James tell him to hold his breath for an automated shower?

He was answered by a series of beeps.  He looked at the panel.  The word, "cycling," had been replaced by an outline of him and the words, "sensing complete, beginning particulate removal process."

As he looked at the panel, he could hear more panels opening up around him.  At least a dozen, maybe more.  "Oh-"

"Pshhhhh!!"

The first new water jet hit him in the side of the face, and was quickly followed by more.  Astral couldn't tell how many there were, they kept turning on and off, pushing the unicorn around the small room, and threatening to knock him off his feet entirely.  They would alternate between constant streams and frantic pulses, and seemed to have no care where they hit.

The water stopped as suddenly as it began, accompanied by a bright ding from the control panel.  Astral looked over with a groan.  The screen was no longer red.  Instead, white letters on a sky blue background informed him that, "the particulate removal process is complete."  The screen then went blank blue, and whirring noises signaled the closing of the various water jet panels.

Before astral could manage a sigh of relief, a large white arrow appeared on the screen, along with the words, "please look left."  The arrow, however was pointed to the right.

A now familiar and hated mechanical noise sounded to the right, and several panels opened to reveal fans embedded in the wall.  They turned on one by one, each coinciding with the click of a relay.

By the time they were all running, Astral was pressed against the exit door, artificial windstorm screeching in his ears.  He fought against the squall until the fans cut off, then he stumbled back into the center of the chamber.  The panels on the right wall closed, and the control panel dinged again.

With trepidation, Astral looked at the panel.  A little pony smiley face sat above the words, "Thank you for choosing Safe-T Tech© D-Con® Chambers."  There was another ding, and a green arrow on a white background appeared.  There was no text on the screen, only the arrow pointing at the ceiling.

Astral looked up with a groan.  "Isn't this over yet?". Above him, another panel opened, and a towel dropped through, landing on his head.  With a loud sigh, he pushed it back and let it hang around his neck.  On the screen, the green circle was back.  The ticker tape words beneath it had changed though.  They now said, "have a nice day, press green button to open door."

Astral hesitantly pressed the green button.  Given the spin cycle he just went through, the green button probably activated something akin to an ejector seat, but he wanted out.  He was pleasantly surprised when the doors opened without any further fuss.  He was less pleasantly surprised when he walked through them.

He stepped out onto a metal floor with towels thrown down.  Curtain rods stretched across movable stands with small tripod legs, creating a makeshift canvas room.  The sounds of machinery, construction, and hastily barked orders filled the air, as did the smell of oil, coolant, and electronics.

Astral peeked through the curtain.  He was in a large room filled with several more of these canvas ones.  Off to the left, he could see a door leading out to some sort of common area.  A young pinto stallion wearing a red scarf and a welding mask was making repairs to its frame.  Off to the right was a maze of canvas.

Astral sighed and sat down.  Then he started drying himself with the towel, finishing the job the fans left undone.  He had some time to think now, about what happened to him.

Seeing the rest of the station, even this small glimpse at it, reinforced what James said about the restaurant. This was not the sort of place you go for fine dining.  There were four other major space stations in the Canterlot system, but it was unlikely that his employer would have gotten something as important as the name wrong.  That made it almost certain that the attack at the system's edge wasn't a chance encounter, and that the pony who was controlling those drones was hired to attack him.  The only reason Astral could think of was that he was supposed to take whatever had been hidden in the shipping container, the reinforced box the Celestial had taken.

Astral heard a muffled chime from the decontamination chamber.  He looked back as the sound of water jets reached his ears.  James or one of the interns was going through the shower.  His guess was Lilybelle, since she had gotten dirty.  The other two could probably just go straight through.

After a few moments, the door opened and Lilybelle walked out with a towel wrapped around her shoulders.  The thing Astral wasn't expecting was that she was shivering, and her teeth were chattering.

She sat down next to Astral and furiously toweled off.  "The, um, h-hot water doesn't always work twice in a row."

Astral shrugged."Hot water isn't much of an improvement.  I let my guard down because of it."

The young mare giggled.  "It has a way of doing that, then bam!  It hits you.  We have a nickname for it, the Dempsey Chamber."

Astral's head tilted slightly.  "Dempsey?"

Lilybelle nodded.  "Jack Dempsey.  I'm not surprised you haven't heard of him.  I hadn't either.  He was an old human boxer, known for being able to hit hard and fast using something called a Dempsey roll."

"Huh, a fighter then.  Did James name it?  No, it was probably his wife, that mare seems like the kind of pony to know something like that."

Lilybelle shook her head.  "Actually, it was that telepath, Ribbon Dancer."

"Really?  She seems a bit sensitive for that sort of thing."  He sighed.  "And that reminds me, I need to go apologize to her."

Lilybelle looked at Astral like he was crazy.  "You're really going to go talk to her?"

This took Astral a little by surprise.  "Why wouldn't I?"  He noticed the odd look the two interns had given the telepath earlier, but at the time, he didn't know what to attribute it to.  "You're scared of her, aren't you?"

Lilybelle rolled her eyes.  "Duh.  Aren't you?  You yelled at her pretty good back there."

Astral rubbed his face with a hoof.  "I wasn't exactly thinking straight back there.  And it wasn't exactly fear, it was anger.  And I wasn't angry at her, I just had a bad  experience with a telepath recently."

Lilybelle shrugged.  "I don't know, it's still pretty creepy, isn't it?  Digging around in somepony else's head?"

"But you aren't scared of me?  Even though you know I killed somepony?"

"If you had a record, your Iris scan would would have told us, and nurse Growl would have arrested you.  But we didn't even find your name.  You're probably just some freighter captain who does really well under pressure."

"Nurse Growl?  Is that her name?"  Astral chuckled.  "It's fitting isn't it?  Mr. and Mrs. Growl?"

Lilybelle shook her head.  "That's not it.  The docto- I mean, James, doesn't have a last name.  Most gryphons don't.  Growl is her name.  James said there's an interesting story behind it, but I haven't been brave enough to ask her about it."

"It's still fitting."  Astral shrugged.  "But, what if the iris scan was wrong?  Or if I just haven't gotten caught yet?"

The mare scratched her chin.  "Would you really be asking me that if that were the case?"

Astral hunched his shoulders and laughed mock-maniacally.  "Or maybe I'm some sort of egotistical villain who explains everything to his victims?"

Lilybelle scoffed.  "Now I know you're harmless.  Besides, it wouldn't make much of a difference.  I may not look it, but I was top of my class in combat magic.  I could incinerate you before you could do anything."

"You think you could take me?"

She looked him up and down carefully.  "You look like you'd be pretty agile for a stallion, but I saw your base magic levels when were running your diagnostics.  I lasted a full eighteen seconds when I dueled the instructor, and we can both use military level spells.  You wouldn't stand a chance."

Astral shrugged.  "In a duel, probably not.  but what about real life?"

"They're not that different."

He pointed at her chest.  "Your towel would disagree with you."

She looked down.  The towel she left hanging around her neck was tied in a knot.  It wasn't tight, but was still tied.  "When did you-  I didn't even see your horn light up."

The towel untied itself and lifted from her neck.  It then hovered next to Astral's head.  His horn and the towel lacked the visible energy that usually accompanies unicorn magic.  "It's true that I can't match many ponies in terms of power."  He grabbed the towel with a hoof.  "But I worked very hard to make the best of what I have."

"Yeah?  You did a good job of it.  I didn't know that was even-"

A burst of static drowned her out.  It came from what seemed to be an overhead intercom.  It was followed by nurse Growl's distorted voice.  "Attention medical.  Respond any available pony to fabrication bay three.  Non-emergency.  Bring a burn kit."  There was another burst of static.  "And somepony fix this intercom before I tear it out and throw it out the airlock."

Lily belle took her towel back from Astral, taking a second to pay attention to the pink glow surrounding it.  "Well, I guess that's my cue.  James and Annabelle are still cleaning up the operating room."  She tossed the towel around her neck and pulled the canvas wall aside.  "Before I leave, what is your name?"

"Astral.  Astral Plane."

The mare nodded slowly.  "It fits you.  Well, it was nice meeting you Astral, I hope it's under better circumstances next time."

Astral smiled as she ducked out past the curtain.  "Same here, Lilybelle."

A few seconds later there was another burst of static, followed by Lilybelle's voice.  "This is Lilybelle, responding from medical.  I'll be there in three minutes."

Astral shook his head.  Something weird was going on.  The Iris scan Lilybelle mentioned should have returned his name.  It should also have returned his record, one count of justifiable homicide in self-defense, and one count of justifiable homicide in defense of the common interest.  Astral supposed there would be another count of either one added after this, but why didn't the others show up?  Those weren't exactly things that went away.

Astral sighed.  Answers weren't going to come to him, he was going to have to start searching.  The best place to start would be at the beginning, contact the original employer and play dumb.  Something along the lines of, "Oh no, I was attacked!  But I got away.  What do I do with the cargo?" should draw out some interest.  Only, he would be prepared for a trap this time.

Astral Walked out past the curtain.  He wasn't going to get anywhere as long as he was in here.  He had to get to the office and get his paperwork, then he had to check on the Philomena.  But first, he had to find the office.  He could see the exit, but everything else was hidden in the canvas jungle that filled the lobby.

He started walking towards the exit, planning to ask the welder for directions, but noticed something on the ground.  There were several lines of tape running along the floor.  They were all different colors, and each one was labeled with arrows and words.  There was one for "exit," pointed in the direction he was walking, there was one for "equipment," pointed off to the left, and a few others for things like, "burns," "cuts," "dental," and "busted skeletons."  There was also one for, "office," but it was different from the others.

For one thing, it was a much newer tape, like it had recently been replaced.  The floor had lines on it that suggested the tape was replaced on a regular basis.  Astral could see why too.  In addition to the arrows and the word, "office," the tape was scribbled with graffiti.  Things like, "watch out," "don't go there," and, "think happy thoughts."  There was also a rather artistic rendering of two ponies with satellite dishes strapped to their heads, along with the words, "the latest break-through in interpony communication."

Astral followed the tape into the maze of canvas rooms.every so often, there was a small gap in the tape, presumably where something vulgar had been torn out.  The unicorn sighed sadly.  It wasn't hard to piece together the reason for the graffiti.  He even came across, "get out of my head," a few times.

When he reached the end of the tape, he found himself in front of a door that obviously belonged to a closet at one time.  The simple control panel was jury rigged and off-level, the words, "janitorial supplies," were only halfway scraped off, and the word, "office," was above the door in block letters made of tape.  It seemed that even the letters weren't safe from graffiti.  Somepony, rather, two of them, based on differences in the writing, had gone through the trouble of writing, "she's listening," and, "you're safe out here," on the "o" and "e."

Astral tapped the panel and the door slid open.  If anything, the inside was even more clearly a closet.  Aside from the mop and pail just inside, it was cramped.  In the middle of it all, there was a desk that was too big to fit through the door.  It was either teleported in, or assembled in place.  An ancient computer terminal sat on the desk, wires running from it to the wall, and papers covered everything except for the spotless, carpeted floor, and a spot occupied by a single, steaming coffee mug.  Around the desk, there was barely enough room for a pony to walk around the room.

The far walls were lined with filling cabinets, not an unusual sight for a hospital.  The medical field was one of the last bastions of paper paperwork.  Of course, filing cabinets were also great for holding the various pads and thin screens that had mostly replaced paper, so they weren't exactly rare.  Next to the filing cabinets, there was a beanbag chair stuffed in the corner, and in front of it, a stack of books, real ones, not digital, caught Astral's eye.  He recognized the cover of the top book.  It was a Daring-Do book, an old one by the style, and it was in mint condition.  It was either a custom remake, or worth a fortune.

Eyes on the book, Astral stepped through the door.  He was greeted by a shriek and a clatter from his left.  He jumped at the sound and looked over.  Ribbon Dancer was cowering in the corner.  It looked like she was putting some paperwork into the last cabinet on the left when he walked in.  "D-did you need something?"

Astral stared at the mare in disbelief.  She was almost just a filly really, and the look in her eyes wasn't hard to place.  It was fear.  "Are you-"

She nodded quickly.  "I'm fine."

"Are you-"

She nodded even faster.  "Yes, yes, I'm sure."

"Did you just-"

"No!"  Ribbon Dancer ducked in the the corner and covered her horn with both hooves.  "I mean, not on purpose.  I can't really control it.  I didn't mean to.  Honest!"

"Oh."  Astral scratched his mane.  She was a true telepath then.  Those were rare, even among-

Ribbon gave a loud harumph.  "I wish they were even rarer, then maybe I wouldn't be one."

Astral looked over.  "Can you at least let me finish my own thoughts?"

She ducked down even tighter.  "Sorry!"

Astral sighed.  This was shaping up to be a long day.  "I'm not going to hurt you.  You don't have to stay curled up in the corner."

She peeked up at him.  "You... you mean that."

Astral noticed that it wasn't a question.  "Of course I mean that.  Couldn't you tell when I walked in?"

Ribbon slowly got up and shook her head.  "It doesn't really work like that.  I can't really read your mind, I can only hear thoughts that are really strong."

"How does that work?"

"Um, like, right now, there was an echo.  You asked how it works, but you thought it first, like you were saying it to yourself first.  Only, I could hear it too."

"Ok, I think I get it."  Astral nodded.  It must be useful to have a preview of what somepony's going to say.

Ribbon shook her head.  "Not really, most ponies talk without thinking first."  With a quiet squeak, covered her mouth with her hooves.  She moved them to say, "like that," then covered them again.

Astral laughed.  "At least you're honest about it."  He looked down.  There was a clipboard near his hooves.  Ribbon must have dropped it.  He picked it up, meaning to give it to her, but he noticed the names on the paper.

"Ah!"  She grabbed the clipboard from him.  "You weren't supposed to see that!"  She looked down at it.  "She wanted to stay anonymous."

It was too late though, and she knew it.  Names are important, and the moment Astral saw his, or rather, John Q. Buck's name on the page, he immediately looked for others.  John Buck is the standard medical term for a stallion without a name.  According to Lilybelle his name wasn't known.  As such, he was a complete unknown, no family, next-of-kin, etc.  So why was there a completed receipt for payment of his surgery?  And who was this pony that paid it, Twilight Sparkle?

Ribbon groaned as she put the clipboard in the filing cabinet.  "I don't know who she is, but should be grateful.  Not everything's a conspiracy, even though there are a lot of them."  Astral's head tilted to the side, but he didn't get a chance to voice his confusion before Ribbon Dancer pointed at her horn and continued talking.  "Telepath, remember?  A small conspiracy is still a conspiracy.  Makes it really hard to go to the commissary around any major holiday.  Anyway, this mare contacted us via subtext transmission so she could make a charitable donation, wanted to make sure we were well stocked, and offered to pay the bills for any and all current patients.  She wrote each transmission like a personal letter, lots of 'dear' and 'sincerely' like some old , old, grand-mare would.  It was kind of cute.  Anyway, we made it clear that there was an emergency case, you, undergoing extensive, expensive treatment, but she didn't care.  Even tacked on enough of a bonus for us to replace one of the Dempsey Chambers."

Astral sighed.  He was hoping the name would lead to something useful, but-

"It's not, you're just gonna have to deal with it."  Ribbon slammed the filing cabinet shut.  "And make sure you write her a letter or something.  Your treatment was very expensive.  It took four hours just to cut you out of that power armor of a suit you were in.  We went through two dozen saw blades, and burnt out three saws."  She looked down sadly and tapped the filing cabinet with a hoof.  "At least, that's what the report said, I didn't get to help.  It's kind of hard for me to help with emergency calls, so I usually get stuck doing paperwork in this magically shielded broom closet."  She looked up quickly.  "Oh yeah, why weren't you confused when I mentioned the Dempsey Chamber?  Most ponies are."

Astral chuckled.  "For somepony who deals in thoughts, you sure talk a lot."

"I can't help it," she whined, "I don't get to talk to anypony.  Except for James, Growl, and my instructors, everypony's afraid of me.  Now, can you answer my question, or at least think it?"

With a wry smile, Astral obliged.

"Oh!  Lily told you."  The colorful mare nodded, making her rainbow mane bob up and down.   "That makes sense.  I think she's starting to like boxing too.  I just wish she would talk to me.  It would be so nice to have another fan to talk to, but her and her cousin Anna don't like me all that much."  She started digging around in the papers on the desk.  "We're all students at Luna's Academy, in the medical division, but I don't really know them that well.  I'm the only real telepath there at the moment, so I have a lot of training and study that I have to do alone.  There are a few pseudo and trained telepaths too, but I don't spend much time with them either.  Apparently, it makes a big difference if your powers are natural or not.  Besides, a lot of them are kind of stuck up, like they think they're better than everypony else.  And there's this one guy who's a total nut!  I think he wants to become a supervillain or something.  But there are a lot of nice ponies too.  And dragons.  Oh!  And gryphon's, too."

Astral sat and listened politely while she dug through papers and told him about Mary, the gryphon whose brother is a telepath.  And how she wasn't afraid of her.  And how she found out that Ribbon liked boxing.  And how they joined a boxing gym together.  And how they got kicked out after Mary ripped a sandbag in two with her claws.  Then, the "conversation" shifted to why sandbags still use sand, and what kind of sand is best, and how ponies have to use special gloves and techniques in order to box.

She was in the middle of explaining proper punching form when she suddenly stopped and lifted a grey folder off the table.  "Here it is!  I forgot, I color coded it so it wouldn't get mixed up."  She handed it to Astral.  It was almost the same color as his coat.  "These are the care instructions for your shoulder.  You'll especially want to make sure you follow the instructions for the diet, or may wind up with kidney stones because of the protein thread."

"Thanks."  Astral took the folder and gave it a cursory flip-through.  This is what he had originally come for, but he was having fun listening Ribbon's off topic ramblings.  "So, how did you ever get interested in a human sport like boxing?"

"Well, I like boxing best, but I love all sorts of competitive fighting.  Dueling, mock dog fights, wrestling, and of course, boxing, they're all great.  Here, take a look at this."

She opened the bottom drawer of one of  the filing cabinets.  There were no papers inside, but rather, the sort of personal effects one might expect a young mare to have.  There was a brush, several flavors of lip gloss, and a little locking journal.  But there was also a pair of boxing gloves, black with red lightning bolts, in her size, a blunted dagger with a rainbow colored wooden handle, and a small crystal box.

She pulled out the box.  "I almost wasn't able to get this."  She slowly pulled its hinged lid back.  Inside was a little slip of holographic paper.  "These are the last two tickets, the absolute last, to Xander vs. Crchek."

Astral nodded and smiled.  " That means absolutely nothing to me."

Ribbon Dancer shrugged and put the box away.  "It doesn't to most ponies.  But Xander Johnson is the oldest human heavyweight champion since George Foreman.  Crchek is a Curaxxan, and the longest running heavyweight champion ever.  He was going on two hundred years when Xander unseated him nearly three decades ago, and now he wants to take his title back.  Crchek was once once a student at Luna's Academy, so I'll be rooting for him, but between you and me, he doesn't stand a chance.  Xander's going to take him down, then retire undefeated."  She let out an excited, filly-like squeal.  "Oh, I can't wait!  But the fight isn't for another two years.  I have to learn how to block out crowds by then."

"I'm going to have to catch a recording of it then."

Ribbon closed this door with the greatest of care.  " Make sure you do, It's going to be great!"

Astral laughed.  "The way you're going on about it, sure, but you never answered my question.  How did you ever get into fighting?"

She scratched her neck.  "I'm not sure how, exactly, probably my mom, but I can tell you why."

Astral nodded.  "I guess that's good enough."

She nodded her head a bit from side to side, like she was trying to think of a way to word her thoughts.  "It's honest, you know?  When two ponies get into the ring, there's no confusion about the end result.  One will win, and one will lose.  The goal, the path, and the method are all set.  But even then, the journey, the outcome, is unknown.  It's unpredictable, but when it gets there, you know you've got the truth."

Astral nodded slowly.  She had a good point.  "But deception is a large part of fighting, misleading your opponent in order to trap him."

She shook her head.  "It's still honest.  Because, you know why.  A lie is two parts, the lie and the reason.  If you already know the reason, you're really just looking for something that you know is there.  It's more honest than a lie that you know about, but don't know the reason for." She gave a small shrug.  "At least, that's kind of the way I see it.  It's kind of like you.  You're just honest in a different way."

Astral straightened up.  "How do you mean?"

"You're honest about life, survival.  You want to live no matter what, even if you don't know why.  You have a goal, and a reason, and you follow it.  Everypony you face knows that, so you can't really deceive them."

Astral set his folder down on the desk.  Something had been bothering him for a while now, but he hadn't quite been able to pinpoint it until now.  "How much do you know about me?"

Ribbon looked down.  "A lot more than I should.  Your pain, and anger, in the operating room made you much more honest than most ponies ever are."  She looked up just as Astral opened his mouth to speak.  "Before you ask, yes, that's why I was so scared of you when you walked in.  I've seen first hoof, through your eyes, just what you're capable of, what you can do, what you have done."  She smiled slightly.  "You overwhelmed me earlier, and I was stuck with a jumble of thoughts and memories that weren't mine.  But being near you now, talking, and listening, is helping me sort it out.  Your thoughts are so strong, it makes you easy to listen to, and I'm getting a sense for how you think."

Astral sighed.  "I don't know if that's good or bad, but it's nice to have somepony understand."

Ribbon shook her head.  "I don't quite understand it, not the way you're thinking.  Oh, and don't worry, you haven't asked, or even thought it yet, but I won't tell anypony anything you don't want me to."

"Thank you."  Astral picked up the folder again.  "I appreciate it."

"Wait."  Ribbon reached out and grabbed the folder.  "I know you want to go see your ship and start investigating what happened to you, but I need you to promise me something."

Astral looked down at the hoof.  It was shaking slightly.  "Sure, after what I did, I owe you that much."

She pulled her hoof back.  "Knowing you, I almost don't want to say it, but when you find the Celestial who was on your ship, don't hurt her.  Or at least promise me that you'll consider that you might be wrong about her."

Astral clenched his jaw.  "Why?  Why would you ask me to promise that?"  It took everything he had not to raise his voice at the young mare.  "You saw what happened out there."

She shook her head.  "I can't tell you why until you promise me."

"Not good enough."  Astal turned to leave.  "I can't promise anything."

"I know her."  There was a short pause.  " Well, I don't, 'know her,' know her, but I've talked to her."

Astral turned around.  "You have?"

Ribbon nodded slowly.  "I can't believe she would have done what she did without a reason."

"It better have been a good one," Astral growled.

"Promise me you won't hurt her, and I'll tell you how you can ask her."

Astral glared at her for a moment, then kicked the desk hard enough to dent the thin sheet metal.  "Gah!"  He grabbed his shoulder.  It was probably a bad idea to use his left leg to do that.

Ribbon rolled her eyes and rubbed at her shoulder.  "You think?  That hurt!"

Astral sighed and mirrored her actions.  "Fine.  I promise I won't hurt her."

Ribbon nodded as she listened to the silent caveat that followed.  "But, if she attacks you, or your ship again, all bets are off.  I had a feeling that would be the case."  She looked Astral in the eyes and held it for a moment.  "I can tell you aren't happy about it, but you'll keep your word."  She looked down at the desk and pulled a piece of paper off of it.  "Here, this is where you can find her."

Astral took the offered paper.  It was a pamphlet for Luna's academy, one of the Canterlot system's largest schools, and one of the most respected in the galaxy.  The pamphlet was advertising public courses that were available for anypony to take during Canterlot's summer.  On the front of the pamphlet, there was a picture of the current generation's Luna wearing the school's traditional robes.

Most ponies anywhere knew at least a little bit about Luna's Academy, and Astral was no exception.  He had even taken correspondence classes from there a few times.  They were free, but demanded a lot from their students in terms of commitment and quality work.  If they thought you weren't taking things seriously, they kicked you out and made you try again later.  It was a family run organization, passed down from mother to daughter from generation to generation.  The mare in charge was always named Luna, and she was always a dark, blue, purple, or black pony with an affinity for the night.  Beyond that, little was known about the family.

Astral opened the pamphlet.  The center leaflets were filled with photographs of a large number of students and instructors.  Text about how fun it is to learn plastered in every available space.  He was about to close the pamphlet when he noticed Lilybelle in a picture.  Her fur was slightly singed, ruined protective gear littered the floor at her hooves, and she was proudly pointing at a digital readout that displayed, "18.04 seconds."  It was a photographic version of the story she told him earlier.

Then he he noticed the pony behind her.  She was pretty far back in the picture, but there was no mistaking it.  The Celestial was wearing the robes of a Luna Academy Instructor.  Judging by the picture, she was the combat arts instructor.  

"How fitting," Astral said dryly.

Ribbon nodded.  "Nopony's ever beaten her.  But, she teaches other things too.  I think."  She took the pamphlet back.  "I don't know her name though.  I haven't taken any courses under her, but she seemed really nice when I talked to her."

"Anything else?"

The mare shook her head.  "Not really.  But she was always sad when she talked to me.  I think something about me brought up bad memories."

"You think?  Couldn't you tell?"

She shook her head again.  "There was always something different about her thoughts, like listening to music in a different language.  You might get the point, but you don't know what's being said."

"Probably because she isn't a pony."

She nodded.  " I know, she's a Celestial.  I saw it, but it's hard to believe.  It's hard enough to believe that they're even real."

"What's real?"  Astral turned around.  Ribbon's father had just walked into the small office, and he didn't seem too happy to see the grey stallion.  "You again?  Come to yell at my daughter some more?"

Ribbon walked over and smacked him in the side.  "Astral came by to pick up his care papers and apologize."  The blue stallion raised an eyebrow.  "Yes, I know, he's the first one.  And yes, he meant it.  No he didn't actually get to say it, but he was going to.  And no, I don't think you could convince him that you're a telepath too."

He rolled his eyes.  "Not after you said that."  He examined Astral carefully.  "So, Astral was it?  You seem to be doing well.  How's the shoulder?"

The grey unicorn moved his left leg around to show him.  "Much better than having a hole in it, that's for sure."

The stallion smiled.  "Good to hear.  You know, I don't mean to brag, but..."  He looked over at Ribbon Dancer as she giggled.  "Not a word, young lady."  He looked back at Astral.  "OK, I am bragging, but I'm not a regular doctor here.  I'm an automated surgery specialist, and I was only supposed to be installing that device we used on you.  It's my own design, half the size, twice the needles, and a twenty percent boost in heat dissipation.  Cuts surgery time by forty-seven percent on average."

Astral rubbed his shoulder just thinking about it.  "You mean, that could have taken twice as long as it did?"

He nodded.  "That's exactly what I mean."  He threw a hoof around Ribbon's shoulder.  "Now, if you'll excuse me, I'd like to discuss some dinner plans with my daughter, limited though the options may be."

”Sure.  I have things to take care of anyway."  The three ponies shuffled around the small office so Astral could make it out.  "Take care you two."

Before walking out, he magically grabbed a marker off the corner of the desk.  It fell to the ground the moment he stepped past the threshold.  When he looked back, Ribbon kicked it out to him.  "That's the magical shielding I mentioned.  It can be a hassle, but it keeps it quiet in here."

Astral shrugged.  "You do what you have to."  Before Leaving the hospital, Astral added his own line to the graffiti above the door.  

"She's nicer than you lot.  ~Astral."



> Sometimes the Twain Shall Meet
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------

Astral walked through the construction zone hallways of the station looking for a map.  Or at the very least, somepony to point him in the direction of the security office.  He had been able to find the docking bays easily enough, but that was because had asked the pinto welder for directions.

But when he got there, the security guard wouldn't let him near the Philomena.  Apparently, the ship was still considered a crime scene, and, "Hi, I was the guy in the spacesuit, you probably don't recognize me," wasn't enough to gain access.  He had been told, quite directly, to return with ID, and authorization from Security Chief Growl.

Now, he was stuck walking through the station, looking for somepony who was running a piece of machinery quiet enough to be heard over.  For a while, he had debated returning to medical, but he had gotten turned around, and couldn't find his way back.  It didn't help that this whole place seemed to be changing.  Blocked corridors were being cleared of debris, and open corridors were being cordoned off, leaving the station a barely navigable mess.

He wasn't the only one having problems either.  A few times already, he had passed a big, red earth pony who looked even more confused than he was.  He was wearing some sort of uniform shirt, and his head was on a swivel as he strolled through meandering station halls.  His messy, blonde-orange mane flip-flopped as he turned his head in response to every sound, shadow, and movement around him.

Astral was standing near that pony now.  They were in front of the station's only restaurant.  Restaurant was definitely not a good word for it.  Mess hall was more accurate.  Slimy cafeteria was even more accurate.

There was a line of ponies, gryphons, humans, a few curaxxans, and even two medium-smallish dragons, all waiting like students in a lunch line.  They chattered among themselves as they patiently filed between four different stations, each manned by ponies in their teens.  The patrons picked up a tray at the first.  At the second one, reconstituted vegetable stew and some sort of side dish was slopped onto the tray.  The third station dispensed some sort of imitation meat product, or rehydrated vegetables, based on customer preference.  The fourth, and final station handled payment, drinks, and What Astral assumed was supposed to be dessert.

The earth pony was looking at a large pail to the left of the door.  It was filled with small, foil-wrapped bars, and a small sign above it said, "rations, take one."  The big stallion looked like he was about to do just that.

Astral recalled the nutrient gel phase of his treatment and shuddered.  "Don't do it," he warned the red pony, "trust me on this."

The earth pony looked up.  "They ain't really that bad, are they?"

The accent surprised Astral for a moment.  It was similar to accents on some of the farming planets in the Texas system, but seemed older.  "It's not about the taste."

The red pony shrugged.  It was such a small movement that Astral almost missed it.  "Ah'll take yer word for it."  He stepped aside as a mumbling unicorn walked up to the pail and took one of the ration bars with a groan of disgust.

The red pony was standing right next to Astral now, and the unicorn realized just how big the big pony was.  He was at least a head taller than most ponies, and probably matched a human or a curaxxan in terms of weight.  The pony also looked like he had never seen a human or a curaxxan before.  "Are you lost?"

The pony nodded slowly.  "Eeyup."

Astral waited a moment for him to elaborate.  When it became clear that he wasn't going to, Astral continued the conversation.  "So am I.  I was looking for the security office, but got a bit turned around.  This place is a mess, isn't it?"

"Eeyup."  The red pony surprised Astral by not stopping there.  "It kinda reminds me of the shipyards back where Ah came from.  Everythin' was hustle and bustle there, too."  He sighed sadly.  "It was so long ago, but it don't feel like it."  He shook his head.  "Ain't no good to dwell, I've got a job ta do."  He looked over at Astral.  "Ah'm lookin' fer somepony by the name of Astral Plane."

Astral tried very hard not to show his surprise, and shrugged.  "Good luck finding him on this wreck."  The unicorn tried to nonchalantly walk away, but he was stopped by a hoof the size of his face.  He looked up.

The red pony raised an eyebrow.  "Ah never said it was a stallion."



> Cut and Run, and Run, and Run
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------

Lilybelle sighed wearily as she dragged the burn kit back to medical.  Fabrication bay three was dedicated to the low-grade thermoplastics used in prototyping.  The hottest thing in there was probably the coffee, so every once in a while, somepony would decide they didn't have to wear their safety gear.  Without fail, that would be the day something breaks, or overheats, or catches a tail and runs it through a vacuum sealer.

Today, somepony had backed into a vat of molten plastic.  It wasn't very hot, barely a little warmer than bath water, but it had dumped over and gotten caked in the pony's tail.  That should have been the end of it.  He should have gone to his supervisor, filled out a report, and headed to medical.  His tail would have been cleaned of plastic in a minute or two, and he would have gotten the rest of the day off.

Instead, he tried to clean it off himself, without telling anypony.  He basically sat in a break room sink and tried to rinse the plastic out with hot water.  That was a good plan, but the pony was impatient and the water wasn't hot enough for his liking.  Some jury-rigged heating element and a steam explosion later, and she was being called in to treat a roasted flank and a tail that was glued so far down a pipe, they had to cut out part of a wall.

Lilybelle sighed again as she entered the medical bay.  Now came the hard part, paperwork.  Equipment usage had to be logged, accident reports had to be filed with security, and bills had to be sent out.  That wasn't the worst part though.  She followed the meandering maze of canvas back to the office.  The worst part was that the paperwork she needed was in there.

"Hello?"  Came Ribbon Dancer's voice from inside.  "Is someone out there?"  The door slid open, revealing the brightly colored unicorn within.  Her eyes widened when she saw her coworker.  "Oh, Lily.  Why are you all splo-"  She shook her head to stop herself.  The grey patches on Lilybelle's coat were a perfect match for a certain ex-patient, so it wasn't hard to tell what happened, and the mare probably wouldn't want to talk about it.  "Nevermind, did you need some paperwork?"

Lilybelle gave the other mare a cold, hard glare.  "I thought you couldn't read thoughts from in there."

Ribbon shrunk back.  "I-  I can't, I just heard something dragging, so I checked, and you never come by here for anything else."

Lilybelle rolled her eyes.  It was then that she noticed the graffiti above the door, and Astral's message.  She looked back at the colorful telepath.  Astral didn't strike her as the sort to sign his name to something lightly.  "Sorry, just give me the standard papers for a house call."

The younger unicorn picked a pink folder off the desk.  "I put it together when I heard the...  Did you just apologize to me?"

"What of it?"  Lilybelle snapped.  "Just give me the papers."

Head lowered, Ribbon moved towards the door.  She set the folder down near the threshold and carefully started pushing it out to Lilybelle with a hoof.

Lilybelle sighed quietly.  This was probably the longest she had ever spoken to the telepath one on one, and it was starting to change the way she saw her.  Lilybelle had always been wary of her, but the pony in front of her wasn't something to be afraid of.  If anything, Ribbon looked pathetic, like a zoo animal.

Lilybelle looked away.  As pitiful as the other mare looked right now, it was still unsettling to know she had access to your thoughts.  She looked back up at Astral's message.  Had he actually gone in there?  Or did he just talk Ribbon through the threshold?  She sighed again.  She was probably going to regret what she was about to do.

She cleared her throat impatiently and looked down at Ribbon.  The younger mare had only gotten the folder halfway out the door.  "What are you doing?  Just pick it up and give it to me."

Ribbon stopped pushing it and looked up at Lilybelle.  "But, my magic can't go past the shielding.  That's why it's there in the first place."

The older mare tapped her hoof on the deck.  "You have hooves, don't you?  A mouth maybe?"

The multicolored unicorn looked up at her fellow intern.  "But that would mean I have to go out there.  You don't mind?"

Lilybelle sat down and crossed her hooves.  "Of course I mind.  But, if you keep it quick, I suppose I can live with it."

Ribbon nodded happily.  "OK!"  She picked up the folder in her mouth and was about to step out the door when Lilybelle held up a hoof to stop her.

"Just... don't do anything creepy, OK?"

Ribbon nodded again, and Lilybelle put her hoof down.  The older intern then tried very hard not to think anything as the telepath stepped through the door.

Once outside, Ribbon went completely still, staring straight ahead with eyes as wide as space itself.

Lilybelle pointed at her.  "See?  That's exactly how I define creepy."

This pink mare's words seemed to snap Ribbon out her trance.  The rainbow unicorn shook her head, then spit out the folder, spreading Lilybelle's paperwork across the floor.

"Hey!  I needed those."

Ribbon made a break for the hospital's exit.  "Astral's being kidnapped!"  She ran out the door, and past the ever-present pinto welder.  "And he thinks you're cute with spots!"

The welder blushed and gave Lilybelle a nervous wave.  The mottled pink mare gave a nervous chuckle and returned the wave before chasing after Ribbon Dancer.  The younger mare had a head start, but Lilybelle had a longer stride, and soon started to catch up.  "You idiot!  That's not something you just say out loud!  And where are you even going?"

"Docking bay two!"  Ribbon answered frantically.  "They're headed for an orbital shuttle!"  She took an abrupt left turn down a high-ceilinged corridor.  "This way will be faster!"

"No!  Ribbon, they're doing construction down here!"  Sure enough, there was a sheet metal panel, two ponies tall, stretched across the corridor ahead.  It looked like a wall panel, but it was blocking the way.  "We'll have to turn back!"

Ribbon kept running towards it, ignoring Lilybelle's shouts.  She didn't slow down either, and everypony around was worried she would end up crashing into something.  But at the last moment, she launched herself off a nearby construction worker like a springboard, somersaulting over the barrier with an athletic grace that caught Lilybelle off guard.

"Where the hell did you learn to do that?"  Lilybelle shouted.  The pink pony had to stop at the sheet metal.  There was no way she was going to match the other unicorn's athletic display, and she couldn't teleport because she didn't know what was on the other side.

One of the construction workers walked over to Lilybelle, pushing a welding helmet up and out of his face.  "That filly's got some moves.  Friend o' yours?"

"No."  Lily growled.  "Is this wall important?"

He glanced at the sheet metal.  "This?  Nah, we're getting ready to chop it up and haul it to recycling."

"Good."  Lilybelle reached up and pulled the construction worker's helmet down over his face. She then launched a fiery blast of magic at the wall, melting a hole in it large enough for a parade to march through.  She jumped through the hole, easily avoiding the glowing edges, and resumed the chase.

Ribbon Dancer was out of sight, but there was only one path to follow.  Lilybelle followed that path until it came to an intersection with another corridor.  "Oh, come on!"  How was she supposed to catch up with the telepath now?  There were two options, should she just pick one?  A fifty-fifty chance is better than waiting around.  But which one should she pick?  The right fork would lead past the restaurant, but the left fork would lead past the security office.  Lilybelle took the left path.  Even if she didn't find Ribbon Dancer, she could tell Growl what was happening.

Ribbon Dancer immediately ran past her, headed in the opposite direction.  "That way's completely blocked."

With a loud groan, Lilybelle followed her down the other path.

As they neared the restaurant, a familiar blue stallion was walking out with a takeout box.  "Hi dad," Ribbon called out as she ran past, "bye dad."  He threw a hoof in the air and she glanced back.  "No time, Astral's being kidnapped!"

With a loud groan, Ribbon's father set the takeout box next to the ration bucket and set off after them.  He caught up easily, overtaking Lilybelle and taking up a position alongside his daughter.  He let out a loud snort.

Ribbon looked over at him.  "That's what you get for making stupid bets."

"Somepony want to clue me in?"  Lilybelle was starting to feel winded, but the other two seemed to barely notice that they were even running.  "I don't have the benefit of freaky mind-powers."

Ribbon's father glanced back, and Ribbon slammed into his side as they ran.  "Dad!  That's not nice."  Neither of them slowed down.  Ribbon looked back.  "Dad made a bet with James about how long Astral could stay out of trouble.  Loser has to eat ration bars for a week."

They came across another obstruction.  This one wasn't nearly as tall as the last one, but it was still as tall as the average pony.  Ribbon flipped over it with ease, and her father jumped it like it was nothing, but Lilybelle had to clamber over it like an awkward monkey.

They ran into several more obstructions in quick succession, each one causing more and more difficulty for the struggling pink unicorn.  When she cleared the last one, she was out of breath and standing in docking bay two's crowded loading area.  Ribbon and her father were far ahead of her, but her father was stopped and talking to Growl.  Ribbon was still running though the crowd, straight for where Astral was being dragged away by the largest pony Lilybelle had ever seen.

Ribbon kept running, straight for that monster of a pony.  "Ribbon!"  Lilybelle shouted.  She didn't have enough air in her to say anything else.  What was that filly planning to do against that red brute?

As she ran, the telepath came across a human mechanic carrying a large wrench over her shoulder.  She leapt up, grabbing the wrench without breaking her pace, and ignored the woman's shouts as she ran off with it.

Ribbon let out a battle cry as she neared the red pony.  The red giant looked over just as the young pony swung the wrench.  He didn't seem to see the improvised weapon, but he sure saw the pony wielding it.  "R.D?  Is that you?"

> Hit the Hammer on the Head
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------

Ribbon Dancer cried as she held her hooves to her head.  The wrench she had clubbed the red pony with lay forgotten in front of her.  "That hurt!  I know that hurt!"  She looked up.  The red pony was watching her passively, like nothing had happened.  "Why didn't that work?"

Blood trickled down the giant's forehead.  "Yer a unicorn."

"So?" She yelled.  She couldn't hear anything.  "What does that have to do with anything?  And how did you know my initials?"  There was no immediate answer.  There should have been one.  He should have answered her as soon as the question was asked.  She couldn't hear his thoughts.

"Ah didn't mean nothin' by it."  He scratched at his neck.  Then he noticed the red liquid dripping from his head.  He wiped a bit of it away with his hoof.  "Ya just reminded me a' somepony."

"My mom..."  Ribbon rubbed her head furiously.  "My mom says that all the time.  Can you please put some ice on that?"  She whined quietly.  "Or take a painkiller?  Something?"

The red pony tilted his head to the side.  To him, this unicorn was acting more than a little weird.  "Yer mom's name, it ain't Rainbow Dash by any chance, is it?"

Ribbon shook her head.  "It's June Bug.  Now will you please go get that taken care of?"

"Thanks fer yer concern miss, but Ah've got work ta do."  He gestured towards the apparently unconscious Astral.  "Ah'm s'posed ta bring this fella ta meet somepony."

"I don't believe you!"  Ribbon stomped a hoof.  She couldn't hear any other thoughts either.  The crowd around them was silent to her.  "My head hurts too much for me to tell if you're lying, so I don't believe you."  She pointed at Astral.  "Why did you knock him out, huh?  You were kidnapping him, confess!"  She wobbled a bit, and groaned.  "And please do something about your head."  The young unicorn looked over as somepony stepped up beside her.  It was a familiar red and green mare.  "I got him, nurse Growl.  Are you going to arrest him?"

The elder mare leaned close to Ribbon.  "I should arrest you," she hissed through clenched teeth.  "As amazing as your abilities may be, you need to wait until you see the whole picture."   Growl straightened up and tossed her mane back with a quiet huff.  She then addressed the uniformed red pony with a tone of respect few ever received from her.  "Sir, I apologize for any trouble Ribbon Dancer may have caused you.  She's young, inexperienced, and prone to jumping into action based on incomplete information."

"What?" Ribbon's head ping-ponged between the two ponies.  "Why are you being so nice to him?"

"Ribbon," the elder mare responded pleasantly, "I'm going to assume that blow to his head has addled your senses.  Otherwise, you would know..."  Growl looked over, and any trace of pleasantry faded like mist.  "He works for the freakin' president, you numbskull!"

"Ah do?"  The red pony cleared his throat.  "Ah mean, of course Ah do."  He nodded slowly, almost as if to convince himself of it.  "The, um, white gryphon?  With the, uh, black stripe by his eye?"

Growl squinted at him.  "Coriander Jones?"

"Oh.  Is that his name?  It didn't come up when Ah talked to him."

Growl sighed and shook her head.  "You're lucky he vouched for you."

He nodded.  "Eeyup."

"Wait!  Wait."  Still clutching her head with one hoof, Ribbon forced her way between the two older ponies.  "You expect me to believe that the president, our president, the same gryphon who personally led the ground attack on Chorios Three because he 'had nothing better to do,' has thugs who go around abducting ponies and knocking them out?"

Growl planted her hoof and spun around, bumping Ribbon out of the way with her hip and knocking the unicorn to a sitting position.  "Go ice your head, and ask me that when your powers return."

The big red pony held up a hoof between the two mares.  "It's alright, Ah'm sure she's just a right bit confused."  Then he muttered to himself, "Ah know Ah am."  He cleared his throat and looked over at Ribbon.  "Ah ain't a thug."

She pointed at him.  "That's exactly what a thug would say."

He opened his mouth to respond, but sighed instead.  Then he scratched his mane.  "Ah guess yer right about that.  But, Ah didn't knock 'im out.  He made a break for it and knocked his head 'gainst a beam."  He pulled a small device from his pocket and held it out to Ribbon.  "Then Ah used this on him."

The unicorn warily moved forward to inspect the offered device.  It looked like the business end of a neural disjunction unit, but she had never seen a portable one before.  She looked up with narrowed eyes.

The red pony shrugged.  "Ah was only tryin' to zap his leg, keep him from runnin'," but Ah kinda missed."  He gestured towards Astral.  "He's still awake, Ah think."

Without taking her eyes off him, Ribbon backed up towards Astral.  When she was next to him, she glanced down.  The grey unicorn's eyes were open and focused on her, but other than a steady rhythm of breathing, he was as still as the crystal spires of her home planet.  "Astral, what happened?"

His eyes looked over at the red pony, then back at Ribbon.

The young mare shook her head.  "I can't hear you right now."  She looked around the shuttlebay,searching for an all but forgotten companion.  "Lily!  Are you in here?"

"Yeah,"  Lilybelle called out.  She trudged over to them from where she had been vomiting in a trash bin.  "I'm here."

Growl raised an eyebrow as the other mare approached.  "You've been skipping out on your training program, haven't you."

For a moment, Lilybelle considered lying, but she was too tired to think up a good excuse.  "It won't happen again, Nurse Growl."

The older mare nodded.  "I'll make sure of that, personally."  She looked over at the uniformed earth pony.  "If you have no objections, Lilybelle will restore your charge to a mobile state."

The red pony shook his head.  "No objections here."

"Good."  Growl looked over at Ribbon.  "As for you..."  the elder made walked up to her, and looked down.  She towered over the young unicorn and spoke softly.  "I'll remand you into your father's custody, but you will return to your quarters, and you will stay there until I decide on a suitable punishment for your actions."

Ribbon took a step back.  "But, I..."

Growl rolled her eyes and pointed at the red pony.  "Assault."  She pointed at the dropped wrench.  "Theft."  She then pointed at her right ear.  She had a small earring in that ear, but Ribbon knew it wasn't just a decoration.  "And, if I am to believe my security staff, creating a public nuisance, hazardous conduct in construction zones, trespass in restricted areas, and..."  She glanced over at Lilybelle, but only for a moment.  "Ribbon, I'll be holding you responsible for destruction of materials and property as well."

Ribbon took another step back.  "But, I..."

Growl waved Ribbon's father over and took a step forward, closing the distance the younger pony created.  "If the next words out of your mouth are anything besides, 'sorry,' and, 'goodbye,' I'll throw you in the brig."  

Ribbon stared up at the older pony.  Even without her telepathy, she could tell that she was serious about her threat.  The rainbow-colored unicorn looked over at the pony she failed to save.  "I'm sorry, Astral, I have to go."

Her father put a hoof on her shoulder.  "Let's move, kid."

Ribbon looked up in surprise.  Kid was the family code used when there was something important happening.  She gave Astral one last apologetic glance before following her father away from the rest.  She waited until they were out of earshot before speaking.  "Dad, what's going on, why'd you use the code?"

The earth pony stopped and stared at her for a moment.  "Your telepathy got scrambled, didn't it?"  She nodded, and he continued.  "I thought as much.  Anyway, Growl gave me access to a security terminal.  While you were talking, I was checking the passenger manifests of the shuttles."

"Did you find anything?"

"Not much."  He shrugged.  "Well, not about that red pony, but I found the information for his shuttle, specifically, the passenger list and schedule.  It's a private shuttle, and there's only one passenger listed, Astral Plane.  But, he's listed for a departure today, and a return trip tomorrow.  Assuming old red's the pilot, Astral will be just fine."

Ribbon looked down.  "That's good, but...  Dad, that red pony..."  She stopped and looked around, tugging at her mane as she made sure no pony would hear her.

Her father noticed, and pulled her aside to a small alcove.  "What is it?  What's bothering you?"

Ribbon looked at her hoof.  A few brightly colored strands had come out from her pulling and stuck to her sky colored fur.  "He knew about mom."

It was three breaths before he spoke again.  "Are you sure."

Ribbon nodded.  "I can't hear anything but this ringing in my ears, but the image was there.  When he looked at me, he saw her.  And, he knew her name."

> I Don't Think We're in Canterlot Anymore
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------

	Astral groaned as he eased himself into one of the shuttle's passenger seats.  He was still a bit tingly from Lilybelle's neural reconnect spell.  As nice as the young mare was, her spellcraft wasn't exactly pleasant.

He groaned again as he sank into the seat cushion.  It was much softer than it looked.  Then again, everything on the shuttle was like that, deceptive in some way.  At first glance, it would be easy to call the small, three cabin shuttle utilitarian in nature.  It was anything but.

There were hidden panels everywhere, waiting beneath the windowless, office-beige walls.  Biding their time until the slightest touch of a hoof called them into service.  Computer terminals, entertainment stations with personal audio, and even refreshments were available at each of the eight seats.

And that was just in the passenger area.  The pilot's cabin, where his, "captor," prepared for departure, was no less impressive.  Based on the different displays, this shuttle had a slipstream drive, shields, and offensive capabilities.

The third cabin, behind the passenger area, was a mystery.  It's door was closed, and Astral had no excuse to go back there.  He only got a peek at the pilot's cabin because the red pony had left the door open.

Astral straightened up in his seat as that red stallion walked back into the passenger cabin.  "Ok, you said you would explain this, so start explaining."

The earth pony sat in a nearby seat.  "Ah'll try, but Ah've got a few things Ah'm not supposed to say."  He bumped a hidden panel, and nearly jumped out of his skin when a curaxxan death ballad started blaring out of the speakers around him.  He fumbled with the controls that appeared in front of him, trying to silence the distorted harmonics pelting his eardrums, and stopped only when a piece of the panel snapped off in his oversized hooves.  He then stood up, and the seat's sensors automatically turned off the, "music."  He cleared his throat, and set about stuffing the broken panel back into the compartment it flipped out from.  "Anythin' particular ya want to know?"

"Are you going to be ok piloting this thing all the way to wherever we're going?"

The red pony shook his head.  "Oh, Ah ain't piloting nothin'."  He sat in front of Astral, and was very careful not to touch anything.  "This thing's takin’ us ta planet Canterlot on auto, and Ah'm leavin' it that way."

Astral looked back towards the front of the shuttle.  The door was still open, and the front viewport showed space where shuttlebay had been.  "I didn't even feel us lift off."

The red pony nodded in agreement.  "Mighty nice ride, Ah'd say."

Astral leaned back again, relaxing into his seat cushion.  "You know, you don't strike me as the usual muscle-for-hire type."

"That's cause Ah ain't."  He glanced back at the door to the third cabin.  "Ah'm helpin' a friend."

"Abducting somepony with presidential approval."  Astral rolled his eyes.  "Must be some friend."

"Mah family owes her a lot, so do a lot of other folk."  He sighed quietly.  "And, she thinks she owes us more than she's already given."

"That does sound like a good friend."  If he wasn't being held against his will, Astral would have felt bad about his sarcasm.  "What's her name?  And while we're at it, what's yours?"

"That's right, Ah never introduced mahself properly."  The red pony turned around in his seat and leaned over the back of it to offer a hoof.  The chair creaked under his weight like old wood.  "My name's Macintosh, but most ponies call me Big Mac."

Astral gave the offered hoof a firm shake.  "It's certainly a fitting name."

"Eeyup."  Mac turned around, and his chair let out one last groan as it was relieved of his weight.  "But, so's yours.  Ah heard you're a starship pilot, so Astral Plane fits you just right."

The unicorn's head tilted to the side.  He just said starship.  Nopony says starship anymore.  Not unless they're five.  "So, uh, where are we going?"

"We're goin' to see that friend Ah mentioned."  Mac scratched at his mane and turned around again."Um, could ya get me a glass a' water?  Ah don't want ta risk breakin' another panel."

Astral's head tilted to the other side.  He just had to be kidnapped by the galaxy's nicest, most inept mercenary.  "Sure.  Why not?"

The red pony watched carefully as Astral activated the appropriate panel and manipulated a selection menu.  After a few seconds, a selection was confirmed, and the glass, aluminum tumbler rather, of water was dispensed from another panel.  Mac took the cup and gave it a timid taste before knocking it back in one go.

Astral took the emptied tumbler and set it back in the panel.  It would be cleaned, washed, and ready for the next pony in just a few seconds.  "So, does this friend have a name?"

Again, Mac glanced at the back compartment.  "That's one a' the things Ah ain't supposed to say."

Astral snuck a glance back when Mac wasn't looking.  "You know, we should play cards sometime."

The red pony's ears perked up.  "Ponies still play cards?"

Astral squinted at the pony.  "Still?"

"Oh, nothin'."  Mac chuckled.  "Ah just ain't played a hand a' poker in a long time.  Ah was thinkin' somethin' might have come along to replace it.  So, why do ya bring it up?"

"I brought it up because you seem like an easy mark."  Astral pointed over his shoulder.  "Your friend's in the back there, isn't she?"

Mac stood up and walked back to Astral's chair.  He stood close to Astral, much closer than anypony would be comfortable with, and made sure the unicorn realized how much smaller he was.  "She's sleepin'," Mac said quietly.  "Disturb her, you'll be doin' the same."

Astral swallowed and nodded slowly.  "OK, I won't disturb her then."

"Then we'll be just fine."   Mac nodded towards the pilot cabin.  The main viewport was filled by the swirled blue and white of a planet's atmosphere.  "Asides, we're gonna be landin' soon."

As the oversized earth pony went back to his seat, Astral cleared his throat.  "Can you at least tell me why she couldn't talk to me on the station?"

"She could've."  Mac looked back at the unicorn.  "But she ain't the only one wantin' to talk to ya."

Astral leaned on the chair's armrest, resting his cheek against his hoof.  "Let me guess.  This other pony's name is one of the things you're not supposed to say."

The red pony chuckled.  "Eeyup."

The conversation ended there, and the shuttle landed in silence.  The door opened to the bluish orange of an evening sky.  Mac stood up.  "Well, that was smoother'n Ah remember."  He walked into the pilot's compartment and came back with a plastic box.  He set the box down on the seat next to Astral.  "Here's yer stuff.  Join me outside when yer ready."

The red pony walked out, leaving Astral alone with the box.  Well, not alone.  Astral looked back at the rear door.  Who sleeps after ordering a kidnapping?  But it didn't seem like his captors wanted to hurt him.  If anything, this whole situation reminded him of an old spy novel he owned.  Specifically, the second chapter, the recruitment of the unwitting hero.

Astral shook his head.  As if.  He opened the box Mac had left.  His jacket was inside, as was his bag of books.  Surprisingly, his knife was in there too.  It should have been lost to the void after his fight with the Celestial.  For it to be here, a sweeper ship must have been sent out to comb the area where he was attacked.  That means the drone operator's ship, and the prill pods were most likely recovered as well.

The unicorn picked up the knife and balanced it on his hoof.  It was stained with blood, his blood, and pretty beat up.  The blade had a little knick near the tip, and was no doubt as dull as a rylac's spines.  Astral tossed it up, giving it a little spin and catching it in his magic.

He hadn't expected to get it back.  Only a sweeper ship, with its overpowered sensors and tractor fields, could hope to find something so small in the vast empty of space.  But, they weren't usually sent out for something so trivial.  Sweeper ships were rare, and expensive to operate, so they were only sent out after valuable items, or escape pods.  One could have been sent out officially, but would the Canterlot government be so interested in a single incident of piracy?  The only other possibility was an individual or private organization with bits to burn.

Astral sighed as he put on his jacket.  It was mostly intact, being made of a dense Kevlar composite, but still had small holes punched in it here and there.  The largest hole was the one in the left shoulder, and it was bloodstained to match the knife.  The jacket needed a good cleaning and some patching, but it would have to wait.

Astral put his knife away, slipping it into the scabbard hidden inside the jacket.  It seemed like a lot of things had to wait lately.  Other ponies were controlling his life at the moment, and he didn't like it.  He started pulling the various pins and patches off his jacket, dumping them into the box.

When he was done with that, he ripped open the jacket's collar with his teeth.  There was a patch of much weaker cloth hidden there for just that purpose.  A thin steel rod, and a small mechanical assembly fell out, and were quickly caught by Astral's invisible grip.  The unicorn started pulling small bits of metal, screws and springs, off the backs of the patches and connecting them to the assembly.

Another tear at the other side of the collar yielded a spring that Astral slipped over the rod.  He then pulled at a hidden pocket stitched to the inside of the jacket, opposite his knife.  Sewn within was an "L" shaped frame that he attached the mechanical assembly to.

The hem of the jacket was next, and was opened much like the collar.  It gave up two more steel pieces, a tube, and a rectangular piece with a notch cut out of the side.  The tube fit into the rectangular part, and the rod with the spring followed.  This assembly was then connected to the frame.

One last part, a magazine removed from the sleeve, clicked into the bottom of the frame, and Astral placed the completed pistol into the holster beside his knife.  He didn't believe his captors meant him any harm, but he wasn't going to be defenseless.

Astral zipped up his jacket, threw his bag over his shoulder, and walked to the door.  He immediately regretted assembling his backup pistol.  At the bottom of a short flight of stairs, Mac was talking to a gryphon holding a small view screen.  But it wasn't just any gryphon.  Tall, regal, and white as snow, with a single black marking on his face.  Astral would recognize that face anywhere, as could billions of others.  Coriander Jones, President of Canterlot, and head of the Galactic Assembly, was waiting at the base of the stairs.

And he wasn't alone.  The small landing platform was floating several hundred meters above a large city, and a cavalcade of jet-black aircars surrounded it.  Security guards of every race were scattered on almost every available surface.  That included the top of the shuttle.  Astral didn't know when he got up there, but there was a dusk-grey gryphon sniper with a long-range laser rifle perched up there.

Astral stood frozen at the top of the stairs until he was waved down by the white gryphon.  "Get down here, son.  I want to have a word with you."

"Yes sir!"  Astral stiffly descended the rampart, careful not to make any sudden moves.  "Um, I should mention-"

Coriander Jones rolled his eyes.  "Just get your butt down here, boy!"

He tossed the screen up at Astral, who caught it out of reflex.  As the screen hovered in front of him, the unicorn noticed it was showing his backside.  There was a small joystick on the side of the screen, and the unicorn gave it a wiggle.  The view on the screen shifted, showing more of the shuttle's interior.

Astral rubbed his hoof over his face as the president yelled up at him.  "We already know about the hidden weaponry."  The gryphon reached into his feathers and pulled a necklace from his neck.  He held the large pendant up and discharged a plasma blast straight into the air.  The blast was huge, akin to a shipmounted weapon, and could probably be seen from several kilometers away.  "Heck, even I carry a few myself.  So skip the robo-walk, and give me back my pad."

The unicorn complied.  Somehow, this wasn't quite how Astral imagined it would be like to meet someone in a position of power.

As soon as the view screen was within reach, the white gryphon snatched it out of the air.  He fiddled with the joystick for a few moments, then smiled and showed the screen to Mac.  "Hey, she's kind of cute when she's asleep, isn't she?"

Then again, it did fit Jones's public image perfectly.

Mac took the view screen without a word and switched it off.  Coriander Jones voiced his displeasure with a small groan.  "Oh, you're no fun.". He then looked over his shoulder, at the largest aircar.  "Jasper!"  A moment passed in silence, then the gryphon yelled again.  "Hey!  Jasper!"

After another moment of silence, he raised his disguised weapon aloft and gave it a squeeze.  It responded with a short series of clicks and a distinct lack of superheated particles.  "Darn holdout weapon, only good for one shot."  Coriander Jones then chucked the thing at the aircar.  

The pendant bounced of a tinted window, and fell.  And fell.  And fell some more.  "Eh."  Jones shrugged.  "It's light.  It shouldn't hurt too bad."

The door to the aircar opened, and a pegasus in a suit and sunglasses dove out after the pendant.  He was fast, almost a blur, and he came back up within seconds.  He landed on the edge of the platform with the pendant in his mouth.  He then walked over to Jones, passing the pendant off to one of the security guards.  His suit, slicked back mane, and sunglasses showed no sign of his recent stunt  "How many times do I have to tell you sir?  It's rechargeable."

The Pegasus pulled his sunglasses down with a wing tip to take a good look at Astral, then pushed them back into place.  "So this is the pony I've been hearing about.  He doesn't look like much, that can be a good thing."

Coriander Jones waved off the security guard who tried to give him his pendant back.  "Jasper, take a note."  He pointed at Astral.  "I want a jacket like that.  And a weapon that fires more than once."

Jasper sighed quietly.  "I assume the bloodstains are included in that?"

Jones shook his head.  "Nah, they're meaningless if they aren't earned.  I'm talking about the hidden compartments."

"Right..."  Jasper started beeping, and he held up his hoof.  He pulled the sleeve back to reveal a chrome-colored watch.  "Sir, you have to meet with the delegation from Turia about their request for a new orbital defense system.  If we leave in the next minute, we can still be on time."

Jones spread his wings.  "We have more time than that."

Jasper sighed and adjusted his glasses.  "Sir, the Furian delegates are expecting an official response to an important request.  I doubt they will be impressed by a sweaty old gryphon showing up with only an aid and a few security guards."

The gryphon sighed loudly.  "Fine, at least I get to Hoof-wrestle with Rock Duster again."

Jasper cleared his throat.  "About that, I received word a few minutes ago.  He had to return home, something about a family emergency."

"Of course he did."  Jones rolled his eyes.  "Well, it was good meeting you Astral, maybe we'll actually get to talk next time."  He walked over to the edge of the platform and hopped onto the top of the aircar Jasper had gotten out of.  "Maybe we could even spar one of these days, I hear you're worth your salt in a tumble.  Even if you smell like a mare fresh from the spa."

"Uh, sure..."  Astral scratched his neck.  He did still smell like surberry soap.  "Bye, I guess?"

Security guards started filing into aircars.  Those that could fly on their own took up positions on and around the cars.

Jasper was the only one not preparing to leave.  He walked up to Astral and adjusted his shades, more likely out of habit than out of any real need to."Regarding your pistol, you were pretty good putting that thing together.  If you can do the same thing with a particle disrupter, I might have a job for you.  Interested?"

Astral shook his head slowly.  Finally, somepony actually asked if he wanted to do something.  "Thanks for the offer, but I don't use energy weapons."

The Pegasus shrugged.  "I'm sure you have your reasons, but I'm only looking for somepony to aid in training exercises.  It's a perfect fit for a private contractor with your experience."  He turned and walked back to his aircar.  "If you change your mind, figure out how to contact me."

As the presidential cavalcade pulled away from the landing platform, Mac let out a low sigh.  The red pony was still holding the president's view screen.  "That Coriander Jones is an odd fellow, but Ah kinda like 'im."

Astral looked over.  "So, is he the 'somepony else' I was supposed to meet?"

Mac smiled, but it seemed hollow, almost forced.  "Nnope.  He just happened ta be around.  Yer gonna be meetin' somepony a bit higher up."

Mac went and put the view screen in the shuttle.  While he did that, Astral watched the procession of airfare disappear into the evening sky.  What's higher up than the leader of the free galaxy?

Mac exited the shuttle just as the platform started to descend towards the city below.  The towering glass of skyscrapers reflected a broken sunset as the platform moved between them, slowly searching for its preprogrammed destination.

The red pony stared, in awe and wonder, as aircar highways snaked among buildings, and spaceships, other platforms, and robotic maintenance drones wandered a forest of steel, glass, and concrete.  They were like little, iridescent beetles, catching the light around them, and reflecting it as they skittered about.

There was literal forest to be found as well.  Every available surface, walkways, balconies, even entire floors, left open to the world around, sported a coat of green.  Plants.  Trees.  Grass.  Ranging from carefully landscaped, to chaotic and wild, there was vibrant foliage throughout the city.  In some places, it almost looked like the city had been grown, instead of built.

Astral was busy watching Mac.  Something seemed off about him.  He seemed smaller.  His shoulders were slumped, he was starting to let his head droop, and his eyes seemed to grow wearier by the second.  After a few minutes, the red pony gave up on looking at the cityscape, and instead stared at his hooves.

The platform eventually came to a stop between three large buildings.  They were sharp, cylindrical spires, arranged in a triangle.  Each was a different height, but even the smallest one dwarfed any other building in the city.  Large vines crawled up their sides, and many of the floors were open, giving the buildings a skeletal quality that made them look like the frames of some ancient craft.

Mac slowly walked around the platform, looking over the side the entire way around.  He moved as if he was suddenly carrying a heavy burden.  Apparently unsatisfied with what he saw, the big pony walked around again.

Astral watched quietly until Mac's fourth time around the platform.  "Are you looking for something?"

Mac stopped.  "Ah don't see a walkway.  How are we supposed ta get to the buildings?"  He sighed and ran a hoof through his mane.  there was still dried blood matted in it.  "We're supposed ta take the yellow path."

"Look there."  Astral pointed at the lights around the outside of the platform.  There were pairs of them every two meters, lit up in colors such that each light was two meters from its twin, and next to a completely different color.  Astral walked between the yellow ones, and straight off the platform.

Mac screamed and lunged for Astral, hoping to grab the unicorn before he... stood there.  The unicorn was just standing there, just off the platform.  There was a yellow ribbon of light under his hooves, and it stretched from the landing platform to the tallest of the three towers.

Astral stared as the red pony clutched at his chest and took deep, heavy breaths to calm himself.  "Haven't you ever seen a force field?"

"Sure Ah've seen force fields."  Mac edged up to pathway and gave it a little poke.  "Ah've just never seen one used quite like this."  After a few moments, he worked up the courage to step onto the path.  "So, are you doin' this?"

"Doing what?  The force field?"  Astral chuckled.  "No.  There are field emitters on the platform."  With a heavy dose of sarcasm, the unicorn asked, "Can't you recognize basic technology when you see it?"

"No..."  Mac's voice cracked.  "Ah can't."

Astral was taken aback as the red pony stared out at the city.  Tears formed in the giant's eyes as the sunset dyed the world the same color as his mane. 

"Mah world was a backwater compared to this one."  Mac tried to blink the tears back, but they only came that much faster.  "But, it was home."  The red pony collapsed on the walkway, punching the electronic ground.  "Ah tried ta be strong, fool mahself into thinkin things will be all right, but it ain't!  Everything's gone!  Everypony... everpony Ah knew...". For a few moments, the red pony just sat and cried, with Astral watching in shock.  

Slowly, the unicorn moved to Mac's side.  A hesitant hoof found its way to the earth pony's shoulder, and rubbed back and forth as the large pony cried himself to sleep there on the platform, hundreds of meters above a city slipping towards night.

Astral sat there for at least twenty minutes before he spoke to the sleeping pony.  "I've been there."  With a sigh, the unicorn stood up.  He couldn't recall any recent news of a planet level disaster within the galactic assembly.  Then again, it was possible Mac was from a planet outside the assembly.  The unicorn's world was the same way.  "I was a lot younger than you, but I still know the pain of losing everything."

"As do many others."  The voice came from behind, dark, silky, and feminine.

Astral looked back.  A midnight blue unicorn mare stood on the pathway.  She had a smooth, pale blue mane that curled near the ends, and a matching tail with a silver bell hanging from the tip.  She seemed much younger than her voice suggested, falling somewhere between Ribbon Dancer and Lilybelle's ages.  She also lacked a cutie mark, instead bearing black splotches on her fur.

She walked forward.  "Are we to assume that you are Astral Plane?"

Astral nodded.  She said 'we,' but he didn't see anypony else with her.  The bell on her tail made no sound as she moved, and astral assumed it didn't have a clapper inside.  But then, she flicked her tail, and the bell let out a delicate jingling.

Astral appraised the splotches again.  Perhaps they were her cutie mark, darkness would suit this pony well.  "Who are you?"

The dark mare's head tilted slightly, and Astral got the feeling he was silently being judged.  She walked forward.  "Even if we were so inclined as to answer, one should give theirs before asking such a thing."

"But you already know my name."

"Then, you are Astral Plane?"  She twitched her tail, and the bell rang quietly.  She bumped into him softly, and walked around him, keeping her shoulder against him.  Her touch was like a feather.  There was no effort in her moments, only grace and subtlety.  "Your heart is troubled, I can only assume your mind is as well."

Astral looked down at her.  He noticed that she wasn't looking at him.  Her icy-blue eyes didn't seem to be focused on anything.  "Are you..."

"Yes, I am blind.  All are in one way or another."  She walked away from Astral, back towards the building.  "Your keeper slumbers.  You have a choice to make.  If you choose to leave, we are ill-suited to stop you.  But, should you choose to follow, you will meet one who can give you answers."

Without hesitation, Astral picked up Mac in his magic.  It was a struggle for him, but he managed it.  He then started following the mare.  "I'll bring him inside, then make my choice."

The mare stopped.  "No."  She turned around and took the red pony from Astral.  The forceful switch gave the unicorn a jolt, but Mac didn't wake up.  "You seek more information before making a decision.  The information you seek carries a cost, and that cost is your freedom."

"My freedom?"  Astral took a step back.  "What do you mean?"

"One freedom is taken, as another is given."  There was a flash as Mac was teleported away, leaving the mare alone with Astral.  "You are free to leave, but your heart will remain chained.  If you follow, you must serve, but what binds you will be removed."

Astral shook his head.  "What do you know of what binds me?"  He turned and started walking towards the shuttle.

The mare sighed.  "Black fire."

Astral stopped.

"An evil sun, bathed in dark light."  She walked towards him.  "An army that should not be, burned by the very light at their backs.  Insanity seeking only slaughter, washed away only by the purifying light of destruction."

Astral turned around.  He was now standing face to face with the blind mare.  "Who are you?  How do you know about that?"

She stared ahead, straight through him.  "There was more than one army on Serus that day.  I was part of one, a common soldier."

"Serus was destroyed twenty years ago."

She nodded.  "You were a foal then.  I was barely more."  She slowly touched a hoof to her face.  "A choice was made.  My sight was taken from me, as was physical growth."

Astral sat down and crossed his hooves.  "You expect to believe that you were on Serus, and that something happened to make you… what?  Immortal?  If so, you were the luckiest pony there.  There were only a handful of survivors, and very few of them came out in one piece."

She nodded again, wistful smile on her face.  "You were one of them.  But, I doubt you wish to speak of your experiences on that planet.  I most certainly do not wish to speak of mine."

"Then where does that leave us?"

"It doesn't leave us anywhere."  The mare sat down, and the bell on her tail jingled against the force field's energy.  "It leaves you with a choice to make."

Astral chewed his lip for a moment.  "Choices and freedom..."  How much did this mare know about his past?  How much could she tell him?  "You still haven't told me your name."

"Nor do I plan to."  Another flick of the tail, another jingle.  "Though, it matters little.  I will soon take another."

"Another name?"

She nodded.  "Within the week, we shall be known as Luna.  I am taking over as Headmistress of the Academy."  Astral shifted his weight, but the mare spoke before he could.  "Your heart betrays your mind.  Something about the academy bothers you.  But, be warned.  I will answer one more question, then I will go inside, and lock the door behind me."

Astral lifted a hoof to point at the shuttle, but caught himself halfway and put it down.  "There is still somepony else in the shuttle.  If I leave, that means taking that pony with me."

The soon-to-be Luna shook her head.  "She has already been teleported out.  You may take the shuttle without reservation.  It will not be tracked or deactivated, and could be sold for enough to live quite well for some time."

Astral looked back at the shuttle.  He knew enough about ships to know exactly what that one was worth, and she was underestimating it a bit.  If he sold the shuttle, he could fix the philomena and operate her for a decade or so.  Would they really just give it away like that?

There was a persistent jingling as the mare twitched her tail impatiently.  "We await your question."

Astral looked back at her.  "Who would I serve?  If I chose to follow, who would I have to serve?"

"It's not so much that you would serve any one individual."  She smiled gently.  "You would serve the sun, rising over a land filled with hope."
> Welcome to the Hotel Equestria
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------

	Astral stared at the ceiling and sighed.  He must be crazy.  He laid in bed as the sun streamed into the room through a nearby window.  Last night, he had bartered his freedom for answers.  And so far, all he had to show for it was a hotel room.


It was a repurposed room.  Repurposed from what, the unicorn couldn't tell, but the welds and cuts on the walls showed that this room wasn't always living quarters.


Astral rolled over in the bed and looked over the room's contents.  It was well furnished for its size.  A low table sat in the center of the room, and past that was a small kitchen.  Opposite the window, there were two doors.  One door led to a small washroom, and the other to an antechamber which exited to the hallway.


One of the first things he had done after being given the room was to check those doors and see if he could disable the locks.  He couldn't, because there were none.  The only locking mechanism in the room seemed to be the one on the washroom door, and it was a very simple mechanical deadbolt.


He had of course assumed this to mean he was being watched.  But, he used one of the few spells he knew to sweep the area for electronic devices.  He found nothing besides the obvious kitchen appliances.  There was a slightly unusual response from the toaster, but after spending forty minutes disassembling it, all he found was a faulty power regulator.


He wasn't locked in, and he wasn't under surveillance.  They didn't even bother taking his jacket, even though they knew about his knife and pistol.  Who were 'they' even?  Since the president and his entourage left the landing platform, he had only seen two ponies, Mac, and the soon to be Luna.  Maybe those two were the only ones here.


There was a knock at the door, and Astral rolled out of bed.  He really should be more on edge, but things were so messed up that thinking about it gave him a headache.  Technically, wasn't he a prisoner?  Or a slave?  At the very least, he was at indentured servant level, despite the illegality of any of those three.  Yet, he was armed, comfortable, and his captors were respecting his privacy.


"Who is it?"  He called.


"Room service," came the reply.  The voice belonged to the blind mare.


"It's unlocked, but I'm guessing you already know that."  Astral yawned and opened the door.  In addition to the mare he had been expecting, there was a wall of red behind her.  "Oh, hey, Mac.  So, are the two of you coming in, or am I going out?"


"We are entering."  The blind mare pushed past Astral.  She towed a plastic bag along in her magic.  "We have brought breakfast.  And we have taken your medical circumstances into account."  She rang her bell then walked to the table.  Once there, she set her bag down and rang her bell a few more times.  With a look of confusion on her face, she walked over to the kitchen area and felt along the counter.  It wasn't long before she found a pile of electronic components. "What is this?"  She picked up some of the pieces, turning them over in her hooves.  She gave one a tentative sniff and let out a loud sigh.  "Is this the toaster?"


"Yeah."  Astral yawned again.  "I took it apart."


Mac walked in and looked at the toaster.  He seemed to have recovered a bit from last night's breakdown, but wasn't as energetic as he had been on the station or shuttle ride.  "Why?"


Astral shrugged.  "I thought there was a camera in it, turned out to be a defective part."


"If it was already broken, being dismantled is no great loss." The blind mare returned to the table and started unpacking the bag.  "I would hope you can restrain from taking apart any working appliances."


As the mare took out cheap covered trays and laid them out, Astral sat down at the table.  There weren't any chairs, but the table was the right height to sit around.  "Why do you speak like that?  You refer to yourself as 'we' and 'I' interchangeably?"


"Yes, we do."  She started opening the trays, smelling them, and shuffling them around as Mac joined them at the table.  "It is traditional for Luna to refer to herself as 'we,' and I...  We are still getting used to it."


Judging by the way she was arranging the trays, she and Mac were staying for breakfast.  The last thing she pulled out of the bag was a stack of disposable plates and a bundle of plastic utensils.  She laid out three plates and set the rest on the counter.  But, her plate was doubled up, like she was keeping an extra one on hoof.  Somepony would probably be joining them.  "So, what should I call you?  Luna?  Blind mare?  Hey you?"


She smiled softly and distributed the utensils, sticking some in the trays for serving purposes.  Like the plates, she kept an extra set for herself.  "Since you have joined us, you can call me by my given name, Silver Wind.  Silver will do as well.  But I will ask that you call me Luna in public."


"Us?"  Astral watched as Mac took a little bit of food from every tray.  At least he knew there wasn't anything funny in the food, like truth serum or knockout drops.  "What exactly have I gotten myself into here?  I was told I would have to give up my freedom for answers.  So far, I don't feel like I've lost anything, and I sure haven't gotten any answers."


"That is a literal way to look at it, and only partially true."  Silver started loading her plate. She was much more selective than Mac, but took more food overall.  "It would be more accurate to say that the answers themselves will restrict you.  The farther you accompany us on our path, the harder it will be to turn back.  At least, that's how it was for me."


Astral groaned.  "Yay, more riddles."  He started adding food to his own plate, copying Mac and only taking a small sampling of each item.  He didn't recognize the dishes, but it all smelled pretty good.  There were noodles mixed with vegetables, fried items, and some sort of cooked grain.  “If I'm not going to get answers soon, am I free to search for my own?  I have to track down somepony who tried to have me killed, and try to find out who he hired to do it.  Then I have to track down the damn Celestial that nearly succeeded where the others failed."


"That's funny,” sneered voice behind him, “as I recall, that 'damn Celestial' was the one who almost died."


Astral spun around.  He barely had his jacket unzipped before he was floored by a heavy blow to the back of his head.  Damn that giant earth pony.  Astral tried to right himself as his jacket was torn open by magic that was not his own, knife and pistol ripping themselves from their holsters.


Astral looked up.  The Celestial stood over him, weapons in front of her and wrapped in violet aura.  "Come to finish it?" he all but spat.


She snorted and walked away from him.  She sat down next to Silver, who gave her the reserve plate and utensils.  "I came to have breakfast, not be assaulted again."


Astral pulled himself to his hooves, using the table as a support.  The blow had been strong, but not enough to knock him out.  With a clatter, his weapons dropped onto his plate, crumpled beyond use or repair.  "You're lucky that didn't go off."


"Don't worry, I've learned my lesson."  She gingerly touched one of the small, stick-on bandages on her face.  Its indicator pulsed a gentle green color, indicating that the wound was being kept sterile.  "I'll be prepared for such weapons in the future."


Mac cleared his throat as the two glared at each other.  "What exactly happened on that spaceship?"  Both of them looked over at the same time, and Mac shrank back a bit.  "Ah'm guessing it was nothin' good."


Astral pointed at the Celestial.  She pointed back at him.  In unison, they shouted.



	"He tried to kill me!"  "She tried to kill me!"



They looked back at each other and growled.  



"I did not!"  "I did not!"




"You did too!"  "You did too!"



Silver slammed a hoof on the table, rattling the plastic trays.  "Shut up!"  The other three stared at her as she cleared her throat, ran a hoof through her mane, and calmly continued speaking.  "We can solve disputes later.  In the meantime, Astral has been waiting for answers.  Did you bring the pictures?"


With one last glare at Astral, the Celestial nodded.  "Yes."  She took a small view screen out from under her wing.  It was similar to the one that President Jones had, but lacked the joystick.  Touchscreen then.  She switched it on and gave it to the blind mare.  "Eckrt is on the screen now."


"Thank you."  Silver said with a nod.  She then gave Astral the screen.  "Do you recognize this pony?"


Astral looked down at the screen.  It showed a brown earth pony with a light tan mane, dark grey eyes, and a scar on his chin.  "This is Dirt Buster, the owner of Firefly Farms.  He's the pony I was hauling cargo for when I was attacked."


"The latter statement is true, the first is not.  Please scroll to the next image."  She waited a moment for Astral to do so.  The next image was also of a brown earth pony with a lighter mane, but the colors were slightly different.  His eyes were blue, and he lacked the scar seen in the first.  "This is Dirt Buster.  I have been told the two look similar."


"They do."  Astral dropped the screen on the table.  "They look like brothers."


Silver shook her head.  "They are not.  The pony in the first image is known as Eckrt.  He is a black market dealer from Curraxa, and was involved with a high stakes auction recently.  One in which we bid on a specific item."


Astral sighed and leaned back.  "I can probably guess how I got involved."


"The item we won was hidden in your cargo."  She nodded to the Celestial.  "She was sent to keep watch, and make sure that none of the other bidders caused us any trouble. Unfortunately, you entered the system a fair distance away from where we were expecting."


Astral cut in there.  "When you say 'we' there, are you referring to yourself?"


She smiled slyly.  "I believe you are asking if I am the one in charge here.  I am not."


"Then, who is?"  Astral eyed the Celestial.  It better not be her.


"You will meet her soon enough."  Silver leaned over to the purple pony beside her.  "Did you bring it."


The response was a whispered, "it's outside."


"Please bring it in then."  Silver 'looked' back at Astral as the other mare got up and left.  "You know what happened during the attack, so I will skip explaining that.  But you probably did not know that it was Eckrt himself that attacked your ship.  We did not know it at the time, but he had a reputation for taking back the items he sold."


Astral sighed.  "Sounds like he worked alone,  so I shouldn't have to worry about anypony looking for revenge.  That still leaves the old mare who paid my medical bill.  Do you know who she is?"


The Celestial had just reentered the room, and she was towing the box she had taken from the Philomena.  She dropped it near the table and sat down with a huff.  "I'll give you a hint," she said angrily, "she's not that old."


Silver had started eating, and between mouthfuls, said, "technically, you are."


"So, you're Twilight Sparkle."  Astral shook his head.  "I'd thank you for paying my bill, but you caused my injuries in the first place."


"Me?"  She snorted.  "What about you?  You were all, 'it's you or me', when I didn't do anything to you."


"Didn't do..."  An incredulous laugh joined a mocking shrug.  "Gee, that kinetic mine must have been somepony else then."


"I was just trying to get you out of the way!  I would have gotten you back on the ship after the fighting was over."


"Oh, see!  That would have been good to know.  Maybe the telepathy you used after the fight could have been used to tell me that you weren't just trying to kill me."


As Twilight and Astral continued to argue, Mac leaned over and whispered to Silver.  "Aren't ya gonna stop them?"


With a mouthful of noodles, she answered, "I don't care anymore."


Mac sighed and watched them argue for a few moments.  Then, he lifted a hoof to copy Silver's conflict resolution from earlier.


Twilight saw him, and turned away from her argument.  She reached out her hooves, as if to grab the red pony's, even though he was on the other side of the table.  "No!"  Mac stopped, and she breathed a sigh of relief.  "Tables haven't gotten any stronger."


He put his hoof down.  "Oh."


Twilight turned back to Astral.  "And what is a Celestial?  You keep calling me that, and I want to know what it is."


Silver swallowed her food and said, "It is how he and most others refer to alicorns these days."


"Alicorn?"  Astral asked harshly.  "Is that what your kind calls itself?"


"My kind?"  Twilight looked over at Silver.  "What is he talking about?  And, how does he even know about Alicorns?  You told me they've all been in hiding."


"I survived Serus!"  Astral pushed past the table towards Twilight.   "That's how I know about you."


Silver grabbed him with her magic and pulled him back.  "Astral, she does not know about what happened to Serus.  Aside from the things I have told her, she knows little beyond the last three years."


Twilight looked back and forth between the two unicorns.  "Wait a minute, is Serus a planet or something?  What does it have to do with alicorns?"


Silver shook her head.  "Not 'is'... was.  Serus was our home planet, mine and Astral's.  It was destroyed twenty years ago, by an army calling itself the Celestials."  She sighed softly.  "That army was composed of false alicorns, much like yourself, and they laid waste to the planet's surface for three days.  The planet was decimated, the army lost nine-tenths of their forces, and the general population suffered similar losses.  On the fourth day, the survivors made a concentrated escape effort.  The weapons we used against them, on my command, caused nearly as much damage to the planet as they did.  But, it allowed us to escape."  She closed her eyes for a moment.  "Once the last civilian ship was clear of the planet, I gave the order to end the Celestial army before they could threaten the rest of the galaxy.  All military personnel transferred to one ship, and we turned the rest of them into a bomb capable of wiping Serus from existence.  Fourteen drive cores, and all our remaining nuclear warheads, all went off at once.  The last thing I ever saw was Serus, as it disappeared in a flash of light."


Twilight was staring at Silver in absolute horror.  "N-no...  I can't believe that."  She swallowed dryly.  "Nocteryx is dead.  And not even Nightmare Moon would-"


Silver held up a hoof, interrupting the shaken purple mare.  "I'm sure the responsible party was not somepony you knew.  None of the four would ever do something so terrible."


Astral was a bit shaken as well.  He had always assumed that the Celestials had been the ones that dealt Serus' final blow.  It made little difference though.  As Silver said, if it's broken, being taken apart is no great loss.  But there were other things she said that worried him.  "What do you mean by 'false' Alicorn?  And what are these names you mentioned?  Nocteryx, Nightmare Moon, and the four?  Are there more of these things out there?"


Tears in her eyes, Twilight slapped Astral across the face.  "Those 'things' happen to be ponies!"


Mac grabbed Astral just as he was about to strike her back.  "Listen to our side of the story, then decide if ya want to do that."  Astral tore himself free from the large pony's grip, and Mac placed himself between the unicorn and Twilight.  "Our planet died the same way.  But the ponies doin' it were bein' controlled by a hateful fella by the name a' Nocteryx."


Since no one was eating, Silver moved the table out of the way.  "I think I should explain a few things before you continue.  Astral, a false alicorn is one that was once a regular pony, usually a unicorn or a Pegasus.  True alicorns are very different, and as far as I know, only four exist."


Astral glanced at Twilight.  "Then how are these false alicorns created?"


"There are different methods," Silver said.  "A sufficiently powerful unicorn can modify themselves, permanently gaining the power of flight.  Sometimes, genetic happenstance can allow a foal to be born with unicorn and Pegasus traits.  The transformation can also be assisted by a true alicorn, in which case, the pony being transformed gains a portion of alicorn powers, such as the ability to survive in space for extended periods of time."


"Well, that explains present company."  Astral snorted.  "But what makes you think the army of Celestials was made of false alicorns?"


"A true alicorn wouldn't need an army."  Twilight answered.  "Without another alicorn to oppose them, one could simply cast the planet into its sun, or crash a moon into the surface."


Astral looked at Mac and Twilight.  "Then what about your planet?  It sounds like you had one of those true alicorns on your side.  What happened?"


Twilight tapped Mac on the side to get him to move.  "We had four of them, but their powers were tied up in keeping the planet alive.  Our sun, moon, sky, and even the earth beneath our hooves were being maintained and controlled.  Our alicorns couldn't directly oppose Nocteryx, an Alicorn with full access to all his powers.  But we had a trump card, a set of powerful artifacts.  Nocteryx couldn't attack us on his own."


Astral was able to put the pieces together.  "So he built an army."


Mac nodded.  "An army made of innocent ponies."


"He gave us a few years warning that he would attack with the intent to destroy the planet," Twilight explained.  "Everypony knew we couldn't stand against him, not with an army behind him.  So, we gave up.  We spent the time we had building ships to carry us to new planets.  It wasn't easy, but we evacuated our entire population."


"Why didn't you ask another planet for help?"  Astral gestured out the window.  "With that much warning, Canterlot has enough ships to evacuate a planet, and the Galactic Assembly wouldn't just stand by either."


"There were no other planets."  Twilight tapped the box she had brought with her.  "You might recognize this.  This came from one of our ships.  And, we went through a lot of trouble to get our hooves on it."


Twilight rested her hoof on the boxes control panel and waited for it to emit a quiet beep.  She hit a few other buttons, and it slowly opened on its own.  Inside, there was a foam lined depression in the shape of a pony.  But, it was too large for a normal sized pony.  


Astral looked over at Mac.  The red pony silently walked over and stood in front of the box.  He was a perfect match for the foam outline.


"Whoa, wait."  Astral stood up and walked around the box, inspecting it. "You're telling me that Mac was inside this thing?"


Twilight nodded.  "It's a cryogenic storage chamber.  It uses a combination of magical suspension and freezing temperatures to preserve a living entity within."


Mac walked over to the bed.  "When ya saw these buildings last night, did they make ya think of anythin'?"


Astral watched in confusion as Mac pushed the bed away from the wall.  "Yeah, I thought they looked like the frame of a ship."


Twilight closed the cryo-chamber and held it up against the wall.  The cuts and depressions lined up with the corners of the chamber.  "That's because they are."


Astral shook his head.  "But these towers are a well-known landmark.  They've been here for centuries, millennia even."


"Five thousand years, since the planet was first colonized."  Twilight sighed sadly.  "And our planet, Equestria, died a thousand years before that."


> She Got the Goldmine, I Got the Elevator Shaft
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------

	Mac led Astral through the halls of the ancient ship.  About two minutes into completely rewriting his knowledge of history, Silver had received an audio message through the viewscreen.  A mare's voice told her to find out if the 'guest' was awake, and to 'send him up' if he was.  She had, of course, complied immediately, cutting off the explanation and hastily promising to keep the food warm before shoving him out the door with his red guide.

"Sorry 'bout the walk."  Mac stopped at an intersection and had to take a moment  to gain his bearings.  "There used ta be elevators, but it seems like somepony tore 'em out."

"I guess five thousand years is too long for a ship to stay intact."  Astral thought about the ship's current appearance.  If they truly outdated galactic civilization, that means they were probably Canterlot's first buildings.  If they were full of ponies in search of a new beginning, they were probably savaged for materials.  "It's a wonder there's anything left at all."

Mac shrugged and started walking.  "Ah don't know.  Ah heard the Philomena held up pretty well, considering'."

"The Philomena?"  Astral followed Mac up a flight of wide, premade stairs that were recently welded in place.  "How does my ship fit in to all this?"

"Call it coincidence if ya want, but Ah'd call it destiny."  Mac started up a second flight of stairs almost immediately after reaching the top of the first flight.  "The Philomena was our flagship.  The best of everythin' we had, put together to guide the cryoships to a new home somewhere among the stars."

Astral stopped midstep.  "Wait a minute.  You're telling me the Philomena, a ship I bought in a two-bit used vehicle dealership, is older than every civilization I've ever heard of?"

Without realizing the unicorn couldn't see it, Mac nodded and kept walking.  "Eeyup.  Ah guess we built 'er pretty good."  He chuckled softly.  "Funny thing, Philomena was the only ship we called 'she,' on account a' her computer system.  The mares insisted on namin' the rest, and the stallions kinda pushed back.  It got to the point where miss Sparkle had to step in and just give 'em all numbers."

Astral caught up to him and started walking beside the red giant.  "Ok, here's where I make myself sound like a horribly insensitive bastard, but why aren't you a little more upset about your planet?  I mean, last night, you had a break down, and cried yourself to sleep in front of me.  Today, you're a little mopey, but you seem fine.  Like you lost a pet, not your planet."

The red pony surprised Astral with a booming, baritone laugh.  He slapped the unicorn on the back, nearly knocking him to the floor, and said, "Ah've got hope now, that's why.  You'll find out more when we get to the top of this here tower."

Astral rolled his shoulders to work the pain away.  "I guess I can wait then.  But I have to ask, just how advanced was your planet before it was destroyed?  The Philomena had some impressive hardware, even by today's standards.  Especially the engines."

Mac chewed on his lip, like he was trying to chew on something else that wasn't there.  "Ah honestly don't know how to answer that.  We had technology, sure, but it weren't widespread or nothin'.  We only had the one planet, and everypony walked or flew places on their own.  For places farther out than a day's walk, we had trains, balloons, and a limited selection of airships.  Speakin' of trains, mah family's farm had just installed our first steam engine, a small one to help run some smaller equipment."

Astral nodded slowly even though he was completely lost.  "What's a steam engine?"

“It's an engine that runs on steam."  Mac winced.  "Sorry.  Ah guess you could say it ran by burning fuel, which boiled water, which made steam, which moved fans, pulleys, and pistons.  Ya then connected all sorts a mechanical stuff to the fans and pistons to make things happen.  Ah used ta play around with ours by sticking magnets on the fans, then running wire 'round 'em.  Made a fair bit of 'lectricity that way."

Astral stared at the red pony.  Everything he had just described came straight out of a survival guide.  "Was this steam engine the most advanced thing you had?"

"Nnope.  We had other things, much more advanced.  But, like Ah said, it weren't common.  Magic, be it Earth pony, Pegasus, or Unicorn, filled the gaps we would a used tech for.  We had food, water, electricity,  and most a' the time, carefully controlled weather through good old-fashioned pony power."

"Sorry, Mac.  I'm just trying to wrap my head around this.  But it doesn't sound like you should have been able to build the fleet you described."

Mac shrugged.  "Ain't nothin' to apologize for.  Ah can hardly believe we did it either, but we did."  He sighed and recited, "Anything that can be done with magic can either be done with tech, or has somepony researchin' it right now.  That was true then, and Ah would bet it still is.  Only, back then, there was a lot more research than tech.  We relied a lot on magic to get our ships built.  Everything' from design and materials, to the actual construction, had a heavy dose of magic in it.

We used crystals to supply power and control systems, teams of unicorns to weld large metal plates together, and all sorts of other stuff.  But there was one thing we couldn't rely on magic for, and that was the engines.  Our test rockets used different combinations of magic and explosive chemicals, but they were limited once they actually made it to space.  None of 'em were enough to get us much past our own solar system."

"Really?"  Astral was getting more and more interested the longer Mac talked.  He had read books that contained references to rockets, primitive ships propelled by fire. "So, what did you do?  And how were you involved in this?"

"You'd have to ask miss Sparkle about the engine thing.  Ah don't really understand it."  He scratched his neck and grinned sheepishly.  "As fer Mah job, Ah did a lot o'things.  Ah helped run experiments, issued orders for construction, and helped write the manuals for what we would have to do if we made it to another planet."

"Manuals?"  For a moment, Astral felt he was about to connect two vastly separate dots , but his train of thought was interrupted by the other pony.

"We're here."  Mac had stopped in front of a door.  It was the first door Astral had seen in this building with an electronic control.  The rest were mechanical, plain old doorknobs.  Though, knobs were far more rare than control panels.  "This is the only remaining elevator.  Just head on in, it'll take ya where ya need ta go."

Astral hit the panel and the door whipped open.  "You aren't coming?"

"Ah've got things to do down here," the red pony said with a shrug.  "It may only be mah third day in this time, but Ah've still got work to do."

"Well, see you Mac."  Saying the red pony's name restarted his previous train of thought, and Astral realized why so many things the giant said seemed familiar.  "Macintosh, Macintosh Apple!  You wrote the MAP, ‘M. Apple's Procedures,’  It's the most common survival guide in the galaxy, everypony owns one."

The red pony smiled.  "Ah guess it did its job then."  Before Astral could say anything else, Mac hit the controls on the outside of the elevator, closing the door and sending Astral off.  The big pony chuckled as the elevator left.  "Ah always thought you'd be the celebrity when it was all said and done, not me."

Twilight walked out from behind a support beam behind him.  "That's the way it goes sometimes.  We don't get to choose how history remembers us."

The red pony walked away from the elevator.  "If history remembers.  It seems a fair bit was forgotten."

Twilight nodded sadly.  "The crystals and storage devices we used to hold information had limited lifespans.  While the ships were functioning, they were automatically maintained, but once the ships landed, it wasn't a priority.  Everything useful was salvaged and used to build the beginnings of a new life.  Record keeping lost out to survival."

"But at least we survived."  Mac started walking back the way he came.  "Ponies, Ah mean."

Twilight walked along beside him.  "We survived too.  Ponyville, Cryo-ship seven, everypony's out there.  I know it."  The purple mare reached out a wing and rested it on the larger pony's shoulder for just a moment.  "We'll find them Mac, all of them, your sisters, our friends," she gave the red pony a mischievous grin, "Fluttershy."

Mac laughed quietly.  "Ah thought Ah kept that a secret."

She laughed with him.  "You did, but I saw the way she looked at you."

"She never was good at poker, was she?  Not that Ah was any better."  He sighed loudly.  "Speakin' of our friends, Ah met Rainbow's unicorn doppelganger on that space station."

It was Twilight's turn to sigh.  "I think I know who you're talking about.  A medical student by the name of Ribbon Dancer."

"That's her," Mac said.  "She clobber you too?"

"Huh?"  Twilight stopped and stared at Mac in confusion.  "Clobber?  What did she do?"

Mac laughed again, louder than last time.  He also stopped and ran a hoof through his mane, feeling for the slight bump left behind from his meeting with the colorful filly.  "She tried to brain me with a big ol' pipe wrench.  Hits like Rainbow used to, hard."

Twilight shook her head.  "I don't know what you did to provoke her, but I've already looked into it.  Ribbon Dancer is from Furia, a small, semiplanetary community that's joining the galactic assembly.  Her parents are June Bug and Rock Duster, retired officers of the Furian defensive force.  There's no mention of rainbows in the family tree."

"Have you ever mentioned Rainbow Dash?  Directly to her, Ah mean?"

Another shake of the head.  "I haven't.  But she isn't in any of the classes I teach, So I haven't spoken to her all that much.  We mostly just exchange pleasantries and stuff in the hallways."  After a moment, she added, "Why do you ask?"

Mac shrugged.  "She sorta acted funny when Ah mentioned Rainbow's name.  Went a bit pale."

Twilight shook her head.  "It has to be a coincidence.  You can't open a cryo-chamber without the a DNA match to the crew, or an alicorn."

"What about them alicorns Astral and Silver mentioned?"

Twilight shook her head again.  "It would have to be a True alicorn, not a false one."

Mac sighed.  "Ah don't know.  It may just be me, clutchin' fer straws, but Ah don't think we should ignore this."

"I know how you feel, Mac.  But, we can't chase after every straw."  She chewed her lip for a moment.  "Though... we may be able to chase this one.  Astral is going to need a test mission, and Furia should be quiet enough.  When I head up, I'll be sure to mention it."

Mac smiled.  "Thanks for indulgin' me."  They walked in silence for a while, then Mac quietly asked, "What's semiplanetary mean?"

> This elevator doesn't go to the top floor
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------



It took the elevator a full minute to reach its destination.  Astral could only assume he was now on the top floor of the tower.  He also assumed that the elevator was unspeakably old to take so long.  Original equipment, maybe?

After a few seconds of waiting for the doors to open, he realized they weren't going to.  He hit the control panel, hoping it would force an override.  It didn't.

He inspected the panel closer.  It had all the standard controls you would expect from an elevator.  Door open, door close, go up, go down, emergency stop.  He hit the control for 'door open', and watched for a change.  There was none.  No lights changed, no sounds beeped or chimed, and no haptic feedback device buzzed.

Astral tapped it a few more times to be sure.  Then he tried all the other controls.  When he received the same lack of a response, he carefully pried the control panel open.  The problem was immediately visible.  There were two sets of wires running to the panel.  One was labelled power.  The other, frayed and split, was labelled data.  The panel would basically be a fancy light source until those wires get replaced.

With no other options, Astral knocked on the elevator door.  "Hello?  If somepony's out there, can you open the door?"

A mare's voice answered him.  "Just a moment, I'll get it."

He heard hoofsteps on metal, followed by the tap of hoof on control panel.  That was followed by a few moments of silence, then another tap.  This was immediately followed by three more taps in quick succession.

"I'm afraid the panel seems to be broken.”  The pony on the other side sighed.  “That’s what you get when you put off seven hundred years of maintenance and upgrades.  Am I correct in assuming this is Astral Plane that I am speaking to?"

"Yes" the unicorn answered.  "Who's this?"

"My name is Celestia.  Can you teleport yourself out of there?  There's five meters of open space directly in front of the door."

Unfortunate name.  "I can't teleport."  Astral sighed.  If he had his knife, he could probably cut himself out, but a certain celestial saw fit to wad it up like paper. Did she know how expensive those things were?  He inspected the panel again.  "The wiring in here is pretty beat up, but I could probably fix it if you give me a few minutes."

"I'm going to try to force the door open."

"Let me try it first."  It sounded like this Celestia wasn't a unicorn.  A unicorn might have offered a teleport.  Then again, he was living proof that not all unicorns could teleport.  He focused his magic on the door and pulled.  When that failed, he tried a combination of magic and muscle, but had to stop because of the strain it put on his shoulder.  He was still pretty sore.  "Ok, I can't get it.  I don't think one pony will be able to.  Is there anypony you can get to help you?"

"Mister Macintosh could probably open it, but this is the only way up here."  There was a confident chuckle from the mare.  "Don't worry, I can get this open too."

Confident mare.  "Oh, you're an earth pony then?"

"Not quite.  Stand back."

"What?"  How can you 'not quite' be an earth pony?  That seems like something that would be rather cut and dry.  And why would he need to stand back?  Through the door, he could hear Celestia taking deep breaths.  They were short and measured, like the preparatory breaths a martial artist takes during certain exercises.  "Don't tell me you're going to try-"

Accompanied by a sharp shout, a hoof punched through the elevator door.  Astral stared at it, not quite believing what he saw.  A white furred hoof, with a brushed nickel shoe that wrapped all the way around it, was sticking through a hole near the elevator floor.  The metal at the edge of the hole was curled away from the hoof, and Astral could see that it was almost two centimeters thick.  Unless the door was the absolute cheapest grade of poorly cast aluminum, or made to do that, this shouldn't be possible.

"I'm going to pull the door open now.  Jump out when you can, and watch your step."

With a solid grunt, the hoof grabbed what it could of the door and started pulling.  The metal creaked and complained, but it moved.  A few centimeters at a time, the office beyond was revealed.  A desk sat on a patch of carpet in the middle of a large metal room ringed by windows.  Several windows were open, and a strong breeze filled the room.

Also revealed, was the fact that the elevator was just under a meter above where it should be.

By the time the door was halfway open enough for him to get through, he could see a mane flapping around in that breeze.  It was pastel shades of pink, blue, and green, and rather shiny.

As the door open further, he caught glimpses of the mare's face.  Purple eyes set in determination, framed against white fur.  She was gritting her teeth and wore an expression that made it look as if she was locked in combat, and enjoying every second of it.  He could also see a horn amidst the wind-blown mane.

Instead of dwelling on that, Astral watched the opening.  The moment it was wide enough, he jumped out, taking the weight of the landing on his right leg to protect his injured left.  He then turned around, and his breath caught in his chest.

He had noticed that Celestia was tall, but he didn't realize the full extent of it until now.  She was easily twice as tall as Mac, the largest pony Astral had seen until now.  She was probably as tall, if not taller, than most humans.  Not only that, she was imposing.  She wore the same nickel shoes on every hoof, and wore a similar crown.  It might have been decoration, but the heavy plating invoked images of combat armor.  A segmented, jeweled neckpiece of the same metal supported a cloak of shimmering material and the raised collar was lined with more of the same metal.

She glanced back at Astral and relaxed her hoof.  The elevator door snapped halfway shut, pulling her with it.  With the door stuck partially open, she tried to pull her hoof free.  It caught, and eventually, she just braced her other hoof against the door and tore her hoof free, pulling chunks of metal with it.

With a long sigh, she shook the punching hoof.  "It's been too long since I've done that.  I need to practice more."  She walked to the desk and sat down behind it.  "I apologize for that, Astral.  I should have made sure the elevator was in working condition before calling you up."

Astral said nothing.

Celestia smiled.  "I know that look.  You have a question.  Ask if you want, but I suspect you already know the answer."

"You're an alicorn, aren't you?"

In response, she cast the robe back and spread her wings high over her head.  Just before they reached full spread, Astral ducked away and covered his eyes.

After a moment, he blinked and lifted his head.  "Why did I just do that?"

"Because you have good instincts."  Celestia gestured to her right wing, and Astral noticed there wasn't a left one to match it.  "If I still had both, it would have gotten quite bright in here."  She folded her wing back beneath the cloak and folded her hooves on the desk.  "If you have any other questions, I will do my best to answer them.  Though, I will stick to words, so I don't startle you too badly."

Astral shook his head.  The name wasn’t a coincidence then.  This was the original Celestial.  The mold the others were patterned after?  "I have too many questions.  It would take years to get through all of them."

Celestia nodded once.  "I will cut to the chase then."  She opened a drawer and pulled out a set of golden armor.  She held it out in her hoof.  "Astral Plane, congratulations on your new position as captain of the royal guard."

Without any other reaction, Astral tilted his head to the side.  He would be lucky to leave this tower with his mind intact.

"Sister, now is not the time for jokes."

Astral looked back at the sound of a familiar voice.  "Silver?"  The mare stood just in front of the elevator, looking at him.  Not past him, straight at him.  "No... who are you?"

The mare walked forward, darkness billowing from her hooves with each step.  The clouds of night surrounded her, completely obscuring her form.  Then, they faded just as fast, leaving another pony in their wake.

"You do have good instincts."  Nearly as tall as Celestia, this alicorn was dark blue with an even darker mane.  She wore regalia made of the same metal that Celestia wore, though it was of a simpler, purely ornamental design.  "How good?"

"You must be Luna."  Astral glanced back at the other alicorn.  "Night and day?"

Celestia clicked her tongue.  "Sun and moon, actually.  But you were close."

"That's two out of the four Silver mentioned."  Astral looked around the room, half-expecting another sudden appearance.  "Where are the other two?"

"One of 'em's up here.  Discord is elsewhere."

Astral looked up.  There was a hammock stretched between two ancient light fixtures.  The creature looking down from it looked like a pony would if ponies were carnivorous insects.  Large incisors, slit pupils against green irises, and satin black skin was framed by a long, metallic, blue-green mane.

She waved with a hoof full of holes.  "Name's Chrysalis," she said in a dissonant voice that would have been ominous, if it wasn't so laced with boredom.  "You can call me Chrys, or Chryssy if you want."  Then she rolled back into the hammock with a small groan.  "Her royal majesty, queen of everything, works too."  She yawned and shifted her weight in the hammock.  "I'm going back to sleep."

Astral looked over at Celestia.  "What was that?  And please tell me she wasn't talking about the creep who runs Fun-world."

The white alicorn pointed at the hammock.  "That was a changeling queen.  They are highly territorial, and not native to this region."  She opened another drawer on her desk. "I have some bug spray in here somewhere."

A pillow came sailing down from the hammock, narrowly missing Celestia.  "Try it, and I'll... Oh, I don't know.  I'll do something, and you won't like it.  Just keep it down."

"Very well, Chryssy.  We'll let you get back to your nap."  Celestia stood up from her desk.  "Astral, would you care to join me on the balcony?"

The unicorn shrugged.  "Why not?"  He started following her to the far end of the room, hoping he would finally get some serious answers, and not more nonsense.  Silver said they weren’t related, but it seemed like this, ‘true alicorn,’ had created at least one, ‘fake alicorn,’ to carry out her bidding.  She wasn’t gaining his trust with just a smile and a few jokes.  "Just to be clear, if this Discord character is the same one that runs Discord's Fun-world, I want nothing to do with him."

"He is indeed the Discord you speak of, but he will most likely remain safely at home."  When they reached the wall of windows at the end of the room, Celestia opened one of them and climbed out.  "I am not surprised to hear that you had problems with him.  He can be... difficult to deal with sometimes.  What did he do to draw your ire?"

"He cheated me out of seventy-five thousand bits, that's what."  Astral followed the alicorn out the window, onto a covered balcony the same size as the room they left.  The wind this high up was strong, and he was almost shouting to be heard.  "I delivered three full runs of cargo, for the agreed upon price of fifty thousand bits.  He paid me in cash, and I left.  Then, as soon as I reach the next system, the bits turn into ladybugs.  it cost me ten thousand bits to get them removed from my ship, and another fifteen in customs fees for transporting exotic creatures."

Celestia raised an eyebrow.  Her mane floewd the same in these strong winds as it did in the breeze inside.  "Ten thousand bits seems a bit expensive for an exterminator."

Astral shook his head.  "Not an exterminator.  If I just wanted to kill the bugs, I could have vented the ship's atmosphere.  But you can't just leave that much organic material in the workings of a ship.  I had to have the ship quarantined, then have every single ladybug removed."  He sighed miserably.  "It took two weeks to get them all."

Celestia walked to the edge of the balcony.  "It sounds like the ladybugs survived the ordeal.  You didn't happen to donate them to the entomology department of Luna's academy, did you?"

Astral followed her over.  From above, the city looked very different.  The tops of buildings, covered in gardens and greenery, made it appear like there was only forest nearby.  Only the buildings farther away from the tower appeared as buildings.  "What else was I supposed to do with them?  And how did you know?"

With a smile, the white alicorn replied.  "It is an academy legend by now, but there was a donation of insects several years ago which turned into bits after a few days.  It was quite unexpected."

Astral groaned quietly.  "Of course they did."  The unicorn looked up at Celestia and watched her for a moment as she looked over the city.  As the purple alicorn put it, this Celestia could dump a planet into its star.  A being that powerful could be ruling things from the shadows, leaving trifling tasks to underlings and minions.  Why meet with him?  And what was with those other two?

Every so often, she would wave to a passing aircar and sigh sadly.  "This is the closest I get to interact with most ponies anymore.  From far away, they can't tell that I am any different than they are."

Astral shook his head.  "I don't get it.  You might be a bit different, but so are humans, curaxxans, gryphons, dragons, and that changeling thing on your ceiling.  I may be misunderstanding this, but it seems like you're in hiding.  Why bother?  Hell, Discord openly runs the galaxy’s largest tourist trap and he’s as different as you can get."

"You should know the answer to that better than anypony."  She turned her back on the late morning sky and looked at the floor.  "Differences in appearance may not be important, but differences in power are.  Serus and Hoofton station four are not the only recorded incidents where false alicorns have wreaked havoc.  Though, they are among the worst.  If alicorns remain legend, fewer ponies will see them as a goal.  I can only hope this will prevent more incidents from occurring."

The Celestial’s have shown up elsewhere?  This was the first Astral had heard of that.  Maybe Silver would be able to fill him in.  "It hasn't so far."

"It doesn't seem that way.  But, it's possible that things could be worse."

"That sounds like an excuse to me."

Celestia chuckled.  "It does, doesn't it.  But it's an excuse I will be sticking to for at least a while longer."

"Then, what?"  Astral waved a hoof out over the sprawling city-forest.  "What do you do, look at the scenery everyday?  If so, why am I here?"

Celestia looked back out at the city.  "If I could just enjoy the scenery, I would be happy.  But, I do not have that luxury."  She looked down at Astral.  "Despite my sister's words, I was not joking when I offered you the position of head of the royal guard.  I may no longer be princess of Equestria, but I still have need of an agent to carry out certain tasks."

"So, I'm just a convenient mercenary then."

"If anything, you are quite inconvenient.  Though, you are less of a mercenary, and more of a bodyguard."

Astral laughed.  "A bodyguard?  Whose?  I doubt even Silver needs protection.  Mac could probably use a guide, but not a bodyguard.  And don't get me started on that Sparkle bitch."

Celestia blinked slowly.  "I'm sorry, what did you just call her?"

"What, Twilight Sparkle, that Fake alicorn bruiser you have working for you?"  Astral sat down and crossed his hooves angrily.  "She attacks me, tears my ship apart, and nearly kills me.  Then, she has the gall to expect a thank you because she didn't finish me off, that-"

Celestia quickly lifted a hoof.  "Let me stop you there."

"Why?  You've got a bloodthirsty maniac working for you, and I think you should know."

With a nervous chuckle, Celestia smiled and replied, "I'm sure it was just a misunderstanding."

"Yeah, she doesn't understand that most ponies don't take kindly to being thrown into open space."

Celestia's smile disappeared and she looked past Astral.  "You threw him into space?"

Astral didn't have to look back to know that Twilight was standing behind him.  "Repeatedly," he enunciated carefully.

"Twice."  The purple mare walked past Astral and sat next to Celestia.  "And that was only after you tried to shoot me."

Celestia gave Astral an angry look.  "You tried to shoot her?" she asked quietly, not quite believing it.

Twilight snorted.  "He tried to stab me too."

"Really??"  Astral walked over to Twilight and poked her in the chest.  "What about that kinetic mine?"  He poked her again, same spot.  "That's where you stuck it."

Twilight shoved him away.  "After you tackled me!"

Astral shoved her back.  "You mean, after I saved you?"

The two butted heads, locking their horns together as if they were dueling.  "I was drawing them out into the open.  If you hadn't interfered, I could have wiped them out in one shot!"

They pushed against each other, each trying to force the other back.  "How was I supposed to know you were a plasma-immune freak?"

"Walking around in total vacuum wasn't enough of a clue for you?  Must be hard being so stupid."

Celestia sighed quietly and shook her head.  "Are you two going to be able to work together?"

Twilight and Astral immediately broke their stalemate and looked over.  "No!" they yelled in unison.

With another sigh, Celestia raised her hooves in defeat.  "l was just asking."  She walked away as they started arguing again.  She walked to the window and went inside, leaving the arguing ponies behind.  She then walked to her desk.  Luna was waiting patiently nearby, and Chrysalis was still asleep in her hammock.  "Somepony go out there before they kill each other."

Chrysalis raised a hoof.  "I nominate Luna."

The dark alicorn looked up.  "Very well.  If you are too lazy to do it, then we must."  She walked to the window as her sister laid her head on the desk.  "Tia, this is not your fault.  We shall simply have to find somepony else.  Jasper can help us in the meantime."

"Yes," the changeling queen rolled over in her cot, letting her hoof hang over the side.  "Because pulling the president's top aide away from his duties raises no suspicion whatsoever.  And surely, nopony would ever recognize him.  He's only at the president's side every other broadcast."

Luna shook her head at the sarcasm, but offered no rebuttal before heading through the window.

Chrysalis shifted in her hammock again, ending up with all four hooves hanging down.  "You two worry too much.  He'll accept the job.  Nopony can refuse the offer of adventure, especially not somepony like that."

Celestia looked up.  "I wish you would stop doing that.  It makes you look like a spider."

Chrysalis looked over the edge of the hammock.  "I'll make you a bet.  If Astral agrees to work for us, you stop complaining about me laying like this."

"No deal."  The white alicorn laid her head back down on the desk.  "No bets without a time limit, remember."

"Fine.  Fifty bits says that he not only accepts the mission, but agrees to work with Twilight.  And as for the time limit, by the end of the mission, those two will be sleeping together."

Celestia laughed despite herself and looked up again.  "You are a terrible pony."

"Of course I am."  With some difficulty, Chrysalis pulled her hooves back into the cot.  "But I am a wonderful changeling, and my very existence depends on understanding the psychology of you ponies.  Tension like that doesn't last long, something will give."

"You're basing that on an overheard argument?"

"Maybe.  Do we have a bet?"

Celestia dug around in her desk and removed five loose ten-bit coins.  She stacked them neatly on top of the desk.  "I know my student."

Chrysalis yawned.  "And I know what I'm going to buy."

Celestia didn't respond to that.  The offhand statement made her remember that Chrysalis could take another form and leave the tower.  Even Luna could do that, even though it was difficult, and she had to work hard  to master even one form at a time.  The white alicorn hadn't left the tower in nearly a year, and the last time she had, it was to take a shuttle to some other building where she continued to remain out of sight of the general population.

There was a click behind her, and Celestia looked back.  Luna had come back in and shut the window.  "Shouldn't you leave that open?"

Luna cleared her throat before replying, "There is no need.  Those two will need to return some other way."

Celestia stood up slowly.  She looked out the window, searching for any trace of purple or grey.  All she saw was blue sky.  "Luna, what did you do?"
> As Angry as a Pony in Mud
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------

	"I want you to know, this is all your fault."  Astral rolled over and stood up, covered in mud.

"Funny, I was about to say the same thing about you."  Twilight hovered just above the mud Astral landed in.  She was only saved by quick use of her wings.  "Where are we anyway?"

"How should I know?"  Astral looked around.  They appeared to be in the middle of an old growth forest.  Towering tree trunks surrounded them, and smaller plants were scattered around the muddy ground.  "Why don't you go ask Luna?  You're the one who made her angry."

"I wasn't trying to," Twilight snapped back.  "Besides, I can't teleport back if I don't know where we are."

Astral looked up at her.  "What are you doing right now?"

Twilight crossed her hooves.  "Arguing with an idiot."

Astral grabbed her wings with his magic.  With their flapping stopped, their owner quickly landed in the mud.  "I meant the flying."

Twilight stood up and had to wipe some mud from her face.  She flicked it at Astral. "Don't touch my wings."

"I didn't touch them."  As soon as the words were out of his mouth, Astral found himself swept from his hooves and hanging upside down in front of the purple alicorn.

She all but snarled at him.  "Well don't 'magic' them either."  She dropped Astral, and started walking away.  "Now, let's find out where we are and get out of here."

Astral didn't move.  He stayed where he was and reached out with his magic.  He found a small purple feather, one that seemed loose, and plucked it.

"That is it!"  Twilight yelled.

She turned and dove at Astral, who easily rolled out of the way.  He then tripped over one of the small plants, tangling his hoof.  Twilight was on top of him before he could free himself, and the situation devolved into a muddy brawl.  Both ponies lashed out at each other with wings and hooves, magic and tactics forgotten in their anger.

Astral pinned Twilight on her back amidst a tangle of vegetation, and she kicked him in the gut, knocking the wind out of him.  She then struggled her way up and backed away from him.  "Owned by a mare.  Is that all you've got?"

Breathing heavily and clutching at his stomach, Astral looked up at her.  "I know where we are."

Twilight scoffed.  "Am I supposed to be impressed?"

"Smell the mud."

"I don't have to, we're covered in it.  It stinks."

"It smells like industrial chemicals."  Astral grabbed the vegetation closest to him and pulled up on it.  "Wormleaf.  These plants, they're all the same."  He gestured around him.  "An even ten centimeters of mud all the way around.  We have to get out of here, this isn't a forest."

Twilight looked up at the trees around them.  They were evenly spaced, uniform in size, and all the same species.  "It's a farm."

"Oy!"  There was a shout off in the distance.  "Oy!  Is somepony in here!"

Astral answered immediately.  "Yes!  Help!"

"What are you doing?" Twilight asked in a quiet hiss.

"Getting out of here," Astral hissed back.  He called out again.  "We're in here!  We're lost!"

Twilight tried to fly away, but Astral grabbed her by the tail.  "What are you doing?  Let go!"

Astral spit her tail out.  "Fine, go die.  I'd hate to be you when the harvester catches up."  He started walking towards the voice.

"Wait."  Twilight landed , but didn't follow him.  "What do you mean by that?"  Astral kept walking, and Twilight ran in front of him.  "I have to stay hidden, I can't be found.  I'll take my chances with this harvester, but tell me what it is."

With his magic, Astral kicked up a small wave of mud, coating the purple mare.  "You'll see it in a few minutes.  Now, don't move your wings."

Before Twilight could protest, a green earth pony walked out from between the trees with a high-powered spotlight on his head.  "What are you doing out here?  We're harvesting the area.  It's not safe."

Astral shielded his eyes from the beam.  "We had a teleportation accident.  Can you turn that thing down?"

"Yeah, sorry."  The earth pony clicked the light off.  "You guys must be Luna's academy students.  We get a few messed up teleports every year, but I thought we worked it out that they wouldn't allow students to teleport during harvest."

Astral shrugged.  "This is the first I've heard about it."

"Yeah?  Well, you're lucky we've got sensors on all the equipment.  Everything turned off when you guys appeared."  He started walking back the way he came.  "Follow me.  I'll get you back civilization."

Astral followed him, and after a moment's hesitation, so did Twilight.  After a short walk through cookie cutter forest, they could see sky up ahead.  They could also see the glint of steel and the soft haze of dust.

As they got closer, the glimpses of metal became saw blades, and the dust got heavier.  It wasn't until the earth pony led them between the blades that they could see their true size.  Each blade was several meters across, and they were lined up in a row that stretched for a hundred meters in either direction.  They were connected by an industrial framework that fed back to additional rows of saws.  Trees in various stages of destruction jutted out from between the blades at random.  All together, the blades formed the business end of a maw that could chew through a space two hundred meters wide and forty tall.

As the earth pony led them up a set of service stairs, Astral poked Twilight in the side.  "What was that about taking your chances?"

She responded with a glare, but said nothing.

At the top of the stairs, they were led to the machines control cabin.  The earth pony let them in, then followed them in, shutting the door behind him.  As soon as the door was closed, there was a loud whirring noise, and a breeze started blowing.

"It's ok," the earth pony said over the fan, "it's just venting the dust.  It’s not good to breathe it for long periods of time."  He headed to a first aid kit on the wall and dug out two paper muzzles with strings attached.  He gave them to Astral, the cleaner of the two.  "Put these dust masks on, I have to call the incident in.  After that, I'll lead you back to town."

As the earth pony walked over to his control panel, Astral slipped his dust mask on.  Then he offered Twilight the other.  "Want me to muzzle you?"

She snatched the mask away and put it on herself.

A moment later, the earth pony came back over.  "I should have mentioned this earlier, but once we're outside, no magic.  I don't want to see either of you on the evening news."

"Evening news?" Twilight started.  "What do you-"

Astral interrupted her.  "He means we'll die horribly."

"Well, yeah."  The earth pony agreed.  "The smallest spark can cause a fire, and you don't want to be out there when that happens.  One last thing.  Do either of you know the cloud walking spell?"

Twilight nodded.  "I do."

"Good, that'll save us some time."  The earth pony smiled.  "Do you know it better than your teleportation?"

"Hey!" Twilight protested.  "I wasn't the one who-"

Astral silenced her with discrete kick of the back leg.  "Just cast it and we can go."

Twilight glared at him before casting the spell on both of them.

"Great, here we go."  The earth pony opened the door again and led them outside.  They went around the cabin on a catwalk.  Behind the machine, a stark wasteland of sawdust stretched under overcast sky for at least a kilometer, lined by unharvested forest on either side.  The earth pony pointed straight down the center of the trail.  "There's a building about twenty minutes walk from here, so you should make it before the rain starts.  On the far side of that building, there's a tube transport that can bring you to the office or a hoverbus stop."  The earth pony scratched his head.  "Um, there's also a hose, but there probably aren't any towels."

"Thanks."  Some guide he was.  Astral found a rope ladder hanging nearby.  "I'm guessing this is the way down?"

"Yeah, the dust isn't always the same height, so it's easier to use this than to install hydraulic stairs."  The earth pony shrugged.  "Well, I'm going to head back inside, but don't worry, I can't turn this thing back on until you're at least half a kilometer away."

"Ok."  Astral started climbing down the ladder.  "Bye."

Twilight nodded to the earth pony.  "Yes, thanks.  Sorry about delaying the, uh, harvest."

The earth pony nodded back.  "Don't wory about it.  I'm gonna be stuck out here for another week.  I don't mind a little excitement." 

He walked back around the catwalk, and as soon as he was out of sight, Twilight jumped down to the sawdust path.  She landed softly, barely kicking any up.  Astral on the other hoof kicked up a small sandstorm the moment he stepped off the rope ladder.

"Not like that."  Twilight took a few steps, barely leaving any hoofprints.  "Push down with the step, not back."

The grey unicorn trudged forward, completely ignoring her advice.  "Oh, so you're an expert on walking on sawdust."

Twilight had to close her eyes against the irritating cloud flying in Astral's wake.  "No, but I happen to have a lot of experience walking on clouds.  It's the same principle."

Astral nodded while he walked.  "Interesting.  Go tell somepony who cares."

Eyes closed, Twilight followed the sound of Astral's voice.  "Look, all I want is to get out of here, and get back to the towers.  That would be a lot easier if we could see where we're going."

"Not much to see," Astral replied.  "We keep going forward, and we'll reach the end of the path.  Then we can go our separate ways."

"What?"  Twilight picked up her pace, trying to catch up with Astral's voice.  "No, you're going back too."

"Says you."  Astral started running, kicking up an even stronger storm of dust.  "I'm going back to my ship.  As soon as I finish repairs, I'm leaving the Canterlot system and never coming back."

Twilight stopped and stomped her hoof.  "The Philomena is our ship!"

"Five thousand years ago, maybe!"

"Before I left it," Twilight shouted, “I reprogrammed the transponder!"

Astral stopped and turned around, closing his eyes as his own dust caught up to him.  "You're bluffing!"

"You think so?  When it was built, the Philomena was the most important ship in existence.  You think we didn't put in all sorts of safeguards?"  The dust started to settle, and Twilight risked squinting out through one eye.  She could barely see Astral, but started towards him anyway.  "Even if you don't believe that, it was salvaged under my name, meaning I say who has access to it."

"You wouldn't."

"Wouldn't what?  Exercise my rights over my own property?  I have half a mind to have the whole thing scrapped.  Or, it can be returned to you at a later date."  When the dust cleared, Astral and Twilight stood face to face.  "Your choice."

Astral spit out his response like it was a tack.  "Fine.  I'll go."

Twilight nodded coldly.  "Good.  Remember, push down."  She started walking.  "Go slow until you get the hang of it."

With an angry snort, Astral followed her at a painfully slow pace.  "First you steal from my ship, then you steal the ship itself.  What's next?  A kidney?  or did you help yourself to one of those while I was in surgery?"

Twilight stopped and turned around.  "I saved my friend, you jerk!  You want to call that theft, go right ahead."

"I'm not talking about that!"  Astral caught up to and shoved past Twilight.  "Or did you forget the book you so casually absconded with."

"Ooh, big word, be careful you don't hurt yourself."  Twilight started walking again, easily passing the grey unicorn again.  "For your information, that book belongs to a good friend of mine, and I plan to return it to her."

Astral stopped and looked to the horizon.  "Hey..."

Twilight stopped.  "What?  Don't tell me you want to apologize."

"Don't worry, I'm not."  The unicorn pointed out at the sun.  "It's setting.  It was only around nine in the morning.  Assuming we're still on Canterlot, we're almost halfway across the planet."

Twilight sighed.  "That's still not specific enough for me to teleport back."

"Teleporting across an entire planet, that's ridiculously overpowered."

"Just don't assume it's easy, not for me at-"  She stopped and looked up.  "Oh, just great."

"What is it?"  Astral looked up as well.  He didn't see anything out of the ordinary.  "I don't-"  A single raindrop hit him in the eye.  "Ah!"  He blinked rapidly.  "That's what you meant."

"We took too long arguing."  Twilight looked down the sawdust path as more and more rain started to fall, slowly softening her mud coating.  "The mud isn't going to last long.  You continue this way, I'll have to find a different way back."

"You don't know where you are, you have no idea where you're going, and you want to split up?"  Astral shook his head.  "Good luck with that."

"I have to keep the existence of alicorns a secret."  Twilight started wiping her wings off, preparing for flight.  "What other choice do I have?"

With a loud sigh, Astral took off his tattered jacket and tossed it at her.  "How about the obvious one?"  The unicorn tapped the ground impatiently while Twilight put the jacket on.  "But I better get it back, just like my ship."

"You will."  Once she had it on, the purple alicorn checked to make sure her wings were hidden.  "Ok, how do I look?"

"Like a muddy hobo."  Astral started walking again.  "What did you expect?"

"I'm only asking you if my wings are hidden."

"Can't even see them.  Let's go."

"Wait."

With a loud sigh, Astral stopped and turned around.  "Now what?"

"The rain's coming down heavy enough to supress any sparks.  I should be able to teleport us down the path in small jumps."

Astral walked back to her.  "Get on with it then."

Twilight nodded and moved closer to Astral, close enough to touch him with a hoof.  "Hold on."

"To wh-"  There was a flash, and they were in a different spot on the trail.  "-at?"  The building was within sight, and just beyond that, the evenly spaced rings of a transport tube.  Another flash, another jump, and they much closer to the building.

After the third jump, they were only a few meters away from the building.  Against the wall, there was a small bench next to a water spigot.  Above that, there was a sign that pointed down saying, "break room."  Another sign, labelled, "storage," pointed to a door.

Astral wasted no time heading for the other side of the building.  He only stopped when he heard a soft thump behind him.  Twilight had collapsed.  "Hey!"  He walked over to her and pulled the dust mask off.  The rain kept the dust down, and if the paper was wet, it would restrict breathing.  "What's going on?"

The only answer was faint sparking from the tip of her horn, almost too faint to see.

Astral groaned loudly and ripped his own mask off.  "Magical exhaustion, really?  You run through space, pulling a chariot of destruction behind you, then lose it after three teleports?"  He shook his head and sat down next to her.  "Now what?  As much as I hate to admit it, even those three teleports are more than I can do.  I won't be able to drag you across half the planet."

He looked around.  The bench was under the overhang of the small building's roof, and protected from the rain.  With a fair amount of difficulty, he dragged her over to it, cheating a bit by resting half her weight on his back and using magic to lift the rest.  Once there, he dumped her on the bench and sat down next to her.

With a sigh, he leaned back against the building.  "You're heavier than you look."

He looked down at her.  Most of the mud was gone, and he could see that she had lost her bandages somewhere along the way.  She still had the cuts though.With another sigh, he got up and walked over to the door.  A quick test showed it to be unlocked, and Astral went in.

It was an astounding array of cluttered tools and diagnostic equipment crammed inside, but after some searching, Astral found some soap and a clean roll of shop towels.  A little more searching turned up half a box of self-sterilizing bandages, but no other medical gear.  "It'll have to do."

Astral headed back to the bench, careful to keep the bandages dry.  He gave Twilight a soft nudge in the shoulder.  "Hey."  Another nudge.  "You awake yet?"

He waited a moment, then shrugged.  "Guess not."  He slid her over on the bench, as close as he could to the water fountain.  "I don't want to be blamed if those get infected, so this might sting a little."

He carefully washed out each cut using the soap and shop towels.  When he was finishing the cut on her ear, he noticed that she had a cut on her neck too, just above the collar of the jacket.  Pulling back the collar revealed another cut.

Astral lifted the unconscious mare and gingerly removed the jacket.  Despite the mud, her coat was wet enough to show several more cuts underneath, mostly on her chest and forelegs.  Every single one was on her front, there weren't any wounds from the side or back.

Astral rinsed the mud off of her and started cleaning the rest of the wounds.  On the first cut, one of the cuts on her leg, he found a piece of metal embedded just under the skin.  He picked up his jacket and ripped off the last two patches.  The largest of the two hid a pair of tweezers and a small pen light, and the smaller hid a razor blade.  Holding the light in his teeth, and the tweezers in his magic, he slowly worked the metal out of the wound.  It was a torn piece of thin brass sheet, And Astral recognized it immediately.  It was part of a bullet casing.

Astral started on the next wound, finding nothing.  The third wound yielded a fragment of copper.   The fourth gave up another piece of brass.  In total, he pulled seven bits of metal from the alicorn's skin.  Six of them were recognizable as bullet fragments, including the primer cap, and the last was part of a trigger.

Once the last wound was cleaned, Astral started applying bandages.  There were only five in the box, so Astral stuck them on the worst cuts.  For the rest, Astral wrapped her forelegs and upper torso in shop towels, creating a makeshift shirt.  It wouldn't do much to keep her dry, but it would keep the cuts clean.

Astral then sat down on the open side of the bench and scraped as much mud as possible out of the inside of his jacket.  "This is the first time I've ever patched up anypony besides myself."  He looked down at the unconscious mare.  "So, no guarantees that I did any of it right."  He tapped the bench.  “Now, you wait here, I’m gonna go leave the planet, sell the philomena, and buy a ship you won’t even be able to trace, much less blackmail me out of.”

Twilight started shivering.

"Oh, now what?"  Astral groaned and hopped off the bench.  He walked over and felt the alicorn's forehead.  "Well," he said sarcastically, "this just gets better and better."  She had a fever.  Astral couldn't tell her temperature exactly, but she was several degrees warmer than a pony should be.

Astral put his jacket back on her and stuffed it with with dry shop towels.  He then carried her on his back to the other side of the building, using a small shield of magic as an umbrella.  Luckily, the tube transport car was already there, probably because of the pony running the harvester.

Astral deposited Twilight in the poly-glass capsule of the car and climbed in after her.  There weren't any seats, but there were safety harnesses along the far wall, seemingly meant for a standing ride.  There was a control panel with three buttons for different destinations, and also a limited environmental system with options for cool, heat, and neutral.  

Astral turned the heat up and sealed the car.  The air vents were positioned to focus airflow on passengers, so Astral buckled her into a harness and waited amidst the patter of rain.
> Going off the rails on a crazy...Capsule?
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------

	Consciousness returned slowly for Twilight, accompanied by the sting and aches of her various injuries.  She opened her eyes to find herself standing on nothing, roughly one meter above the ground.

The unexpected sight shocked her fully awake with a short yelp, and she tried to spread her wings on instinct.  She found her wings bound, and quickly realized that she was in no danger of falling.  She was strapped into some sort of harness, and standing on a transparent floor.  Comfortably warm air was blowing on her face, and she was almost completely dry.

She found the button to release the harness, and freed herself to perform a more thorough inspection.  She was clean, and wrapped with thin blue cloth under the borrowed jacket.  New bandages covered some of her cuts, and the nagging pain some of them caused when she moved was gone.

Behind her, Astral leaned up against a control panel, taking a light nap.  He was still pretty muddy, but was also almost dry, probably thanks to the gentle flow of warm air through the transparent capsule they were in.

She nudged his shoulder, easing him awake.  "Hey, did you do this?"

"Hmm?"  He shifted his weight as he woke, and glanced over.  "Yeah." He yawned.  "I didn't want to be blamed if you kicked the bucket.  Is your fever gone?"  He reached up, touched her forehead, and sighed.  "No, still there."

She slapped the hoof away.  "I don't have a fever.  My body temperature is just naturally higher."

Astral scoffed.  "Maybe I should have left you in the rain then."

Twilight stomped her hoof and walked to the other side of the car.  " What is your problem?!  Are you this rude to everypony, or is there just something about me that makes you extra abrasive?"

Astral stood up.  "Aside from the fact that you tried to kill me?"

Twilight groaned.  "We've been over this!"

"Yeah, afterwards!"  Astral tromped over to her.  "That's the kind of thing you have to tell somepony before you stick explosive spells on them."

"Believe me, I wanted to, but-"

The unicorn grabbed her by the collar of his jacket.  "You talked to me up there," he growled.  He tapped his the side of his head with a hoof.  "I heard it.  So don't tell me you wanted to, because you did!"

"Let go!"  Twilight tried to back away, but Astral held tight to the jacket.  For the first time in a long while, she was genuinely scared for her own safety.  "Let me go, or I'll...  I'll..."

"You'll what?!"  Astral shouted as he shoved her against the wall.  "Vaporize me like you did to those drones?  Rip me in two like those cargo containers?  Or do you have something else in mind?  Cause I would just love to hear all the different ways you can kill me."

Twilight closed her eyes.  "I can't!"  She cried.  "I can't do any of that!"  She opened her eyes and looked at Astral, slowly shaking her head.  She slumped against the wall, letting the unicorn support her weight as tears ran down her face.  "Not anymore."  Astral slowly lowered her, but didn't let go of the jacket yet.  She laid on the ground, looking away from the unicorn.  "My magic's gone.  Until I recover, I can't do anything."  She closed her eyes again.  "I can't fight you.  Please, don't hurt me."

With an angry grunt, Astral let go of her and sat down heavily.  "If I wanted to hurt you, I would have done it earlier."  He ran a hoof through his mane and tried to calm down.  "I just want to know why.  Why me?  Why didn't you try to communicate sooner?  Why abduct me and coerce me into joining you?  I was just fine before all this happened."

"There's no special reason behind it.  It could have easily been some other freighter pilot looking for an easy job."  Seeing that he was controlling himself, Twilight slowly sat up.  "But there are reasons for everything else, if you'll let me explain."

Astral crossed his forelegs.  "Explain why you waited to use your telepathy first.  Then I'll decide if I'm going to listen to the rest."

"Do you know how much energy it takes to initialize an engine's reactor core?"

"The exact figure varies based on engine size and configuration, but you have to create a self-sustaining fusion reaction, so ten gigawatts minimum."

"The cryoship engines required fifteen, and we only had one power source capable of producing that."  She pointed at her horn.  "Myself, and the other alicorns.  Luna, Celestia, and Chrysalis each initialized two of them.  I initialized Cryo-seven and the Philomena, which had a smaller engine."

"Yeah, I get it."  Astral rolled his hoof impatiently.  "Except for right now, you're stupid powerful.  What does this have to do with my question?"

Twilight fought back the urge to snarl at him.  His constant bickering was burning her up!  "You know how a spacesuit works?"  She snapped at him.  "It has to hold pressure in, provide oxygen, heat, magnetic pull, etc.  Well, I have to do that all on my own.  My body does it without thinking, but it eats up magic like there's no tomorrow.  Now, I can last three or four days, and travel halfway across a system in that time, but only if I don't do anything else."

Breathing heavily, Twilight stood up and stared down the grey stallion.  "Any additional spells use magic a hundred times faster.  Between fighting those drones, fighting you, and making sure you didn't die.  I almost didn't-  didn't-"  She wobbled on her hooves, like a gravity sled on the edge of burn-out, then collapsed.

Astral caught her before she hit the floor, and she struggled against his grip.  "Cut that out, will you?"  Astral dropped her.  "You're burning up.  Your body temperature may be naturally high, but it's gone up since earlier."  Astral went to the control panel and turned the heat down.  "Take the jacket off."

"No!"  Twilight sat up weakly.  "I can't let anypony see my wings."

Astral pointed outside.  "We're in the middle of nowhere!  The only pony around is the one in the harvester, and he's probably 2 klicks away by now."  He lifted his head and looked around.  "And there aren't any cameras in this thing."

Twilight followed his gaze as he looked around the cabin.  "How can you tell?"

"I have a spell that can detect electronic devices.  And, different ones give off slightly different signatures.  I can pick out any cameras or microphones within ten meters of me."  Astral looked down at her.  "And in the likely event that you don't believe me, remember that you're wrapped up in those towels."

Twilight looked down at her chest.  The cloth wrapping extended far enough down her barrel to go past her wings.  There was just one problem.  "I can't take it off."

Astral sighed.  "Fine, burn up then."

"That's not what I mean!"  She made a sound that was halfway between a groan and whine.  "I don't know how."

Astral laughed, sure that he misheard.  "Are you saying you don't know how to take off a jacket?"

Twilight crossed her hooves.  "Stuff it.  I've never worn clothing without the benefit of my magic before."

"So, you need me to take it off for you?"  Astral laughed even harder.  "Angel of destruction to helpless housemare in just days, that's quite the fall."

Twilight lifted a hoof.  "I can still punch you."

Astral grabbed her grounded hoof and tossed it up, knocking her off balance.  With both hooves up, he was able to grab the jacket by the sleeve.  A yank and a twist later, it was removed from the alicorn without fuss.

"There."  The unicorn shook the jacket, spilling out the puffy stuffing of crumpled towels.  He tossed the jacket back to her.  "It should be a bit cooler now."

Twilight tossed it on the floor between them.  "You did that to prove I wouldn't be able to hit you."

"No, I did that to prove I know how to take a jacket off."

"You're enjoying this, aren't you?"

"What, seeing the pony who wrecked my life have to deal with being powerless?"  He shrugged.  "A little.  But for what it's worth, I accept your explanation."

Twilight eyed him suspiciously.  "You do?"

"Don't get me wrong, I still dislike you, but at least I know why you waited to use your telepathy now.  Now, how about you explain why you didn't just use that fancy shuttle of yours to meet me at the edge of the system?  I saw the weapons panel on that thing, you could have blown eckrt out of space before he got that missile off."

"You say that like any of us can pilot the thing."

Astral blinked.  "You mean, you can't?"

Twilight shook her head.  "I can perform basic maneuvers, but I wouldn't know the first thing about flying it in combat.  Then, look at the rest of our group.  Silver obviously can't fly it.  Mac was still in your cargo hold.  And Jasper, besides working for the president, can barely drive an aircar."  She sighed.  "The only thing we use the shuttle for is to bounce us between stations and landing platforms, and autopilot does that just fine."

"So, I paid the price for your poor planning.  Then why do you even have it?  That thing is so customized that I find it hard to believe you didn't have something in mind for it."

Twilight nodded.  "We've been waiting for something.  Up until now, our search for the missing cryo-pods, my friends, has been limited to the realm of data.  We've been doing research, watching the black market, and trying to trace back ownership of my pod.  Now, we want to take matters into our own hooves.  We want to go track down leads, and search for ourselves."

"Then why haven't you?"

Twilight sighed softly.  "We needed you.  Or, somepony like you.  A pilot, one with combat experience."

"Why me, specifically?"  Astral lifted his hooves and dropped them in frustration, too agitated to stay still, and too confused to know what to do with them.  "Why didn't you just hire somepony?  Mercenaries can be found anywhere.  Hell, stick a flyer up at the local bar, you'll find a dozen pilots looking for work.  That's how I got stuck with those apple crates in the first place."

"There are a ton of other considerations besides flight experience.  Things like secrecy, adaptability, the fact that we have to rewrite their entire knowledge of history."  Twilight looked down at her hooves.  "But, honestly, I recommended you to Celestia after our fight."

Astral's eyebrows scrunched together in confusion.  "Why would you do that?"

"I didn't think she would insist on us working together."  Twilight groaned.  "I suggested that you would be a good bodyguard for Silver.  She's an excellent negotiator, and would probably be able to get more done if she was able to get out into the thick of things, but last time she went out on her own, there were... problems."

"Because she's blind?"

"There were some smugglers who tried, and failed, to take advantage of her because of that."  Twilight shrugged.  "Apparently, human snouts break easier than a pony's."

"So, you think a bodyguard, even if it's just for show, would keep that from happening again."  Astral shook his head.  "That still doesn't explain why you suggested me."

Twilight  looked out the window.  "I suggested you because we fought.  I was more powerful than you in every way, but you didn't run or give up.  That kind of courage," she glanced over at him, "or stupidity, isn't common."  She looked back out the window.  "Not to mention, you are the only pony who has ever come close to defeating me on their own since we left Equestria.  Even if you and I are bound to be enemies, I want you on our side."

Twilight stood up and faced Astral.  "I don't want to admit this, but we need you.  I need your help.  There are over a thousand ponies out there who are still frozen in their cryo-chambers, and there are less than a dozen ponies looking for them.  We need all the help we can get."

"I'll think about it."  Astral walked over to the control panel and hit the button that would take them to the hoverbus station.  "If I'm going to be stuck working with you, that's all I can promise."

Twilight nodded.  "That's all I can ask.  I'll talk to the princess again, and see if she'll let you, Mac, and Silver take care of things."

"Good, then we can just stay out of each other's way."  Astral looked down at the panel.  "Why isn't anything happening?"

Twilight walked over to the panel.  "Did you hit the button?"

Astral smacked his head.  "Why didn't I think of that!"  He said sarcastically.

"Oh, shut up."  Twilight hit the bus station button, imagining Astral's face in it's place.  Then, she smacked it a few more times for good measure.

Astral slapped her hoof away.  "Hey, don't just-"

A synthesized female voice interrupted him.  "Harness override engaged."

Both ponies looked up at the speaker on the ceiling.  Astral looked down at Twilight.  "Override?"

She looked past him, at the wall where she had been buckled in when she woke up.  "Harness override."

Astral followed her gaze to the harnesses on the wall.  In that moment, both ponies knew what was coming.  They also knew there was no time to prepare for it.  They looked back at each other as the capsule started moving, slowly groaning as mag-lev fields kicked in.

"Shit?"  Astral asked.

Twilight nodded.  "Shit."

The capsule shot off like a rocket, hitting its max speed within a second.  The two ponies hit the far wall and were glued there by their own inertia as the capsule screamed over kilometers of cultured forest.

"I blame you for this!"  Astral yelled over the screeching of the tube transport.

"There's a shock!"  Twilight shouted back.

The car made a sudden turn, throwing them against the other wall and pinning them there like butterflies in a collector's tray.  Astral was stuck between polyglass and the back of a cloth-wrapped alicorn, and he tried to push Twilight off of him.

"Hey!  Not the wings!  Where are you-"  She suddenly let out a loud squeak and elbowed the unicorn as hard as she could, extracting a shout of pain from him.  "Watch the hooves, buddy!"

The car took another turn, and the situation flipped.  Now, Twilight was backed against the opposite wall under a stallion who was trying very hard to fight centrifugal tendencies.  Only a shaky pair of hooves kept inertia from forcing them together.

"Don't you dare!"

"Not exactly here by choice."  Astral strained.

Twilight pressed herself against the wall as Astral started losing the fight, and their faces started closing together.  "You let go, and I swear, I'll take up necromancy just so I can kill you twi-"

The rest of her threat was cut off when the car took another sudden turn, mashing their lips together and pinning them against the other wall again.  Then, just as suddenly, the pod went into a long, sloping dive, plunging them into a state of temporary weightlessness.  

Once separated, Twilight punched Astral in the face, splitting his lip and sending him tumbling.  He caught himself against the harnesses and steadied himself.  "Hey!  I didn't do that!"

Twilight stood in the air, completely motionless despite not holding onto anything.  "I don't care."

Astral rolled his eyes.  "Seriously, does zero gravity mean anything to you?"

Twilight looked down at her hooves.  She lifted one and set it back down like there was an invisible floor beneath her.  She looked back up.  "I already told you, I don't have much control over this."

The unicorn sighed and spit out the blood from his busted lip.  "Whatever."

Twilight groaned in disgust.  "Did you have to do that?"

"Do what?"  Astral looked over at the glob of bodily fluids floating slowly away from him.  "Oh."

The capsule hit the bottom of its dive and started climbing.  Twilight was dropped to the floor, and the bloody spitball splattered the floor in front of her.  "You are so lucky that didn't hit me!"

Astral was barely able to hold himself up by the harness.  He struggled to look out ahead, hoping that a glimpse of the capsule's path would help him prepare for the shifting forces.  What he saw only made him wish he hadn't looked.  Up ahead, the forest farm ended, and city began.  The transport tube joined dozens of others, twisted like crazy straws around sprawling buildings and skyways.   "You might want to hold on to something."

"Like what?" Twilight snorted.  "I'm kind of stuck."

The capsule hit the first curve and Twilight was slammed against the wall opposite Astral.  Less than a second later, there was another curve.  Astral gave up his grip on the harnesses to catch and grab her.  Immediately, the capsule hit an interchange, and was dropped to another tube, several meters below.  This was followed by several more twists and turns.

As they were tossed around, Astral held tight to the purple alicorn.  If he didn't, there was every chance that one of them would end up impaling the other.  In between bumps and bruises, Astral noticed that Twilight wasn't complaining or fighting.  She must have realized the same thing.  	That, or she was knocked unconscious.

The capsule came to a stop, and Astral looked down at Twilight to check.  She was holding on to him just as tightly as he was holding her, and she looked up at him.  Then, there was a muffled scream off to the side.

Both ponies looked over.  Their tube car had stopped next to one that appeared to be public transportation.  A dozen ponies, and one young gryphon all stared in shock from their harnesses.  At least one old mare had fainted, and another was covering the eyes of the young foal next to her.  The gryphon said something to the Pegasus colt next to him, and before Astral could blink, they both had cameras out and were snapping away.

The cars started moving again, once more playing pinball with the two ponies.  The winding urban transport tubes beat them around for at least a minute before coming to another stop.

Twilight groaned into Astral's stomach.  "How long do you think it's going to stop this time.

Astral looked out the side of the car.  "I think it's over."  The transport tube was an easy step off the asphalt ground, and nearby was a small, three-walled bus station shelter.  Astral started laughing.  "We made it!"

Twilight sat up.  After looking out, she started laughing too.  "We did!  Finally!  I am so glad that's over."

There was a slight hiss, and the capsule door opened up.  It was still raining, but Twilight hopped out immediately, ignoring the downpour.  Astral grabbed his jacket first, as well as one of the discarded clumps of shop towel.  Then, he jumped out after Twilight.  He ran up to the alicorn, and used the towel to swat at a reddish smear on her mane.

"Hey!"  Twilight yelled as he walked away from her.  "What was that?"  She saw him wad up the towel and try to walk casually to a garbage can near the bus station.  "Was that-"

"No!"  Astral tossed the towel and headed for the shelter.  "No.  Whatever you're thinking, that was not it."

Twilight breathed a soft, "ew," before walking over to the shelter.  She found Astral studying a digital schedule posted on one wall.  The wall opposite the schedule held a static map, and the third held an advertisement for some local restaurant.  In the middle of the shelter, under a single hanging light, there was a small bench where Astral had set his jacket.  She sat down on it and sighed.  "So, when's the next hoverbus?"

"In about an hour."  Astral sighed and walked over to the map.  "Not that it matters."

"Why do you say that?"  Twilight looked over at the schedule.  There was fifty-seven minutes left until the next scheduled bus arrived.  "It's a bit of a wait, but we don't have much choice."

"What about the fare?"  Astral pointed back at the schedule.  "Look at the bottom.  Non-cardholders are ten bits per pony.  I don't know about you, but I'm not a cardholder, and I don't have any money."

Twilight checked the bottom of the schedule.  The price list was followed by five words in bold letters, "No exceptions!  Services are automated!"

She looked back at Astral.  "Think they'll let me use the senior discount?"

Astral shook his head.  "Funny, but if they use a carbon reading to check age, and it throws out your real age, it might be misinterpreted as fraud."

She sighed and went back to the bench.  But she didn't sit down just yet.  "It might just read my apparent age, and not the five thousand extra years."

Astral shrugged.  "Either way, no discount.  And we still don't have the money to pay for it."

Twilight groaned and walked over to the map.  "All right, where are the towers on this thing?"

Astral looked down at the alicorn.  The blue cloth she was wrapped in was wet and not very concealing anymore.  He grabbed his jacket and draped over her back.  When she looked up in surprise, he shrugged.  "Your wings were showing."  He cleared his throat.  "As for the towers, I'd say they're right about..."  He walked around to the other side of the wall and tapped it twice.  "Here."

Twilight shook her head.  "I get it, they're not on the map.  You could have just said that, instead of going back out in the rain."  She waited a moment for a barbed response, but none came.  "Astral?"  She peeked around the wall, but there was no sign of the grey unicorn.  "Astral?"

Heading back into the rain, Twilight walked all the way around the shelter, searching for Astral.  There were buildings nearby, and alleys between them, but she wasn't about to go exploring while low on magic.  Astral was nowhere to be seen, and without any magical options Twilight had to give up the search.  She walked back to the shelter's bench feeling betrayed.

She should have known he would make a run for it, but she was hoping he would go back like he agreed to.  She climbed onto the bench and laid down.  If she could get some sleep before the bus came, she might be able to store up enough magic to do... something?

She groaned quietly.  Who was she kidding, she didn't have a plan.  Her best bet would probably be to just sleep until she saved up enough magic to teleport to space.  But that would probably take a day or two, and she was already hungry from skipping breakfast.

She looked over at the restaurant ad.  She might be able to go there, explain that she had an accident, and ask to use a com-panel.  And hope that nopony asks her to take off the jacket, or asks why she's injured, or asks why she's wrapped in whatever this blue cloth is.

No, the restaurant is definitely out of the question.  If Astral was here, he could just go in and ask to use the com-panel.  Was that his plan for his own escape?  Or did he have another?  Did he come up with something, then ditch her in order to carry it out?

She pounded on the bench in frustration.  "Astral, you idiot!  I trusted you!"

There was a clang of metal, and familiar scoff.  "I never asked you to."

Twilight spun around.  "Where did you go?" She all but yelled at the pony standing casually behind her.  "And... What the hell is on your head?"

Astral glanced up at the jet black fuzz covering his forelock.  "Well, see for yourself."  He gave it a soft poke with a hoof, and two bright green eyes popped up on two little stalks.



Twilight screamed like a scared filly and fell off the bench.  She then scrambled to her hooves and backed away from Astral.  "What is that thing?!"

The furry black ball had nearly fallen off of Astral's head, and was now unfolding itself into a slender, four-limbed creature that was trying to climb away.  Astral sat down and held his hooves up, giving the creature's sloth-like movements something to latch on to.  "You scared her."

"She scared me!"  Twilight kept backing up until her flank bumped into the map.  "And what do you mean, her?  How can you even tell?"

"The eyes."  Astral slowly moved his hooves, and the creature held on.  "Males usually have yellow or blue eyes, and girls get pink or green."  Astral cupped his hooves to his chest, and the tiny fuzzball climbed into the space and curled up.  The eyes looked up at Astral and closed slowly.  Then, the eyestalks folded down into the dark fur, and Astral was once again holding an oversized pompom.  He looked up at Twilight.  "You've never seen a prill before, have you?"

The alicorn mare shook her head.  "I saw pictures of them in Eckrt's file, but they didn't look like that."

Astral sighed sadly.  "You probably saw a picture of one after it was exposed to radiation.  When he attacked the Philomena, Eckrt used mutated prills as a spearhead.  I fought and killed one of them, then vented the atmosphere, dooming any that were left."

"It doesn't sound like you had much choice."  Twilight moved closer, but kept a small distance from the prill.  "Where did you find this one?"

Astral looked behind him, at the sheet of metal on the ground.  "Same place I found that, a pile of garbage in one of the alleys."  Astral gently cradled the sleeping creature, rocking it in his hooves.  "Somepony left her in a box, just forgot about her because it was convenient."

Twilight inched closer.  The prill was making little warbling noises as it slept, almost like it was snoring.  "It's weird, but kind of cute.  I know somepony who would love to see this."

"One of your friends?"

She nodded slowly.  "I haven't seen any of them in so long."

Astral sighed.  He was probably going to regret this.  "I don't know if you'll find them, but I'll help you search."

Twilight's eyes widened in surprise.  "You will?"

He nodded.  "Now that I know about them, I can't just leave a bunch of ponies scattered in boxes around the galaxy."

"I don't know what to to say."  No, that was wrong, she did know what to say.  "Thank you."

"I'm not doing this for you."  Astral set the prill down on the bench, and it curled up even tighter, letting out a soft squeaking noise.  "It's for the ponies out there.  They deserve to be saved by somepony they know, so I'll work with you to make that happen."

"I don't care what your reasons are, this really means a lot to me."

"Good."  Astral grabbed the sheet of metal he had found earlier, and held it up in front of him.  "Because I need you to risk another episode of magical exhaustion, by punching a hole out of this."

Twilight pulled the metal down with her hoof.  "Maybe I'll punch a hole out of you."

Astral raised an eyebrow and gave the alicorn his best, "I dare you," look.  "Do you want to get out of here?"

"Yes, but how is poking holes in a piece of metal supposed to accomplish that?"  She crossed her hooves.  "And why can't you do it?"

"I need to punch out a circle the size of a ten-bit coin.  I might be able to do it, but it'll have a jagged edge."

Twilight brought a hoof to her face.  "Please tell me you aren't going to try to pay the bus fare with a fake coin."

Astral rolled his eyes.  "Do you want to do it?"

"No!"  Twilight shouted.  She immediately looked over at the prill, making sure she didn't wake it up.  She looked back at Astral and continued in a much quieter voice.  "That's crazy.  It will be recognized as a fake, and police will be called out to arrest you for counterfeiting currency."

Astral tilted his head to the side.  "Have you done this before?"

"No," she answered way too quickly.  "And I'm not going to do it again.  We can come up with another plan."  She pointed at the advertisement on the wall behind them.  "How about we go to that restaurant?  You can go in and ask to use a com-panel."

Astral looked over.  "That chain went out of business two years ago.  That sign shouldn't even be there."

"Then, maybe some other restaurant took its place?"

Astral shrugged.  "Maybe, but do you want to go strolling through this city at night?  I don't even know how safe this area is, let alone the rest of it."  

Twilight looked out at the darkened city beyond the shelter.  She hadn't even considered that.  "But, is getting arrested really a better option?"

"Who said anything about getting arrested?"  Astral patted the sheet metal.  "This stuff is so obviously garbage, that nopony will ever think I expected it to be accepted.  I wave down the police aircar when it approaches, then I can just explain that I got lost with my, uh, sister, or ugly cousin, or something, and that I was acting out of desperation.  Then I can ask to call a friend to come bring us home."

Twilight shook her head hesitantly.  "It's risky.  What if they don't buy the story?"

"I assume you know how to get ahold of Jasper, the presidential aide?"

"Of course.  Why?"

Astral snickered.  "Well, 'sis,'" he air quoted.  "How do you think your everyday police officer will react if you ask to call a friend in the president's inner circle?"

"They'll throw us in a mental institution," Twilight responded flatly.

Astral groaned.  "Well you don't tell them who you're calling, you just make the call and make sure they see who you're talking to."

The alicorn shook her head.  "That's crazy."

"But it works."  Astral scratched his mane.  "I've done it twice, hauling cargo for celebrities.  You'd be amazed how far the promise of an autograph can go."

Twilight sighed.  "Fine, I'll do it.  Just let me get a little bit more rest first."

Astral gently picked up the sleeping prill, clearing the bench for Twilight.  "You have twenty-three minutes before the bus arrives."

She checked the schedule before laying down on the bench.  "Actually, it's twenty-four, but you were close."

Astral let out an annoyed snort.  "It's always 'close."'  He set the prill down against Twilight's side, prompting some mildly panicked squirming from the alicorn.

"What are you doing?"  She hissed.  "I don't want that thing."

"There's a reason ponies have been keeping prills as pets for the last few millennia."  Astral nudged the tiny creature and it started to nuzzle itself into Twilight's side.  "Just give it a chance."

Twilight stayed stock still, unsure of the alien creature touching her.  She didn't even get a chance to do any research on it, and he expects her to be fine sleeping with it?  Sure, it was warm and soft, and the little cooing noises weren't so bad.  And the slow rhythm of its nuzzling was quite...

Astral chuckled to himself as Twilight drifted off to sleep.  "Looks like alicorns are even more sensitive to a prill's charm than regular ponies."  He watched the two sleep for a moment, then quickly looked away.  For just a moment, it had crossed his mind that she looked cute.  Only thing was, he wasn't one hundred percent sure he was thinking about the prill.

He sat down next to the bench and shook his head.  He had to be thinking about the prill.  Cute was a word you applied to things that were harmless, things like baby prills, or curaxxan wolf-bats before they get big.  Alicorns weren't something that could be considered harmless.

Except, at the moment, this one was harmless.  He snuck a quick glance.  She was hurt and exhausted, definitely in worse condition than he was.  And, it seemed like she wasn't given the benefit of medical attention after their fight.

Another glance turned into a stare.  Objectively, she looked just like a regular mare.  If you couldn't see her wings, you could mistake her for a normal unicorn.  At one time, she might have been a normal unicorn, or a Pegasus.  But, Astral got the feeling that she was a bit more magic than flight.

He found himself wondering what she was like before becoming an alicorn.  Did she change at all?  Aside from the wings and extra powers, of course.  Does a change like that change a pony's personality?  Does it change other ponies?  Did it change the way ponies on her world saw her?  The way they treated her?

Speaking of which, he could probably stand to treat her a little better.  Maybe lay off on the sarcasm a little.  Then again, the same applied to her.  

He sighed and forced himself to watch the time tick away on the schedule.  If only they had met under different circumstances, then...  What?  He didn't have many friends.  Strike that, he didn't have any.  There were ponies that he met who he was on friendly terms with, but he didn't keep in touch with any of them or anything like that.  The life of a freelance pilot wasn't exactly conducive to the forming of long term bonds.

That included romantic bonds.  Come to think of it, he could only recall one mare that he ever dated, a pegasus mechanic on Earth Station One.  And it ended rather quickly, after an unintended insult and resulting argument.  After a first date like that, it would be hard to do any worse, but he hadn't tried.

Wait a minute!  Astral shook his head violently.  Was he actually considering this alicorn as a romantic possibility?  Just how many times had he been hit in the head these last few days?  Besides... 

Besides... 

Actually, Astral couldn't think of anything.  Just the fact that they were currently in some sort of weird 'enemies with the same goal,' relationship.  Oh, and the whole, 'they tried to kill each other,' thing.  Other than that, the more he tried to think of logical reasons why he shouldn't even consider it, the more he came up with logical reasons why he should.

She could handle herself in a fight, maybe even better than he could.  She was much more adept at magic, aside from a few minor drawbacks.  She wouldn't die if anything went horribly wrong in space, unlike him.  And, as much as he hated to admit it, she wasn't exactly bad looking.

"No!  No, no, no.  I've been planet-side way too long, that always leads to problems."  He looked over at the schedule.  Two minutes till bus, time to get to work.  He did his best to shake all his unnecessary thoughts away, then poked the sleeping object of those thoughts.  "Magic girl, get up.  The bus is on the way."

Eyes closed, she rolled onto her back and stretched out with a smile on her face.  The baby prill, dislodged from its sleeping place, crawled into the jacket she wore and soon started snoring again.  Twilight giggled at the tickling fuzz and yawned.  "Five more minutes, princess.  I read that book yesterday."

Twilight's head hung off the bench in front of Astral.  As he stood over her, he tapped her on the chin.  "Wrong pony," he said flatly.  "Try captain of the guard."

He only referenced what Celestia said as a joke, so he wasn't expecting the alicorn's eyes to fling open so quickly.  "Shining?"  She asked quickly.  "Where?"  She sat up so fast that the unicorn couldn't move out of the way, and he caught the sharp end of a horn on his own chin.  

"Ah!  Careful!"  He shouted in pain.  It wasn't bad, but the impact had drawn blood.

Twilight looked back sleepily.  "Oh, it's just you."  She yawned again, oblivious to the fluffy black creature lazily climbing up to top of her head.  "What did you do to your face?"

"I cut it shaving," he responded sarcastically.

"What were you doing shaving?  And what where you shaving with?"  Twilight asked, completely missing the tone of his voice.  She hopped off the bench and stretched out.  "And where'd that animal go?"

Astral waited for Twilight to look over at him, then he pointed up.

She looked up, and when she saw the black fuzz wrapped around her horn, she let out a loud shriek.  She spun in place, almost like she was trying to dislodge the sleep lump.  "Get it off, get it off!"  She shouted at Astral.  After a few spins, she stopped and pranced nervously in place.  "What's it doing?  What does it want?"

"It's sleeping.  And it wants you to punch out a ten bit slug for me."  Astral lifted up the sheet of metal and held it out to the panicked alicorn.  "Get over it, you're a thousand times more dangerous than that thing could ever hope to be."  Twilight opened her mouth to spout an appropriate reply, but Astral cut her off.  "No time," he pointed out into the rainy night, at an approaching light, "that's probably the bus.  Can you do this?"

With one last worried glance at the prill, Twilight nodded.  "I think I got enough rest."

"Good, because time's up."  As the bus pulled up, Astral pulled the prill away from Twilight and held up the sheet metal.  "Ten bits."

"Right."  Twilight nodded to herself and repeated to herself, "ten bits, ten bits, ten bits."  She closed her eyes and held up a hoof, visualizing the coin as if she was holding it.

Astral was expecting her to take the metal from him, but she just punched through his magic with hers.  Her spell hit the metal with a crack like thunder, and a steaming metal round dropped to the ground.  Astral looked at it for a second, then groaned.  "What are you doing?  That's way too small!"

Twilight looked down at the coin.  "Oh, right!  Canterlot bit, not Equestrian."  She launched another bolt of magic at the sheet metal, and a much larger blank fell to the ground.

"That's more like it."  Astral dropped the metal sheet, shoved the prill back into Twilight's mane, and ran to the bus with the counterfeit bit.  The bus had parked a fair distance from the shelter, but Astral made it before the bus pulled away.  It wasn't a full sized bus, but a little hovering taxi, only big enough for one or two ponies.  This area of of town must not see much traffic.

A sensor on the bus alerted its automated system to his presence, triggering a prerecorded voice.  "Greetings, potential passenger.  How may I be of assistance?"

A panel on the side of the small aircar lit up.  It showed a map of possible destinations, and a list of prices for additional services.  A slot next to the panel also lit up.  "Here goes nothing," Astral muttered under his breath.  He braced himself for the alarms that were about to sound, and inserted his fake coin.

"Current balance, ten bits.  Please select a destination."

Astral looked back at the panel.  It showed a list of all the places he could go for ten bits, and explanations of how much cargo he could bring with him.  "That shouldn't have..."  On a hunch, Astral used his electronic detection spell on the taxi.  He expected to find a transmitter, sending out an alert signal, but there was nothing beyond what you could expect from an automated vehicle.

He looked back at the shelter.  "Twilight!  Get over here!  And bring two more coins!"  He looked back at the map, and started using the touchscreen to search for a destination that would help them get back across the planet.  Behind him, he heard two more thunderclaps as  Twilight made more coins.  This was followed by a soft thud and the squeak of a panicked prill.  

Astral shook his head.  "Of course she did."
> Old Hooves, Warm Heart
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------

	The Canterlot mag-rail was calm and quiet compared to yesterday's transport tubes.  That included the second ride, for which Astral, Twilight, and the prill had all been properly strapped in.

It helped that the car was empty except for the three of them.  It was crowded when they got on, but quickly emptied as the train traveled farther and farther away from residential and industrial areas.  The towers they needed were still one subsection of city away, and there was a distinct possibility that the train would fill up again as it entered another residential area.

But, for now, it was just them.  So Astral had to wonder, why was Twilight still sleeping on his shoulder?  It was understandable in the taxi.  There had barely been enough room for the two of them, and she had been passed out.  But that was last night.

Since then, they had used every free method of transportation they could find to make short hops back to the towers.  They had even stopped for breakfast and lunch.  It was free rations, but when you're hungry, you can't complain.  Strike that, you can complain, and will, but you still eat it.

During that time, Twilight slept as much as she could.  Most of the time, space had been limited, so she had no choice but to lean against her unwilling traveling partner.  Now that there was room for them to spread out, Astral was torn.  On one hoof, he was a bit annoyed that she was being so close.  On the other, he didn't want to wake her, and his thoughts kept wandering back to how harmless she looked when she slept.

The prill clinging to the side of her face added to that harmless look.  Midnight, as she had named it after he vetoed, 'Fuzzilicious,' was fairly attached to the alicorn by now.  And Twilight seemed to be getting used to the fuzzy creature hanging on to her.

The train started slowing down, and Twilight shifted in her sleep, jabbing her horn into the pit of Astral's shoulder.  The grey unicorn stifled a shout and tried to shove her away.  This prompted a bout of sleepy mumbling from the alicorn.  Most of it was incoherent nonsense, but he was able to make out the words, "keep it up, I'll cut you."

Astral froze in place, not sure if the words were the random mutterings of sleep, or a serious threat.  "Hey," he whispered, "you are asleep, right?"  A slight snore answered him.  "Great."  He rolled his eyes.  "You're just as violent sleeping as you are when you're awake."

Twilight snuggled tighter against the stallion with a muttered, "shut up."

Astral groaned, but he couldn't push her away now.  The train had stopped at a small boarding station, and three ponies were about to board.  An elderly green mare with a large canvas purse, and a young unicorn couple stood at the car's open door.

The moment Astral made eye contact with them, the two unicorns both went red in the face.  The young mare looked away and took a step back, and the stallion started stammering, "S-sorry!  We'll um- just catch the next one."

Astral couldn’t help but turn his lip up in confusion at the reaction, and how it was directed at him.  “Huh?”

The older mare just walked right in and sat in the seat next to Astral.  She fussed with her bag for a moment, making sure it was securely seated next to her.  A few seconds later, the doors slid shut, and the car started moving again.  As the train sped up, the mare watched Astral and Twilight with a smile on her face.

Astral nervously returned a polite smile, then tried to ignore her.  That proved difficult though, because she leaned over and started talking to him.  "The poor dear's all tuckered out, ain't she?"

The stallion did a double take.  The old mare's accent was almost identical to Mac's, probably from whatever planet the ponies of Mac's region settled on.  He looked over at her and answered, "I guess so."  Now that he looked at her, old wasn't quite right.  The word ancient fit better.  She looked to be about a hundred, wrinkled and taut,but with no sign of slowing down anytime soon.  Her hair was done up in a tight bun, and she was wearing a polka-dotted scarf or bandana around her neck.

"It's a shame ya know, Ah was really hopin' ta speak to the dear."  She sighed sadly as she watched the younger mare snore.  "The princess needs her sleep, Ah s'pose."

Astral shifted uncomfortably.  They just had to get stuck with an overly social passenger.  He looked down at Twilight, and saw an opportunity.  He could get out of this conversation, and reclaim his shoulder in one go. "She's been sleeping most of the day, and most of last night, too.  Let me wake her up for you."

Before he could though, the elder mare had grabbed his hoof with her own.  "That ain't nec'ssary.  Ah knew what it was like ta be young once.  Let 'er get as much rest as she can."

"Uh..."  What did that even mean?  Astral shook his head slowly.  This was going to be a long ride.

The green mare patted his hoof softly, as if she were sitting with a young relative.  "So, how long've the two a' ya been married?"

The grey stallion sighed.  This was going to be a very long ride.  "It's not like that, she's just-"

The old mare smacked his leg hard in reprimand, just above the hoof.  "'Just,' nothin'!  She's a very pretty girl, and Ah bet she's nicer'n you deserve."

Astral gritted his teeth and shook his hoof.  As old as she may have been, the old mare was stronger than her frail looks suggested.  "Yes, ma'am."  He wasn't about to argue with her.  He would just go along with it until the next station.  "I didn't mean it like that.  Things are just... complicated, you know?"

"Well, ya'd best sort 'things out soon.  Afore she gets sore at ya."  She reached into her bag and pulled out a small potted plant.  "Here ya go, Young'n.  An apology for smackin' ya without knowing' the whole story.  Ah think she'll like it, and the kids can make do with one less plant."

Astral took it and looked it over.  It was a tiny ivy in a clay pot that was fitted with a miniature hydroponics module.  The whole thing was only a few centimeters tall, and although the ivy's spearhead leaves and tendrils trailed over the pot's edge, It would all fit easily in a pocket with no dirt to spill.  "Uh, thanks?  Are you sure you don't need it for the, um, kids?"

"Sure as sunshine, Sugarcube."  She reached into the bag and pulled out another plant, this time some sort of tree sprout in the same hydroponic setup.  "Ah've got about a dozen extras in here, just in case the whippersnappers need 'em."

"Are you some sort of teacher then?"  Astral carefully set the pot in one of his jacket pockets.  Twilight didn't even seem to notice.  "Botany, or something like that?"

"Ah wish Ah was."  The made let out a cackling chuckle.  "Then, the pay'd be better."  She nudged the canvas bag she brought with her.  "Ah run a daycare.  It's about the only thing Ah'm good for anymore.  Course, even then they had ta cure me a' nar-ca-lepsy, and replace my hip with a fancy new ti-ta-nyum one first."

"Narcolepsy?"  Astral asked.  He looked down at Twilight.  "Isn't that where you fall asleep at random?"

"Sort of, deary.  But, Ah ain't got it no more, so Ah got no reason not ta keep busy."  She pulled a business card from her bandana as the train started to slow down again.  "Ah'll give ya one a' these holo-grabitz doo-jiggers Ah had made.  That way, ya can git in touch."  She set it down on Astral's arm rest, along with the other sprout she had taken out.  The train stopped, pneumatic doors hissed open, and she stood up, checking her bag before picking it up.  "Thank ya fer listenin' ta mah ramblin', but Ah've got ta be goin'.  Just make sure ya treat that princess with the respect she deserves."

Astral contained the urge to scoff and roll his eyes.  Instead, he nodded politely.  "Don't worry, I will."

With one last smile at the two traveling ponies, the old mare exited the train car.  Astral gave a small wave and, after the the doors closed, a sigh of relief.  The old mare was pretty nice, but he just wanted to get back to the towers without incident, not meet every random pony on Canterlot.

With another sigh, he picked up the business card and flipped on the projector.  The words, "Mrs. Smith, Professional Granny," accompanied a holocall number and a picture of her playing with a group of foals, human children, and gryphon cubs.  Astral smirked.  Even though he would never need it, he put the card and additional plant in one of the other jacket pockets.  

The slight tug at the jacket made Twilight shift again.  She pressed her cheek up against Astral's, with a hapless Midnight stuck between the two ponies.  "Fla~sh," she half whispered, half whined, "you said you'd wait."

The squished prill let out a whine of its own as it tried to free itself by climbing across Astral's face.

The stallion just let out a loud sigh and let the little creature climb.  "I know how you feel, girl.  I know how you feel."
> Fight Fire on Fire
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------

	There was a bright flash as Twilight teleported into Celestia's office.  After all the sleep she had gotten, her magic was pretty well recovered.  It would still be another day or two before she was back at one hundred percent, but at least she could use most of her spells without passing out.

Twilight's mentor was at her desk, like always, and was facing away from the purple mare.  She didn't seem to notice her student's abrupt entrance, so Twilight trotted around in front of her.

"Hey, guess what?"  Twilight asked happily.  She didn't mention the cloth wrap she was wearing, wanting to see if Celestia would comment on it.  Despite being improvised from cleaning cloths, it looked like a legitimate piece of summer-wear.  "Astral agreed to help us search for Cryo-Seven's missing ponies."

"Oh, really?"  Celestia responded flatly without looking up from the magazine she was reading.  She slowly turned one page, then another.  "How did you manage that?"

Twilight tilted her head to the side.  Celestia was usually more... upbeat than this.  "Well, it wasn't easy.  And it took a bit of persuasion."

Celestia scoffed and looked up at Twilight.  "Oh, I bet it did."

"Huh?"  Twilight shook her head.  She had never heard the princess use that tone of voice before.  The only word she could think of to describe it was...snarky.  "Princess, is something wrong?"

"Wrong?"  Celestia all but shouted.  "Is something-"  She stopped and pointed at Twilight.  "I'll tell you what's wrong, Missy.  Where's Astral Plane?  I want him here, right now!"  The solar princess slammed her hooves on the desk and stood up.  Then, she muttered under her breath, "if he's lucky, I'll only burn his fur off."

Twilight didn't hear that last part.  "He's outside, waiting at the base of the tower.  Did you just call me, ‘Missy?’"

Celestia leaned over the desk.  "Bring him up," she commanded, "now."

Twilight took a step back.  The last time she had seen Celestia this angry was while Equestria was under direct attack.  "Um, ok."  She sought out Astral with her magic.  It wasn't hard, he was almost exactly where she had left him.  It seemed he had wandered a bit, but she was able to teleport him up without any problems.  At the same time, she teleported Midnight to Mac's quarters.  There was no need for the prill to be up here.

Astral appeared facing a nearby wall.  As soon as he realized what had happened, he turned around.  Then, he opened his mouth to speak.

Celestia shouted him down.  "The only thing I want to hear from you is an explanation for your actions!  And you better make it good, because I can be very creative when it comes to devising punishments."

Astral blinked.  As far as he knew, Celestia was one of four supernaturally powerful beings that secretly ruled the galaxy, or something like that.  It was more than a bit worrying to hear her suddenly talking about punishments.  "I'm sorry, what are you talking about?"

Celestia sat down at her desk and tossed her magazine to the ground at Astral's hooves.  "Perhaps this will jog your memory."

Astral picked it up.  It was an issue of the Canterlot Chronicle, the most widely spread magazine in the pony territories, and one of the few that still printed on paper.  Incidentally, that paper was made from the pulp produced at the farm he and Twilighted had been forced to visit.  This issues headline was, "Tryst in the Tubes."  The subtitle mentioned something about a couple being unable to wait before sharing a steamy moment.  And, as his eyes drifted down to picture, Astral's mouth fell open in shock.

"What is it?"  The magazine was yanked away by purple magic, and Twilight looked the magazine over.  "Oh, sweet cider."  The cover picture was of her, laying on top of Astral, with his jacket covering their hindquarters in a way that suggested that the particular activity mentioned by the headline could actually be occurring. The wide-eyed look on Astral's face as he faced the camera, and her own goofy smile and half-lidded eyes only added to the picture's effect.  She looked over at Celestia.  "This is not what it looks like."

The princess folded her hooves over each other atop her desk.  "Really?  Then what is it?  Because, in the last twenty-four hours since that was published, you've managed to inspire forty-seven recorded copycat acts, numerous pieces of graffiti memorializing your 'pure and uncontainable love,' and a new line of clothing."

Twilight wanted to scream.  "But, we were just-"

Celestia raised her hoof to stop her.  "I should also mention that the entire planet's police force is after the two of you as we speak.  There are warrants out for your arrest.  Charges include public indecency, inciting public indecency, and for some reason, counterfeiting."

Twilight ran a shaky hoof through her mane.  She was about ten seconds away from from pulling her mane out.  Three years of hiding, ruined, right along with her reputation.  "It's not fair," she whined, "the counterfeiting is the only thing we actually did."  She buried her face as far in her hooves as she could.  "I should have taken my chances with the harvester."

A soft laugh and a clincking sound came from above them.  Chrysalis was in her hammock, and she was twirling some coins around in her hooves.  "She's just upset that she lost the bet."

"That has nothing to do with this!"  Celestia snapped at the changeling.  She looked back down at her student with a quiet sigh.  "I was so happy these last three years, because you hadn't changed.  You were still the same, innocent, bright-eyed filly I remembered from all those millennia ago.  Either my memory has been clouded by nostalgia, or the stallion coerced you in some way.  Did he threaten you at all?  Or did he make that a condition for receiving his help in the search?"

"Hey!"  Astral stepped forward despite the white alicorn's glare.  "I didn't do any of that!"  He pointed at the magazine laying on the floor.  "And we didn't do any of that."  After a short pause, he added, "except for the counterfeiting part.  It's a long story, but we needed bus fare."

Chrysalis let out a whine.  "If the two of you weren't doing the rumpy bumpy, do I have to give fifty bits back?"

Twilight looked up slowly.  Fire burned in her eyes as she demanded of her mentor, "What bet?"

Celestia shook her head.  "I don't care about the bits, Twilight.  I-"

The purple alicorn shouted her elder down with a voice too loud to not be magically enhanced.  "Well I do!"  At the same time, the fire spread from her eyes to the rest of her body, bright and violent, emanating a purifying heat as her very coat became flame.  She advanced on the larger alicorn with appearance of a flaming angel, ready to incinerate all in its path.  "Thanks to Luna's little team-building experiment, I had to put up with with magical exhaustion, being dragged around half the planet, being made a fool of in front of the entire population, and worst of all, kissing that useless excuse for a stallion.  And, after all that, you have the gall to place a bet on my virginity, and play the part of the scandalized victim?  And how the hell is my chastity only worth fifty bits?"

Celestia backed up until she hit a wall, and Twilight continued her advance until she was right on top her.  The flames surrounding her died away, leaving the smaller alicorn her usual, purple self.  She looked up at Celestia with tears in her eyes.  "I was the one who was wrong.  I thought I still knew you, even after five thousand years.  But, I guess I was wrong, the princess, no, the Celestia I knew would have trusted me.  Or at least listened to what I had to say before judging me."  She backed away and turned her back on the white alicorn.  "I'm headed off planet.  We needed a pilot, and whatever the circumstances, we got one.  So I'm going to start looking for my friends."

"Twilight, wait..."  Celestia reached a hoof towards open air as the flash of her student's teleport faded.

Chrysalis clicked her tongue and rolled over in her cot.  "Touchy, ain't she."

"Yes," Celestia replied sadly.  She walked over and picked up the slightly charred magazine.  "But, she is absolutely right."  With a soft sigh, she tore the thing in two.  "No matter how damning this picture may be, I should listen to her first."  She continued tearing it into smaller pieces until she could no longer grasp the shredded paper in her hooves.  "I have to find a way to make it up to her."

The changeling scoffed at the notion.  "Good luck, she seemed pretty pissed."

Celestia walked over to her desk and sat down behind it.  "Even so, she is important to me.  I'll do whatever it takes."

Chrysalis perked her ears up.  "Really?"  She rolled out of her cot and fluttered to the floor with a buzz of translucent wings.  "It's been a while since you've said something with that level of conviction."

"Is that so unusual?" Celestia asked.  "I care about her."

The changeling shook her head.  "You haven't shown it.  In the three years since her pod was found, you haven't exactly been the most accessible pony around."

"We've been busy."  Celestia opened a drawer and pulled out a stack of papers.  "I shouldn't have to remind you of that."  She looked down at the pile of forms and printouts with a sigh.  She then offered them to Chrysalis.  "These need to be incinerated."

The changeling shook her head again.  "Do it yourself.  I'm enjoying my days off."

With a groan, Celestia bit down on the stack of paper and carried it to a disposal station hidden in the wall near the elevator.  As she fed the papers into the waiting plasma field, a few sheets at a time, Chrysalis walked up behind her and placed a hoof on her shoulder.

"You said you were happy that Twilight hadn't changed, " the changeling said softly.  "You've been avoiding her because you're afraid she'll see how much you've changed."

Celestia remained silent as she fed the last bit of paper into the unit, watching the papers disappear with a rust-colored glow.  "My fondest memories come from those last few years on Equestria.  I just wanted things to stay the same between us."

Chrysalis patted Celestia's fur softly.  "That's not possible, and you know it.  She has to find out sooner or later.  And if you keep hiding it, if you keep lying to her, things aren't going to be pretty."

Celestia looked over at the changeling.  "How am I supposed to tell her?  Our relationship has always been one of mentor and student.  How do I end that?  How do I tell Twilight that my magic is gone?  That I can no longer teach her anything?"

“Be honest, she’s more like the daughter you never had.”  The changeling offered a warm smile.  "You and I have seen eras come and go, don’t delude yourself into thinking Magic is the only thing you have to teach.  Besides, you know as well as I do that she doesn't need a teacher anymore.  She is well on her way to claiming her birthright."  She walked away from the alicorn and got ready to fly back up to her cot.  "She could probably use a friend though, both of you could."
> A Few Ration Bars Short of a Picnic
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------

	Mac scratched his forehead.  "Ah thought ya said this other one was the throttle."

Astral nodded.  "It is, but that control is for the atmospheric engines.  You have to switch to the pulse drive if you want to cover any sort of stellar distances in a single lifetime."

The red pony pointed to another control.  "But, Ah thought this was the engine ya used for space travel, the slipstream drive."  He looked over all the controls again.  They were on their way back to Canter Station Delta, and Astral was trying to give him a crash course in piloting.  Mac just hoped that it wouldn't end up a literal crash course, because the more the unicorn tried to explain the shuttle's controls, the more the earth pony realized how far behind he was.  "The slipstream is the only thing Ah recognize, but the controls are different."

Astral sighed.  Right now, they were sitting in space, in an idle orbit around Canterlot.  And they were going nowhere fast.  Astral had his jacket back, ripped and patchless though it may be.  And Mac was once again wearing the tan uniform shirt.  It was a simple, utilitarian design, and with the right patch on the sleeve, could indicate anything from a maintenance worker, to a private security guard.

"You seem like the type that learns through doing, so here's what we'll do."  He gave Mac a short series of specific commands, keeping each one as simple as possible.  Throttle up by using this control, input any direction with these controls, then throttle down with this.  "Think you can do that?  I'll take over if you compromise our orbit, so give it a try."

Mac set his jaw and took a deep breath.  "Ah'll try."

He tapped the control panel and the ship shuddered forward and started rolling.  Star-filled space and planet Canterlot swirled around the ship, rapidly flashing through the viewport like a strobe.

Astral took over and quickly stilled the shuttle's rotation before throttling down.  "Not like that.  Use a smoother motion, you have to slide the control up to the level you want.  You can't just tap it."

Mac was about as pale as a cave-dwelling fish, and sweating profusely by the time the shuttle came to a relative stop.  He took a few shaky breaths and leaned back in his chair.  "Ah think Ah'll let you handle things for now."  He slunk off to the passenger compartment after muttering something about a drink, closing the door behind him and leaving Astral alone in the pilot's cabin.

The grey unicorn shrugged and set the shuttle on autopilot.  It was a simple ride anyway.  It wasn't even necessary for him to have flown the shuttle as far as he had, but he had wanted to test the small ship a little.  And, he was glad he did.

The shuttle handled like a dream.  He knew it was going to be more maneuverable than even the smallest cargo ship, but he wasn't expecting it to be that much better.  Instead, it felt like driving an aircar.  The turns were smooth as silk, air resistance was mitigated by ion fields, and the atmospheric engines were not only quiet, but augmented by a omni-directional hover system instead of the standard bipolar grav-sled.  

"GYAAH!"

A distinctly filly-like scream cut off Astral's appreciation of the shuttle's flight capabilities and drew his attention to the compartments behind him.  "Twilight?"  He shouted.  "What's wrong?"

He got out of his chair and opened the door to the passenger compartment.  Mac was leaning against one of the chairs and panting heavily.  Twilight was nowhere to be seen.

The door to the rear compartment slid open a second later, revealing a puzzled purple alicorn.  "What's going on?  What was that scream?"

"Huh?"  Astral shook his head.  If Twilight didn't scream, that only left...  He looked over at Mac.

The big red pony looked back and forth between the other two ponies before lifting a hoof to point at something between the chairs.  "It followed me."

Twilight and Astral moved in to investigate, each keeping their magic at the ready.  Tucked between the armrests, they found a small duffel bag.  Each of them had brought one, filled with basic toiletries, food, and a few other odds and ends that may be useful on their short mission.  This particular bag seemed to hold something extra, a small black limb was reaching out from a partially open zipper and trying to scratch its way out.

Twilight tried to supress a giggle as she opened the bag and pulled midnight out.  "Isn't that cute?  It likes you, Mac."

The red pony shook his head adamantly.  "If it liked me, it wouldn't be tryin' ta kill me.  Ah almost had a heart attack!"  He worked to get his breathing under control and added, "And Ah don't like learnin' 'bout alien lifeforms by having' 'em jump on mah head while Ah'm sleepin'."

"That may have been my fault," Twilight admitted.  "I thought you would be awake, so I set her on your bed with a teleport."

"Her?"  Mac leaned over Twilight's shoulder, carefully keeping the purple made between himself and the prill.  "How can ya tell?"

"By the eyes," Twilight answered happily.    She waggled a hoof above the prill's head, and giggled as its eyes blinked and swayed on their stalks.  "Females have pink or green eyes.  Males have yellow or blue."

Mac quietly watched the prill's eyes sway.  "Ah see," he almost whispered, as if the prill would attack him if his voice was too loud.  "Well, you've been out a' your pod for a couple years now, Ah guess its only natural that ya know more'n Ah do 'bout aliens."

"Uh, no," Astral deadpanned.  "She saw a prill, that prill, for the first time yesterday.  She screamed about as loud as you did."

Mac bit his lip and turned away.  "Not as loud as Ah did the first time," he muttered.

The unicorn fought back a chuckle.  "I bet you gave Silver quite a shock.  Did she hear you?"

The red pony nodded slowly.  "She came runnin' ta save me."  He looked back down at Midnight.  "But, Ah thought she took this little critter with her when she left.  Now we've got ta bring it back."

"Not necessarily."  Astral reached over and pet the prill.  It responded with mewling purr.  "Prills are pretty common pets on spaceships.  They don't try to run away, they love standard ration bars, they adapt to variable gravities easily, and they aren't hard to train.  You can even buy spacesuits for them."

Twilight looked down at Midnight with a sudden smile.  "Please tell me you can get little mini ones, something that would fit her right now."

With a sigh, Astral responded, "We're already on the way to Canter Station Delta.  I was told I could make purchases for the sake of this mystery mission, so everypony gets a spacesuit.  I don't like flying without them."

Twilight exchanged glances with Mac.  "But, I don't need a spacesuit, and there are already some in the back." She looked the red pony up and down for a moment.  "The gryphon sized one should fit you, just remove the talon control inserts."

Astral looked at the back door, realizing at that moment that he had never been back there.  He shook his head.  "I doubt the suits are quite up to my standard, and it would be better if Mac had one fit to him.  I did a quick check, and Delta's fabrication facilities can do the job about as cheap as anypony else in the system."

Twilight squinted at the grey stallion.  "You say it's, 'about as cheap as anypony else.'  Is there some other reason you want to stop by the space station?"

"Yes," Astral replied without hesitation.  "There are two other reasons.  The first of which is that I want to retrieve a few items from the Philomena.  If they've been properly decontaminated, of course.  If not, I'll have them decontaminated.  The second reason is that you need to get patched up.  A stallion running around with cuts all over is going to get chuckles and some scars to talk about.  A mare doing the same will draw a bit more attention.  I'm guessing you'd rather avoid that?"

Twilight scoffed.  "Duh.  But, do you really think they'll just let you borrow their medical equipment?  The commissary only carried self-sterilizing bandages, along with a few other basic medications and supplies.  I had Mac check last time we were here.  You should have stopped by a pharmacy on the surface."

"I'm not going to borrow medical equipment."  A gentle alert tone sounded from the front, drawing Astral's attention to the fact that they were nearing the station.  As he returned to the pilot's seat, he smirked.  "We're going to borrow medical personnel."

"What?  No!"  Twilight shoved midnight down the collar of Mac's shirt and followed the unicorn.  "We can't involve anypony who hasn't been cleared yet.  A doctor would insist that I not wear clothing for treatment."

Astral scratched at his chin as Canter Station Delta's metal form grew in the viewport.  "Maybe you could insist that you have to wear clothing at all times.  Maybe for religious reasons?"

Twilight groaned.  "Is that another one of those stupid ideas that inexplicably worked for you in the past?"

"Hey!  Punching those slugs out of that sheet metal was not a stupid idea."  As they neared the station, a set of shuttle bay doors opened on the station exterior.  Astral keyed in an automatic landing, then turned back to Twilight.  "Even if it didn't work quite as planned, it still got us back to the tower."

"But there was nopony around."  Twilight pointed to the shuttlebay they were about to land in.  "You can't say the same for that station.  Am I just supposed to go strolling around there?  Besides, that still doesn't solve the fundamental problem of showing some random doctor that I'm an alicorn."

The shuttle slowed down as it entered the shuttlebay.  Astral monitored the process, but the ship deftly docked at an open mooring.  "It doesn't have to be a doctor.  I could take care of this if we had the right equipment, so a nurse is all we need."

"Doctor, nurse, same problem."  Twilight reached for the panel that controlled the viewport.

As she darkened the window, Astral shook his head.  "Not if it's one that already knows about you, and has already agreed to keep quiet."

"Wait, you mean you told somepony?"  Twilight pulled the latch that locked the pilots chair in place, freeing it up to swivel on its base.  She then spun the chair around and shoved Astral back in it when he tried to stand up.  "How?" she demanded, digging her hoof into his chest.  "When?  Silver's room has the only com panel in the tower, why would she let you use it?"

Astral swept her hoof to the side, knocking her off balance.  He used that momentum to put her in a headlock.  "Cool it.  I didn't tell anypony."

A soft touch on the back of his neck made Astral stiffen up.  It was a light feathery touch.  By the time he realized that it really was a feather, Twilight's wing had clamped down on him.  She shifted her weight and pulled him down, breaking his hold on her and flipping him off the chair and on to the floor.  As he laid on his back, she stood over him.  "Then how does this pony know about me?"

Astral groaned in defeat.  "She's a telepath, knows everything that happened before you left me for dead.  And, she's a student of yours, or, at least her friend is."

"You mean Ribbon Dancer?"  Twilight rubbed at her face.  "I should have known.  If she talked to Mac for any length of time, there's no telling what she knows by now."  She sighed loudly.  "Alright, I'll see her.  But only if you can guarantee privacy.  Priority one is making sure she'll keep our secrets.  My injuries come after that."

Astral smirked.  "Don't worry, they make house calls."  He reached out with his magic and spun the pilots chair around.  He meant to knock the other pony off balance, but the chair's touch caused a jump, and an involuntary flap of the alicorn's wings.  One of her wings caught on the moving chair.  This, combined with her other motion turned her around and knocked her back.  He saw stars, six of them, as she fell back, with his head right in the way.  "Oh-"

"FWISHH!"  The door swished open, drowning out Astral's curse, and Mac poked his head in.  Midnight clung to his chin like a beard.  Whatever words he was going to utter died on his tongue as he saw the two ponies on the floor.  He quickly ducked back out and shut the door behind him.  He shook his head fast enough to dislodge the clingy prill and repeated to himself, "Nnope.  Nnope, Nnope, Nnope."

He then left the shuttle and tried to wipe the image of his friend, the princess he once, and still, served as an aide for, straddling a stallion's face out of his mind.  After several seconds of determined, but aimless walking, he stopped, hung his head low, and sighed.  As much as he wanted to believe that the picture on the front of that magazine had been fake, it was starting to look like that wasn't the case.  He sighed again.  On top of that, he didn't get a chance to tell them that he was going to go get food for the alien.

The big pony sighed and set off for the small store he had seen last time he was here.  He wasn't about to go back, so he might as well get his shopping over with.  And he would be sure to take his time getting back.





Back in the shuttle, Astral groaned and tried shove Twilight off of him.  His horn had smacked the floor pretty hard, and he was now left with a splitting headache to remember it by.  "Get your fat butt off me."

"Hey!"  Twilight scrambled up.  She then sat right back down on his chest, knocking the wind out of him.  "Apologize!"

"For what?"  Astral choked out between coughs.

Twilight crossed her hooves and bounced in place, making sure the unicorn couldn't catch his breath.  "I'm not fat."

"I didn't say you were."  Astral yanked the alicorn off him with his magic, and clawed his way up so she couldn't stomp on him again.  He cleared his throat and added, "I said your flank was."

Twilight frowned at him, but said nothing.

Astral sat back down in the pilot's chair.  "Well, if we're done fighting, can I call Ribbon Dancer?"

Twilight rolled her eyes angrily.  "Go ahead."  She sat down in the copilot's seat as Astral swiveled around to face the console.  "But, I'm watching you."

"And why wouldn't you?" he quipped.  "I'm very easy to look at."

Before Twilight could respond with anything more than a scoff, Astral had the com-panel active and had the station's medical center dialed in.  The alicorn chewed her lip and stayed silent while they waited for somepony to answer their call.  She didn't want her presence known in case somepony picked up.

They didn't have to wait long for that to happen.  It was only a few seconds before a stern-looking, middle-aged mare appeared on the screen, Nurse Growl.  She was sitting in front of a control panel, surrounded by a vast array of buttons, knobs, and switches.  "What do you want?"  She sat in a rotating chair and idly swiveled back and forth while studying a small, hoof-held datascreen.  It didn't look like she was in the hospital.  Given her additional position as head of station security, it must have been a security office.  She looked up and paused for a moment as she recognized the pony she was talking to.  "Oh, it's you."  She sighed in boredom.  "Bring me another body, did you?"

Astral choked on his own breath.  "What?  No!"

He glanced over at Twilight who gave him a look of wide-eyed concern and mouthed the words, "What body?"

The stallion shook his head and looked back at the screen.  "I didn't mean to bring you the last one.  I just wanted to talk to Ribbon Dancer.  I get the impression she doesn't get to do much around there, so I wanted to see if she could patch up some minor injuries for me."

The green mare raised one eyebrow and her image grew larger on Astral's screen as she leaned in close to her own, boredom giving way to interest.  "What kind of injuries?" she asked in a low voice.

"Probably not what you're thinking."  Astral snorted.  "Scratch that, it's definitely not what you're thinking.  It's just some cuts and scratches, the sort of thing you'd get from tripping over a rose bush on one of Canterlot’s rooftop gardens."

Growl leaned back and ran a hoof through her ruddy mane.  "Or from breaking through a window."

Astral squinted at the mare.  "How the hell do you jump to that?"

She shrugged.  "It's my job to keep all possibilities in mind."  A smirk formed on her face, and she tapped her hooves together.  "In fact, another possibility is that you aren't injured at all, and need medical treatment for the other pony that was on your ship."

Twilight slammed her hoof down on the controls, turning off the screen and breaking communications with the older mare.  "That's it, we're leaving."  She opened the door to the passenger compartment.  "Mac, get ready, we're...  Mac?"  He wasn't there.  The passenger compartment's only occupant was a black-furred prill scratching at the airlock.  "Where'd he go?"

Meanwhile, Astral hurriedly tried to reestablish his call.  "You know," he said angrily, "I am amazed at how you can always pick the absolute worst time to-"  He stopped as Growl appeared on his screen again.  "Oh, hey.  Sorry about that, I think I hit the wrong button.  I was trying to adjust the volume."

The mare smiled as her hooves flew over the panel in front of her.  "Save it.  I saw the purple hoof that shut down that last call.  I've already locked down shuttle operations, your exit privileges have been revoked, and all civilians have been notified to leave the area due to a suspected coolant leak."  She let her hoof hover one last button on her panel, and she made sure Astral saw it.  "All I have to do now is hit this button, and an armed security team will swarm the shuttlebay."  She pulled her hoof back slightly.  "Unless, of course, you decide to tell me the truth."

Twilight hurried back to the companel, careful to stay out of sight.  "Shut it off," she hissed, reaching for the power.

Astral slapped her hoof away.  He then grabbed her head and pulled her in front of the screen.  "This is Twilight."  He said quickly.  "She was the other pony.  She just happened to be in the area, and tried to help me fend of the attack.  She was obviously unsuccessful, and left after it was over.  There's no need to do anything drastic."

Growl let out a loud sigh and leaned back, pulling her hoof away from the button.  "Protecting your mare, how cliche.  You could have come up with a better story though.  Who in their right mind would believe that drivel about a-"

Astral grabbed Twilight's wing and pulled it up into view, earning a quick elbow from the alicorn, and a shouted, "Hey!  I told you not to touch them."

"Bloody hell."  Nurse Growl leaned so close to her screen that her snout was almost touching the screen.  "You're a Celestial."

Twilight stiffened and turned to face the other mare.  Now that her secret was out, all she could do was try to minimize the damage.  "No, I may appear similar, but I am actually an alicorn.  I had nothing to do with the events on Serus, and only learned of them recently.  I would also appreciate it if you could keep this a secret, as I may face-"

"Coverin' your butt, huh?"  The green mare laughed.  She shook her head and leaned to the side with a yawn.  "Don't worry about it, I've already been told by President Jones’ Aid that anything relating to Astral Plane is to remain top secret.  The president's aide didn't say anything about you though, it was kind of a shock."

Astral pushed past Twilight to address the other mare.  "Wait a minute.  If you've already spoken to Jasper, then what was all that about armed security teams."

Growl shrugged.  "Learn to spot a bluff, Mr.Plane.  You should have realized that there were no alarms.  All docked ships are automatically linked to the emergency channels."  With a feral grin, she added, "I just don't like being lied to."

Astral grimaced, and silently vowed to minimize his interaction with this mare.  He glanced over at Twilight as she fussed over her wing and wished he could do the same with her.  "So, what now?"

"Now, Mr. Plane, you tell me everything."  She rolled her hoof in the air as she she started listing things off.  "Who you really are, your background, this other pony's background, and the reason you are involved with the likes of the president and his aides."

Twilight shoved Astral out of his chair, knocking him to the carpeted floor with a light thump.  She then sat down and pointed at the view screen.  "I think we both know that's not going to happen.  And, the fact that you're asking us means that Jasper wouldn't tell you anything.  Why do you think we would be any different?"

Growl leaned forward, smiling like she was enjoying this conversation.  It wasn't a pleasant smile though, it was a little more wild, untamed, like a hunter on a blood trail.  "Because, he's different, and so are you.  He's nothing, a courier, or a mercenary at best, and a cheap gun at worst.  You, on the other hoof, speak like someone with power."  There was a short pause while the green mare studied Twilight.  "But, both of you are weak.  I can see it in your eyes.  Fear, naivety, call it what you want, but death follows you, and you are utterly unprepared for it.  Well, I'm not about to let that death follow you onto this station, so you had better tell me what I want to know."

Twilight stared at the screen in shocked silence while Astral yelled from his new seat on the floor, "What the hell are you on about?"  Astral lifted his head into view.  "I have one run in with a raider while running cargo, and now I'm the hitman for some government conspiracy?"

The nurse shrugged again.  "You said it, not me."

The unicorn leaned close to his screen, filling hers with the top of his snout and his squinting eyes.  "You've got some serious problems, you know that?"

Her eyes narrowed, and her smile twisted into a smirk.  "What kind of problems?"

Twilight pushed Astral down, pushing everything but his mane out of the viewscreen's range.  "Mood swings for one."  The alicorn studied the earth pony intently for a moment, looking for signs that would confirm her suspicions.  Now that she had an idea of what to look for, it didn't take her long to notice the slight flush on the other mare's cheeks.  Or, for that matter, the slight breeze blowing through her mane, most likely coming from a fan off screen.  "You're in heat, aren't you?"

"What?" Astral and Growl shouted in unison.

"That has nothing to do with this!" The Nurse responded quickly, pounding on the console in front of her.

"You didn't say no."  Twilight pressed forward, hoping to take control of the conversation.  "I may be a bit different, but I'm still a mare, just like you.  You haven't taken anything to control it, do have a reason not to?  An allergy?  Or, perhaps a better reason, somepony you care about?"

The security chief-slash-nurse's look of anger slowly died, only to be replaced by one that was slightly sad.  She pursed her lips and looked away.  "There is someone," she admitted quietly.  "But, I haven't been able to speak to him about it yet."

The alicorn's head tilted to the side.  "Someone?"  A stinging smack on her rear leg made her look down.  Astral had hit her to get her attention, and was pulling his hoof back for another strike.  "What is it?" she hissed, quiet enough that Growl wouldn't hear her, but loud enough to voice her displeasure at him.

"She's married," Astral whispered, "to the head doctor here, a gryphon named James."  He waved back towards the console.  "Go, talk, hurry!  Make friends with her, or something."

A loud whine from nurse Growl pulled Twilight's attention back to the screen.  As tough as the green mare had been just been mere moments ago, she was now face down on her control board, red mane obscuring her face from view.  She seemed to be holding back sobs, and had her hooves folded over her head.  "I've been so tempted to just take the hormonal suppressant and get over this, but I just want to talk to him first.  We've been talking about having one of our own for a while, but I haven't seen him since before yesterday.  Just as I go into heat, he ends up in surgery."

Twilight's eyes went wide.  "Oh!  I'm so sorry, I hope he'll be o-"

"No, no."  The older mare left her head on the panel and waved one hoof above her head in a lazy dismissal.  "He's performing the surgery.  Some idiot human decided to juggle vibrocutters to show off to the rest of his shift.  Made it to five before skewering his hands."  She sighed and dropped her hoof back to her head, prompting a slow, drawn out, "ow."  After another sigh, she continued, "At this rate, we'll never have kids."

Twilight leaned towards Astral and whispered, "Is that even possible?  A gryphon and a pony?"

"Happens all the time," Astral whispered back.  "They're called griffies."

"Huh."  Twilight looked back at her screen.  "Well, personally, I think you should wait until you talk to him before you make a decision.  You obviously care for James, and I'm sure he-"

Growl slammed her hoof down with enough force to crack her hoof-held screen in two.  "How the hell do you know his name?!"  She scraped the hoof across her console, dumping the debris on the floor, then pointed at Twilight like she was threatening to throttle her purple alicorn neck.  "I didn't mention him, so who did?  Do you have files on us?  Is the government keeping tabs on us?  Tell me!"

Twilight's hooves shot up defensively.  "No!  I mean, I don't know, probably not?  How would I know?"  The purple mare pointed at Astral, who was just off screen.  "I heard about it from him.  He told me that James is a doctor."  She quickly added, "a really good one, from what I hear."

The Nurse's gaze slowly drifted off to the side, and a nostalgic smile spread across her face.  "Yeah," she said airily. "He is, isn't he?"  A filly-like giggle escaped her, and she leaned her chin on a hoof.  "I can still remember the day we met."  She sighed happily, like she watching a particularly pleasant daydream.  "I honestly didn't expect him to survive, I had broken so many of his bones.  Then, I saw him set his own broken leg, just so he could attack me again.  It was so... inspiring."  She shook her head quickly.  " Anyway, you called because you needed medical help.  I'll send Ribbon out to the shuttlebay and deduct the cost from the bounty we owe you for Eckrt.  Toodle-oo!"  Growl smiled at the screen and waved before turning it off.

Astral and Twilight stared at the screen in silence for a moment, then they looked over at each other.  Astral was the first to speak.  "What just happened?"

Twilight slowly exhaled a breath she couldn't quite remember holding, then shook her head.  "I don't know, but I feel sorry for any offspring that come out of this."

Astral shrugged.  "Well, James seemed like a good guy, I think.  I'm not sure after hearing how they met, though."

"So, what now?  I guess we wait for Ribbon Dancer to get here, but what about after that?"  Twilight pointed back towards the passenger compartment.  "Mac's gone, we'll have to-"  A faint knocking cut her off.  " What was that?"

Astral searched the control panel, quickly finding the switch for an external camera and flipping it on.  The resulting image on the view screen made his eyebrows pull up in surprise.  "That's Ribbon, what is she doing here already?"

The brightly-colored unicorn filly that stood outside the shuttle's hatch looked up at the hidden camera above the door.  "Oh, Astral, you can see me.  Good.  The walls in the hospital are pretty thin, so I heard you when you told Mrs. Growl you needed medical help and left right away."  Her head tilted to the side.  "What do you mean it's not for you?"

Astral glanced over at Twilight, and the young mare on the view screen went red in the Face.  "Oh!  Yeah, I almost forgot, you found her."  The nurse in training chuckled nervously.  "I guess I should thank you for keeping your promise, but what you did was a little extreme, don't you think?  I mean, in public?  What if you had been caught?  And when did you two get so close?  I thought you wanted to tear her wings off and force-feed them to her for what she..."  After a few blinks, Ribbon muttered a quiet, "Oh, right, she can hear me too."

Twilight glared at Astral as he slunk off to open the hatch.  "Tear my wings off?" she asked angrily.  "You were lucky to survive taking a feather or two."

Just before activating the hatch, Astral looked back at Twilight.  "Look, I was angry, in severe pain, and had no idea what was going on.  I'm sorry, but you were there, and I blamed you.  Besides, Ribbon doesn't even-"

"I do now!" came a muffled shout from outside.  "I always knew that the chronicle was a no good, slanderous rag!  They should be ashamed of wasting good paper that could be used to print adventure novels!"

Twilight rolled her eyes and cast a spell on Astral.  Then, she nearly jumped out of her fur when Ribbon screamed.  "He's gone!"  The young nurse pounded on the shuttle's hatch.  "What did you do?  Did you kill him?  I won't forgive you, you flighty, little-  Oh!  He's still there?"  The pounding came to a stop, and Twilight waved Astral towards the door while she went to the back.  Outside, Ribbon sighed in relief.  "He sounds different now, kind of jumbled.  Manischewitz!  Don't scare me like that!"

Astral opened the door, and the waiting unicorn tackled him with a hug.  "I'm just glad you're safe!"  She sighed happily.  "First, that other pony drags you off to Celestia knows where, and then your thoughts just disappear.  I thought I lost you.  I don't want to lose a friend, and especially not on my first house call."

Astral tried to break the hug, but found the filly to be much stronger than she appeared.  "Ok, ok.  Calm down, I'm all right."  He gently nudged Ribbon away until she let go.  "Besides, you have a patient, and it isn't me."

"Oh, right!"  The rainbow filly spun around.  "That would be you, I guess?"

Twilight was standing in the open door to the rear compartment.  She wore a set of loose, flowing robes, instantly recognizable as belonging to a Luna's Academy Instructor.  Behind her were several space-saving bunks, stacked three high on either side of the small room.  Between the bunks was a table and kitchen facility that looked like it was ripped from a foal's playhouse.

The alicorn nodded.  "Yes, I have a few minor injuries.  But first, might I ask about that phrase you just used?"

Ribbon nodded.  "Sure.  Your name is Twilight, right?  Twilight Sparkle?"  The filly extended a hoof.  "I'm Ribbon Dancer."

Twilight gave the offered hoof a shake.  "I use a fake name when I teach, so I'm not sure how you came across that one.  Nevertheless, it is correct."

Astral rolled his eyes and shut the hatch.  "What are you being so formal for?  It's annoying.  And those robes are pointless, she already knows you have wings."

"What if she wasn't alone?" Twilight shot back.  "I had to be prepared for that possibility."  She looked back at Ribbon.  "Anyway, that was an interesting exclamation you used, 'Celestia knows.'  Where did it come from?"

“Manischewitz?  It’s a type of wine they used to make on earth, and it’s used as an expression of surprise.  I don’t know why, but I do know it goes back to the beginnings of their space program.”

Twilight nodded slowly.  “I see… Though, I meant, ‘Celestia knows,’ where did that one come from?”

The nurse shrugged so quickly that it looked like she would dislocate her shoulders.  "I dunno," she responded nervously.  "It's a common phrase on Furia.  Everypony uses it."

"All right."  Twilight nodded slowly, even though she didn't believe the young mare's explanation.  "I was just curious.  I've never heard that before."

The bright unicorn was visibly relieved when she heard that.  "Not many have."  She gestured to a square-ish, white and red box she had strapped to her.  "So, do you want to sit down, stand up, or lay down on one those beds?"

"The treatment, right."  Twilight sighed and walked back towards a bunk, motioning for Ribbon to follow her.  "You'll have more room back here.". 









As Mac wandered the halls of Canter Station Delta, he wondered why he didn't think to bring a map.  Every twist and turn of a corridor brought him somewhere new, somewhere that was not the shuttlebay.

He had already found the commissary.  As such, he was carrying a shopping bag with him.  The bag itself was crinkly and metallic, like it was made of some sort of film, or foil, maybe mylar.  And, it was filled to the brim with different varieties of pet food.

Mac sighed.  It was the same thing that happened when one his younger sisters got her first pet, a dog named Winona.  He had gone to the store to get food, didn't know what kind to get, succumbed to pressure, and bought one of everything.  He sighed again.  It was hard to believe that happened over five thousand years ago.

As he continued his meandering search for the shuttlebay, he kept coming across ponies that reminded him of home.  A gray mare, maybe a little older than him, was walking with a matching foal.  She reminded him of one of the musicians that he had seen at a royal function.  A unicorn colt, almost a stallion, tagged along behind them.  He was bright white, with a shock blue mane, and was wearing safety goggles that brought to mind another musician, one that frequented less official events.

He passed by a common area, with several tables scattered among cultivated trees and potted plants.  There were even more ponies here.  Three of them were sitting at a table nearby.  A young pinto stallion was awkwardly trying to exchange greetings with a pair of unicorns, two young mares.  One was pink and splotchy grey, and the other blue.  The two mares looked like they could be twins, and reminded him of a set of twins he knew back in Ponyville.  And the stallion looked like a colt he used to know, right down to the red scarf around his neck.

Shortly after leaving the common area, he wound up at the cafeteria.  It was just as crowded, and just as greasy, as it had been last time he was here.  The smell of fried and reconstituted food marked the beginning of familiar territory.  From here, he would have no trouble getting back to the shuttle.  He just hoped he had stayed out long enough.

Remembering what Astral said about prills and ration bars, Mac added a few to his bag when he passed the bucket.  It didn't seem like anypony really cared for them anyway.  Were they really that bad?

He contemplated trying one on the short walk back to the shuttle.  He would talk himself in and out of stopping to eat one every few seconds.  By the time he had reached the shuttle, he had decided on eating one while keeping a glass of water handy.  It was survival food after all, and most likely as dry as an Appleoosan summer.

He walked up the small loading ramp towards the hatch and keyed in his access code.  The door slid open and his jaw dropped.  Unsupported, the grocery bag fell to the metal ramp with the rattling thud of kibble.

Inside the shuttle, all of the passenger chairs were folded down into their storage positions, opening up a surprising amount of room.  On one side of the now empty compartment, one of the mattresses from the back was laid on the floor near a wall.  On top of the mattress, Astral was laying on his back, propped up against said wall.  On top of Astral, Twilight lay draped over him with a seductive, if slightly silly-looking smile, almost like somepony who was drunk and flirty.  On top of Twilight, Astral's jacket acted like a bedsheet in a movie scene, letting you see enough to know what's happening, but hiding enough to make the imagination fill in the gaps.  The whole scene was almost an exact replica of the magazine cover Mac had been trying to forget.

Astral's eyes went wide when he saw the hatch slide open.  And, as he stared at the red pony in surprise, there was a flash from the other side of the compartment, and an exclamation of, "That's perfect!"

Mac looked over to see Ribbon, the unicorn with the mean swing, pointing some sort of device at the two two reclining ponies.  It sort of looked like a camera, but with so many little attachments, knobs, and curiously enough, extra lenses, that he couldn't be sure.  For all he knew of current technology, it could be a blender.  The pony holding it seemed to be treating it like a camera though.

That was the final straw.  "What the hay is going' on?" Mac bellowed.  "Ah thought we were gonna try out Astral's skill as a pilot, not as model!"  He pointed at Twilight.  "And yer relationships are none a' my business no more, but can ya at least try ta keep it subtle?  A princess ought ta know better."  There was another flash, and the red pony turned on Ribbon, telepath photographer.  "And why are ya takin' pictures a' this?  Ain't it bad enough that pictures of their private moments are already scattered ‘cross the planet?  Or do you haf'ta spread 'em ‘cross the rest a’ the universe?"

Ribbon's only reaction was to stare at him in wonder.  "Whoa," she breathed, "you aren't thinking at all before you talk."

Mac shook his head in confusion.  "What?!"

Astral shoved Twilight off of him with his hooves, knocking the purple alicorn to the carpet with an unceremonious thump.  "Slow down there, Mac.  There is no, I repeat, no relationship between me and magical murder princess here.  Got that?  None!  Whatsoever!"

Twilight flicked Astral into the wall with her magic, earning an instant rebuke from Ribbon.  "Hey!  His shoulder is still healing."

"He started it," the alicorn argued.

"I don't care," the young nurse replied.  Then, she looked over at Mac.  "And that is so not what we were doing.  That magazine had the story all wrong, and we'll be using the pictures to-"

A burst of static through the shuttle's intercom drowned out the rest of the unicorn's words.  "Ribbon?"  Growl's voice was unusually quiet, and almost concerned, as it issued from the hidden speakers.  "We need you in medical, Minuette just came in, unable to speak.  I've sent for her mother, but she seems to be trying to tell us something.  We could really use your help."  There was another quick shot of static as the older nurse disconnected.

"I better go."  Ribbon ran to the back compartment and started gathering up her medical kit.  "It was good to see you again Astral, make sure you drop by medical next time you're on the station."  Once her pack was reassembled, she slung it over her shoulder and headed for door.  "Same goes for you, Professor, and you, Mr. Macintosh."  As she walked out the shuttle's hatch, she looked back and added, "Oh, and I'm sorry about that thing with the wrench."

The hatch slid shut behind her, leaving the shuttle's crew of three alone.  Mac opened his mouth to speak, but Twilight pushed past him before he could.  "You're right about one thing," she said.  "My relationships are none your business anymore.  You called it off," she huffed, "remember that."  She slunk off to the back, and the last thing Mac and Astral saw before the compartment door slid shut was her slumping onto one of the lower bunks.

"Ah didn't mean it like that," Mac muttered quietly.

"You and her, huh?"  Astral shrugged and headed up to the pilot's cabin.  "She's been a bit touchy lately, ever since she had that fight with your boss.  Well, touchier than usual.  I wouldn't worry too much."

"Ya mean Princess Luna?"  The big pony sighed.  "Silver told me they've been buttin' heads since Ms. Sparkle refused to become the next Luna a few weeks ago."

"Well, she's upset with both of them then, because she was yelling at Celestia earlier."  The unicorn shuddered just thinking about it.  "She actually caught on fire during the argument.  Do alicorns always do that when they're angry?"

Mac shook his head.  "Nnope.  Just her.  And Ah've been on the receivin' end of it a few times mahself."

"I feel sorry for you then."  Astral retrieved a bit-chip from the front of the ship before heading back into the empty passenger area with Mac.  Silver had given him the flexible little card of plastic and circuitry before they left.  It would allow him to access funding that had been set aside for this mission.  However, the blind mare had been very clear that every bit would be audited and double-checked, and that he would suffer severe consequences for any purchases he couldn't explain to her satisfaction.  "Is that why you broke it off?"

"Nah, it takes a lot for her to get that angry.  Ah was happy with her."  Mac sighed quietly.  "Ah had to end it 'cause she wasn't."  He sat down on the thin carpet.  "There was a lot going' on durin' the evacuation.  Our ships left one after the other, but sometimes, there was up to a year between launches.  And each one had a different destination, anypony on one ship couldn't expect to see anypony from the others ever again."

Astral sat down next to him and listened as the red pony continued his story.  "She had somepony special, but he was the captain of Cryo-Two.  He left Equestria a full three years before our ship.  Twilight woulda gone with him, but she was needed to keep the rest of the program runnin'."  Mac looked over at the grey unicorn.  "Those towers on Canterlot are what's left of ships one, two, and three.  They said goodbye for good on the launchpad, and she buried herself in her work after that."

Mac looked down and slowly ran a hoof over the carpet.  "But, ponies get lonely.  As her assistant, Ah was convenient.  Ah was nearby, and understood her as well as anypony else.  It prob'ly wasn't appropriate, since we worked together, but she needed somepony to support her.  It only got worse when Spike left on Cryo-Four with the rest of the dragons.  She clung to me after that, for comfort more than anythin', but it was obvious it wasn't out a' love.  Ah think she realized it too, 'cause we managed to stay friends after breakin' up.  She even introduced me to one of her friends, a friend that's still out there somewhere."

Mac looked back at Astral.  "Ah shouldn't be tellin' ya this, but Ah think ya need to know.  That mare's lost everything important to her so far.  There's still hope that she can find her friends, but she needs help for that ta happen.  Astral, can Ah ask ya to do something'?"

Astral shrugged.  "I already agreed to help, so you don't have to worry about that."

The big pony shook his head.  "Good ta know, but that ain't what Ah was gonna ask.  Ah want ya ta try and get along with her.  She needs somepony she can talk to.  It would be awkward for her ta come to me, and besides Silver, Ah think yer the only other regular pony who knows about everythin'."

"I'll think about it, Mac."  Astral stood up, stretched out, and headed for the exit hatch.  "But she doesn't seem to like me, and I'm not sure I want to be friends with her."
> Out of Her Mind, and In Others
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------

	"Out of the way!"  Ribbon had to shout those words over and over as she ran back towards the medical bay.  The constant construction and reworking of the station's layout turned every walk into an obstacle course.

But, that was fine with her.

She came across a blocked catwalk on the second level of what would one day be the social district.  Without a second thought, she leapt over the retaining rail, down to the main level, ignoring the surprised shouts of the crowd and continuing her run.

As long as the jumble didn't interfere with medical response times, the resulting maze was actually kind of fun.  The thrill of running around, over, and sometimes even through obstacles at top speed was just so liberating.  Plus, not many ponies would realize that the crazy pony barreling past them was the station's telepath.  Not that it should matter in a crowd.  Unless she chose to focus on a specific individual, all she really heard was chatter.  Sure, really strong thoughts sort of stick out, and she could generally sense how anypony she passed was feeling, but it wasn't like she tried invade anypony's privacy.

As she cut through the center of the atrium, Ribbon made a leap over two, short, stout dragons hauling a tray of plants between them.  They barely even noticed the rainbow colored blur pass over them, and they didn't notice the flower missing from the tall tiger lily in the center of their tray.

Ribbon laughed as she used her magic to tuck the spotted flower into her hair.  This must be what a Pegasus feels when they fly, total freedom, and exhilaration.  The unicorn took a deep breath and held it for a moment as she slowed down.  She let it out in a long, drawn out sigh as she came to a complete stop.

She took a few more breaths, letting them out in short puffs as she willed her heartbeat back to a resting state.  Medical was right around the corner, and she had to act professional in front of the patient, especially since it was a young foal.  Appearing frantic or excited would only cause the young patient concern, and possibly cause panic.

As she calmly walked around the corner, she "listened" to the area.  She could sense the pain and irritation that usually accompanied the medical, a mare had cut herself while cooking,  a stallion was itching at his cast, and a human businessman was impatiently awaiting an immunization booster before heading down to the planet.

Amidst the jumble, she could sense a concentration of worry.  Ribbon focused on that, and was able to make out three separate minds.  The first of those she focused on turned out to be Nurse Growl, wondering what was taking that telepath so long.  And, to Ribbon's confusion, swearing she would find somepony more reliable to foalsit.

The next mind was either Lilybelle or Annabelle, they were hard to tell apart sometimes.  It wasn't until she wondered where Lilybelle was that Ribbon was able to identify the pony as Annabelle.

That meant that the last one would be Minuette.  As she focused on the foal, she walked through the sliding glass door into the medical bay.  She immediately turned around in surprise.  Medical didn't have a door, at least it didn't when she left.  They must have just gotten it installed.  Come to think of it, the welder who was working on the entry way for the last week was nowhere in sight.  He must have finished it after she left.

Ribbon shrugged it off and continued towards the source of the worry.  She didn't share in the worry though.  The foal wasn't in pain, and her worry seemed to be centered on, "momma's gonna be angry."

The unicorn made her way through canvas maze to the room that held the patient and her fellow nurses, putting on her best smile as she pulled aside the flap.  The improvised room was set up in a standard triage layout, with a simple bed, a rolling cabinet of basic medical supplies, and a chair for a visitor.  Growl and Annabelle stood on either side of the chair, neither one claiming it for themselves.  

The bed was occupied by a little earth pony filly, around the age of five or seven.  She was well groomed, and had a grey coat, and a darker grey mane.  She wore one piece of clothing, a white collar tied with a little pink bowtie.  Ribbon had seen her around the station before, usually with her mother, whom the filly resembled greatly.

Ribbon didn't waste time talking to Growl or Anna, she knew why she was here, what she was supposed to do.  She walked up to the little grey filly sitting on the hospital cot.  She sat down as Minuette fiddled with her little collar.  "Hi there, Minuette?  My name is Ribbon, how are you feeling?"

The little filly rolled her eyes.

The telepath patted the filly's charcoal-colored mane.  "You don't have to, I'm a telepath.  I help ponies talk when they can't do it themselves."

The filly looked up from her bowtie.

Ribbon nodded reassuringly.  "Of course I'm going to help you.  That's why I'm here."  The unicorn leaned against the bed.  "Can you tell me what happened?"

Minuette fidgeted uncomfortably.

Ribbon shook her head.  "Don't worry about your mother, I'm sure she just wants you to get better."

The filly looked Ribbon in the eyes.

The telepath listened intently as the young patient recounted the events that led her there.  It was always a challenge, working with the young.  Their language skills were still developing, so they didn't think in terms of words or thoughts all the time.  Sometimes, it was just images, or vague feelings.  At one point in Minuette's explanation, Ribbon experienced something that caught her attention.  It was a brief feeling of impatience, the scent of food, and the color green.  But, what really caught her attention, was the bitter taste on her tongue, too strong to be imagined, but nothing she could identify.

Ribbon put her hoof on Minuette's.  "Did you eat something?  Something that tasted bad?"

Minuette nodded.

Ribbon blinked as another image flashed through her mind.  "Wait, go back.  That plant, what was it?"

The filly shrugged.

"It's ok," Ribbon said softly, "you don't have to know its name.  Just think about what it looked like."

Minuette closed her eyes and thought about the plant.

The telepath concentrated on the image as it slowly faded from a shadowy memory to a clear picture of a broad-leafed plant with curly tendrils.  After a few moments, its waxy, mottled coloring nearly sparkled under the bright light of a special bulb.  An actual light bulb too, not an led, crystal fixture, or flouro-panel.

Ribbon looked over at Nurse Growl.  "I can see it, but I don't recognize it.  I've gone over the database of all the potentially harmful plants and animals on the station before, but I don't think this is on it."

Growl nodded slowly.  "It could have been smuggled on.  Or, it might not have been considered dangerous."  She rummaged through the cabinet until she found a marker that was usually meant for marking patients.  "Here."  She gave the felt-tipped pen to Ribbon.  "I know you can't show us the image, but I need to see what it looks like."  After Ribbon took the marker in her magic, the older nurse started digging around for a piece of paper.  The closest thing she found was a piece of gauze in a blank paper wrapper.  She tossed it over to Ribbon.  "This will have to do."

Ribbon took it and started drawing the plant.  She wasn't the best artist, but she took special care to get the shape of the leaves just right.  Next, she started adding tendrils, and began filling out the over all shape.

"That's enough."  Growl snatched up the guaze pack and examined the drawing.  "Did this plant have a light above it?" she asked Minuette.  When the filly nodded, the mare tossed the drawing to Annabelle.  "Get to Miss Melody's quarters, bring me that plant, you have medical authorization for search and seizure.  Make sure you bring the light with it."

Anna caught the drawing in her magic and nodded quickly.  "Yes, ma'am."  She turned and left quickly.

Growl walked over to Minuette.  "Don't worry," she told the filly, "we'll have you talking again before you know it." 

There was a quiet swish as the hospital's door activated, most likely letting Annabelle out into the station.  The door activated again a few seconds later.  Ribbon could taste the concern emanating from the pony that just entered.  It was stifling, all-consuming worry, bordering on a state of panic.

"Minuette?!"  A mare called out.  "I was told my daughter was brought here, where is she?"

The head nurse went and poked her head out of the curtains.  "Miss Melody?"  She waved the newly arrived mare over.  "Over here.  Your daughter is safe, so please try to relax."

Nurse growl held the curtain open, and the mare came running into the small treatment room.  She very much resembled the filly on the examination bed, from her colors to her collar.  Her coat was the same slate grey, and her mane was the same shade of charcoal.  Even the purple-pink of their eyes was the same.  The only differences, aside from their age, were that the filly lacked a cutie mark where the mother held a treble clef.  That, and they wore different color bowties.  The mother's tie was a vibrant blue, compared to the daughter's pastel pink.

The mare immediately ran to her daughter, sweeping her up in a warm embrace and rocking the filly back and forth.  "Oh, Minuette, why'd you run off like that?  I was so worried."  She let the filly down and checked her over like anypony with a young foal learns to do.  "Dinner was almost done, where did you go?  Did somepony find you and bring you here?"

As the filly stared up at her mother, Growl placed a hoof on the mare's shoulder.  "Octavia, she can't answer you right now."

The mare looked over in surprise.  "What do you mean, she can't answer?"

"She can't speak at all.  She's lost her voice."  Growl gestured to her unicorn assistant.  "This is Ribbon, our telepath.  She's been helping us communicate with your daughter.  Based on Minuette has told us, she seems to have eaten a Chorian Bellflower.  I've already sent one of the other nurses to retrieve it."

"A Bellflower?"  Octavia shook her head.  "Minuette knows better than to eat anything strange.  And where would she even find something like that?"

"Well," Ribbon chimed in, "based on the images and sensory impressions I got, it seems like the plant was in your quarters.  Somewhere near the kitchen, maybe?"

The grey mare turned on Ribbon and shoved an angry hoof in her chest.  "You go rooting around in my daughter's mind without my permission, and you don't even have the competence to do your job right?"  She pushed the telepath back.  "For your information, I don't own one of these bellflower things, and I would never keep something dangerous where Minuette can get to it."  She kept jabbing her hoof into Ribbon's sky-blue fur, pushing her farther and farther away from the exam bed.  "So you had better have some way to find out where my daughter got ahold of it, because I-"

A sharp, insistent tug at her tail froze the frantic mother mid-poke.  When she looked down at her tail, she saw her daughter, straining to pull her back.  The filly pulled and struggled until her hooves slipped on the metal floor and she fell back on her flank.  Then, she spit out her mother's tail and stared up at her with a defiant frown.

"I..."  Octavia met her daughter's eyes, and slowly shook her head.  As her ire gradually faded, she closed her eyes.  "I'm sorry," she said with a sigh, apologizing to the empty space that Ribbon had run crying from.  "That may have been out of line."  The grey mare opened her eyes and looked over, blinking in confusion at the drab canvas curtain that replaced the many-hued pony she was expecting to see.  "Where did she..."

Growl stepped in and moved Minuette back onto the bed.  Then, she addressed Octavia quietly, keeping her anger at her subordinate's treatment away from younger ears.  "For  your  information, Ribbon is the best nurse we have, and the only telepath I've ever met who doesn't try to use her power for her own gain.  She only did what I ordered her to do, what we needed done to make sure your daughter was safe.  What if she had eaten something toxic?  What if someone, or something had poisoned her?  We needed answers, and Ribbon helped your daughter give them to us."

Octavia nodded slowly.  "Yes, of course.  It's just..."

"It's easy to become overprotective," the nurse finished.  "I understand, but yelling at an overworked intern is not going to make anything better, no matter how tempting it is to do."  Growl sighed and gestured to the chair.  "Why don't you sit down and relax.  Annabelle will be back with the plant soon enough, but we can't do anything until then."

Octavia moved the chair closer to the bed, then sat down wearily.  She ran her hoof down her daughter's back, trying to calm herself as much as she was trying to maintain a reassuring presence for the filly.  "I think she's taking this better than I am."  After a moment of silence, Octavia spoke up.  "Growl, you know I trust you.  All of the Tankrit refugees do, without question.  But, I've never even heard of a Chorian Bellflower before today.  What makes you so sure you'll find it in my quarters?"

Growl leaned against the bed.  "If Ribbon had told me it was there, that would have been enough.  But that wasn't it.  You see, Chorian Bellflower is one of three plants commercially sold as the Music Plant.  Sound like something you would own?"

Octavia groaned and brought a hoof to her head.

Growl nodded knowingly and continued, "It's the rarest of the three, and requires very strict care, but I know you.  A little extra attention to detail is nothing for a pony like you."  The nurse shrugged.  "It's not labeled as toxic because, technically, it isn't.  The compounds that caused Minuette to lose her voice are a naturally occurring paralytic.  Normally, these compounds have to be heavily, and artificially, concentrated before they would have an effect on any creature larger than, say a spice-mouse.  The only exception is the day, every two weeks after the first year, before the flower blooms."

Mother and daughter exchanged glances.  "There was a bud," Octavia admitted.  "We were excited that it was going to flower, and I guess I spent too much time making our celebratory dinner."

"Well, that flower is also the antidote," Growl continued.  "The plant concentrates the toxin when the flower bud forms, then metabolizes it into the compound that gives the flower the gold color it's named for.  That compound also reverses the effects of the toxin.  Some singers use Bellflower to as a natural treatment for strained voices, by taking the leaf at night, and eating the flower for breakfast the next morning."

"Um..."  Octavia's eyebrows pulled together slightly.  "You sure seem to know a lot about this, 'rare,' flower."

Growl nodded.  "Of course I do.  I'm from Choria.  Bellflower may be the single least dangerous thing on the planet, but it was also quite useful."

"Useful, how?" Octavia asked.

The nurse grinned.  "Miss melody, surely you remember those poison darts I used on Tankra?"

A short laugh escaped the grey mare.  "I should have known.  Well, once Minuette gets her voice back, you can keep the plant.  And it's not Melody anymore, I changed my name back to Philharmonica."

"I was wondering how long it would take."  She looked over at Minuette.  "Did you change hers too?"

Octavia shook her head.  "Not yet, and I'm not sure I will.  Her brother hasn't expressed any interest in changing his, and they're pretty close.  I'll talk it over with him and Vinyl, but their names will probably stay the same."

Growl nodded lightly as she listened, tilting her head to the side as the conversation brought up the other members of the former Melody clan.  "I haven't seen her brother in a while.  How is the colt?"

"He's been good."  Octavia smiled.  "He should be getting off work any moment now."









Octavia was a little off.  The colt's shift had ended a few moment's ago.  Growl was a little off too.  He couldn't really be called a colt anymore.  He wasn't quite fully-grown, but he still stood as tall as the average stallion.  And years of hardship had made him more than strong enough to handle anything life on this station could throw at him.

The young unicorn stallion stood in the center of manufacturing bay zero, motionless and listening as his coworkers shuffled out of the neatly arranged workshop.  The bay and the workshop, while used interchangeably by most station residents, were two different things.  The manufacturing bay consisted of five separate rooms.  Of those, the largest room, was the workshop.

Forming a sixty meter square, the workshop was the room workers spent most of their time in.  Tables in the center of the room formed workstations that could be used for separate projects.  Each one had a set of common tools with it, and the tables could be moved around as needed, or even folded up for storage.  Around the outside of the room, larger, specialized tools stood at the ready.  The instruments ranged from cutting and milling machines, to fused deposition units, to electrochemical processors, and there was never more than two of any one type.

The other four rooms were much smaller.  The second and third largest rooms were the same size, both twenty meters by thirty.  One was storage, and held a variety of materials, parts, and tools.  The other was a clean room, guarded by an antechamber based on the dreaded Dempsey chamber.  The last two rooms were there for the worker's needs.  One was a basic washroom, and the other was a break room.  Both were floored with a basic tile instead of the metal plating in most of the station, balancing the desire for the rest areas to be different from the workspaces with the need for easy cleaning.

Of the rooms, the break room was the only one that didn't branch off from the workshop.  Instead, it served as the entrance, standing between the lower level maintenance corridors and the workshop.  The break room floor stood ten centimeters above the workshop floor, and the transition was preceded by a one meter patch of drab, abrasive carpet.  This kept dirty hooves, shoes, and claws from tracking dirt and oil around.  Also in the break room, couches, tables, and entertainment screens accompanied a full kitchen setup, creating a small home away from quarters for the workers to relax in.

Right now, the break room served as a portal, an exit ,as everypony shuffled out into the cramped halls of the station's lower levels.  Most walked with the slow, plodding pace brought by the work day's end and lamented its length.  Others trotted out out, joyous and fervently chatting about what they would do with the free time they now had.   Still others walked with no discernible pacing and aimed backwards glances at the place they left, gossiping about the weirdo who decided to stay late.  

A single, solitary colt, working alone and targetted by stares and mumbles.  He didn't really care about any of it, but he was aware of it.  They could talk about him as much as they wanted.  Right now, they were just background noise, fading into the hum of equipment.

There was a new piece of machinery today, a compression anvil, and it was still running.  It was a beast of a machine, made to apply massive amounts of heat and pressure on metals in order to create blocks of the highest purity and uniformity for later tooling.  If you used the right mineral compounds, you could even create artificial gems and glass that were perfect for optics and magically-assisted machinery.  Best of all, it did its work with a solid, one-two-three beat that any waltz would envy.

Actually, the machine had been installed a week earlier, but he had only gotten to play with it today.  And play he did.  He had been preparing compounds and mixtures for a month in anticipation of this day.  Most of them turned out to be useless, but a few had turned out pretty well.  It would take a few weeks of analysis before he could start refining anything, but he could be patient.  He had plenty of things to do in the meantime.

Such was life in the main prototyping bay.  Unlike the two secondary units, which were dedicated to plastic parts modeling, the workers in this one, also called the customization bay, could be called on to do anything.  From creating a new toy, to recreating parts from a two-thousand year old freighter, this bay took on all kinds of jobs.

The young stallion ran a grimy white hoof through his oil-splotched, electric-blue mane.  He wouldn't trade this job for anything.  As filthy and grueling as it may be at times, it was something he knew and loved to do.  Getting paid to do it for a change was a huge plus.  As was being able to create anything he wanted, including weapons and communications equipment, without the constant threat of torture.

Some of the other refugees thought he was crazy for choosing to do the same work he had in the prison camps.  A few counselors had even called it into question, wondering if he had just never let go of things.  But the act of building something was never related to his imprisonment in his mind.

He laughed as he thought about it.  He had secretly built weapons and, at his mother's suggestion, musical instruments, radios, and transmitters while on tankra.  Being able to do all that and more without hiding was the greatest thing ever.

The compression hammer slowly ground to a halt, ending the industrial waltz that had kept the colt entertained.  He pranced over to the device, unable to contain his excitement as he waited to see what became of his last mixture.

He located the dispenser, where the material slugs were deposited after processing, and waited.  This last mixture was the one he worked hardest on.  Chemistry was never his strong suit, but he had put a lot of research into getting everything just right.

A blue cylinder dropped into the tray, and the pony shouted.  "Yes!  Whoo!"  It worked.  All the planning had paid off, all the chemicals he ordered, and painstakingly mixed had blended perfectly.  He picked the disc up in his magic as if he were handling the shell of a gossamer beetle, treating it as if it would disintegrate at the slightest shock even though enough nothing could be farther from the truth.

The tiny disc, one centimeter thick and three across, was a flawless sapphire.  Such a gem would be suitable for any number of uses.  It could be cut, polished, and turned into jewelry, or it could be used as a window in a high pressure application, like an engine core or ship exterior.  Though, it was a little small for those last two, and it was tinted, rather than clear.  He had also tampered with the chemical composition a little, so instead of the normal sapphire blue, it was a little lighter, matching his mane.  

He didn't dare touch the thing, as filthy as he was.  He wanted it to stay nice and clean.  It was meant to be a piece of jewelry after all.  He slid a small duffel bag out from under the work table beside the compression anvil.  It was mostly full of empty containers, containers which once held the mixtures he ran through the anvil.  But, there was also a velvet jewelry box.

He opened the box and pulled out the unfinished necklace within.  Again, he used his magic to avoid sullying the metal.  At the end of a thin, simple chain, hung a gold ring edged by a pair of golden wings.  

On the ring, four unbent retaining tabs surrounded an opening the same diameter as a young unicorn's horn.  The young stallion pressed his sapphire disc into the opening and folded the thin prongs down.  After that, he held the pendant up by the chain, letting it slowly twist and catch the light as he admired it.

It had come out even better than he expected it to, a beautiful piece of jewelry born from the instruments of slavery.  He had always wanted to make something out of the limiter he was forced to wear on Tankra, and finally, he had.  Now, the only question was, what would he do with it?

He sighed and put the chain and charm back in their box.  He supposed he could wear it after he cleaned up.  But he wouldn't be able to wear it at work, not without it ending up a filthy mess.  He could give it to somepony instead, but he wasn't sure who.  His mother wasn't one for fancy stuff, but his sister, Minuette, and Octavia were.  Still, he had never seen either of them wear jewelry, just different color bowties.  He could always give it to his marefriend, but that would require getting a marefriend in the first place.

He set the box back in his duffle bag and hooked the bag over his neck, letting it hang in front of him.  One of his human coworkers said the way he held the small bag reminded him of some earth saint named Bernard and who carried a barrel.  He laughed, just like he did every time he thought of it.  A human would look ridiculous carrying a barrel around his neck like that.

His laughter died when the lights did, at exactly nineteen-thirty station time, leaving him in darkness.  "Ah!  Shoot!"  He ran for the faint, lit outline of the bay doors.  "It's my turn to cook!"

The doors slid open as he barreled straight at them, revealing the outline of a pony he didn't.  She was a brightly-colored unicorn, either an older filly, or a really young mare.  But, more importantly, she was in the way, and he couldn't stop.

He slammed into her at full speed.  With the difference in height, her horn tore into his duffle bag and tangled there as he came crashing down on top of her and they slid out into the corridor.  Empty containers scattered across the floor along with the two ponies.

Before the colt could get off the the other pony, he was bodily lifted into the air, with the rainbow-maned unicorn bench-pressing him up.  She held him up and shook the remains of his duffle bag of her face.  "I'm so sorry," she cried, tears running down her face.  "I shouldn't even be here.  Please don't get mad at me."

The colt had to stare down at the other unicorn for a moment before he remembered that she was holding him up and he needed to move.  "N-no!  It's ok," he said as he scrambled off of her, "I should be the one apologizing."  He helped her up quickly.  "You're crying, are you hurt?"

"Huh?"  She sniffed and rubbed at her face, wiping the tears from her face.  "No, I'm ok.  You weren't all that heavy."  She looked around her, at the scattered containers littering the cramped hallway.  There were all sorts of them, from foal-food jars, to mane-gel tubs, and even a few hoof-polish bottles.  "What's going on?  I was trying to get away from everypony, then I started following some music, but it's gone."  She rubbed her head and horn.  "I guess I got scrambled again.  Does that mean somepony was imagining it?"

"What the..."  The colt shook his head.  "Anyway, I'm Mezzo, Mezzo Forte Melody.  And you are?"

"Cute?"  Ribbon shook her head quickly, making herself a bit dizzy.  She grabbed her face to stop it, and stared at the other unicorn.  "Everything's fuzzy, but you really think I'm cute?"

Mezzo's eyes widened and he took half a step back, keeping one hoof up like he was preparing to run.  "Uh, well...  Sure?"  What was she asking that for all of a sudden?  "I guess?"

To the young stallion's discomfort, Ribbon didn't respond.  She just kept staring at him, mouth hanging partway open like she wanted to say something.  Then, she suddenly shook her head and ran down the hall.  "Excuse me!"  Mezzo watched, dumbfounded, as she stopped at a maintenance closet a short distance away, and ducked inside.  As soon as she was in, and the door slid shut, she let loose with a loud, filly-like squeal that echoed through the hallway.  "He thinks I'm cute!  Ohmigosh!  Ohmigosh!  Ohmigosh!  He really thinks I'm cute!  And it's not a trick to get me into bed like it was with that dirtbag, Soaker.  Or that idiot Coal Dust.  Or Block!  Ugh, Block Head was the absolute worst!  Just because he was top of the class, he thought he could just get any mare he wanted."

"What?"  Mezzo whispered to himself as Ribbon continued her tirade.  He stared at the closet door a little while longer before gathering up the scattered containers.  He stuffed them into his torn bag as best he could and started walking down the hall.  He paused in front of the closet and waited for the rainbow filly inside to finish ranting about all the colts who called her cute before.  "Um, I've got to go," he said, with some hesitation, but raising his voice loud enough to be heard through the door.  "But it was, um, nice, meeting you.  Very, uh, interesting."  Mezzo sighed quietly.  "Yeah...  Well, bye."

Inside the closet, Ribbon buried her face in her hooves.  She was blushing furiously and slumped against the door.  "He heard that.  He heard it all."  She groaned quietly.  "Why?  I finally met a guy that legitimately thinks I'm cute, why did I have to embarrass myself like that?"  She sighed.  "At least he doesn't know my name."  She gasped.  "He doesn't know my name!  And I don't know his!  I know he introduced himself, but I wasn't paying attention!"

Ribbon scrambled to her hooves and rushed out into the hall.  The young stallion with the blue mane was gone.  "Hello?"  The young mare called out in desperation.  "If you can hear me, my name is Ribbon!  I'm one of the nurses, so you can find me in medical!"  She listened for a response, any response, either sound or thought.  She was greeted only by silence and void.  The young stallion must have left at a full run, because he was out of range of both her ears and mind.

Though, her mental reach was still greatly reduced from that blow to her horn.  She rubbed gingerly at her horn.  Why were there so many glass bottles in that gym bag?

Quiet music answered her musings.  She looked up and down the hall in surprise.  The music she had followed down here was playing once more.  Then again, it might not have stopped.  It was possible that the music came from some pony's thoughts, and her scrambled telepathic sense was returning.

But, who could it be coming from?  Creative expression usually creates strong thought patterns, but there was nothing alongside the music, no stray thoughts, none of the concentration that normally accompanied a performance.  It was pure music, beautiful and emotional, with nothing unnecessary.

Ribbon stared down the hall.  If anypony had seen her, the blank stare on her face would most likely have caused concern.  After a few moments, she got up and started walking.  She couldn't remember having sat down, but she must have.  What was this music?  It was so... captivating.  It demanded her attention while feeling like it was avoiding her.  A simple melody, a sweeping symphony, all tied to the rhythm of machinery and simple feelings.  Hope, sadness, joy, the music swirled through all these, sinking into despair, only to rise in a swell of uplifting delight.

Ribbon walked into a wall, smacking her nose against the cold metal paneling and leaving a smear.  She shook her head quickly, forcing herself back to reality.  As soon as she saw the clear streak of liquid on the wall, she wiped a hoof at her nose.  It was wet.  She sniffled and wiped at her eyes with her other hoof.  She was crying?  Why?  Was it because of the music?

She did her best to remove all traces of tears and... well, mucous discharge, from her face.  She knew she wasn't the most emotionally stable pony around, but she still prided herself on not crying in public.  At least, not crying in public very often.  At the very least, not more than once a week.  Absolutely not more than twice a week.

Ribbon wasn't even sure how long she'd been walking.  For all she knew, she was halfway across the station.  She looked behind her.  The maintenance closet, the one she had ducked into earlier, was a few meters behind her.

The young mare buried her face in her hooves.  How out of it do you have to be to walk straight down a hall and into a bulkhead?  At least no pony was there to see it.

A burst of static sent Ribbon's heart up into her throat and set her fur on end.  "Hello?  Ribbon?"  Nurse Growl's voice came through the intercom.  "Are you all right?"

"Yes!"  The younger nurse yelled far too quickly.  "I'm just fine!"  She looked up at the ceiling and saw the dark glass dome of a security camera.  "Um, how much of that did you see?"

"Enough to see you shambling down the hallway like a drunken zombie."  The camera whirred as it adjusted, zooming in Ribbon.  "Are you crying?  What the hell are you even doing down there?  That's a restricted area, authorized personnel only.  Technically, you're authorized, but the security algorithm flagged you, tagged your behavior as consistent with a pony under chemical influence.  After what I saw, I have to ask, is that true?"

"No!"  Ribbon shook her head.  "It's just... How do explain this?  Um, I was listening to music."

The camera whirred again, zooming in even further.  "I don't see any ear buds or headphones.  You do know that station personnel aren't allowed to have frivolous implants?"

Ribbon waved a hoof in front of her, shrugging off Growl's implications.  "I don't have an entertainment implant.  It's, um, the music isn't exactly real."

"Not exactly real."  Nurse Growl repeated in a deadpan tone.  Ribbon could almost feel Growl staring at her through the camera.  "How does that work?"

The colorful unicorn scratched at her mane.  "Well, it's real, but...  I believe it's some sort of... psychic phenomena?"

A loud sigh issued from the hidden speakers.  "Anything I need to worry about, or should I just chalk this up to you being you?"

Ribbon chuckled self-consciously. "That last one, I guess."

"Eh, whatever."  The young nurse could almost hear her boss shrug.  "Just quit hanging around restricted areas unless you have a reason to be there.  Oh, and stop by the security office the day after tomorrow.  Mr. Plane just left us a rather interesting gift, and I want you to handle it." 

She signed off with a loud burst of static before Ribbon could respond, leaving the colorful mare alone in the hallway.  Alone, with nothing but the music to keep her company.  It hadn't stopped, but it didn't seem as loud when she wasn't focused on it.  Was it responding to her in some way?

She definitely got that impression.  Now that she was focused on it again, it was growing louder.  It was different though, the simple melodic overtones were replaced by upbeat, energetic percussion.  It sounded like a hundred hooves stomping out a victory dance.  She also got the distinct impression that whatever was causing the music was behind her, very close, but still behind her.

She turned back to look.  The hallway was empty.  "Hello?  Is there some sort of non-corporeal entity in this area?"  She felt silly asking that, since there hadn't been a report of NCE sightings in this system in the last two centuries.  But still, she had to cover the possibility, at least according to her mentalism professor.  She might even get extra credit for her distance courses for this.

After a little searching, she found a small box wedged in a damaged floor vent.  It was covered in a burgundy velvet material, like a jewelry box.  She carefully worked it out with a hoof, preferring to avoid touching it with magic.  She couldn't be sure it was related to the music she was hearing, but it was such a random coincidence that she wasn't about to risk it.

After a few seconds of careful maneuvering, the box was free of its prison and nestled safety in Ribbon's hooves.  She turned it over, inspecting the outside surface.  Its time in the vent had left it with a few tears and scratches, but no apparent structural damage.  Whatever was inside was most likely intact.

She didn't know what was inside though.  It was most likely a piece of jewelry, given the design of the box.  But, why would a piece of jewelry cause psychic phenomena?

With a sigh, she closed her eyes and got ready to open it.  "I know it was just a movie, but please don't be a face-melting religious artifact."  With a little pressure, the box popped open with a soft creak.  The absence of bright lights and screeching prompted the young mare to peek out of one eye.

Both eyes snapped wide open when she saw the necklace within.  "Holy crow, this is nice."  She stared into the clear blue gemstone in the center of the winged pendant.  "I sure would like to be the pony on the receiving end of this gift."  She ran a hoof over the azure-colored stone.

She then thanked the shopkeeper for the great deal he gave her on the last bunch of non-reconstituted carrots.  She stuffed the nearly fresh vegetables into her gym bag and set off for home, still mentally kicking herself for not catching that cute filly's name.  Sure, she was a little odd, maybe a bit ditzy and out of it, but her smile... It was a beautiful smile.  It was the kind of smile you could only have after being put through the worst life has to offer.  The smile of somepony who's learned just how good everything else is in comparison.  Maybe she would be able to understand.

"What the hay?!"  Ribbon yanked her hoof back, dropping the box and pendant.  While the box clattered, the pendant bounced of the metal floor plates with a high-pitched clinking noise.  Ribbon dove for it, catching it before it could bounce again.

As she walked past the cafeteria, the smell of greasy, fried food assaulted her nose.  The smell made her hungry after the double shift she put in, and made her regret skipping lunch to monitor the anvil.  But she couldn't stop now.  She was already late for her turn to cook, and there would be two hungry mouths waiting.  Three, if mom came back from her hunt on time.

Ribbon forcibly pulled her mind back to herself.  It wasn't easy, but mention of mom was enough to help her break free.  Pendant still in hoof, she scrambled for the box.  The moment she got hold of it, she crammed the necklace into the box and sandwiched it shut between her hooves.

With tears in her eyes, she stared at the box.  "You're the one who wouldn't understand!"  She screamed at it.  "My mom can't come back that easily!"  She slammed the box to the floor and sat down next to it, almost curling up into a ball.

She sat there and cried for a few minutes, eventually calming down enough to look over at the box.  "At least I know what's going on now."  She sniffed loudly and tried in vain to compose herself.  "But, why would that colt have a psychic amplifier?  And why is it linked to him?"

With a sigh, Ribbon got up, dusted herself off, and scooped up the box.  It was now emanating a smooth relaxing jazz tune, but as long as she didn't touch the pendant directly, she should be safe from randomly connecting to that colt's thoughts.  She transferred the box from her hoof to her mouth so she could carry it while walking and set off for her quarters.

Her quarters were, out of necessity, in a relatively secluded section of the station.  Even with magical shielding, most ponies didn't want the rooms next to hers.  When she was in regular quarters, everpony around her would request alternate quarters, usually citing privacy concerns.

The worst part was, she always tried, really tried, to protect every pony else's privacy.  It was hard for her, but she tried her hardest not to read thoughts without permission.  And she never, absolutely never, tried to influence some ponies thoughts or dig up memories against their will.

That was why she was headed to her quarters with the pendant.  Aside from the fact that she was a complete mess from crying and wanted to hide it, she had to protect that colt's privacy.  If somepony got their hooves on this necklace, there was no telling what could happen to him.  It wouldn't even have to be a telepath for the pendant's link to its owner to be abused.  Any reasonably skilled unicorn could take advantage of it with a few simple spells.

But, why would that colt have such a powerful psychically charged object?  Did he even know the implications of owning such an object?  Given the way it was haphazardly left behind, he might not even realize the power it held.

She had to get it back to him.  This simple necklace was a doorway, one that led straight into his mind, his thoughts, his very soul.  He needed to be aware of that, and she needed to be the one to tell him.

She had already invaded his thoughts.  She had to let him know.  She had to apologize.  Even if he hated her afterwards, she couldn't keep what happened a secret.

Before she knew it, Ribbon was standing in front of the door to her quarters.  She hung her head low and sighed wearily.  All she had left to do was inform Growl of the security ramifications of what she was about to do.  Then, she could set out to return the charm.

She entered her access code on the keypad next to the door.  With a happy chime, the door slid open.  Ribbon trudged right on in, past a thin ribbon of light, into the darkness beyond.

Once she was past the magical shield, the music coming from the box faded.  It didn't completely disappear, but it was much softer now.  It was almost like a music box playing a lullaby, a calming, soothing melody that seemed to melt away the stress of the day.

Without turning on the lights, Ribbon felt her way over to her desk and set the jewelry box down before making her way to the bed.  She crawled up and flopped down on her belly, mentally making a list of everything she needed to do after a quick nap.  After all, today was... kind of... a long... 

> The Rainbow Child
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------

	"Shut up!"  Mac stared down at Astral and Twilight, dripping mad.  They both sat in conjoined chairs in the back of the passenger compartment.  Theirs were the only seats there, as the rest had yet to be unfolded from their storage positions.  "Now, Ah want the two a' ya ta just sit there and think abut what ya done.  Got that?  Ah don't want ta hear another word outta either on a' ya, unless'n its an explanation or an apology."

"Yes, sir," the unicorns mumbled, refusing to look at Mac or each other.

"Good!" Mac bellowed.  He jutted a hoof at the pudding splattered imprint of his face on the shuttle wall.  "Now, one a' ya clean that up."

Astral scoffed.  "I thought you wanted us to just sit here.  Now, you're telling us to get up and clean?  Make up your mind."

Mac wiped at his face.  He was covered in chocolate pudding, absolutely covered, all because these two couldn't stop fighting.  "That's it!  Ah'm takin' command.  Silver told me Ah might have to, and she was right.  Until we get back ta Canterlot, the two a' ya do what Ah say, and leave each other alone."

"Be-be-beep!  Be-be-beep!"

Mac groaned as the insistent chime of the communications system issued from the pilot's cabin.  He fixed the other two ponies in one last icy stare.  "Is it too much to ask for ya ta behave for a minute or two?"  Mac waited for them to grudgingly shake their heads before walking away, muttering under his breath, "Honestly, full grown unicorns, and they act like a pair a' pegasus foals."

"Be-be-beep!  Be-be-beep!"

He entered the pilot's cabin and closed the door behind him.  He gave it about a minute before those two started up again, but this compartment was pretty well soundproofed.  Now, he just had to figure out how to answer the com.

"Be-be-beep!  Be-be-beep!"

The red pony scratched the back of his neck.  "Uh, computer?  Answer incoming call?"  He wasn't expecting that to work, but-

A large holographic display sprung to life in front of the main viewport, showing a life-sized view of a uniformed pegasus sitting behind a desk.  He was wearing a helmet with the vizor pulled down.  From the side of the helmet, a small headset microphone stuck out near his mouth.  "This is Furian North Port Authority, to unidentified civilian shuttle.  Your flight plans are not in our records.  Please identify and state your business in this system."  The Pegasus slowly leaned forward, raising his visor to squint at Mac.  "Is that pudding?"

"Eeyup," the big pony responded with a sigh.  He pulled an index card out of his shirt pocket.  Silver had given it to him before they left Canterlot.  It was one of several that Silver had given him with directions for specific situations.  This particular one was less instructions, and more of a script.  "This is a Civilian Oversight Committee Official Shuttle," Mac read, "Relay code, Delta-Delta-four-zero-two.  Is this a secure channel?"

The pegasus reached under his desk and manipulated a hidden control.  "It is now.  Are the aircars ready?"

Mac flipped the card over and continued reading the large, looping letters of Silver's impeccable hoofwriting.  "No, they still need paint."

"What color?" the Pegasus asked.

"Big, bold, red," Mac answered with a smirk.

"Huh, so, you're the mysterious Oversight Committee."  The flight-controller scratched his cheek.  "The code checks out, so we'll be routing you to the Dawnspire Military Base as requested.  You can turn off the magnification now."

Mac blinked.  "Magnification?"

"Yeah, it looks like your picture's showing up at about double size."  The Pegasus shrugged.  "I was told that a large, red pony would be on the COC shuttle, but this is ridiculous."

Mac looked around the cabin, looking for the com-controls.  "Um, computer, disable magnification?"

A soft, synthetic voice answered.  "Magnification reset from point-eight, to one-point-zero."

"Eh, you got bigger," the pegasus mumbled.  He then cleared his throat and spoke up, "I've uploaded landing coordinates, and alerted our orbital defense to stand down.  You are clear for landing."

The holographic display flickered away when the Pegasus signed off.  Mac smiled and gave a satisfied grunt.  It looked like bureaucracy hadn't changed much.  Now, he just had to get Astral to land the ship, and they could start their mission.  Mac opened the door to the passenger compartment.

"How's that?"  Twilight shouted as she rubbed her pudding coated hoof in Astral's face.  She had him pinned on the ground and he was flailing about, trying to dislodge the angry alicorn.  "I bet you don't feel so clever now, do you?"

Mac sighed and shut the door.  "Computer?  Set the autopilot to land at last received coordinates."





Furia was an unusual planet.  For one, it was bright.  Days there were sunny, but not overly hot.  It was like early summer throughout the year.  Its winter was the equivalent of any other planets autumn.

That alone may not be odd, but it was even bright at night.  Furia had no moon to explain this, nor did its atmosphere trap light.  The sky was always blue, with light clouds drifting lazily away.  The reason for the bright nights was clear.  As in, the planet itself was clear.

Technically, Furia wasn't even a planet.  It was designated as a semiplanetary cluster.  Usually, that term referred to conglomerations of asteroids and space debris, but Furia was a little more special than that.

The original Furia was a rough planet of rock and dirt, molten core like most planets, but almost no oceans.  It had a single moon, made of solid crystal, pointed and spired like some galactic sea urchin or snowflake.Somehow, the ponies of Furia were forced to live on their moon instead, and brought the dirt with them.  Old Furia was now a dead lump of rock, around which, the modified crystal moon, New Furia, often just called Furia, orbited.

On the surface, most of Furia looked like grassland or prairie.  Given that the dirt was only a few meters deep anywhere, trees were rare.  A good chunk of the planet was dedicated to the cultivation of wheat and other grains.  The areas that were inhabited looked like sparse suburbs, as buildings were limited to by their foundations and could only rise a few stories, usually maxing out at three.

The most striking feature though, were the crystal spires.  They were scattered at random across the entire planet.  Ranging from small enough to sit on, to large enough to reach past the atmosphere, there wasn't a yard, park, or farm without at least one of these spires.  During the day, these spires reflected and refracted the sunlight, scattering bright spots and rainbows like glitter across every surface.  At night, the spires glowed with the light captured by spires on the other side of the planet and transmitted through the translucent core.

It was mid-morning now, as the shuttle craft carrying Mac and and the dueling unicorns made its descent towards the Dawnspire Orbital Defense Base.  From above, it was a flat sprawl nestled between crystalline mountains, kilometers of flexcrete pads and nondescript bunkers interspersed with clusters of recreational areas, barracks, and homes.  A few laser turrets and missile systems were visible, but there were probably more hidden away.

There were also several ships parked on some of the landing pads.  They ranged from groups of small, identical fighters, to larger destroyers and support ships.  Most of them were support ships though, cargo vessels, maintenance craft, and the like.  For the largest military base on the planet, it seemed rather small.  That only made it much more likely that there was some sort of secret hidden beneath its appearance.

Several ponies watched the shuttle as it wove its way between between the crystal spires, making its final approach.  Several pegasi watched from the spires themselves as the shuttle passed them.  Before long, the shuttle was hovering over the landing pad  where the largest of the fighter wings rested.

It landed gently, and the ponies inside prepared to exit. Mac had been able to break up the fight, and somehow, keep the two unicorns civil enough to clean up in the somewhat cramped facilities available on the small craft.  Right now, Twilight was sitting on one of the bunks, digging around in her luggage.

"Hey," Astral called back from near the hatch, "are you gonna be much longer?"  He headed back to see what she was doing, earning a wary glance from Mac.  The grey unicorn held up a hoof in a placating gesture, letting the red pony know he wouldn't start anything.  He walked into the back just in time to dodge a swirl of dark, maroon cloth.  "Watch it!"

Twilight let out a loud, "hmph," as she threw her Luna Academy Scholar's robe on, fastening it with a large, decorative broach.  "Maybe you should give other ponies a bit of privacy when they're getting dressed."

"Maybe you should let other ponies know, or at least close the door when you want privacy."  Astral stopped for a moment and stared at the other unicorn.  After staring just long enough to make the purple mare uncomfortable, he sighed and shook his head.  "You can't be serious.". He pointed at the long, flowing, maroonish-purple robe.  "That is going to have every pony on the planet staring at us."

Twilight looked down at her clothes.  "What's wrong with this?" she asked with an irritated, indignant squeak.  "I'll have you know that these robes are a symbol of heritage and tradition back on Canterlot.  Wearing them is almost a status symbol."

Astral raised his eyebrows and plastered a fake smile on his face.  "Really?  That's great... for everyone on Canterlot."  He let his face slouch back to his previous, unamused expression before taking his jacket off and tossing it over her head.  "We're stopping in at the next clothing store we see."

Astral headed back to the hatch before Twilight could take a verbal jab of revenge, leaving her to mumble her displeasure while she changed.  As much as she hated to admit it, he was right.  Her scholarly vestments might draw some attention, especially on a world that was only recently allied to Canterlot.  But, these were the only clothes she owned.

Once she was finished changing into the supplied jacket, she headed up to the hatch, where Mac and Astral were waiting.  Astral immediately greeted her with a question.  "Now that we're here, can you tell me what our mission is?  You've been tight-lipped about it until now, but I won't be much help if I don't know what I'm supposed to do."

Twilight glanced at Mac, hesitant to answer.  "We're... looking for somepony."

Astral nodded.  "Ok, who?"

"A friend of mine," Twilight answered.

"Okay," Astral said slowly.  "Did this pony go missing or something?"

"Well, not really."  Twilight scratched at her neck.  "Look, this may seem crazy, but Mac thinks one of the missing ponies from Cryo Ship Seven is on this planet.  And, that she was somehow freed from her stasis pod."

Astral raised an eyebrow.  "You're right, that does sound crazy."  He glanced back at Mac.  "But I'm standing here talking to two five-thousand year old ponies, so it isn't crazy enough to dismiss.  Who is this pony, what does he or she look like, and what makes you think she's out and about?"

Twilight sighed in relief.  She shouldn't have been so worried.  Despite their incompatible personalities, he did agree to help after all.  "Her name is Rainbow Dash.  As for how she looks, think Ribbon Dancer, but a Pegasus.  Also, um, Mac thinks that Ribbon is Rainbow's daughter."

Astral's mouth pulled to the side as he looked back and forth between Mac and Twilight.  "Any reason you didn't just ask Ribbon about this while were on Delta?"

"Ah did," Mac spoke up.  "She got really nervous when Ah asked, and Ah think she lied ta me."

Astral crossed his hooves in front of him.  "What?  Are you a telepath too?"

Mac blinked.  "A telepath?  Ya mean, like a mind-reader?  Those exist?"

"Yes, and Ribbon is one of them," Twilight interjected.  "Astral, if Mac says somepony lied, I believe him.  His sister was-"  She winced and looked over at the red pony.  "Is, sorry, is the element of honesty.  And he has some of its power too."

Astral shook his head.  "I was with you until you got to elements and powers.  Every time I get caught up, you throw something new at me."

"Sorry," Twilight chuckled, "it's just that there's so much to explain.  Anyway, the elements of harmony were a set of powerful artifact sthat were used to fight evil.  There were six of them, and six bearers, each of whom held one of the elements.  Sometimes, the element bearers were referred to as the elements themselves.  This was mostly because it was hard to determine where the element's power ended, and the pony's power began.  For example, I was the element of magic.  The element itself boosted my magical abilities, but I was already one of the strongest unicorns in Equestria."

"Well, aren't you humble?" Astral quipped.  "So, does the phrase, 'Harmony sleeps here,' mean anything?"

Twilight went silent.  She stared at Astral for a moment, before shaking her head.  "Not that I know of.  But, where did you hear that?  It sounds ominous."

Astral shrugged it off.  "Yeah, it does, but don't worry about it.  It was just something I heard a long time ago.  I'm pretty sure it can't have anything to do with those elements you were talking about."

Twilight mulled it over for a little before responding.  "You may be right, but I'd still like to hear more about it."

"Maybe later."  Astral sighed.  " For now, let's focus on finding this Rainbow Dash pony.  What are we looking for?  I think we should start by checking some sort of public records.  Maybe we can find some sort of city hall or police station."

"We can try that, but official channels take time."  Twilight hit the control for the hatch, letting it open while she continued.  "Knowing Rainbow, all we have to do is find some sort of speed or stunt related sport.  Mac, what do you think?"

Mac stared out of the open hatch, squinting against the bright sunlight that streamed into the shuttle.  "Ah think... Ah found her."  He pointed to the fighters parked nearby, each just a little smaller than their shuttle.  A group of jacketed ponies and humans loitered about among them, presumably the pilots.

"What?"  Twilight stepped out onto the shuttle's stairs.  She lifted a hoof, shading her eyes from the sunlight so she could get a better view.  Among the pilots, isolated from the others and leaning against a fighter, there was a cyan, rainbow-maned Pegasus.  "It's her!  Good work, Mac!"

Twilight ran down the steps, and almost ran over the pony standing there.  The drab green Pegasus stepped out of her way with ease, then cleared his throat to grab her attention.  "You seem to be in quite the hurry."

Twilight was reluctant to stop, but did so anyway.  She turned and nodded to the uniformed stallion.  His uniform was dotted and speckled with bars and ribbons of all colors, denoting a rather distinguished service.  "I'm sorry, you must be Colonel Drench, our liaison."  She gestured to the two stallions still in the shuttle.  "If it's not too much trouble, could you speak with one of my associates?  I saw somepony I know, an old friend I haven't seen in a while, and would like to go speak with them."

The Colonel shook his head.  "I'm afraid my orders were clear that I deal directly with you."  A slow smile formed on his face.  "That said, I won't be keeping you long.  I just need to inform you of a few ground rules for your visit."  He waved Astral and Mac down to join them.  "As you are all no doubt aware, this is a military base.  Furia has a recent history of being on the defensive side of several wars.  As such, we have many military secrets that must be protected.  That being said, this landing pad, and the buildings connected to it, have been cleared of any such secrets.  You are free to wander this area as you see fit, and may recruit any of our personnel to serve as your guide.  You also have unrestricted access to the residential areas, should you wish to speak to the civilians and family members who support our soldiers.  Also, as per our agreement with Canterlot, you have access to classified area theta- two until such time as President Jones concludes his business there."  Drench cleared his throat again.  "All other locations on base are restricted, and you must contact either myself, My Lieutenant, Long Pass, or somepony higher up in order to gain access."  He bounced his head back and forth a bit, mentally replaying what he just said.  "That should cover everything."  He nodded to each of them, ending with Twilight whom he also saluted.  "Enjoy your visit.  And enjoy your reunion with your friend."

Twilight nodded deeply, just short of a bow.  "Thank you, Colonel.  I am sure I will."

Drench gave one last nod before walking off.  Twilight waited patiently as he did so, maintaining a dignified pose as the Colonel headed towards the largest of the nearby buildings.  Once he was far enough away, she threw dignity to the wind and broke into a flat out run towards the fighters.  Mac and Astral followed behind at a steady gallop, but Twilight quickly pulled ahead of them.

Rainbow was still in the same spot, leaned up against the sleek, angular starfighters.  But, the other pilots were now standing around her in a loose circle.  As Twilight approached, one of the pilots walked up to her and said something.  Twilight was a bit too far away to make it out, but she did hear the response.  "Go soak your head, Soaker."

Twilight almost collapsed on the spot.  It was Rainbow's voice, the same husky waver she remembered.  It was a bit deep, like she just woke up from a nap, but it was, without a doubt, Rainbow Dash's voice.

"Maybe you ought to go soak your hooves!"  The other pony yelled back.  He was a Pegasus too.  A young stallion with a warm tan coat and a mane the same color as Colonel Drench.  By the time Twilight reached the outside of the ring of pilots, Soaker was standing snout-to-snout with Rainbow.  "Or maybe," the sandy stallion said in a quiet suggestive voice, "I should go soak your sister's?"

Twilight stared in shock as the pony she thought was Rainbow Dash swung her hoof at Soaker's face.  The pony's whole body swung with it, creating one giant motion just slow enough to see, but way too fast to react to.  The strike connected with a meaty thud, flooring, then rolling the tan stallion across the flexcrete.

"What did I tell you about staying away from Ribbon?"  The standing Pegasus screamed at his fallen opponent.

Twilight stared at him.  Him!  It was a colt!  The mane, the coat, and even the voice should have belonged to her friend, but here was this young stallion instead.  He was the same size as Rainbow too, and his cutie mark was a tri-tone lightning bolt, just like hers, but without the cloud, and with a red cross shape behind it.

The rainbow colt advanced on Soaker, only stopping when he was standing over the other stallion.  "Harass me if you have to, but leave my sister out of it!"

Now that they were close, Twilight realized that this colt was the smallest pony here.  He was wearing the same uniform as the rest, but he was younger than anypony around him by at least a few years.  Even the stallion that had been knocked down had several centimeters, and more than a few kilograms over him.  If a fight broke out, his odds didn't look good.

The grounded Pegasus propped himself up on one front hoof, and motion to his fellow pilots with the other.  "Get him!"

As they all rushed forward, the brightly colored colt stomped on the sand-colored stallion's leg like he was stepping on a twig.  The bone inside snapped with a plain, simple cracking noise that stopped the other pilots in their tracks.  It took Soaker a second to realize what happened, to register the pain that suddenly appeared.  But when it did, he started screaming, clutching at the injured limb and writhing on the ground.

The other pilots backed away, just as an alarm klaxon sounded, most likely reacting to the screaming.  A harsh voice sounded over a loudspeaker.  "MP's responding to fighter wing zero's ready area.  All personnel remain where you are.  Attempting to leave will result in mandatory three day confinement."

"Aw man," the rainbow Pegasus groaned, sounding almost bored.  "Don't they have anything better to do than micro-manage us?  I would have patched him up eventually."  He rubbed the back of his neck and looked around at the nervous faces of the other pilots.  "Hey, don't get scared now.  You guys started it."

One of the human pilots took half a step forward, pointing at the colt.  "You aren't even supposed to be here!  You're not a pilot!"

"Yeah, you freak!"  One of the other pilots, a unicorn, added.  "You're barely even a pony!"

"One of these days..."  The human crossed his arms.  "A weapon you can't control isn't worth keeping around."

"Ha!"  The colt shrugged.  "You mean me?  I guess I shouldn't bother patching you guys up then.  I'll let one of the other doctors take care of all those injuries you have."

The human and the unicorn exchanged confused glances.  "But, we're not-"

The colt launched himself forward, headbutting the human in the stomach and knocking him back.  As soon as the human hit the ground, the colt was on top of him, swinging at his pointy, weak-looking nose.  The human's left hand knocked the hoof off target as his right hand clenched around the pony's throat.  Then, he used his left to grab the colt's mane and twisted, pulling him off and forcing him to the ground.  

The situation was quickly reversed, with the human pilot kneeling over the colt and raining down punches.  His hands may not have been as hard as hooves, but his fists made up for it with dexterity and speed, easily slipping past any attempt the colt made at defense.

Giving up on protecting his face, the colt grabbed the human by midsection.  He then pushed against the ground with one of his wings, knocking them both sideways.  As soon as the Human's weight was off of him, he curled his hind legs under him and kicked out, shoving the other pilot away.

The colt scrambled to his hooves just in time to see a bright light fly towards his head.  He blindly jerked away from it, reacting on instinct, and it flew past him.  The fireball impacted the nearest fighter with a clang, leaving a small circular scorch mark in the paint.

Still off balance, the colt wasn't able to dodge the second fireball the unicorn launched.  Rather than take the hit, the colt smacked at it with his wing, deflecting the fireball up and over him for the price of a few scorched feathers.  But, that knocked him even more of balance, and he fell over.  Before he could get up, a third fireball was launched by the triumphant looking unicorn.

The colt threw a hoof over his face and braced himself for an impact that never came.  After a few seconds, he looked up.  The unicorn was staring in horror at his own fireball.  It hovered in place, growing larger, hotter, and angrier as a purple mare in a tattered jacket stomped into the middle of the fight.  "All of you, cut this out now!"  She stopped next to the fireball, which was now burning blue and white, instead of its original orange and red.  "What the hay are you even fighting about?"

The human stood up.  "None of your business, bi-"

A small glob of flame, barely larger than a spitball, broke off from the main fireball and shot itself at the ground in front him.  When it hit, it exploded into a typhoon of oppressive heat that blasted his hair back and tore at his clothes.

"Don't finish that," the mare said calmly.  The fireball beside her glowed white now, almost too bright too look at.  It radiated an intense heat that pushed the pilots back.  The only pony that dared approach her was a red earth pony that none of the pilots recognized.

"Twi?"  He shouted over the now howling heat wind surrounding her. "Don't ya think yer overdoin' it a little?"

"No," she shouted back, "why?"

Another pony walked towards her, a grey unicorn.  "Why?" He asked incredulously.  "This is a military base, you moron!  This could be considered an act of war!"  He shielded his face as the fireball drifted towards him.  "Will you get rid of that thing?"

The purple mare snorted and flicked her head away from the unicorn.  At the same time, the fireball shattered into a swirl of embers that slowly faded.  "Happy?" she asked in a mocking tone.

The grey unicorn pointed over his shoulder at an open top hovercar that was screaming towards them.  "Why don't you ask them?"

The military vehicle was painted in a streaked camo pattern befitting the grassland that covered most of Furia.  Light greens and tans scratched on with lots of vertical lines.  The uniforms of the ponies and people riding it were similar in color, but with the addition of bold letters marking, "Internal Security," across their helmets and body armor.

The hovercar pulled up to the middle of the crowd, and the only unarmored pony in it, Colonel Drench, stepped out.  He walked up to Twilight, giving her an icy stare as the security personnel filed out behind him and started rounding up the pilots.  "For a Civilian, the Committee sure sent out a capable combat unicorn."

Twilight stared back.  "I'm just good with fire based spells.  Lots of unicorns are, including the pilot who launched that fireball in the first place."

The Colonel's eyes went wide and his lip twitched as he muttered a curse under his breath.  "He launched it at you?"

Twilight shook her head.  She then pointed at the rainbow colored colt, whom she noticed was the only pony besides the three of them that the security guards were leaving alone.  "He was the intended target." 

Drench let out a strangled sigh, somewhere between relief and frustration.  "Well, I apologize for the behavior of these pilots.  Fighter wing zero consists of the top talent, and sometimes it goes to their heads.  They don't always consider the consequences of their off-duty actions."

One of the security guards helped the injured pegasus pilot, Soaker, towards the Colonel.  "Sir, this one wishes to speak to you."

Drench looked down at the pilot and brought a hoof to his face.  "Leave him," he said with a irritated sigh.

The MP nodded and went back to work gathering the other pilots.  This left Soaker to hobble towards the Colonel on three legs.  "Dad-"

"No!"  Drench stomped his hoof.  "Don't pull that routine on me now.  What were you thinking?  Picking another fight with him.  They almost kicked you out last time.  You may be the best fighter pilot we have, but that doesn't mean squat compared to June Bug.  You'll be lucky to stay out of prison this time."   The Colonel shot an angry look at the Rainbow colt.  The young Pegasus hadn't gotten up since being knocked over and was just staring up at the sky.  "And you!  Stay in your designated area next time!"

He gave a sloppy salute to the whispy clouds above.  "Yes, sir.  Whatever you say, sir.  It will be my pleasure, sir."  He rolled over and put his hooves under his head.  "I'm gonna take a nap now."

Colonel Drench grit his teeth to keep from growling at the brash Pegasus.  "Get out of here!  Go home, and stay there until you receive orders!"

The colt stood up with pained groan.  "Ok, I'll go."  He wiped a hoof at his bloody nose, one of the many leftovers from his fight with the human pilot.  "Beats staying here."

Twilight watched in confusion as the colt started to walk stiffly away.  "Wait, you're arresting them, but just letting him go?"

The colt looked back with a laugh.  "He doesn't have much of a choice.  Trust me, if he had his way, I would have been thrown in the brig a long time ago."

Mac walked over to Colonel Drench.  "If ya don't mind mah askin’, what is June Bug?  A unicorn named Ribbon Dancer told us it was her mother's name."

The colt stopped walking and eyed the three Civilians carefully.  "How do you know my sister?"

Before they could answer, Drench started giving hoof signals to the MP's, signaling for them to take his son and the other pilots away.  "Get them out of here!"  He waited until the hovercar pulled away before speaking again.  "Project June Bug is our orbital defense system.  It's kept our planet safe for the last three decades, and the only reason I can tell you any of this is because the program is being retired in a few days.  I was under the impression that was why the COC was here in the first place.  To oversee cooperation between Furia and Canterlot during the installation of our new orbital defenses."

"It seems my briefing was incomplete," Twilight said.  "It sounds like the June Bug program was quite an effective one.  Why is it being retired?"

"Reliability issues," Drench said, staring at the colt.

Twilight glanced back at the multi-hued Pegasus.  "What is his connection to the program?"

The colt started laughing.  Connection, nothing."  He gave a large introductory bow, sweeping his wing in front of him for a flourish.  "Radio Dancer, June Bug Orbital Defense System, at your service."

Drench let out a loud, weary sigh.  "Thankfully, only for the next few days."  He turned and started walking in the direction the aircar left in.  "He can fill you in, and his father can tell you more about the project's history.  Just remember that it is classified and not to be discussed with anypony besides your superiors."

Left alone among the starfighters, Astral, Mac, and Twilight all stared at the battered Pegasus standing with them.

"How is it?"  Radio asked with a lopsided grin.  "First time seeing a pony super weapon?  Not what you'd expect, huh?"

Twilight shook her head sadly.  "No, I can't say it is.  But I have seen ponies used as weapons before, and I've learned that it is rarely ever by choice."

The Pegasus looked at the ground, letting his smile fade.  "Aren't you a sharp one?"  He sighed quietly.  "You met my sister, right?  Well, if I don't serve as the defense system, they revoke her passport.  Her dream of becoming a doctor, seeing the galaxy, and becoming a worlds-class boxer all goes up in a puff of rainbow colored smoke.  She'd probably end up a nurse at some dead-end military installation here on Furia."

"That's terrible."  Twilight moved a little closer to the colt.  "Why would they do that?"

"Why would they protect the fifty million ponies on this rock?"  Radio shrugged.  "The real question is why would they care about just one?" He looked up at Twilight.  "And another question is why are you hiding your wings?"

Twilight was taken aback, but Astral started laughing.  "Who were you just saying was the sharp one here?"

Radio pointed at the jacket.  "That obviously belongs to you," he told Astral.  "And this isn't the first time I've seen a winged unicorn.  Or a horned Pegasus, whichever you want to call it."

Astral stopped laughing rather suddenly.  "Where did you see that?"

If the colt was surprised by Astral's sudden change in expression, he didn't show it.  "Maternity ward," he answered.  "When I'm not knocking ships out of the sky, I'm a medic.  I helped deliver the little guy."  He snickered.  "You should have seen the look on the parents' faces."  He straightened up and looked each of the other ponies in the eye.  "So, that's me, the teenaged superweapon.  Who are all of you?"

Twilight brought a hoof to her chest.  "My name is Twilight Sparkle, and these two are Astral Plane and Big Macintosh."

Radio smiled.  "I can guess which one's which."

Twilight nodded.  "I'm sure.  Anyway, I'm looking for a friend of mine.  She happens to look a lot like you.  Her name is Rainbow Dash."

Radio went quiet.  He stared off to the side for a while before he started walking away.  "Come on.  You're gonna want to talk to my dad."

"S-so, you do know her?" Twilight asked cautiously.  "Is she related to you?"

The colt clenched his teeth.  "Talk to my dad," he ground out.  "I'll bring you, just talk to him."

Twilight exchanged nervous glances with Mac before following the colt in silence.  And, as she walked, she felt a cold pit of dread form in the bottom her stomach.





After an hour's walk, the four ponies found themselves in a residential area.  One and two story houses littered the roadways, scattered among small restaurants and shops.  To Twilight, it was like walking through the past.  Except for the tall grass that grew everywhere, it was like walking through Ponyville.  The sight of happy families playing in their yards, the scent of fresh cakes and breads drifting from nearby bakeries, the feel of gravel road beneath her hooves, it was like a cruel joke at her her expense.

She stopped when she felt something push on her shoulder.  She looked over to see Astral resting a hoof on her shoulder.  The unicorn was looking out at the peaceful neighborhood much like she was.  "I bet this reminds you of what you lost.  But you should try to remember every pony you see, me included, means that you were successful.  Your Cryo ships saved the most important part of your planet."  Astral started walking again.  "Let's go, we're falling behind."

Twilight wiped a tear from her face and started walking, muttering under her breath, "You idiot.  Why do you have to know exactly what to say?"

"I heard that."  Astral chuckled.  "Oh!"  He pointed up ahead where Mac and Radio were stopped in front of a simple two-story house.  "Looks like we made it."

The Pegasus waited by the front door until everypony was together.  Then, he put his hoof on the scanner below the doorknob, waited for the click, and opened the door.

"Ah, Radio," called a voice from inside, "you're home early again.  Should I get the first aid kit ready?"

"Hey, I recognize that voice," Astral whispered to Twilight.  "It's Ribbon's father, the doctor who patched me up back on Delta."

"Who would have guessed?" Twilight asked sarcastically.  "Her father just so happens to her brother's father too?  How shocking."

The grey unicorn groaned quietly.  "I only pointed it out to let you know that he was being straightforward with us, and that this probably isn't a trick or a trap."

At that moment, a Frisbee descended upon Astral, landing on his horn and spinning there until exhausting its momentum.  A small earth pony foal, maybe four or five years old, called out to him from the next yard behind a white picket fence.  "Sssorry, missster!"  The young colt's words whistled through the gap of a missing tooth.  "Can we have our frisssbee back?"

A Pegasus colt, a few years older than the earth pony, called out from a low hanging cloud.  "Yeah, we'll be more careful with it this time."

While Astral sighed, Twilight picked up the plastic disc and tossed it up to the pegasus.  This earned an enthusiastic shout of, "Nice throw, lady!" from each of the colts.

Twilight shook her head at Astral.  "I kind of got that it wasn't a trap."

Radio stood just inside the door, staring at them.  "Are you coming in?  Or should I shut the door?"  Astral and Twilight exchanged glance, muttered their apologies, and hurried in, all to the tune of the rainbow colt's laughter.  "I can't blame you though.  The weather's great as usual.  If I could, I'd be out there playing with Mud and Cirrus right now."

The house was as plain on the inside as it was on the outside.  Hardwood floors and sparse furniture set the tone.  There was a kitchen across from the entryway, and a sitting area off to the right, both connected to a large main room.  A dark hallway led from the main room to the rest of the house.   A single cloud chair sat in one of the corner of the main room, surrounded by large medical texts and a few data pads.  Off to the left was a solid wall, even though the exterior of the house would suggest a room.

"Radio?  Who are you talking to?"  Asked a voice from beyond the hallway.  "Did you bring somepony home?"

"Yeah, dad, I did."  The colt scratched at his cheek, wincing at the pain from the bruises.  "I should have told you we'd have guests, but some, uh, stuff happened on base, and I kind of had to leave."

"Meaning, you got into another fight."  The voice sighed.  "So, who are the guests?"

Radio shrugged.  "I'm not sure, but they know about mom.  And, I think-"

"Get away from them!"  There was a crash and the sound of frantic hooves scrambling down a flight of stairs.  A faint glow appeared in the hallway, and it quickly grew brighter as the thunder of hooves grew louder.

Rock Duster, the earth pony surgeon, charged into the main room, swirling with magic.  It made Astral's coat stand on end.  Pure, unrestrained magic, like static in the air.  It rose off of the blue stallion like florescent steam, and his eyes shone pure white with it.  Astral could feel the strength, the raw power, behind this magic.  It was something he had experienced before.  Most recently, when Twilight had gotten angry Celestia.  For the first time, when similar power was used to decimate Serus.

Radio leapt in front of him, hoping to stop his charge.  "Dad!  Wait!"

Rock Duster jumped over his son with ease, brushing the ceiling and aiming his pounce for Twilight.  Astral launched himself forward to tackle Twilight out of the way.  Then, time itself seemed to slow down.

Everypony was still moving, just at a fraction of the speed they were.  The charging stallion fell from his leap at a snail's pace, as if he was suspended in liquid and sinking slowly.  His son, caught mid-turn, pivoted at the same speed, barely fast enough to even notice the motion.  Astral and Mac were the same, both pushing forward to protect Twilight, both caught in whatever temporal quicksand engulfed the room.

Astral wanted to scream.  Whatever was happening, it was only slowing down his body.  His mind was still running at it's normal pace.  He could register everything that was happening.  He could hear Radio's molasses-like yell, see that Mac's aim was to intercept the attacking pony, and feel every muscle in his body refuse to respond to his commands.

Twilight was the only one unaffected.  She removed Astral's jacket and strode forward, taking flight to hover in front of the charged earth pony.  She touched a hoof to his chest, and time seemed to speed up again.  The magic that surrounded Rock Duster migrated to her, swirling violently with purpose now that it was under the command of somepony that could control it.

Astral crashed to the ground where Twilight had been standing.  Mac landed just a little in front of him.  And Radio finished his turn, shout dying in his throat as he processed what happened.

Rock Duster hung in the air in front of Twilight, suspended by what was now her magic.  Glowing vapor no longer escaped him, and his eyes had returned to normal.

Twilight let herself land, gently lowering him to the ground with her.  "Please," she asked as the swirling energy faded, "will you hear us out?"

"Dad," Radio said quietly, "I think it's them."  He walked over to the cloud chair and dug a small, black box out from under it.  After few seconds of rooting around in that box, he removed several pieces of paper.  "Look, in mom's pictures.  It's her, the red one too.  The grey one isn't though."

Astral climbed up off the floor and retrieved his jacket, tossing it over his shoulder.  "You know, I have a name."

Rock Duster backed away from Twilight.  Without taking his eyes off of her, he made his way to his son.  When he looked over at the pictures, his breath caught.  With a shaky hoof, he took the old photos and looked through them.  "It's been so long since I looked through these, I had almost forgotten.  She always said you would come for her, that you would find her."  He dumped the pictures back in the box and sat down on the floor, leaning against the cloud chair.  "If only you'd come sooner..."  He pulled something else out of the box, a thin chain, bearing a pair of dog tags.  "If only..."  He curled a hoof around the dog tags and brought his head down to meet it, choking out a pained sob.

Radio took half a step towards his weeping father.  "Dad, maybe they can help."  He chewed his lip to keep his emotions in check.  If he didn't, he knew he would break down even worse.  "You remember what mom said about the princesses?  How powerful they are?"  The colt looked over at Twilight.  "Couldn't they do something?"

"Wait.  S-slow down."  Twilight swallowed dryly.  It couldn't be, not now.  "What happened to Rainbow Dash?"

A single tear fell from Radio's eye as he walked to the wall.  "Mom...  She saved me."  He kicked the baseboard and a section of the wall flickered.  He kicked it again and a holographic section of it disappeared, revealing a doorway to an adjoining room.  "Ten years ago, a ship appeared.  It came out of slipstream and headed straight for Furia.  It was disabled by our orbital defense, the prismatic ion dispersion system, what mom  called a sonic rainboom.  After that, it crashed into one of the spires high in the atmosphere."

Radio walked into the room, motioning for Twilight to follow him.  "Scans of it showed that there were no life signs on the ship, and that there weren't any since it entered the system.  Mom and I were the only ones that could fly high enough to reach it.  But, mom was tired from knocking out the ship, so I volunteered to go.  She never would have let me do it, so she wasn't told.  A General gave me some instructions, told me what to look for, and I was sent up alone.  It was just a scouting mission, so all I had was a radio and a holorecorder."

He walked over to another wall at the end of this room, and set his hoof against it.  "When she found out, mom was furious.  I heard she gave the General a black eye before coming up after me.  When she got there, she was exhausted.  I had never seen her so tired before.  That was when we found out that the scans were wrong."

A scanner embedded under the wall beeped in response to Radio's presence, and the wall slid down, revealing a storage space.  Inside, there were two Cryo storage chambers.  "There was some sort of monster on that ship.  It attacked us."  Radio walked up to one of the chambers and rested a clenched hoof against it.  "Mom shot it so many times, but it just wouldn't stop.  We had no choice but to run.  While we were running, we found this Cryo chamber.  It was empty at the time, so mom wanted to seal me in it, said it would protect me.  But, before we could do anything, that monster was on us again."

Radio was crying as he ran a hoof over the chamber.  "I don't know how she did it, but she fought and killed that thing.  Only, she sacrificed herself to do it.". The colt squeezed his eyes shut.  "She was so hurt.  Her blood was everywhere.  I don't know how she even stayed standing."

His eyes snapped open, and he pulled his hoof away from the chamber like he was pulling himself out of a memory.  "She was dying.  I knew it.  No pony could survive what happened to her, so I sealed her in here."

He backed away from it and fell into a sitting position.  "I didn't know if it would work, but there was nothing else I could do.  She was still talking to me as I was closing the lid.  'You know I'll always...'"  Radio shook his head.  "That was as far as she got.  It sealed before she could finish."

He gestured to a pile of pads and, papers and computer chips nearby.  "It worked.  She's still alive, and those are the catalogues of all her injuries and exactly what needs to be done for her to survive."  He slammed his hoof on the floor.  "But we can't do any of it.  According to the data collected when mom was unfrozen the first time, she wouldn't survive being thawed, never mind the surgery."

Twilight said nothing throughout the colt's explanation.  She just stared at the storage chamber.  She had failed.  She promised to find her friends, and she had already failed.  The purple mare walked up to the chamber and leaned up against it.  She stared at nothing, too shocked to even cry.  "I'm sorry," she whispered into the cold, hard metal shell, "I'm so sorry."

She sat there, head against the chamber for nearly a minute before Radio said, "That's why, we have to do the surgery first."

"What?"  Twilight lifted her head to look at the colt.  "You can do that? Y-you can save her?"

"No."  A slightly more composed Rock Duster walked into the room wearing Rainbow's dog tags.  He walked up to Twilight and transferred them to her.  "Not yet, anyway."  He sat down next to the storage chamber.  "Using my wife's original storage chamber, we've been running experiments, trying to figure a way to perform surgery inside these things.  Obviously, we haven't gotten it to work.  Once you disable the pod's security system, you can teleport things into the chamber.  But you can't teleport things out without disrupting the power system.  The same thing happens if you try to magically manipulate objects inside.  The only thing that hasn't caused problems is using a very specific radio frequency to control electromechanical surgical tools.  But the technology just doesn't fit.  These chambers are too small, and the tools we need are too large."  The stallion sighed and looked over at his son.  "We've been working on it, but it may be years, even decades before we can get the equipment down to the right size... if at all."

As Twilight turned the dog tags over in her hoof, a sobering realization hit her.  "The pod.  You said it was empty."

"Yes," Rock Duster answered.  "Rainbow told me about Equestria, and what happened there, so I assumed the same thing you are now.  That there was somepony from Equestria on that ship."  He picked up one of the data pads.  "This is a set of records from the forensic examination of that ship.  Using my position at the time, I was able to examine all of the remains found.  I secretly scanned everything, including blood stains and the creature's stomach contents for the unique trace radiation we found on Rainbow.  The only place I found any was on a few hairs caught in the hinge of the Cryo storage chamber."

Twilight nearly threw herself at the blue stallion, grabbing him by the shoulders.  "Please," she nearly shouted, "you have to tell me everything you can.  I already failed Rainbow, I can't let down any more of my friends.  I can't-"

Something pulled her back.  "Twi, calm down."  Astral let go of her and addressed the earth pony.  "Any chance I can get my hooves on that ship's navigation logs?"

Rock Duster offered Astral the pad he held.  "It's all on there.  Computer records, crew and cargo manifests, navigation, even the contents of the black box.  Though, most of the information is cryptic at best.  The ship seemed to belong to a Curaxxan smuggling group.  They only kept records of the last three planets they visited."

The grey unicorn took the pad.  "Thanks.  If nothing else, this will give us a place to start looking."

"Good.  I always wanted to go check out those planets myself, but Furia is an isolated planet that isn't affiliated with the galactic assembly or the dragon lords.  It's hard to go anywhere besides Canterlot or Klagh on civilian authorization.  That, and trying to get military authorization to recon some random planet on the off chance that one of my wife's friends are there almost got me put on psych leave."

Astral nodded and looked down at the pad.  "I can see how that might not make sense to some ponies."

"Well, here's something that doesn't make sense to me."  Rock duster picked up a small chrome-colored device from among the pads and ran it over Astral's hoof.  "What's your stake in all this?"

Astral dropped the pad and pulled his hoof back, thoroughly checking it over.  "What did you do?"

The doctor checked the tiny, circular readout on the device's end.  "I just scanned you.  You don't share rainbow's trace radiation marker."  He held the device out towards Twilight.  "May I?"

The purple alicorn lifted her hoof and nodded.  "Go ahead."

"Oh, sure."  Astral rolled his eyes while he smoothed out the ruffled fur on his hoof.  "You ask her."

After checking the readout, Rock Duster set the scanner down.  "She shares the radiation trace.  And, I'm willing to bet that the earth pony out there does as well."

Astral crossed his hooves in front of him.  "Yeah, they're both from an ancient civilization that no longer exists, like your wife.  If you would have asked, I could have told you that I'm from a modern civilization that no longer exists."

Rock Duster mirrored Astral's pose.  "Again, I ask, what is your stake in all this?"

With a sigh, the unicorn uncrossed his legs and waved a hoof at Twilight.  "I'm a freelancer, a pilot-for-hire.  I'm helping her find her friends because she doesn't know anypony that can fly the state of the art luxury shuttle she somehow owns.  I don't know why.  I don't know for how long.  And, I don't even know if I'm going to get paid for any of it."  He glanced over at Twilight and saw that she was smiling at him.  He smiled back.  "I should also mention that I'm doing all this despite the fact that she tried to kill me."  As Twilight's smile disappeared, Astral slowly added, "Repeatedly," enunciating every syllable.

With a smug grin on his face, Astral looked back at Rock Duster.  He was then tossed across the room by a lavender wave of energy.  He ended up upside down against a bookshelf.  He laughed, looked over at the confused father and son, and pointed at Twilight.  "See?"

To Radio's surprise, Rock Duster started laughing.  "You two remind me of me and Rainbow, back when we first met."

"What?" Astral was still propped wrong way up against the bookcase.  "She tried to kill you too?"

The blue stallion shrugged.  "Maybe not kill, but by the time we got hitched, she had knocked out four of my teeth."  He smiled wide, pointing at what seemed to be a full set of teeth.  "Luckily, they keep growing back, cause she took out two more on our honeymoon night.  By accident, of course, but it still hurt."  He sighed, still smiling at the memories, and looked down at the cryo-chamber.  His smile slowly faded.  "Say, could you two do me a favor?  Not just me, but Rainbow too."

Astral flipped himself upright.  "That depends on what it is."

Rock Duster nodded towards his son.  "Take him with you.  When you go searching the galaxy for the rest of Ponyville, he can help.  He's a trained soldier, a full-fledged doctor, and-"

"Dad!"  Radio shook his head.  "I can't leave!  You of all ponies should know that.  What would happen to Ribbon?  She's finally free, we can't risk that."

"We don't have to, son."  He gave a light smile.  "While I was in the Canterlot system, I took some precautions.  I didn't tell either of you, but there was a reason I pushed for Ribbon to take that internship on Canter Station Delta.  I knew it would be hard for her to adjust to such a crowded place, but it was important for her to be there.  Two days ago, without the knowledge of the Furian Government, I finalized the paperwork.  Ribbon is now a political refugee."

Radio stared at his dad in stunned silence for a moment.  "A political... you mean..."  The colt started laughing.  "She doesn't have to come back?  Ever?  Dad, that's great!"  He ran up and hugged his father.  "Why didn't you tell me?"

Rock Duster returned the hug, ruffling his son's mane with a hoof.  "Because, I wanted to keep you from doing something stupid."

Radio pulled back.  "What do you mean?"

The stallion left his hoof on his son's head.  "Think about it.  Ribbon's free, nothing you do can be used against her anymore.  What are you going to tomorrow morning?"

Radio blinked.  There had been so many times he had thought about what he would do in this situation, but he never considered that it would actually happen.  "I guess I'd report for duty like normal."  A lopsided grin formed on the colt's face as he thought about it.  "Then, when General Cube makes his inspection rounds, I'd salute that bastard for the first time and bash his teeth in with that stupid coffee mug he always carries around."

Rock duster sighed and patted the colt on the head.  "You are your mother's son."

"Oh."  Radio looked away.  "That's why you didn't tell me."

"It doesn't matter now."  Rock Duster looked over at Astral and Twilight.  "I filed paperwork for you, too.  If these ponies will take you with them, you and Ribbon can both be free.  As soon as you enter Canterlot, or an allied system, you'll be safe."

Radio shook his dad's hoof off.  "What about you?  How will you get away?"

Rock Duster shrugged.  "I don't think I will."

Radio nearly exploded.  "What?!"  He spun his father around by the shoulder, forcing the stallion to face him.  "How can you be so calm about that?!  This is treason just discussing it!  If you stay here, they'll-"

"They'll what?"  Rock Duster shouted.  "Kill me?  Then they lose everything related to project June Bug, the Despereaux Initiative, and the Trifecta therapy."  He pointed at the Cryo chamber.  "Force me to open that?  They know I'd rather die than put your mom at risk."  He put his hooves on Radio's shoulders.  "Listen, even during the worst of the war, Furia tried to keep it's honor.  We had our dark spots, and I was in the middle of them.  Even then, we didn't resort to the torture or other horrors that our enemy stooped to, so I don't think it'll start during times of peace.  The worst thing they can do to me is lock me up.  It's the same thing as now, just with a few less medical conferences and vacation days."

Radio backed down, shaking his head as tears ran down his face.  "No.  Dad, if you do that, we'll never see you again.  We already lost mom, we can't lose you, too.  I-"   The colt brought a hoof to his chest.  "I can live with taking orders the rest of my life, if it means keeping the three of us together."

"What else can I do?" Rock Duster asked.  "Rainbow and I fought for Furia's freedom for years.  We never dreamed that freedom would be denied to our children."  With a sad smile, he added, "and we'll never get a better chance than this.  With everypony focused on President Jones' visit, and the installation of the new defenses, you might be able to slip away."

"Wait."  Twilight started putting Astral's jacket on.  "There might be another way.  I need to use a com-panel, now."

Astral walked over to her.  "I saw one in the kitchen, but what are you planning?"

"I'm not planning anything."  Twilight winked at him before leaving the room.  "I'm just making a call, or did you forget our cover mission?"

"How could I forget?"  He tossed a hoof up in frustration.  "You haven't told me a damn thing about it."  Astral shook his head and looked back at the tearful father and son.  "I don't know what she's doing, but she must have some sort of idea.  In the meantime, can you answer a few questions?  Just for my own curiosity?"

Rock Duster nodded slowly.  "Yes, of course.  Feel free to ask whatever you wish."

"Three questions."  Astral pointed at the storage chamber.  "I was told those things were impossible to open without a code or a specific genetic signature.  How did you get around that?"  He shifted his hoof to Rock Duster himself.  "How in the hell were you glowing earlier?  That felt like unicorn magic going haywire, plus that cloud chair supported your weight when you leaned against it."  The unicorn kept tracking across to Radio.  "And, why do both your kids have minor superpowers?"

The blue stallion took a relaxed breath before responding.  "Three questions, but they all share the same answer.  Those three military projects I mentioned earlier, June Bug, Despereaux, and Trifecta, are all related, and generally referred to as June Bug.  It didn't start that way, though.  June Bug was the code given to a project dedicated to understanding what we believed to be an ancient superweapon.  Despereaux was a planetary shielding plan based on crystal resonance using magic and the spires that cover the planet.  Trifecta was our super soldier program."

Rock Duster shrugged.  "That superweapon was just a Cryogenic storage chamber, but we didn't know that.  I was lead medical specialist on Trifecta at the time, and one of the technicians on June Bug came to me with an analysis of the pod's locking mechanism.  He wasn't able to directly bypass it, but he was able to find out what the scanner was looking for.  Kind of like knowing what shape a key needs to be to open a lock."

He ran a hoof back through his pale white mane as he continued.  "As it turned out, the scanner was looking for a genetic signature, a very specific one.  Combining that analysis with my own research allowed me to complete the gene therapy for the super soldier program.  I'll give you one guess who patient zero was."

Astral nodded.  "You?"

Rock Duster nodded back.  "Yes.  But, it nearly killed me.  A forcible rewriting of my genetic structure, I guess you could say that it did kill me.  I ceased to be the pony I was, and became this one.  I am now, genetically at least, all three types of pony.  I possess Unicorn and Pegasus magic and abilities, but I am limited by what I can control as an earth pony."

The stallion flexed his hoof.  "Despite what stories, movies, and games might tell you, one super soldier isn't enough to win a war.  Make a dent, maybe.  But we needed more."

He gestured towards Rainbow's pod.  "Fortunately, we still had June Bug.  I was given a little time to recover, then I was transferred to that project, with Trifecta being shelved indefinitely."

"Guys!"  Twilight called from the other room, "Hurry up, get in here."

All three ponies in the room exchanged glances before moving to obey the summons.  As they left the room, Rock Duster walked up beside Astral.  "Long story short, I'm a genetically engineered super soldier.  I was able revive Rainbow because her chamber's lock responded to that.  She posessed some sort of ancient magic which worked for our shields.  As for the kids, super-soldierness seems to be hereditary, as was Rainbow's temper, excitability, and athleticism."  He quietly added, "Luckily for the galaxy, Ribbon didn't get the temper."

They walked into the other room and into the rather pitiful kitchen with Astral trying to imagine Ribbon, pissed and ready to take on the universe.  As he stepped over empty ramen cups, he had to admit, it was way too easy.

The unicorn shook himself from his musings and turned his attention to Twilight and the high quality holographic projection she was facing.  Mac was off to the side, quietly watching the display in awe.  It was a countertop projection, so the pony it displayed was rather tiny, only a few dozen centimeters tall.  But the quality more than made up for the size, displaying every detail in full color with minimal flicker.  "Who's this?" he asked, nodding to the old pegasus being displayed.  His heavily decorated uniform was covered in medals and ribbons, some of which looked hoof-made.  "Seems like some sort of big shot."

The holographic pony stiffened, raising his nose in the air.  "That must be your pilot.  He seems to be a consummate professional."  There was a long pause and the Pegasus reached a hoof beyond the range of his holocam.  After a second, the projection substituted a flayed, rotting limb, like a zombie's, prompting snickers from a certain Pegasus colt.  The computer-generated hoof disappeared when he brought his real hoof back within range holding a coffee mug.  "He reminds me of somepony."

"That's General Cube," Radio whispered to Astral.  He then trotted over to Twilight and ducked his head in front of hers.  "Yo, fatso, you know that coffee mug doesn't really fool anypony, right?"

With a groan of disgust, the holographic pony backed up far enough to earn an undead flank.  "Why do you have to be here?"

"He does have a point though."  The hologram expanded, adding a few other ponies, and one large, white gryphon to the countertop.  Coriander Jones playfully poked at the old Pegasus's uniform, pulling his claw back in surprise when one of the medals popped off like a busted spring.  "About the mug, not the fatso part.  Whiskey still smells like whiskey, no matter the container."  He thoughtfully scratched at his beak.  "I should use that in my next speech."  He looked back at one of the other ponies, a familiar Pegasus in a suit.  " Jasper!  When's my next speaking engagement?"

With a sigh, holographic Jasper adjusted his glasses.  "That depends.  If you can focus long enough to conclude this treaty, you'll be addressing the ponies of Furia tomorrow evening.  If not, you won't have a public appearance for nearly a month."

Jones nodded sagely.  "We better get this settled then."  He stepped forward, his hologram stopping at the edge of the counter.  "So, Cutie, how about you give us the COC's preliminary report?  Any objections to them becoming an ally of Canterlot?"

Twilight leveled her eyebrows at the regal gryphon.  "How many times have I asked you to stop calling me that?"

He shrugged in response.  "Are you asking me to stop now?"

"Yes," she responded quickly, barely letting him finish.

"Seventeen."  Jones laughed.  "I'll stop calling you that when you stop being cute.  But, we should probably get back to the matter at claw, hoof, hand, or whatever.  What is the COC's recommendation?"

Twilight sighed and straightened up.  "There hasn't been enough time to conduct a full investigation.  The schedule we were given barely makes it possible to investigate at all.  In my opinion, the Furian leadership planned it that way."

Jones glanced over at the General.  "This whole process does seem sort of rushed.  And where is Rock Duster?  I was looking forward to meeting with him again."

"Hold on."  Radio adjusted a dial on the com-panel that was built into the counter.  The holograms all looked right and left, apparently reacting to the appearance of other holograms on their end.  "How's that?  Can you see us all?"

"Yes."  General cube pointed off to the side.  "But what is the deal with you and messing with holograms?  Turn the magnification on that red pony down!"

Jasper calmly walked over to the general.  "Sir, there is no magnification.  I can personally verify that the COC team is being displayed properly."

Jones played them no mind as he waved to Rock Duster.  "It's been a while, old friend.  I heard you weren't able to make the treaty negotiations due to a family emergency.  Has everything been resolved?"

Twilight cut in before the blue stallion could answer.  "Actually, that's part of what I'd like to report.  In the limited time I've had, I've managed to learn a little about the previous orbital defense system.  What I've learned brings up several questions, and casts serious doubt on whether or not we can trust the Furian government."

"That's not exactly a glowing recommendation."   The gryphon scratched his chest and sighed.  "I was honestly expecting better.  Cube?  Care to explain?  Take the chance to come clean before your planet's dirty laundry is laid out for you."

The General drained his coffee mug.  "She is most likely referring to the plan to keep Project June Bug active as a backup until the new system is successfully tested in a real-life situation."  As he contemplated his now-empty glass, he added, "I should have known that would come back to bite us.  Everything about that program does... damn colt had to take after his mother."

Jones looked back and forth between Cube and Twilight."I must be missing something.  Keeping a backup weapon is usually a good idea."

Twilight shook her head.  "Not when that weapon is a teenaged colt who is being controlled by threats against his family's freedom."

The gryphon looked at Radio.  "Are you the colt in question, son?"

The colt nodded.  "Yes, sir."

With a nod in Twilight's direction, Jones asked, "Is what she said true?"

The colt nodded again.

The gryphon pulled general Cube to the side.  "Care to explain this?  Canterlot only extended this offer because we believed Furia to be a forthcoming and honest society, one which shared the values and belief in freedom that we hold dear.  Now, we find out you've basically been holding an entire family hostage?  Any other secrets I should know about?"

Cube ground his teeth for a moment before answering quietly, "June Bug is not one of our proudest moments, but we were in the middle of losing a war when the original June Bug fell into our laps.  We took advantage of the card we were dealt.  What else could we have done?"  The general glanced over at Radio and his dad.  "We did our best to ensure that the mare could live a normal life, but-"

Radio lunged at the counter, slamming a hoof right in front of Cube's projection.  "She has a name, you cold-hearted bastard!"

With a sigh, Cube amended his explanation.  "The original June Bug was a mare by the name of Rainbow Dash.  As I was explaining, we did our best to allow her to live as she wanted, to the point where she was able to raise a family.  The only thing she was not allowed to do was leave Furia."  Cube pointed at Radio.  "That colt is her son, and the current June Bug.  We tried to extend him the same courtesy we did his mother, but he  always refused to follow orders.  Unlike his mother, he doesn't seem to care about his own freedom, so his loyalty to his family was used against him.  Since then, he has begrudgingly followed orders, but he is violent, ill-tempered, and starts fights at every opportunity."

Jones glanced over at Radio.  "Sounds like somepony I'd get along with."  The gryphon started strolling around the area, staying within camera range a practiced ease befitting the best of actors.  "If you keep somepony locked up, of course you won't be given any loyalty.  If you threaten them, it's hard to gain trust afterwards.  Likewise, going after someone's family is a good way to make a very dangerous enemy."

"Yeah," Radio shouted in support, "you tell him!"

With a chuckle, the gryphon continued, "As I was landing, my shuttle took a low pass over the base.  I saw, quite clearly, the shiny little parade of ships you folks set up for my visit.  Not one of them looked like they ever saw combat.  Now, you may have an outstanding maintenance department, but I'm willing to bet that neither this colt, nor his mother ever let you down when it mattered."

"That's right!"  Radio brought a hoof to his chest and thumped it in pride.  "I may have a bone to pick with the so-called leadership around here, but I've never let Furia down.  Every time I needed to, I stood up to protect the ponies here.  I fought for their freedom, so why isn't anypony fighting for mine?  Or my family's?"

Jones walked up to the holocam, moving his hologram to the very edge of the countertop.  "You are, isn't that enough?"  The gryphon spun around.  "All right," he shouted at every pony assembled behind him, "Based on Twilicorn's report, I've decided on final payment conditions for this fancy weapons system we're giving you."

> Like Giving Candy to a Pony
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------

"Where the hell have you been?" Twilight demanded.

Astral tapped his horn against the mylar bag floating beside him.  "Shopping, obviously."  He walked over and sat next to her on the bottom step of the shuttle's loading stairs.  "So, any news?"

"No," she she wrinkled her nose in displeasure, "nothing yet.  Ugh!  This wait is killing me!"

Astral shrugged.  "What did you expect?  Complex political negotiations like this take time.  Just be glad the discussion is happening at all."  He reached into the foil bag and pulled out a second, smaller bag.  He then offered that bag to Twilight.  "Here, eat one of these and wait."

"What is it?"  Twilight peeked into the bag.  Inside, there was an assortment of small boxes, pouches and sealed baggies.  Some were plastic, some were foil or tin, and a few were paper.  The only common factor was that everything in the bag was covered in bright, bold colors.  "Is this candy?"

"Yeah."  Astral shrugged again.  "It's just something that I do.  Every planet I visit, my last stop is a candy shop.  At least, it is when I can afford it."  He reached into the bag and took out a package of candy.  "Every planet has unique tastes, and even the regions of a planet can have drastically different foods.  I just load up on candy because it lasts longer than most unprepared foods."  With a smile, astral examined the candy he held.  It was a small cardboard box, made to look like a jewelry box.  "Unsurprisingly, the candy here seemed to follow a common theme."

He opened the box and held up the candy within.  It was a necklace, made of simple cotton string clad in spaced out sections of large, transparent sugar crystals.  The multi-hued gems caught the sunlight about as well as any of the crystal spires covering the planet, each one sparkling like well cut a diamond.

Twilight started laughing.  "Rock candy?  I guess that makes sense."  She reached into the bag and looked away, blindly grabbling through the packages of sweets.  She drew one out at random, a plastic pouch.  She examined it carefully.  "Well that's boring, this is just a lollipop."

Astral looked over.  "Oh, that was one of the most popular items at the store.  They were cheap too, so there's a bunch of them in there."

With a sigh, Twilight opened the package and stuck the pop in her mouth.  "Ooh!"  She spit it out in surprise, barely managing to catch it in her magic before it hit the ground.  "Wow, that was... um, unexpected."  She looked down at the package again.  The flavor of the pop was listed, but she had assumed that the word, 'cool,' preceding 'surberry,' was only there for marketing reasons.  "It's cold.  Was it refrigerated?"

Astral shook his head.  "Nah, the shopkeeper said they react to the water in saliva.  There's also warm ones, fizzy ones, and a few others."

"Oh."  Twilight carefully stuck the pop back in her mouth.  After a few seconds of contemplation, she concluded, "It's actually kind of refreshing."

"Those are all yours then."  Astral bit down one the gems on his candy necklace.  The foal's size of it made it impossible to wear as intended, so he settled for dangling it over his hoof.  "Say, can I ask you something?"

Twilight rifled through the bag of candy, reading all the labels.  "Sure," she said around the lollipop, "why not?"

Astral crunched his candy between his teeth for a bit before asking, "How close were you to this Rainbow Dash?"  Twilight didn't respond immediately, but Astral could hear the change in her breathing.  "If you don't want to answer, that's fine."

"No, it's not that."  Twilight slumped her shoulders.  "It's just..."  She sighed and shook her head.  "I already told you about the elements, right?  Well, the elements only worked because the six of us were friends.  And, after everything we went through over the years, the other elements were pretty much the best friends I could ever hope to have."

Astral stared at the candy necklace, idly picking out which crystal to eat next.  "Sorry, I shouldn't have brought that up."  He decided on a bright, cherry red crystal and went to bite it, but stopped short.  He lowered the hoof holding the treat and looked over at Twilight.  "Did any of the elements have a pink coat or mane?"

Twilight stiffened.  "Two of them.  Why?"

Astral set both of his bags down on the steps between them.  "I've been looking over that report Rock Duster gave me.  The hairs he found, the ones with the unique trace radiation?  They were pink, but they were too badly damaged to determine whether they came from the coat or mane."

Twilight brought a hoof to her head.  "What kind of damage?"

"Nothing major," Astral reassured.  "It just got crushed in the hinge.  There was no evidence of any other damage.  Just..."  He scratched his neck.  "The analysis showed that the hairs have been caught in that hinge for at least fifty years."

"I should have known."  Twilight brought her other hoof to her head.  "This changes everything, Astral.  The pods are being opened, that wasn't supposed to be possible.  How many ponies are out there, right now, in a world they know nothing about?  And who knows how long some of them have been out for?  There are hundreds, if not thousands of years in play here.What if-"  She dropped her hooves.  Her lollipop fell out of her mouth and bounced off the shuttle step as she stared blankly ahead.  "What if one of my friends died waiting for me to find them?  Rainbow almost did, so that might mean..."

"Hey!"  Astral grabbed another pop from the candy bag and tossed it at Twilight, making her jump as it pinged off her head.  "Don't waste the candy, and don't waste tears on ponies that aren't dead yet."

Twilight looked at the candy as she fumbled to catch it.  "But, it's-"

With a sigh, Astral held up a hoof to stop her.  "Look, until we find out otherwise, the earliest a Cryo chamber has been opened is fifty years ago.  And, unless Mac was the last one, not all of them have been opened.  That means, unless every single pony on your ship met with an unfortunate accident or illness, most, if not all, of them are still alive."

Twilight stayed quiet, so Astral continued, "Also, there was some information in that report on some soil that was stuck to the Cryo chamber.  It's a bit crazy, but I recognized the mineral profile, and it matched one of the planet's in the ship's log.  We're headed for Sevus, Serus' sister settlement."

"Sorry."  Twilight twirled the new lollipop around slowly.  "That must bring up some bad memories."

"A few."  Astral shrugged.  "Sevus is kind of a weird planet.  It was settled by a group that split from the Serus agricultural expedition just over a century ago.  While Serus was a farming planet where technology was kind of minimalized in favor of hard work and ingenuity, Sevus rejected technology outright, and often with a violent passion."  Astral stopped for a moment, spinning the edible jewelry around  his hoof.  "Before Serus was destroyed, Sevus was completely dependent on us for supplies and transportation.  My father used to run cargo for them when he wasn't busy.  After what happened with the Celestials though..."

After a few seconds of nothing but the sound of the breeze, Twilight prodded him on.  "If  we're going there, I need to know as much as I can about them.  Please, continue."

"Yeah."  Astral violently bit down on another piece of his candy necklace-turned-bracelet, shattering the sugary gem with a loud crunch.  After that, he was quiet for a moment, sitting as still as the tranquil blue sky above them.  "You know, my parents didn't make it off Serus.  I was, I don't know, ten?  Give or take a few years.  All I had left after that day was my father's ship, and everything my parents had taught me about running the family business.  I was alone, drifting through space with a ship full of survivors, and Sevus was the closest planet.  So, I headed there."  He made a sound that was half laugh, half angry snort.  "Know what those bastards said when I landed?"

Twilight shook her head silently.

Astral sighed and laid back over the stairs, weight supported by the points of the steps.  "Damn, this is uncomfortable."  He didn't move though.  He just laid there, looking up.  After a few breaths, he looked over at Twilight.  "They said we brought it on ourselves.  Said it was our foolish love for the unnatural that caused our demise.  And that the Celestials were the manifestation of that unnatural power."

With a groan, Astral propped himself up.  "I was just a kid, lost both of my parents, and I went to the only place I knew of, the only place I thought I might find safety.  But, there was no sympathy there.  I refused to destroy my father's ship, so I was unwelcome.  A few other refugees, most of them, really, gave in and destroyed what little they had left, all so they could stay.  But I couldn't.  I left.  As fast as I could, I got out of there, taking nothing but my ship."

The unicorn chuckled and lifted himself back up to a sitting position.  "I'm getting off topic here.  Anyway, last I heard, after taking in the Serus survivors that bought into their anti-tech view, Sevus closed itself off from the rest of the galaxy."

"I guess there won't be a warm welcome for us then."

"No, probably not.  Show off those wings of yours, and you'll probably get us all stoned."

Twilight blinked a few times.  "Stoned?"

"You heard me right."  Astral pulled his maned back, revealing a small scar hidden at the hairline.  "Their hatred of technology extends to weaponry, so they form mobs with trusty old torches and pitchforks.  I caught a few rocks when they chased me off that first time."

Twilight leaned over to see, supporting herself on her front hoof.  When she leaned in a bit more, her hoof hit the second bag.  Whatever was in it was hard and solid, with sharp edges like machined steel.  Twilight nudged the bag open to look inside.

What she saw made her grab the bag by the top and pull it away from Astral.  "No!  No, we are not bringing this with us."  She twisted the top of the bag in her magic and tied it up tighter than a snake coiled around a rat.  "I don't even know where you got it, but it is going back.  Now!"

"What?!"  Astral dropped his hoof and looked over at her.  A quick glance at the step between them showed them that she wasn't securing the candy.  The grey stallion groaned.  "Twi, just give that back."

"No.  We are not bringing this to Sevus."  Twilight held it out away from him.  "I'm returning this to the store.  Just tell me where you got it."

Astral crossed his hooves and gave the bag a good twist with his magic, snapping the flimsy foil just below Twilight's hoof.  He caught it before it hit the ground and levitated it to his side.  "Hear me out before you chew me out."

Twilight pointed at the bag.  "Only if you can give me one good reason for bringing that to a planet full of defenseless ponies."

He scoffed, shaking his head as he reached into the bag.  "I didn't get this for Sevus."  He pulled out a shiny weapon, a large revolver made of chromed steel with a black composite grip.  The barrel was heavily reinforced by a slotted rail running its length, and the iron sights housed three small, tritium-filled glass bars for visibility.  He flipped the chamber open, giving it a good spin for twilight to see.  "It only has five shots.  This would be useless against a crowd.  Besides, not every pony on Sevus is bad.  They may be misguided, but I knew some of them.  They're good folks, just scared and unsure of how to deal with it."  He stopped the spinning chamber and closed it up carefully.  "No, this thing's meant for the planet after that, Picus IV.  It's an abandoned world, a swamp planet whose only visitors are hunters, survivalists, or suicidal ponies in search of a bloody death.  That monster Radio told us about?  It was a hydra.  And Picus IV is the only place to find those."

"It's been a while since I've seen a hydra.  If anypony could take on one of those and win, it was Rainbow."  Twilight tossed her fragment of twisted mylar in the candy bag.  "Fine, you can keep the gun.  And next time, I'll try to let you explain before I assume that you're a worse pony than I think you are."

"Uh, thanks.  I guess..."  Astral stuck the weapon back in the bag.  "If it makes you feel any better, you can hold onto it.  My holster is sewn into the lining of my jacket after all."

"Only if it's unloaded."  Twilight pulled the jacket open to look for the holster.  "My wings are kind of squished in here and I don't want to set it off."

"That's a pretty good idea.  At least until we get the right holster for this model."  Astral pulled the other side of the jacket open and slid the revolver into what looked like a hidden pocket.  Five centimeters of the handle stuck out.  "Or I'll just sell the gun after we leave Picus.  It is a bit oversized."

"You think?"  Twilight pulled Astral's hoof away from the jacket so it could hang free.  "What's this thing weigh?  Two kilograms?"  She fidgeted with the jacket, adjusting it to compensate for the added weight.  "Why didn't you just get the same type you had?  That one was a little smaller at least."

"They didn't carry it.  And this one's only one and a half, according to the dealer."  Astral reached over And adjusted the jacket for her.  "There, just try not to think about it, and you should get used to it pretty quickly."

"I'm not sure."  The alicorn zipped the jacket up part way to keep it from sliding around.  "This is pretty heavy.  Couldn't you just trade this in for an energy weapon of some kind?  The newer col-tech epp lasers only weigh two hundred grams."

"Well, I don't really like energy weapons."  Astral shrugged.  "Besides, These old things are much more durable than they seem.  You don't have to constantly replace the battery packs and condensers like you would with an energy weapon.  And there's no emitter fiber to melt, I read that was a problem in those EPP lasers."

Twilight shook her head.  "Only in vaccuum, because of the coolant pumps construction.  And the new models fixed that.  The company even offered an upgrade that could be used to fix the old ones."

"And how would you know that?"  Astral asked.  "You don't strike me as the sort of pony who needs to keep a weapon, much less an underpowered self defense laser."

Twilight chuckled nervously.  "Well, I don't, but what about Mac?  or anypony else we find?  If they help us with our search, and we have to investigate dangerous planets like Pipus-"

"Picus," Astral corrected her.

"Right."  Twilight scratched at her mane.  "Anyway, it can get boring, sifting through information, waiting for responses, and hoping each new lead will turn out better than the last.  To kill time, I've been doing research on the sort of things we might need to equip ourselves with for different kinds of missions."

Astral raised an eyebrow.  "What kind of missions?"

"Search and rescue," Twilight answered with some hesitation.  "Mostly, I tried to think of all the possible ways to recover a pod.  Somtimes I would get a little crazy with it.  One time, I figured out the best way to recover a pod from the bottom of an ocean using only three ponies and a thousand bits worth of gear."  She giggled.  "I omitted the part about the cryo chamber and used it as part of a lesson, and one of my students ended up using it on an archaeological expedition."

"Did it work?"

"The technique worked fine.  But the student destroyed the reputation of a major tourist location after discovering that the crashed warship they used as a hotel was actually the ejected sewage treatment facility from a four hundred year old space station."

"Ugh.  Tough luck, but they should've checked "  Astral removed the rest of the bag's contents, half a dozen small, black cylinders.  He stuffed all but one of them into the various pockets of his jacket.  "Here, let me show you how to load that thing."

He reached inside the jacket for the pistol only to have his hoof slapped away.  Twilight glared at him and pulled the pistol out with her magic.  "How many times am I going to have to tell you to watch the hooves."

"Sorry, sheesh."  Astral plucked the revolver from the air and held it in front of him.  "First, you push this button to unlock the cylinder, then you can use this lever to flip it out."  He demonstrated the action twice.  After that, he offered the pistol back to Twilight.  "Here.  You try, but be careful.  I've seen what your magic can do to steel."

Twilight's horn lit up as she applied her magic, enveloping the revolver in a purple glow.  It twitched a few times, but didn't open.  "How much pressure can I put on this lever?  It's on there pretty tight."

"It shouldn't be giving you any resistance at all."  He leaned in to watch the gun closely.  "Try it again?"  Once more, the revolver twitched and shook.  "There."  Astral pointed at the cylinder lock button.  "You have to hold that down while you pull the lever."  Twilight tried again, and the cylinder slid open with a satisfying click.  "Perfect.  Now, if this was a reload, there would be empty casings in here.  See that little knob in the very center?  It's connected to the ejector rod.  Pull on that until it catches, and the casings will fall out."

Twilight followed the instruction.  Then, she held the knob out while asking, "Now what?"

"Like this."  Astral nudged the barrel of the gun skyward.  "That way, the casings don't get in the way.  Now, let go of the knob and point the barrel at the ground."  

She let go of the knob, and the rod sprung back into the cylinder.  Then, she angled the weapon towards the ground.  "This all seems needlessly complicated."

"Well, it is a human weapon.  It wasn't designed for hooves or magic."  He lifted one hoof and gave it a little wave.  "A human can do everything up to here one handed."  He used that hoof to pick up the last of the black plastic cases.  He flipped it over, showing her the blue "x" on the bottom, accompanied by red letters reading, ".454 Anti-Matériel."  He focused his magic on it, surround it in a pale white aura.  "It's been a while since I made my magic visible, but you can at least see what I'm doing this way."  He pulled the top and bottom of the case apart, revealing five red-tipped bullets arranged in a circle.  "This is called a full moon clip.  It's a type of speed loader.  Stick it like so, and pull like this, and the gun is loaded."  He unloaded the revolver with his magic and stuck the bullets back in their case, sealing the box up like it was before.  "Now, you try."

"Astral, why do you use a weapon like this?"  Twilight lowered the weapon and loaded it as he had shown her.  One of the bullets had stayed lodged in the loader, so she unloaded and tried again.  "Even if you don't like energy weapons, there are a lot of alternatives.  Maybe one meant for ponies?  Even a curaxxan design would probably be easier to use."

Astral took the revolver from her once she was able to successfully load it a few times.  "Now, you just close this up like so, firmly, but carefully.  You don't want to snap it, or swing it shut.  That can warp the arm that holds the cylinder.  There, this gun is now loaded and ready to go."

"Astral, you haven't answered my question."

With a sigh, the grey unicorn unloaded the revolver and packed the speed loader back up.  "My mother used to use weapons like these, back on Serus.  Her hobby was competitive shooting."  He offered the empty pistol for Twilight to put away, and stuffed the speedloader into an exterior pocket.  "She was the one who taught me how to handle them."

Twilight placed the revolver back in the hidden holster.  "Why would your mother use human weapons?"

Astral shrugged.  "Probably because she was a human?"  He looked down at his hoof.  He was still wearing the candy necklace, so he he bit off another crystal.  "You know," he said through a mouthful of sugar, "she had a bit of a sweet tooth, too."  He looked down and swallowed the half-chewed rock.  "Her name was Anne.  Ponies would joke that she was named after Annie Oakley, a famous gunslinger from earth."

"What hap..." Twilight stopped herself in the middle of her question.  "No, never mind."

"What happened to her?  That's what you wanted to ask, right?"  Astral leaned back, debating whether or not to tell her.  "I guess I don't mind talking about it.  It might be better if somepony besides me knows what happened too."  He sighed and packed what was left of his candy back in its box.  "Rainbow sounds like the kind of pony my mother would have been friends with.  They were both willing to put down their lives for their children.  Rainbow against a hydra, and my mother against a Celestial."

Twilight's wings twitched under the jacket, and she suddenly felt very self-conscious about them.  "Please tell me you didn't..."

"See it?"  Astral looked away from her.  "Of course I did.  That Celestial ran her through on his horn.  He was aiming for me, but she jumped in at the last second."  Astral started shaking.  "It was like a nightmare.  Everything was on fire, burning.  Even the things attacking us.  It was like the Celestials were burning up from the inside out, and everything they touched caught on fire."  He brought a hoof to his face as tears started to flow.  "Mom was no different.  She screamed when the flames started to burn her chest, but only for a second.  After that, she fought her way to the wall, where she kept one of her old guns on display.  The celestial stabbed her again, in the back.  But, she just kept going, loading that old shotgun.  She turned around, and he stabbed her again.  This time, she grabbed him by the mane.  Her hand, it just, burst into flame, but she held him there long enough to put the gun to his head."

Twilight reached out a hoof, slowly, unsuredly aiming to set it on his shoulder.  Whether in consolation, or reassurance, she didn't know, but she felt it was the only thing she could do.  If there were words appropriate for this situation, she didn't know them.

At the slightest brush, Astral recoiled from her like a stray cat without the hiss.  Teeth clenched, he whispered, "Don't."  After a few seconds, his glare softened and he looked down.  Then, without warning, he punched the step hard enough to send waves of pain through his recently repaired shoulder.

He choked back the pained scream he wanted to let out and clutched at the pain with his good hoof.  He let himself fall to his side, curling up away from everything.  Twilight instinctively wanted to reach out again, but forced herself back.  Instead, she sat there silently, waiting for him to say something.

Surprisingly, she didn't have to wait long.  "Sorry," he said quietly, going against every expectation she had of him.  He stayed there, lying on his side with the stairs digging into his ribs, but kept talking.  "I know you didn't have anything to do with Serus, or the Celestials, but, for now at least, you're a reminder.  When I see you, your wings, some small part of me sees flames."  After a moment of silence, he added, "The worst part is, Every so often, I forget.  With your wings hidden, you look like a normal unicorn.  A beautiful one at that, like an angel.  And that makes the hell I have to see even worse."  After a little more silence, Astral propped himself up with a hollow laugh.  "Listen to me, crying about my past.  I must sound like a cheesy soap opera."

Twilight moved closer to him.  While he was still facing away from her, she wrapped her hooves around him at the shoulders.  "No, you sound like somepony who's been hurt and alone for too long.  I can understand what that feels like."  She pulled him a little tighter.  "If my wings cause you pain, I can keep them hidden.  It's my fault that you got involved in this, so I can do that much at least."

Astral didn't move.  He looked down at the purple hooves in front of I'm.  He reached up and rested his own hoof against them.  "Thanks, but you don't have to.  Whatever I may feel or say, I'll honor my promise to help find your friends."

Twilight smiled.  "Then I should be the one thanking you."  She loosened her grip and moved to pull away from the hug.

But, Astral held her there by the hooves.  This feeling, the gentle warmth and support of another, how long had it been?  He slowly let go of her, letting her pull away.

"Astral," she asked cautiously, "are you okay?"

He shook himself back to the present and glanced back.  "Yeah, sorry.  I kind of got lost in thought there."

Twilight raised an eyebrow.  "You?  Thinking?"

Astral smirked at her.  "Oh, yeah, it's great.  You should try it some time.". A short, breezy silence blew between them before they both started laughing.  Astral wiped at his eyes.  " Thanks, Twi.  I needed that."  He took a deep breath and kept wiping away until all his tears were gone.  "I need to finish my story."

Twilight shook her head.  "You don't have to."

"Yes I do."  Astral looked up at the sky.  "I've never told anyone before, and I may not tell anyone else.  But I want to make sure you hear the whole thing."

The purple alicorn nodded solemnly.  "Then, I would be honored."

Astral nodded back.  "Thank you."  He sighed.  "I guess I'll just jump right back into it.  My mother blew that Celestia's head off.  That's probably the biggest reason behind my choice of weapon.  They were effective, even though energy weapons were worth cold shit against them.  Too bad we all found that out too late."  He picked up his hoof and looked at the bottom of it.  There was an oddly shaped scar there, a roughly square area with five lines radiating out where the fur had been burned away, never to grow back.  "As she fell, my mother reached out to me.  She held my hoof and looked me in the eye as she died.  She smiled at me, and with her last breath, she said her last word."

Twilight leaned forward.  "What did she say?"

Astral smiled and looked over at Twilight.  "Live."  He put his hoof down.  "I'd like to say I did a good job of doing just that, but I'm not sure anymore."

"You look pretty alive to me."

Astral nodded.  "I've survived.  There's no disputing that.  But since I joined you on this quest...  I don't know.  I feel like I found something that I didn't know I should have been looking for.  Thing is, I'm still not sure what it is.  Friends, purpose, adventure, I don't know.  I have friends, or acquaintances at the very least.  I have a purpose, a mission I want to complete like you do.  And I've had more than my share of adventures, some of which I'd rather not repeat."

"Maybe, what you found was support?"  Twilight shrugged.  "I know you said that you have friends, but, according to Silver, every record of you that exists shows that you work alone.  You've never taken on crew, never performed missions that involved teamwork, things like that."  She smiled softly.  "It's a shame too.  You're not bad at working with others.  I'd go so far as to say you're a natural leader.  You assess situations quickly, and you care about what happens afterwards.  I think that's an admirable quality to have."

Astral stared over at her.  "Support, huh?"

She nodded.  "I'll make you a deal.  You give me your support, help me find my friends, and I'll give you mine.  I will help you with your mission, and..."  She winced, as though the thought of saying the next words were painful.  "And...  It's hard for me to let go sometimes.  I'm relatively used to being in charge.  Or, at least, in control of my immediate surroundings.  But, I'd be willing to let you take the reins, metaphorically speaking of course.  While we're on missions away from Canterlot, I'll follow your orders... Captain."

"Oh, come on!"  Astral and Twilight nearly jumped out of their fur as Radio yelled at them from the top of shuttle.  "Nopony said anything about a chain of command!"  With a groan, he jumped down to the ground.  "It's too late for me to rethink this anyway."

"How long were you up there?" Astral demanded.

"Eh..."  The colt tilted his head to the side.  "Let's just say," he straightened up, standing as tall as he could, "I heard enough to know  that I'll be okay with following orders as well."  He gave Astral a crisp, clean salute.  "Permission to come aboard, Captain?"

Astral returned the salute with a smile.  "Granted."

"Thank you, sir!"  Radio launched himself into the shuttle, bypassing the stairs completely.  He then laid down at the top of the steps and sighed in contentment.  "Oh, it's so nice to be out of the sun."  He cleared his throat.  "Okay, two questions.  How much room do I get on the main ship?  I need to know how much stuff I can bring with me.  And, do you have anymore of the cool grape pops?  My body runs a bit hotter than the average pony's and laying on that roof didn't do me any favors."

"Where have I heard that before?"  Astral dug into the candy bag.  "It looks like the only other cooling pop left is root beer."

"Even better."  Radio clapped his hooves.  "Toss it up."

Astral levitated it up to him, surprising the colt with the lack of aura.

"Nifty trick," Radio said as he grabbed the lollipop with his wing.  He spun it around in his feathers and unwrapped it.  He put the pop in his mouth, then straightened the wrapper out and started folding it with his wing.  He folded it into neat squares twice before flicking it into the candy bag.  "That's my trick.  Not the only one, but the only one I can demonstrate without breaking something."

Astral picked the wrapper out of the candy bag and put it in the empty bag that once held the pistol.  "Now that we're getting more ponies, I think we need to hold some sort of meeting-  No, a briefing, so we can all be on the same page about what our mission is, and what abilities each of our crew has."

Twilight nodded.  "That's a good idea.  There are still things I haven't told you about, but they shouldn't be all that important for the immediate future."

"You mean about the COC?" Astral asked.  "It would have been nice to know we had public backing at the galactic level, but it probably won't do us any good where we're going."

Radio yawned and stretched out.  "Well, since I'm the newest member of the team, I guess I'll go first.  You two already know who you are."  He held the lollipop in his wing.  "My name is Radio Dancer, I am mostly a Pegasus, and I am seventeen years old.  I have a twin sister named Ribbon Dancer, who is mostly a unicorn, and a telepath.  I think you've met her.  Well, she's better at fighting than I am, even if I am a little more prone to it.  We're about evenly matched in athletic ability, though I have the obvious mobility advantage.  We both decided to study medicine after mom got hurt.  She is in the process of completing an internship now, but I've already completed all my schooling and have been working as a doctor for the last two years."

Twilight held up a hoof to stop him.  "Why are you giving us Ribbon's information?  And, I think we should wait for Mac to get here before we do this.  That way we don't have to do it twice."

"Oh!"  The Pegasus pointed his pop at her.  "I was supposed to tell you that he isn't coming.  In exchange for letting me free, Furia is getting to borrow two Starswirl-class battle cruisers until the new defenses are fully tested.  But, they don't arrive until tomorrow, or later, so the suits asked for a guarantee gesture of goodwill.  Mac volunteered to play hostage."

Twilight stood up quickly.  "What?!"

"Calm down."  Radio put his pop back in his mouth.  "They originally asked for you.  Besides, that gryphon, President Coriander Jones, he made it clear that no orbital defense system in the universe would protect them if they betrayed his trust."  The colt chuckled.  "I like that guy."

Twilight chewed her lip for a moment, then sat back down.  "I'll leave it to him then.  Mac's always been good at dealing with other ponies.  He really would have been helpful on Sevus though.  He grew up running a farm with almost no industrial technology whatsoever."

Astral groaned.  "Yeah, that does sound like it would be helpful.  Think we can pawn Jasper off as a replacement?  Doesn't he have to stay here anyway?"

"Won't work."  Radio waved his pop around in circles.  "Jasper works for the Canterlot government.  The whole point of this good will gesture is to see if they can trust the COC.  They want one of you."

"Again with the COC."  Astral shook his head.  "I've heard the name before, but I'm not exactly clear on what it is."

"Most ponies aren't," Twilight responded.  "I think you should ask Celestia to explain it when we get back to Canterlot.  She would be able to do a much better job at it than I would."

Astral sighed.  "Fine, I'll do that."

Radio was on his back, letting head hang upside down out over the stairs.  He lifted his hoof once the talking was over.  "Osu!  Back to me!"  He rolled over.  "And by the way, I'm giving you guys information on Ribbon because I think she'll want to be part of this mission as soon as she finds out about it.  Meaning, the next time you guys you see her and try not to think about it."

Twilight smirked.  "For your information, I happen to be telepathically immune.  I can also use a spell to confer that immunity on others for a limited time."

The colt nodded, impressed.  "Not bad.  I'm immune too, but I can't do much by way of magic."

"Well, of course not.  You're a Pegasus."  Twilight blinked.  "Wait.  Much?"

Radio shrugged.  "Anyway, if you'd prefer, I can stick to talking about myself.  That way Ribbon can tell you about herself.  She'd probably like that.  She likes to talk."

Astral nodded his agreement.  "I've noticed."

"Most ponies don't give her the chance to."  Radio chuckled.  "They're idiots though, Ribbon is a better pony than of them.  She'd never say that though.  She'd never even think it."  He sighed.  "One of these days, she needs to toughen up and fight for herself."

Astral raised his hoof and broke the silence.  "Captain's turn, I guess.  Name, Astral Plane.  Age, twenty-eight.  Occupation, freelance pilot.  I've worked almost every job a freelancer can work.  I'm good with firearms, and staying alive.  I can run a ship, and keep it running, on my own.  The last two ships I've owned and operated had recommended crews of thirty and two hundred.  In terms of magic, I fall short of most unicorns in terms of power.  On top of that I only know a few spells.  Aside from basic telekinesis, the three most useful are a diagnostic spell for electronic devices, it's a bit limited, but it can be used to detect hidden surveillance devices.  A heat spell.  I can't do fireballs, but I can generate enough heat for soldering and cooking.  And the largest spell I know is a special type of forcefield.  I can't stop solid objects, or energy, or protect stuff with it, but I can contain the atmosphere in a wide area in the event of a hull breach or airlock malfunction."

Twilight scratched her chin.  "You'll have to teach me that force field spell.  It might be useful for more than one pony to have that ability as a backup."  She exhaled slowly.  "And... It's my turn.  Ok, um, my name is Twilight Sparkle.  My age is somewhere in the neighborhood of six thousand three hundred and fifty years, but if you don't count the time spent in Cryogenic storage, I'm about twenty-seven.  I am an alicorn, bearer of the element of magic, former Princess of Equestria, and personal protégé of Princess Celestia.."

Radio nodded.  "Twilight, twenty-seven, some kind of royalty, the rest made no sense.  What's an alicorn?  Are you referring to the combination of wings and horn?"

"Oh, right."  Twilight smiled sheepishly.  "An alicorn is what we used to call ponies who are all three types of pony.  You can have a unicorn with wings, or a horned Pegasus, but they aren't necessarily alicorns.  Alicorns are a combination of the traits and magic of all three pony types.  Your father, Rock Duster, seems to have become an alicorn, at least genetically, and it passed on to you and Ribbon.  You have a bit of all three types, even if one is more dominant than the rest."

The colt chuckled.  "Cool.  It's nice to have a term other than Trifecta gene for it.  Glad I asked.  But, what does that mean exactly?  We're all considered supersoldiers because of our genetics.  What are other alicorns like?"

Twilight exchanged an uncomfortable glance with Astral.  "Well, it's kind of complicated, but generally, alicorns are more powerful than regular ponies.  The combination of powers strengthens all of them.  Depending on the pony, some more than others.  My own powers are mostly magic-based, since I used to be a unicorn.  I can perform a wide variety of spells, and have a great deal of power to back them up.  But I tend to get carried away and burn through my magic pretty quickly.  There are too many spells and stuff for me to list now, but I'll list a few."  She cleared her throat and counted them out.  "One, I can survive vacuum for three days.  Two, I can telepathically send messages.  Three, Gravitic mines.  Four, mild anesthesia.  Five, minor blessing, now known as immunorecovery boost level one.  Six, teleportation, I'm pretty good with this one.  Seven, Fireballs.  Eight, electrical-"

"Ok," Astral interrupted, "even with the abbreviated list, we'll be here forever.  We'll just assume there's a ninety percent chance that you know any given spell.  Or we'll just ask you if we need any specific magic done."

Twilight squinted at the unicorn.  "Did I mention that I can turn ponies into potted plants?"

Astral stared at her.  "Can you turn them back afterwards?"

Twilight stared back.  "Why don't you find out?"

Radio chuckled.  "I know I don't want to find out.  So, you never answered my question.  How much room do I get on the main ship?"

Astral pointed at the shuttle.  "For now, this is the main ship.  There are bunks in the back."  He pointed at Twilight.  "She..."  He glanced over at her and slowly lowered his hoof.  "She provided it.  My ship got a little wrecked in a fight with a black market smuggler."

The colt stood up.  "Tough luck.  Mind if I give myself a tour?"

"Go ahead."  Astral waved him on.  "It shouldn't be locked."

"Thanks."  Radio ran to the front and opened the door.  As he looked over the controls, he let out a long, low whistle.  "She was getting on to you over a handgun?  This thing has enough firepower to level a city."  He then ran to the back, opening the door to the sleeping quarters.  "Ok, kitchen, restroom, fold out table, half a dozen teeny-tiny, cramped beds.  I can work with this.  So, there are two duffel bags and a milk crate back here, I'm guessing that's you guys's stuff."  He walked back up to the hatch.  "Is it ok if I bring along two duffel bags of my own?  I've got some medical gear that might come in handy."

"Ok."  Astral shrugged and looked over at Twilight.  "We've got enough room for a few-"  A violent gust of wind drowned out the rest of his words.  When he looked back up the stairs, Radio was gone.  A quick scan of the skyline revealed his rainbow-edged form heading away from them at high speeds.  Astral sighed.  "Looks like we just picked up an interesting new crew member."

Twilight picked another candy out of the bag, some sort of wafer bar with pink frosting and sugar crystals sprinkled on like sparkling snow.  She broke it in half and offered part of it to Astral.  "Here's hoping we pick up a few more."

With a smile, the unicorn took the offered sweet.  "I'd drink to that."
> Meanwhile, Back at the Station,
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------

	A quiet knock at her door broke Ribbon out of the best sleep she had in years.  For a moment, the filly thought she had imagined it.  She laid on her bed, listening, but all she heard was the sound of faint music.

Oh, shoot!  She had completely forgotten about that.  That necklace needed to be returned, she was overdue in reporting to Growl, and she had to work a shift in the infirmary later!  Ribbon tried to jump out of bed, but her hooves tangled in the sheets and she ended up face-planted on the floor.

That was when the knocking started again, a little more forceful this time.  No, not quite forceful... Confident?  Ribbon looked over at her desk, the music had changed.  It was playing a tense, frenetic melody when she first woke up, but it was calming down now, becoming slightly louder as the notes calmed down.  It couldn't be...

After a third knock, the music changed again.  A soothing piano line, an embodiment of calming relief.

"Who is it?"  Ribbon called out, even though she had a pretty good idea who it was.

There was no answer, but the music changed once more, going back to the tense violins from earlier.

It was him!  The colt from earlier!  Ribbon tried to head for the door, but her hooves were still wrapped up in the bedcovers.  She stumbled around, bumping into her desk, a chair, and toppling a lamp before freeing herself from the sheets.

She straightened herself up as best she could, using a hoof to smooth out her coat and mane.  She then trotted over to the door, and took a few deep breaths before opening it.  "Hi."

The blue-maned unicorn gave a start when the door slid open, but quickly composed himself.  "Um, hi.  So..."  He nodded to her.  He had cleaned up since earlier.  His coat was now a nice, shiny white, which combined with the bright blues of his mane, really stood out against the station's dull grey metal.  But, he was just standing there, staring at her.

Ribbon blinked in confusion.  "Huh?"

The colt's eyebrows pulled together slightly.  He nodded at her again.

Ribbon's head tilted to the side.  She was starting to feel a little self-conscious, or rather, a little more self-conscious than usual.  "What are you doing?"

He hid his face behind a hoof.  "I'm sorry, may I come in?"

Ribbon nodded quickly.  "Sure!"  She backed away from the door and waved him in.  "Make yourself at home."

He gave a nervous chuckle.  "I'm sure I won't be here that long."

He walked in, and Ribbon's eyes lit up in understanding.  "Oh!  That's what you were doing!  I'm sorry, I should have realized."  She gestured to a small piece of machinery next to the door.  Pipes and crystals hummed and glowed, maintaining a consistent sound that was easily ignored.  "This thing makes a magic shield around the room.  You didn't make a fool of yourself, I should have realized that you didn't realize that I couldn't hear what you thought I could."

The colt blinked.  "What?"

"Um..."  Ribbon scratched her neck, looking at a spot on the carpet.  "This is embarrassing, but I didn't catch your name earlier."

"It's MezzoForte."  He shook his head.  This was going about as well as their first meeting.  "Yours is Ribbon Dancer, right?"

The smaller unicorn chuckled.  "Yeah, that was kind of a disaster, wasn't it?"

He blinked.  "What?"

"When we met in the hallway," Ribbon clarified.  She blushed lightly.  "Please don't pay too much attention to what I said.  I tend to talk too much.  And, I didn't think you would be able to hear me."

Mezzo tried to sort out all the jumbled information his mind was receiving.  "So... you are the telepath, right?"

Ribbon nodded.  "That's me.  Ribbon Dancer, the telepathic nurse."

"Ah."  The colt colt pawed at the ground.  So, she can read his thoughts.

"Yes, but it doesn't quite work like most ponies think."  Ribbon started tidying up the room, righting the lamp, and returning the chair and sheets to their proper places.  "I can only receive really strong thoughts, usually like hearing words or seeing images that somepony thinks of.  Like... Ooh!  When you read, a lot of ponies read it out loud, but in their mind.  It's called subvocalization, saying something mentally when you read or are about to say something.  I can't access memories, or anything like that unless you bring them up.  For example, I have no idea why you're here, or how you found me."

"I'm looking for something I dropped."  The colt looked around the room.  "I thought you might have picked it up."

"Oh, the necklace.  Yeah, I found that."  Ribbon trotted over to her desk.  "It was right here."  She stopped at the empty desk and broke out in a cold sweat.  "Ho boy, that's not good."  She could sense that the relief he felt was rapidly morphing into worry.  "It's ok," she tried to reassure them both, "I'm sure it's here somewhere."

Mezzo sighed and sat down, leaning a bit to one side.  Ribbon turned and looked at him with a mix of confusion and concern.  "What do you mean, it's ok?  I just lost your necklace.  Why aren't you mad?  Most ponies hate me for just existing, never mind losing something so valuable."

Mezzo winced as her words brought up an unpleasant memory.  He tried to push it back, but he couldn't box it up fast enough.  Ribbon gasped as she saw and felt a tortured moment from the past.  Fire and steel, coal-fired smoke, hatred expressed through wicked laughter, that, and...

A searing pain shot through her side.  Ribbon bit down on her hoof, using the sudden, and real, pain to forcibly break the connection to what was imagined.  She looked up as the colt ran to her.  He said something, but she couldn't hear it over the sound of blood rushing through her ears.  No, she realized.  Not imagined, remembered.  She also realized that she was shaking, breathing heavily and shaking from adrenaline.  That pain was real.  

"Hey!  Are you okay?"  After asking that for a second time, Mezzo gave the erratic filly a gentle shake to pull her out of her shock.  When that didn't work, he pried her hoof out of her mouth.  "What's going on?  Why the hell did you just do that?"

Slowly regaining her bearings, Ribbon kept staring at him.  "Mezzo, what was that?"  

The colt shook his head.  "I don't know what you mean."  He backed up. "Look, if you're ok, I should just go."  He turned for the door.  "If you don't have the necklace there's no point in bothering you."

"Wait, please."  Ribbon took a few steps after him, glancing back at the desk.  "There it is!"  The rainbow unicorn pulled a one-eighty and dove for the desk.  The jewelry box was behind the desk.  It must have fallen back there when she bumped into it earlier.

Ribbon stretched her hoof back for the box.  The desk was bolted in place, and didn't dare use her magic on the necklace.  Last time, she just touched it, and it created a total sensory link from across the station.  What would it do with direct access to her magic while he was in the room?

The box was just out of her reach.  She swung at it, hoping to catch the corner and knock it towards her.  When that didn't work, she tried to stuff herself behind the desk.  She flattened herself to the ground, and pressed her face up against the desk, all to get one more centimeter ,or two, closer to the box.  She grunted and groaned, swatted and flailed, and got no closer to removing the box.  All the while, she was blissfully unaware that her rump was still very much in the air.

The room's only other occupant was much more aware of this, and quickly averted his gaze.  Unfortunately, he was a bit slow about it, and Ribbon caught him admiring her cloud and red cross cutie mark.

Her face tinted rose red and she jerked upright, straight into the desk's overhang.  She yelped, planted her flank on the ground, and backed away from the desk while maintaining her sitting pose.  She parked herself near the bed and ripped the sheets off of it.  She tied one around her midsection, fashioning a makeshift skirt.  She then pointed at the desk.  "You get it!"

Mezzo kept his gaze averted, trying not to focus on the blushing young mare, and used his magic to retrieve the box.  "Sorry about all this.  I'll be going now."

Ribbon stood up slowly.  "Wait, Mezzo, there's something you need to know."

The colt grabbed the box in his mouth and walked out the door.  Once he was in the hallway, he spit the box out and caught it in his magic.  "This way is better for both of us.  What is it?"

Ribbon stopped cold.  It was better.  Being separated was easier.  She didn't have to deal with random thoughts, and he was probably much happier knowing he had some privacy.  She couldn't tell though.  With the shield in place, she couldn't sense his mood or tell what he was thinking.  And, since he brought the box with him, the music had stopped.  It was quiet.  She was alone.

And it was better that way.

The filly looked down at the floor and closed her eyes.  "D-don't lose that.  I don't know why, but it's connected you in a very powerful way."

Mezzo looked at the box.  Of course it was.  It was a piece of his past, bitter though it may be.  "Is that it?"

"No!"  She shook her head and stormed towards the door, stopping just short of the shield.  "You don't understand.  That thing is magically linked to you.  You can't lose it."

"Linked?"  He looked back at Ribbon.  That would make sense, given what the necklace was made from, but...  "How would you know that?"

Ribbon winced.  She knew it was coming, but she still wished it could happen differently.  This is the part where he realizes she can't be trusted.  Or, he becomes afraid.  Or, becomes angry.  Whatever the reaction, he'll start avoiding her.  "I need to apologize."  For what?  He didn't know.  Did he really need to?  He might be happier not knowing.  "I touched it.  When I found the necklace, I touched it.  It was just an impulse.  The necklace was so beautiful, I just wanted to run my hoof over it.  I don't know why.  But, when I did..."

Mezzo noticed that Ribbon was starting to feel nervous.  He couldn't sense it the way she could, but the shifting gaze and stunted shakes of her head were more than enough.  It made him feel rather uneasy.  "When you did..." he prompted.

Ribbon tried to swallow, but her mouth was dry.  There was nothing there to swallow.  "When I touched it, I was pulled into a total sensory link.  For several seconds, I experienced everything you did.  I didn't know it would happen, and I broke the link as quickly as I could, but I still...  I'm sorry."

The colt sighed.  "So that's what happened."  He rubbed the back of his neck.  "Honestly, something weird happened when I was shopping earlier.  I didn't pay it any attention, but it kind of seemed like there was an echo."

Ribbon nodded.  "You bought fresh carrots.  It was the last bunch, and you talked the shopkeeper down."

"Yeah, but anypony could know that," he reasoned.  "This link, it just let you see what I did, right?"

"No."  The colorful filly shook her head slowly.  "You were running late because I bumped into you.  You were supposed to cook for your aunt and little sister.  You wanted the carrots for the carrot soup they like, the one that you think takes a week for the smell to wear off your fur.  That's either an exaggeration, or you didn't make it yet.  And the reason you talked the shopkeeper down was because you spent all your disposable income on sands and needed the extra bits to get some chocolate, in case the soup wasn't enough."  She managed a wry smile and looked up.  "You have one bit left, and it has to last until you get paid next week."

Her smile was not returned.  "All that was from a few seconds of touching a necklace.  That's a pretty frightening ability."  Mezzo looked down the hallway, but made no move to leave yet.  "Do I have any secrets left?"

While he was looking away, Ribbon reached out through the shield.  She ran a hoof along his side, tracing a long scar hidden under his fur.  He jumped back, but she let her hoof hang there.  "I don't know the whole story, but I know this wasn't an accident."  She slowly pulled her hoof back.  "You still have secrets, far more than you should have to carry on your own.  And, please know I'll respect your privacy.  I won't tell anypony anything."

Mezzo just stared down the hall.  His expression was hard to read, but Ribbon could see the muscles in his jaw tighten like a vise as he clenched his teeth.

Ribbon waited as the colt chewed over his thoughts.  The silence made every second slower, and painfully so.  Was he angry?  Was he scared of her?  He hasn't started yelling yet, was that a good sign?  "Please, say something?  Anything?"

Mezzo didn't look back at her.  "You should stay away from me from now on."

He started down the hall, and Ribbon leaned against the doorway.  The colt could have just stabbed her with the necklace's sharp wings if he wanted to hurt her, but those few words were more than enough.  She knew it was going to happen, the same scene played out by dozens of different ponies, each with their own reaction, like auditions for a role.  Some chose disgust, some played the part with contempt, and others fell on the old standby of fear.  And no matter how much she tried to prepare herself, she couldn't keep it from breaking her heart.

This colt was the worst yet.  She couldn't tell what fueled his reaction.  Even without her powers, rage and fear were easy to recognize, but she couldn't make sense of the expression on his face.  He almost looked sad.

"Yeah" she said quietly, answering a statement several moments gone, "I'll do that."  She closed the door and walked back to her bed.  She climbed in, laid down, and buried her head in her pillow.

Then, she screamed.  She vocally vented her frustration and pounded on her mattress like a foal throwing a tantrum.  She kept smacking away until her hoof slipped and hit the bedframe, denting the metal with a loud clang.  After that, she stopped, and just laid there, letting her ears droop against the cool fabric of the pillow.

Why did he look sad?  Did he pity her?  Pity for the freak?  She snatched the pillow up and pulled it down over her head, blocking out the lights she left on, and cried herself to sleep in silence.

Pity was the worst yet.
> Shouldn't Grass be Greener on the Other Side?
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------

"That should just about do it."  Radio Dancer ran his scanner over the freshly micro-stitched wound.  "So, what should I call you?  Astral's the captain, so doesn't that make you the first officer or something?  How about commander?  Vice-captain?  Ooh, I know!  Number one, like Riker off of that old human show, Star Trek?  Though, you and Astral are a little more Spock and Kirk, but with anger issues."

"Just use my name."  Twilight sat up and stretched.  They had converted the shuttle's kitchen table into a makeshift exam table by lowering it halfway to its storage position and strapping a bunk mattress to it.  An array of medical instruments were arrayed before her, all clean, shiny, and well-maintained.  The trip from Furia to Sevus Orbit gave Radio the opportunity to give her a checkup and repair the cuts and scratches of her recent misadventures.  Most of them were already healed, but he gave the ones that remained a helping hoof, especially the cut on her face.   There was just one injury he hadn't quite fixed yet.  She brought a hoof to her ear.  She still had the nick from when Astral's pistol exploded.  "Twi works too, if you want to shorten it."

Radio clicked his tongue.  "You got it, egghead."  Twilight's eyes widened, and Radio started chuckling.  "My mom said that was her nickname for you, called you that in all her stories.  If you don't mind, I'll use it too."  With his wing, he pulled the unicorn's hoof away from her ear.  "Quit playing with that.  I couldn't completely fix it with the equipment I have because the tissue is just plain gone, but I did heal the edges.  They're still a little ragged though, so messing with them might cause some irritation."

Twilight flicked her ear as she forced her hoof to remain on the mat.  "It itches."

"No it doesn't," Radio countered.

"Yes it does."  Twilight's ear twitched.  "Shouldn't the patient tell you how they feel instead of the other way around?"

He held up one of his medical instruments as if in evidence.  "I anaesthetized the entire area before stimulating the tissue growth.  You can't feel anything from that spot, you just think you can because it's different from before, and you know it."

Twilight stared at him and flicked her ear again.  "It still itches."

With a groan, Radio picked up a different tool, one with a chromed ball on the end, and ran it over her ear.  "See?  Nerve responses are at..."  He blinked at the device's readout.  "One hundred percent?"  He ran the device back over to confirm the reading.  "Huh, that shouldn't have worn off so quickly.  One of these days, you need to have a full physiological scan done.  Like us, my family, you aren't a normal pony, so you may have different medical needs.  For now, I’ll use my own dosage requirements as a baseline and err on the side of caution."

"Sounds good."  Twilight caught her hoof as it started towards her ear.  "But can you do anything about the itch?"

Radio sighed and motioned for her to lower her head.  He checked the ear carefully, then gestured for her to sit back up.  "It's healed, for the most part, but there's no scar tissue yet.  That's good, since it will make the cosmetic surgery easier when I get the proper equipment, but the tradeoff is that it might itch."

"Might?" Twilight asked sarcastically.  "It itches now.  And what are you talking about, cosmetic surgery?"

The Pegasus nudged one of his instruments.  "With this and some nutrient gel, I can make the tissue regrow, but I wouldn't have the control necessary to keep it from scarring.  If you can live with itching for a while, as soon as I have access to a real medical bay, I can make it look like the injury never happened."

Twilight brought her hoof to her ear again, feeling the edges of the wound.  "I can't afford to be distracted by this, and I don't care about the scar.  Regenerate the tissue, or just clean up the edges, do whatever you think best, but fix it before we land."

"Yes, ma'am."  Radio went to the bunk for his second bag of medical gear.  "Lay back down, and put your good ear against the mat."  He dug out a laser scalpel, bottle of disinfectant, and some gauze.  "Fair warning though, this might hurt a bit."





Astral tapped his hooves together as he reclined in the pilot's chair.  Several minutes had passed since they entered the system, and he was ready to land the shuttle.  A quick scan of the planet indicated that the coordinates he remembered still seemed to indicate a landing pad at the center of the planet's largest settlement.

"At least they haven't torn it down yet," Astral muttered to himself.  Given his send off all those years ago, he would have thought that to be high on their list of priorities.  They could land there, but whether or not they could expect a peaceful welcome was another matter.

Supposedly, Sevus would welcome all who wish to, "embrace the ways of the land."  Or so their old leader used to say.  If that was still true, they should be able to open up a peaceful dialogue long enough to ask about previous visitors.  The denizens of Sevus would probably try to run them off once it became clear that they wouldn't stay, so they had to make sure to get the information they need before that.

Astral slowly rolled out of the chair.  Weren't they done yet?  The exam could have been done earlier, but Radio had insisted on hearing the story of Equestria from Twilight's point of view.  Unsurprisingly, he was especially interested in tales of his mother's heroics.  He even asked Twilight to repeat the one about Rainbow Dash being responsible for everyone earning their cutie marks about a dozen times.

The bored unicorn headed into the middle compartment for a drink, getting a glass of water from the dispenser built into the first chair.  He wasn't going to rush them.  Twilight should have seen to her injuries back on Canterlot, and he wanted everyone at their best from here on out.

As he lifted the cold metal cup to his lips, the door to the back slid open.  He lowered the cup with a sigh.  "Great timing."  He stuck the full cup back in the recycler.  "Are we ready to land now?"

"Yeah," Radio said curtly as he pushed his way to the front.  "We're good this time."  The colt huffed as he jumped into the copilot's seat and kicked back, crossing his hooves and staring out the viewport.  "You better do something about her though.  Or one of these days, she'll do something really stupid, and I won't be able to fix it."

Astral slowly walked into the back, watching the colt fume.  He knocked on the open doorway.  "Twi?"  The alicorn was standing next to the exam table, busying herself with digging through her duffel bag.  "What did you do?"

"She grabbed the scalpel!" Radio answered for her, shouting back from the cockpit.  "She's lucky I was using the laser and not a steel one.  If it weren't for the safety, I could have cut her entire ear off!"

Twilight looked up and Astral saw it immediately.  Her left ear had a large "V" shape notch taken out of it.  It was a bit less than a fourth of the way through her ear, but it was noticeable.  "Twilight, why would you do that?"

The purple mare pawed at her ear, trying to hide it.  Then, she went back to searching her back.  "It was taking too long," she said quietly.

"Surgery takes time!"  Radio shouted from the front.  "If you don't like that, learn to live with scars."

Twilight's hoof went to her ear again.

"Hey!"  Astral matched the colt's volume.  "Let's calm down, ok?"  Shaking his head, the unicorn gently pulled Twilight's hoof away.  "Twi," he said quietly, insistently, "explain this to me."

"There's nothing to explain."  The alicorn zipped the bag up without removing anything and stuffed it on the top bunk.  "It's over.  Radio fixed the damage, it doesn't hurt, we're good to go."  She started walking to the front.  As she passed Astral in the doorway, she added, "Land the shuttle."

Astral didn't move from the doorway.  "No."

Twilight spun around.  "What did you say?"

"You heard me."  Astral leaned against the doorframe.  "I'm the captain, and I decide when we land."

Twilight glared at his backside for a moment, then raised her head and barked out the order, "Computer, initiate automated landing sequence."

She was answered by a buzzer.  "Unable to initiate automated navigation services."

The alicorn's eyebrows pulled together as she tried again.  "Computer!  Initiate the automated landing sequence!"

Again, a buzzer.  "Unable to initiate automated navigation services.  Please confirm the presence of type T civilian navigation markers.  If problem persists, please contact an authorized service center for diagnostics and repairs."

Twilight stamped a hoof on the floor.  "Computer!  Run a self diagnostic!"

A series of chirps was followed by completion chime.  "Diagnostic complete.  Damage detected in passenger entertainment unit three.  Unable to self repair.  Please contact an authorized service center for diagnostics and repairs.  Unidentified organic residue detected on starboard wall panels.  Scans indicate substance is not harmful.  High levels of sugars detected.  Immediate cleaning is recommended.  A list of approved cleaning materials can be accessed via the main control panel under care and cleaning. Mildly elevated allergen levels detected in atmospheric vents and filters.  Purging recommended, but not necessary.  Instructions on this process can be accessed via the main control panel under routine user maintenance.  No other damage detected."

Twilight grit her teeth and looked over at Astral.  "Turn around," she growled.

Astral glanced back and leaned more of his weight against the doorframe.  He then yawned as he looked away from her.

Twilight went up and slapped him across the flank.  "Look at me!"

He snorted.

With a grunted shout, Twilight went back into the rear compartment and planted herself in front of Astral.  "What.  Did.  You.  Do?"

"Nothing."  Astral met her eyes as she glared at him.  "That automatic landing?  It requires a signal to navigate by.  A planet that rejects technology isn't going to keep up a complex system of navigation buoys.  If you want to land here, you need a pilot that can navigate and land, unassisted, on possibly irregular terrain.  In other words, me.  This is the whole reason you brought me along."

"Then land the damn ship!" Twilight screamed, stomping her hoof.

Astral grabbed her by the ear, the left one, the one with the notch, and pulled her closer to him.  "Not until you explain this," he said quietly, "that's an order."

His hoof was quickly swatted away.  "Somepony from Ponyville, one of my friends, might be down there.  We have to find them.  You might not care, but I do, and you promised to help.  Land the ship."

"You're right."  Astral sat down.  "Somepony might be down there.  We can't be sure.  But even if that are, they've been there for half a century.  A few minutes don't matter."  He pointed at her ear.  "And mutilating yourself doesn't help them any!"

Twilight recoiled, as if physically hit by his words.  "I..."  She folded her her down with her hoof.  "I wasn't trying to..."

Astral sighed.  "Twi, look.  I've never been responsible for anypony but myself before, not unless you count cargo.  I can't possibly understand what you're going through, but letting your feelings take over will lead you to make mistakes.  You aren't alone in this, but you need to listen to the ponies around you.  And, you need to trust us."

She stared at the floor and nodded.  "I'll try."

Astral lifted her chin.  "You have to do more than try.  You're lucky it wasn't worse, but luck runs out.  Trust us."

Twilight nodded again.  "I will."

Astral lowered his hoof, but Twilight's head didn't follow.  "Thanks.  I'll go land the ship, so strap in."  He turned and headed to the front pausing for a moment to look back.  "You know, it doesn't look all that bad.  It kind of suits you, gives you that rough and tumble look.  Kinda cute actually."

Twilight didn't respond beyond a weak smile, so Astral continued heading to the front.  Once he was in the cockpit, he silently sat down in the pilot's chair.

Radio was spinning his chair back and forth in half turns, kicking his hooves against the wall and a steel storage bin bolted under the control panel.  "Don't you think that was kind of harsh, dude?  You almost made her cry."

Astral glanced over at the colt but didn't say anything.  He then looked back at his control panel and tapped the control for the door.  The door hissed shut, and Astral hit the control that locked it.  "Harsh?!" he shouted at the Pegasus.  "You think that was harsh?"  Astral grabbed the arm of Radio's chair.  "That was nothing compared to what I've got in store for you!"

Radio's eyebrows scrunched up in confusion.  "Wha-"

Astral jabbed a hoof in the colt's chest, digging into the cyan fur.  "You called yourself a doctor, so did your father, but you sure don't act like one. I don't care if a patient does something stupid, you can't get all hissy and throw a fit about it.  If you're going to keep acting as our medical officer, you need to grow up."

Radio tried pull away from the hoof uncomfortably planted in his ribs, but only managed to undo the recliner lock on his seat.  His chair snapped back to its normal position, pressing Astral's hoof harder into him.  Radio pushed the hoof away.  "Chill out, dude.  It's-"

"No!"  Astral pointed a hoof at the colt's face, making him pull his head back to avoid getting his nose smushed.  "From now on, it's captain, or sir.  Understand?"

The colt turned his head.  "Yeah, I-"

Astral grabbed the colt's head and turned him back face to face.  "What was that?"

"Yes, sir!"  The colt squirmed, pulling his head free.  "Sheesh!  What is your problem?"

"My problem?"  Astral sat down in his chair.  "Radio, who had the most authority at that military base you served at?"

"What?"  The bewildered colt shook his head at the sudden change of subject.  "General Cube, duh.  He was the base commander."

Astral crossed his hooves.  "How about a military ship?  Who's in charge there?"

"The captain!"  Radio kicked the storage bin.  "What does any of this have to do with anything?"

"Last question."  Astral frowned at the dent Radio left in the under-console fixture.  He was going to make the colt fix that.  "Who has the most authority on a civilian ship?  With a civilian crew?"

Radio rolled his eyes.  "Just making a wild guess here.  But, the captain?"

"Wrong."  Astral turned his attention to the control panel.  Even in this remote system, there was a subnet signal.  He would be able to connect to the Canterlot Public Archives.  "It's you.  The medical officer, ship's doctor, chief medic, however you want to say it, you have final say over almost everything that happens.  Your job is to keep the crew alive.  Say we landed on some strange new planet, and I go to open the hatch, but you don't think it's safe.  It's your responsibility to stop me."

Astral hit a few controls and a hologram popped up in front of Radio, a news article dated several years ago.  "Tragedy Strikes Convoy.  Dozens Dead, Hundreds in Critical Condition."

"This is what happens when a medical officer fails."  Astral started scrolling through the pictures included with the article.  Ponies with flesh sloughed off, like it was burned by acid, lay on hospital beds.  Some appeared to have their skin intact, but their bodies were twisted as if the bones beneath were bent and twisted like wire.  "Unknown Cargo, unknown source, and an unknown virus."  The next picture showed a thick spectacled unicorn standing behind a forcefield.  "This was the medical officer for the convoy's lead ship.  He said he scanned the cargo, pronounced it safe.  The investigation showed that his scanner's log only contained a basic preliminary scan pattern.  He cut corners instead of taking the time for a full scan."

Astral continued to flip through the pictures until Radio stopped him.  "Hey, wait, that's you!"  The Pegasus took control of the display, deftly manipulating the copilot's controls with a wingtip.  He scrolled through the picture's accompanying text.  "This can't be right.  Astral Plane, age fourteen, was the only crew member lucky enough to escape any ill effects from the virus health officials are dubbing Shikoraje."  Radio looked up at the unicorn.  "Shikoraje is one hundred percent fatal at that age.  It attacks cells as they regenerate, either in the skin or marrow.  Ponies that are still developing are hit much worse than adults, who still suffer a thirty-five percent mortality rate.  You shouldn't be alive."

Astral nodded slowly.  "Shikoraje means, 'convoy of death,' in an ancient Skolan dialect.  The doctor who named it was referring to our convoy, not the virus, but the name stuck."  Astral skipped a few pictures ahead, to another one of him, from a wider angle, showing what he was wearing.  "This is how I survived, a spacesuit.  I wore it the whole time I was part of the convoy, did it to hide my age.  A teenaged freelancer, working alone, wouldn't be taken seriously, and the other crews taking part in the convoy would have tried to negotiate my pay into their pockets.  And that's only if they didn't try to take my ship.  A mysterious loner, who keeps to himself and never shows his face, commands a little more fear and respect."

Radio suddenly shuddered.  He just realized...  "You watched them die."

Astral shook his head.  "No.  I was just a colt.  When things got bad, I ran and hid, locked myself in a storage bay.  I stayed there until the rescue teams found me.  By then, it was all over.  The medic was in custody pending an investigation, and the survivors were receiving treatment."

"Why would they lock him up?"  The Pegasus asked.  "They couldn't have known about the scans until after they investigated, and he had to have been in pretty bad shape by the time they got to him.  How did they even know it was him?"

"He was immune."  Astral shrugged.  "It's funny how things work sometimes.  Their first assumption was that he created the virus, and was testing it on the convoy.  His blood work even provided the means to immunize against the disease."

Radio stared at the display.  This whole situation was messed up.  He looked over at Astral as the unicorn watched a short video embedded in the article.  This wasn't just some news article to this stallion, it was a piece of his past.  "But, he didn't create it, did he?"

Astral shook his head.  "Who knows?  He may have just messed up, or he may have maliciously attacked his own convoy, there's no way to be sure."  He clicked the display off and reclined in his chair, laying the back of his hoof over his eyes like he was trying to block something from sight.  "I don't know if it was pressure got to him, or guilt, but he cracked during his imprisonment.  Broke out one day, babbling on about how they already decided he was guilty.  He took a hostage, held a scalpel to his neck, and died on the same scalpel when the hostage fought back."  Astral let his hoof fall, deciding that it would be impossible to block out the image.  "Damn, those things are sharp.  I just wanted to get away, I didn't know it cut so easily."

Radio cringed.  He did know how easily a properly sharpened scalpel would cut, and how badly it could damage somepony if used as a weapon.  "You were the hostage."  The Pegasus stared at the console.  Killing somepony at that age, even if it was by accident, had to leave some mental scars.  "Do you want to talk about it?"

"I've already talked about the past for too long."  Astral let his head roll to the side to look at Radio.  "We need to talk about the future, the future of this mission.  From everything I've heard, you're a talented kid.  But that's not going to cut it anymore.  I need you to be somepony I can count on, a stallion who isn't going to cut corners and get us all killed.  If that isn't you, tell me now, and I'll drop you off on Canter Delta with your sister and find somepony else.  You can become a regular doctor at a nice quiet clinic somewhere, complete with steady pay and a retirement."  The unicorn straightened up, waiting a moment for his words to sink in.  "So?  What's it gonna be?"

"I..."  The Pegasus shook his head.  "I don't know."

"That's a surprise, I was expecting you to be a bit more brash about being challenged."

"If it was anypony else, I would be.  But, you know what I've gone through, you've gone through it yourself.  So I'll be honest with you."  Radio crossed his hooves over his stomach.  "I'm scared.  Not of this little backwater, but the next one.  I still have nightmares about that hydra, and we're going to their home planet?  How the hell is anypony supposed to rely on me?  I'll be curled up in a corner, pissing myself in fear."

"Then we'll just have one more thing in common."  Astral sighed quietly.  "Remember, I locked myself in a closet on that convoy.  I was in there for three days.  Sometimes, being scared is the only thing that keeps you alive.  I'm not asking you to be brave, or fearless, I'm asking you to give your best, and to not let your ego get in the way."

Radio thought about a moment before slowly nodding.  "That I can do."

"Good."  Astral smiled and reached over to give the colt a pat on the shoulder.  "You ready to land?"

Radio adjusted his chair, squaring it up to the console so he could easily manipulate any control he needed to.  He flipped through several menu items on his screen before answering, "Yes, sir."

Astral leaned over to peek at the screen, chuckling when he saw the sensor interface.  He had already scanned the planet, but a second look never hurt.  "Keep this up, and I won't be able to call you kid anymore."  The unicorn reached for the intercom button beside his seat.  He stopped before hitting it, letting his hoof hover over the already depressed switch.  Yeah, he should have checked that first.  "Twilight?  Are you ready to land?"

There was a slight pause before the alicorn's voice answered through a hidden speaker, "Yes, captain.  Ready any time."

Astral hit the intercom switch, turning it off.  He then opened the door and waved her up.  "Atmospheric conditions are stable, it should be a pretty smooth ride.  You can watch from up here if you don't mind standing.". The purple mare accepted the invitation silently, walking up to stand between the two chairs.  " Do you have to look so smug?" Astral whispered to her.

"Yes," she whispered back, "yes, I do.  You're a good pony, Astral, even if you act like a jerk sometimes."

Astra rolled his eyes and nosed the shuttle down into the atmosphere.  It was a relatively smooth transition from space to air, with just a slight jostle, like a bump in a road road, marking the change.  After that, there was almost no indication that they were moving except for the view through the front window.  The clouds around them whipped past, distorting and pulling along like thread as the shuttle cut through them.

After about a minute of boring through the clouds, the shuttle broke through into the lower atmosphere.  With the clouds above them, the three ponies could see the landscape spread out before them.  But, while Twilight and Radio watched the land without much reaction, Astral squinted in confusion and eased back on the throttle, slowing the shuttle.  "Computer," he commanded, "display a visual of the planet's surface.  Route it to the pilot's panel, highest resolution."

Twilight looked over the unicorn's shoulder as the top down view of the rocky landscape appeared in front of him.  "What is it?"

"I'm not sure."  Astral scratched his neck as he studied the image before him.  "I just, kind of remember it being a little more green."  He zoomed in on the image, focusing in on sparse patches of vegetation scattered among the barren wasteland.  "Radio, do you still have those sensors running?"

The Pegasus nodded.  "Yeah, but I'm not picking up anything out of the ordinary.  No unknown readings, and nothing harmful in the atmosphere."

Twilight's horn lit up for a moment.  "I can't sense any sort of unusual magic either, certainly nothing that could affect plant life on a global scale."  She paused for a moment.  "You did say that you haven't been here in almost twenty years, are you sure you're remembering it right?"

Astral looked over at Twilight.  "Look, this was a farming colony, a successful one.  Before they went xenophobic, they grew enough produce to export their crops to three different planets."

Twilight shook her head.  "Not in this landscape they didn't."

"I know."  Astral switched the display back to navigational sensors.  "Something's wrong."

Radio pushed his chair away from the console.  "Egghead, take over for me."  He got up and headed for the back, leaving Twilight to sit and try to interpret the sensor readout.

"Look."  Astral pointed out the viewport.  "There's the main settlement."

"I'm seeing plenty of lifeforms... I think."  Twilight tapped her screen a few times, switching the readout to beginner's mode.  "Yes, several hundred large lifeforms, all ponies.  There are also some smaller lifeforms, mostly birds scattered throughout the settlements, mostly chickens, judging by the size."

"yeah, chickens were pretty common on both planets."  He squinted at the settlement.  "Heads up, I think they spotted us."

Twilight gave him a skeptical look.  "How can you tell?"  Before Astral could answer, she glanced back down at the sensor display.  "Wait, they're moving.  Their lifesigns are converging in the center of the settlement."

"They're coming to greet us."  Astral clicked his tongue.  "Not sure I like this.  Computer, display a visual of the highest concentration of lifeforms on the copilot's panel."  The console in front of Twilight switched from sensors to a picture of a crowd.  Over a hundred ragged farmers, as dirty as the ground they walked, gathered around a stone courtyard.  They left an opening in the middle large enough for a ship to land, and two of them stood a little further in the opening, separate from the rest.  "They're definitely waiting for us to land."

Twilight zoomed in on the two ponies, both unicorns, standing inside the circle.  "These must be the leaders."  One stallion, one mare.  The stallion was the elder of the two, in his sixties or seventies, stooped and withered from the harsh environment.  His tan coat and golden mane were streaked with dusty flecks of grey.  The mare, similarly coated, but with an auburn mane, seemed to be in her late thirties, early forties at the oldest.  "Think she's his daughter?"

"It's possible."  Astral pulled back even more on the throttle, slowing to a maneuverable speed as they approached the landing area.  "Let's see what they want, shall we?"  Astral looked back.  "Radio!  What are you doing back there?  We're about to land."

The Pegasus ran up to the front with the smaller of his two duffel bags tossed over his wing.  "Sorry, I was dumping stuff out." He dropped the bag between the chairs and pulled out what looked like oversized wristwatches, two of them.  "Both of you, put these on."

Astral took his and looked it over.  there were three colored buttons, red,blue and yellow, surrounding a metal framed numerical display. Astral wasn't sure what the numbers on the display meant, but he guessed they were displaying time in the Furian system.  "What is it?"

Twilight took hers and slipped it on her hoof.  "Where did you get them?"

Radio took another one out of the bag and slipped it on his own hoof.  "They're communication devices, and I may have swiped them from the armory back on Furia.  They're all linked already, just push the blue button to talk to the others.  Push the red button to activate silent mode, it'll vibrate when somepony tries to talk to you and record whatever is said, but won't make any noise.  Just push the red button again after receiving a message to listen to it.  The yellow button allows you to give it voice commands for the more complicated functions, like ending silent mode, starting a timer, or tone generation."  He tossed his bag back over his wing.  "Also, there's a panic mode.  Hit the red button three times, and slap it against somepony, and it'll act like a stun gun.  But you get one shot, and won't be able to use it for communication after that."

"Gotta love military hardware," Astral muttered as he put his on.  "The ponies on that base aren't going to miss these, are they?"

"They shouldn't."  Radio hit the talk button and blew across the device, causing what sounded like a puff of static from Astral and Twilight's units.  "New models were coming out, so these were headed for the scrap heap.  And these only use a basic civilian encryption, instead of military codes.  We'd have a cruiser on our tails if I had taken one like that."

"That makes me feel a little better."  He pointed at the floor.  "You may want to sit down, I'm not sure how stable that landing pad is."  Radio sat down as the shuttle slowed to a stop.  It hovered for a moment, centered over the circle of ponies.  "Computer, give me a top down overview of the shuttle's position.  Overlay lifesign readings, and overlay a topographical map with a resolution of ten centimeters."  His display changed, showing the shuttle's outline in an empty circle surrounded by a sea of green dots.  Thin squiggly lines ran through the entire display, seemingly at random.  "Add front and side cross sections based on navigational sensors, position them lower left and lower right."  Two more pictures showed up, showing the shuttle and the ground below, from the asked for perspectives.  "All right, taking it down."

The shuttle lowered to the grown smoothly, gliding on the repulsors as Astral manipulated half a dozen controls with his hooves and magic.  It paused centimeters above the ground, and settled down without a hitch.

"Contact," Astral stated simply, "easing the antigravs off."  There was a slight shudder as the ground took up the shuttle's weight.  Then there was a creak, and the shuttle tilted a little to the side.  Astral checked the sensors and let out a weary sigh.  "Looks like there used to be a nav-beacon underground here, they probably pulled it out and covered the hole back up.  They just couldn't leave it alone, could they?"

Twilight got out of her chair, stumbling towards the door before adjusting to the angle of the floor.  "I'm going to go get dressed.  I take it you don't need to park again?"

"No." Astral shut down the nav system, then used his screen to visually scan the crowd.  "It's a little annoying, but a little tilt isn't going to affect anything important.  Just be careful if you-"  There was a splash and a clatter from the back.  "Get a water."

Radio chuckled and and joined Astral in his inspection of the crowd.  "What are you looking for?"

Astral shrugged.  "Anger?  Fear?  Maybe hushed whispers.  Anything that may indicate that we aren't welcome here."

Radio looked a little closer.  "They seem a bit unsure, but they don't really seem upset."  The camera panned across the two leaders.  "Old guy there looks almost relieved."

"Yeah, he does."  Astral zoomed in on them.  "That mare next to him, does she look ok to you?"

Radio shook his head.  "Not really.  She's thin, almost anemic."  Radio reached over with a wing and zoomed in a little more.  "Every pony in the crowd is, but she seems a bit worse.  She must not be eating right.  It might be stress."

"From whatever the elder is relieved about?" Astral asked.  "We might be more welcome than I thought.  Let's not keep them waiting."  He pushed away from the console and Radio moved out of the way so he could get up.  They walked to the hatch where Twilight was already waiting, clothed in Astral's tattered jacket.  The unicorn pointed at her mane as it dripped.  " You tried to catch it, huh?"

"Yes," she answered curtly, wiping water from her face.

Astral smiled as he lifted a hoof to the hatch control.  "Everypony ready?  We have to make a good impression.  Calm, collected, and in charge of our surroundings."

Twilight rolled her eyes.  "Yeah, right."

Out of Astral's sight, Radio unzipped his duffel bag and dipped a wingtip into it.  "Ready to go."

Astral hit the control.  The hatch slid open with a hiss, kicking up a cloud of dust.  The shuttle's artificial gravity cut off at the same time, causing a sensation like dropping a floor or two in an elevator as the three ponies were suddenly subjected to Sevus' slightly lower gravity.  They stood motionless as stairs extended from the hatch to the ground, and didn't move until they were fully extended.  Then, Astral walked out first, shortly followed by Twilight, then radio.  They stopped at the base of the stairs, far enough out for most of the crowd to see them, but closer to the ship than to any of the ponies around.

The old stallion and the mare beside him started forward.  The stallion stopped three meters in front of the newcomers, and the mare hung back a little farther away.

"Are you bounty hunters?" he demanded.

"Right to the point," Astral muttered to Twilight.  He cleared his throat and answered, "We're freelancers, cargo running mostly."

The elder's lips twisted into a sneer.  "No need for freight junkies here.  We got nothing to send, and no way to pay for supplies.  But, if you really are freelancers, and not smugglers, you might be up for a bounty.  If so, we have a job for you."

Astral glanced back at Twilight and Radio.  He didn't really like the turn this was taking, but he would play along for now.  "You just said you couldn't pay for food, how would you pay the bounty?"

He swept his hoof in a grand gesture across the village, small houses, buildings, and huts spread around this central landing area.  "Anything you want, take it.  Anything of value, anything that catches your eye, just leave us enough to survive.  Name your price.  You can take anything of value in the village, just bring us the head of the witch of the lake."

Before Astral could respond, the tan mare behind the elder started coughing blood.  A rainbow maned pegasus was beside her before she collapsed, catching her and slowing her fall.

Astral looked to his side, at a duffel bag sitting on the ground.  "Radio, what are you doing?!"

"Check my bag!"  The Pegasus called back while he checked the mare's pulse.  Astral stuck a hoof in the open zipper and pulled it open to look in.  On top of a few emergency medical supplies, there was a running scanner.  "There's nothing unusual, or flagged as dangerous, so it's either a genetic condition, or something ponies are normally immunized against!"  Radio leaned his ear against the mare's chest like he was listening to a seashell.  "Her lungs are filled with fluid."  He looked over at the old stallion.  "Hey, she has some sort of respiratory infection.  Do you have a doctor?  Or a surgeon?"

The elder walked over and ran his hoof through the mare's mane.  He shook his head slowly.  "Our healer died months ago.  So many have.  When the blood comes, time falls short.  She will not survive the night."

Radio looked at the crowd.  The ponies watching were all hanging their heads.  In their minds, she was already gone.  "Others have been dying?  Were their symptoms the same?"

The elder nodded.  "You are young, but you speak as our healer did.  Are you an apprentice healer?  What is the word outsiders use, a nurse?"

"No, I'm a doctor, a trained trauma surgeon."  Radio looked back at the crowd.  "How many more are sick?"

The old stallion laid down next to the mare, gently nuzzling the side of her neck, receiving only the faintest moan as a response.  "We all are, child.  Some fare worse than others, but this illness plagues us all."  He looked over at the Pegasus.  "It goes against our ways, but could you use your medicines to make my daughter comfortable?  I accept that she will go before me, but I do not wish her her to go in pain."  He glanced out at the crowd.  "And, I am sure there are many others who feel the same about their loved ones.  They may ask for your help as well."

Radio backed away from the fallen mare.  "Y-you're asking me to kill her?"

The stallion shook his head.  "The illness has already done so.  I am only asking you to ease her suffering."

Radio swallowed hard.  He looked at the crowd again.  All of them were sick?  How many more were in the houses and buildings around them, too sick to even move?  He looked over at Astral in a panic.  "We have to do something!  Call somepony!  Canterlot!  Jones would help them, right?"

"No!"  The elder bellowed.  "We are dying.  Let us go in peace, without bringing others to laugh at our folly."

"What?!"  Radio shouted back.  "You're all dying, and you're worried about pride?"

"Radio," Astral cautioned.

"No!"  Radio pointed at him.  "No, to hell with respecting the patient.  This is insane!  They need help!"

The elder stood up.  "And if we are beyond help?"

Radio blinked at him.  "What?"

"If we are beyond saving, and call for other worlds to save us.  Then we lose who we are with our final breath."

"So you won't even try?"  Radio started walking towards the old stallion.  "Your daughter is dying!"

The elder turned to face the colt.  "And my grandson has already died!  Let his mother join him quietly!"  He glared at the Pegasus.  "This is why we abandoned technology.  Not because of technology itself, but the arrogance it creates.  You believe you know best how others should live, how others should die.  Would you force your own ways on us?  When you yourself is unsure how to live your own life?  Figure out who you are before you tell others who to be."

Radio shook his head.  "I..."  His voice cracked.  "I can't just watch her die."

"Then leave."  The elder turned away, lifting his daughter with his magic.  "Leave knowing you at least offered, and let that soothe your conscience."

Behind the colt, Astral and Twilight watched carefully, not knowing if they should intervene.  "Aw, hell."  Astral brought a hoof to his head as Radio's body language took a sudden shift.  The colt who was looking at the ground, ready to curl into a ball, was now standing tall and proud.  "This isn't about her anymore."

Twilight edged over to Astral.  "What are you talking about?" she asked quietly.  "Not about who?"

Astral gestured to the collapsed mare.  "How old would Radio's mother be if she wasn't in a stasis pod?"

Twilight gasped as she realized what Astral meant.  "We've got to stop him before he does something stupid."

"I know who I am!" Radio shouted at the top of his lungs, proclaiming his words to the entire village.  "I decided long ago!  I am a doctor!  My only purpose is to help others.  Let me help you."  He looked at the ponies in the crowd, not seeing them as a crowd, but looking at each one as an individual, somepony's child, parent, cousin, friend, loved one.  "Any of you, just one, let me save just one of you!  Let me prove that you can be saved!"  He brought a hoof to his chest.  "If I fail, you can take my life as payment, because it will be worthless anyways."

The elder stopped and set his daughter down.  Out of nowhere, something cracked across Radio's face.  A large wooden stick, the handle of a farm implement with a pointed end of rusted steel.  It beat the pegasus over and over as the elder approached him.  "Say that again!"  The stick swung at the colt's legs, knocking him off his hooves then flipping him onto his back.  The sharp end was at his neck in an instant, and the elder stood over him.  "Say that again, knowing full well that payment will be taken."

"That's it."  Astral moved forward, tugging at his jacket with his invisible magic.

Twilight grabbed for the zipper as it pulled down.  "Astral, don't!"

The unicorn looked back at her.  "Stand down, Twi!  That's an order!"

"But-"  The alicorn looked down at the jacket.  There was only one reason why he would open it.  She slowly put her hoof down.  "I'm trusting you."

Astral pulled out the revolver, and one of the speedloaders from the outside pockets.  He had it loaded before it was even by his side.  "I know."

Radio stared up at the old stallion.  With the blade at his throat, he repeated, "Let me save one pony.  Let me heal one of you, and prove that it can be done.  If I fail, kill me for the pain and trouble I caused."

Astral scanned for something he could safely shoot without showering innocent bystanders with ricochets or debris.  There weren't a lot of options.  So much for a distraction.  They would just have to get out of this the hard way.

Astral strolled up to the elder, pressing the barrel of the pistol against his head long before reaching him.  The unicorn swallowed nervously as all eyes turned on him.  He sure hoped he looked more confident than he felt.  "Let him go," Astral demanded.  "He's just a kid, he doesn't deserve to die over this.  And I don't want to kill you because it."

"Do your ears fail you, outsider?"  The elder didn't move.  He didn't even seem bothered by the weapon he was being threatened with.  "You are threatening to kill one who is already dying."

Astral pulled the hammer back for effect.  "I said, let him go."  This wasn't working.  He glanced back at Twilight.  Could she do something?  Could he signal her in time if there was?  He shook his head.  No, he would have half a second, if that.  "Please, don't make me do this."

The old stallion closed his eyes.  "You should have left when you had the chance."

"No!"  Astral pressed the gun harder against his head.  He looked at the tool the elder was wielding as a spear.  With his weak magic, there was no way he could grab it from the old stallion.  Twilight!  Do something!  "Don't do it!  I will shoot you!"

The elder raised the tool.

"Father..."  The word was quiet, labored and breathless, but it drew as much attention as the gunshot that followed.

Astral stared at the revolver, and at the purple magic surrounding it.  The ringing in his ears drowned out everything else.  The gun was pointing skyward, and the bullet hovered a few meters up, surrounded by the same violet glow.  He breathed heavily as he looked past the pistol.  The elder was looking behind him, and his improvised spear hovered harmlessly nearby.

Astral looked back just Twilight came running up to him.  He saw her mouth move, but couldn't make the words out over the ringing.  "What?!"

She frowned for a moment.  Then, the aura of her magic surrounded him,.  His ears felt uncomfortably warm for a moment, then it faded.  "Is that better?" Twilight asked.  "Well, I said you owe me one, but I guess it's two now."

Astral rubbed at his ears.  "I owe you a lot more than that.  Thank you for stopping him... and me."

"I only stopped you."  Twilight nodded to where the elder's daughter lay, stretching her hoof out towards Radio.  "She stopped him.  I just caught the, um," she looked at the tool before tossing it away, "thing."

"Don't... hurt..."  Every word was a struggle for her, but she still forced them out.  "Hunter."

The old stallion sat down, staring at Radio as the colt got up.  Astral slowly walked forward, placing himself between the two.  "Hunter?" The unicorn asked the elder.

"It was my grandson's name."  The elder shook his head.  "In the fevered hallucinations of her last hours, something about you must have reminded her of him."  He closed his eyes.  "You have your patient.  Do your best to save her.  If not..."  He opened his eyes and fixed Astral in his glare.  "Either way, he will not be harmed.  But if you want him back, you will carry out the bounty."

"The witch of the lake?"  Astral shook his head.  "Who is she?  And why do you want her dead?"

Twilight joined Astral.  "Witch is a human word, it used to be a term for a woman who used magic.  But there were no human life signs on this planet, isn't this witch just a unicorn?"

"No."  The elder pawed at the ground, scraping at the dusty coating on the stone.  "The witch is the one responsible for all this.  A few of them have lived here for decades, but left us alone until recently.  The last of her kind, she's an earth pony that rejects our ways and embraces technology.  More than that, she controls it, possesses it.  She has some sort of magic that lets her bring this ruin on us."

"An earth pony... with magic?"  Astral and Twilight exchanged glances.  "What makes you believe she's responsible for this illness?"

"She comes to our village once or twice a year, and every time, she brings disaster with her.  The ground shifts, buildings collapse, ponies die.  Most recently, we found her tampering with one of the village wells.  We chased her off, but several were hurt, and the well has been off limits since then."

"We should probably take a look there first."  Twilight suggested.  "But let me make one thing clear.  We are not going to murder somepony for you.  We will find her and speak with her, and either convince her to leave you alone, or take her off this planet, but we will not kill her."

The elder glanced over at Astral.  "He does not seem to share your inhibitions against taking the life of another.  Perhaps he should go alone."

"Hey!"  Astral took his revolver from Twilight and unloaded it in front of the elder.  "You were the one that attacked Radio.  I don't care what he said, threatening to kill a kid over a few idiotic words makes you the dangerous one here."

Twilight held a hoof in front of the grey unicorn.  "Astral, let me handle things from here."

"Sure.  You handle the diplomacy, I'll handle the fighting."  Astral walked away from them, and over to Radio.  "What happened to calm and collected?  You almost got yourself, and somepony else, killed."

Radio didn't look at him.  "Astral, I-"

The unicorn held up a hoof to stop him.  "Save it.  If things work out, you'll have saved what's left of this planet.  If they don't, they're no worse off.  Just think about how you get there next time.  I'm not shooting a village elder every time you want to run your mouth off."  Astral sighed quietly.  "And, if anypony gets hurt because of this, I'll drop you back on Furia so fast it'll tear your feathers out.  Understand?"

Radio looked down and nodded.  "Yes, sir," he said quietly, "I understand."

Astral nodded towards the shuttle.  "Go on, get your gear."

The Pegasus slunk off like a burned Shar Cat, not saying a word as he headed for the shuttle.  

Astral shook his head and surveyed the crowd.  Even after everything that happened, they just watched quietly.  It was like they didn't care that they almost lost the leader of their village.  He did say that they were all dying.  Maybe they didn't care about anything anymore.

"Hello?"

Astral looked behind him.  "Who said that?"  There was nopony around except for Twilight and the elder.  It was a quiet voice, it can't have come from very far away.

"Hello?  Down here." It was a mare's voice, coming from his communicator.  Astral lifted his hoof to look at it.  "If you can hear me, walk away from the others."  Astral put his hoof down and glanced back at Twilight.  "If you alert them, I'll disappear, and you'll never find me.  Walk away."

Astral begrudgingly did as he was told, scanning the village as he walked.  "You're watching me.  Are you in the crowd?"

"I think you already know that I'm not."

"Who are you?"  Astral saw some movement near what seemed to be a bell tower.  Playing it cool, he continued scanning as if he hadn't seen anything, and slowly started to change directions.  "Why are you contacting me?"

"You spoke with the elder, you know who I am.  And I should warn you, Old Mare Maroony keeps geese in that old bell tower.  They aren't friendly."

"You saw that, huh?"  Where was she watching from?  "So, you're the witch of the lake?  What's your name?  And, if you were listening in, why didn't you contact one of the others?  Tekrin seems convinced that he can get me to kill you."

"I know you don't want to.  Just like I know you didn't want to hurt him, even after what he did to you."

"You mean, after what he did to my crewmate?"

"No, after what he did to you, Astral Plane, last time you came to this planet."

Astral lifted his hoof and spoke directly into the communicator.  "Who is this?  Do I know you?"

"No," the voice answered.  "We have never met.  But I recognized you, even though Tekrin didn't.  You were the colt who refused to destroy his father's ship, and was forced to leave."

"Who is this?" Astral repeated.  "Were you there when they chased me offworld?"

"I was.  I watched what happened from a distance, just like I am now."  There was a short pause.  "I wanted to leave with you, but I was too afraid to face the crowd.  My name is Strawberry.  I need to talk to you."

"Alright, so talk."  Astral looked over at the shuttle.  Radio was coming out, dragging the rest of his medical gear and a few blankets along for the ride.  "If you want, I can go back in the shuttle, and we can talk in private."

"While you use the sensors to track my location?  It won't work.  I'll disable the shuttle if you try."

Astral rolled his eyes.  "You don't bluff small, do you?  Look, I'll buy that you have the knowledge and expertise to break the encryption on a communication device, but that's a little different than hacking an entire ship from a distance."

"I don't have to disable the entire thing."  There was a whirr as the shuttle's steps retracted, and the doors whooshed shut.  "I just have to mimic the signal from the remote entry system."

"Oh, no, no, no.  You did not just-"  Astral ran over to the shuttle and started mashing on the door control.

He was answered by a pleasant, "Access denied," from the main computer.

"You just locked us out of our own shuttle."  Astral kicked the dirty stone of the landing pad.  "Do you do this sort of thing to the villagers?  Huh?"

"Please, I just want to talk to you.  I don't want to cause any trouble, but I have to protect myself.  Just meet me, listen to what I have to say, then...  I don't care what you do after that.  You can turn me in to Tekrin if you want."

"He'll have you strung up from the nearest gate."  Astral shook his head.  "I can't do that."

"Can't do what?" Twilight asked.

Astral jumped and looked over at the alicorn.  "Hey, um, you kinda caught me off guard there.  So...  Are you done speaking with Tekrin?"

Twilight glanced back at the old unicorn.  "You mean the elder?  Yeah, I got him to tell me where they'll be keeping Radio.  I can teleport him out anytime.  But how did you know his name?  He never told you."

"He didn't have to.  I've been here before, remember?"  Astral sighed.  "He wasn't quite so old, but he was still the leader of this village back then.  You should know that he doesn't take kindly to being defied or challenged.  What happened with Radio should demonstrate that.  Teleporting the colt away would end our welcome pretty quick.  We’ll save it as a last resort, but we're on pretty thin ice as it is.  We do it, and we may not be able to search for your friend."

"Radio's safety comes first.  I can search alone if I have to, there aren't enough unicorns here to stop me."  She looked down.  "But, I wouldn't know where to start."

"Records," Astral mused.  "One thing I remember is that they are, or at least were, meticulous about keeping records, especially when it came to interaction with the rest of the galaxy.  You can see if anypony here cared to maintain those records."

Twilight nodded to herself.  " Alright, I'll do that.  But, you were saying you couldn't do something?  Do you need some help?"

"Oh, that."  Astral pointed at the shuttle door with a smirk.  "I can't teleport inside," he lied.  Half-lied, he reasoned to himself.  It was true he couldn't teleport in, but that wasn't what he was talking about.  "Too bad, huh?  Looks like the door closes itself if you leave it open too long.  Some sort of security feature, I guess."

"I'll teleport in and unlock it for you," Twilight offered.

The grey unicorn held up a hoof.  "Nah, I'm good.  I didn't really need in.  But you should probably grab the key, or remote, or whatever."  He pointed over his shoulder.  "I'm going to go look around a bit, see if anypony I knew survived."

"Ok, be careful."  Twilight flashed from outside the shuttle, to standing inside, stumbling for just a moment from forgetting about the difference in angle.

The remote should be in the front, if she recalled correctly.  She headed up, and checked the storage unit under the control panel.  In an aircar, it would be the glove compartment, but she wasn't sure if it would have a name on a spaceship.  Inside, she found two remotes, several items that weren't of much use at the moment, and the stunner that Mac used on Astral back on the space station.  She took the remotes and the stunner and stuffed them in a pocket, displacing two of the speedloaders.  She put those in the compartment and closed it up.  Then, she headed back towards the hatch.

Out one of the windows, she saw Astral speaking into his communicator.  The alicorn held hers up, inspecting the display.  There was nothing to indicate that it was muted or anything like that, so who was he talking to?  Radio?  Twilight crept forward, inching towards the hatch.  She kept herself below the windows, and leaned her ear against the door.

"Once you get there, head north, into the alley behind the farrier's place."

Who was that?  It was a mare's voice, but Twilight didn't recognize it.

"And you'll be there?"

Astral was going to meet her?  Why?  And, who on Sevus would have a communicator anyway?

"I might."

Wait a minute.  The elder mentioned that the witch of the lake used technology.

"I'm getting pretty tired of these games.  I'll go, but you better be there."

Twilight didn't hear anything after that, so she peeked out of the nearest window.  Astral was walking away, as the crowd slowly dispersed.  She seemed to remember that the elder mentioned one more thing about the witch of the lake, something that didn't quite make sense at the time.  "Computer, how was the door locked?"

"The entrance hatch was locked via security remote."

Twilight took one of the remotes out of her pocket.  It wasn't locked with one of these, that's for sure.  If it was, then the pony that did it would still be in here, unless it was a unicorn that could teleport out.  If it was an earth pony, like Tekrin said the witch of the lake was, then the door was locked from outside.  With a security remote, even though both remotes were accounted for.

Twilight dropped both remotes, the stunner, and even her communicator.  She then teleported out of the shuttle, rather than operate the door.  She reappeared in the shadow of what seemed to be a rundown old chicken hut.  The stench of rotting flesh, and the feathered carcasses on the ground told her that ponies weren't the only ones being affected by whatever was going on.

She grit her teeth and set out after Astral, sticking to the back alleys and hidden pathways.  This witch of the lake may be able to control technology, but she was about to get a crash course in magic.
> Bleary-Eyed and Bushy-Tailed
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------

	Bleary-eyed and sluggish, Ribbon looked up and yawned as the office-slash-closet door opened.  She didn't sleep very well after Mezzo's visit last night, and the patient that started walking into the office confirmed that she did indeed look like crap.

"I feel like crap too," she mumbled.

The patient, some pegasus she had never seen before, backed up and out of the office.  With a sigh, she realized that even if he didn't know her, he knew of her.  On a station this size, there were probably very few ponies that didn't know about her.

"So, um," the stallion cleared his throat, "I was supposed to pick up some prescription paperwork, but I'm late...  for a thing... have it sent to me, please, bye."

He closed the door and, by the sound of hooves, ran away rather quickly, leaving Ribbon alone to sigh again.  That was the worst excuse she had heard in a while.  Most ponies at least try to inject some semblance of truth into their lies when dealing with her, thinking it will make it harder for her to notice.  The problem is, thinking about it makes it that much easier to notice.

She would rather be told, to her face, that they are uncomfortable around her.  What's wrong with being even a little honest that something creeps you out?  Why not say you want it to stay as far away from you as possible?

It was a very short list of ponies who were able to be that honest with her.  Most of them didn't have an issue with her powers, and her family made up half of them.  Then, there was Growl, who flat out told her that she wasn't going to be trusted until she earned it, and  James, who found her abilities fascinating from day one and took to trying to understand her as a personal challenge.

That only left Mezzo.  She still didn't understand his reaction the other day.  She spent most of a sleepless night sorting through her memories of the encounter, and was no closer to understanding it than she was when it happened.  Not only did he not lie to her, the only anger she felt was directed inward, at himself.  It was the polar opposite of most of her encounters.  And what about the sadness on his face?

She laid her head on the desk.  Just thinking about it was wearing her out, and she still had several hours left to her shift.  "Stupid powers," she muttered.  Why couldn't she have just been a normal unicorn?  Life would be so much easier if her thoughts were the only ones going through her head.

"No!"  She lifted her head and smacked the desktop.  "I am not going to think like that!  I can't change this, so I just have to make the best of it!"  She sighed and slumped back to the desk, her sudden burst of motivation already waning.  "Still, it would be nice to be able to just talk to somepony, to have to wait for a response, to have to trust that they're telling you the truth."

She rolled over and stared at the ceiling.  She could kind of do that already, but it meant talking through a shield, like here or in her room.  If only there was a way to carry a small shield around with her.

She blinked.

Maybe there was a way.

She sat up quickly.  She then scrambled over to the computer, tapping the monitor to bring it out of sleep mode.  Her holographic editing program greeted her with the file she had been working on during the day's lull.

"Ah, shoot!"  She slapped herself in the face.  She forgot about sending the thing she did for Astral.  She made sure that the file was properly saved and logged in to the Interplanetary mail system.  She would finish off Astral's request, then start on her research.

She sighed as she started exporting holofiles.  The message icon on the bottom of the screen had just lit up.  With the way today was going, it could only be bad news.  She ignored it until she finished exporting her holoimages.  When she finally tapped the little envelope icon, a simple message came up.  It was plain text only, two sentences.

"From Dad, Radio,

It finally happened, we're free.  See you soon.

Love,
Us.                                 "







Out in the hospital's main bay, Growl rolled her eyes.  Her human patient had a dislocated shoulder, and was insisting on waiting for the painkillers to take effect.  Worse than that, a constant stream of complaints accompanied his groaning and whining.  If he would just knuckle down for all of two seconds, his discomfort would be over, and she could return to her other duties.

A scream echoed through the medical bay, the high-pitched siren of a squealing filly, startling everyone, including Growl.   The stoic head nurse was the first to recover though, and with her whiny patient distracted, she moved to take advantage of the distraction.

It wasn't long before a second scream ripped through the hospital.
> Singing to the Choir
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------

	"Do-Re-Mi-Fa-So-La-Ti-Dooo-Ti-La-So-Fa-Mi-Re-Do.  Do-Do-Ti-Do."

Octavia clapped and smiled as Minuette sang through her major scales.  The dust and charcoal colored filly was so energetic now that she had her voice back, her mother was a little worried that she might overdo it.  It would be terrible for her to lose her voice again.  "Ok, Minuette, just a few more, then we'll take a break.  Can you sing a triad?"

The filly spun around and struck a pose.  "Do-Mi-So-So-Mi-Do."

Octavia chimed in with a higher group of notes.  "Fa-La-Do-Do-La-Fa."

A lower group of notes sang forth from the door, at least an octave below either grey pony's voice.  "So-Ti-Re-Re-Ti-So."

Octavia and Minuette replied in unison.  "Do-Mi-So-Do!"

Mother and daughter both giggled.  Minuette happily ran to greet the newcomer, while Octavia opted to remain on the couch and call out.  "Welcome home, Mezzo.  You're really late, did something happen at work?"

"Yeah, you could say that."  The colt lowered his head, letting Minuette clamber up onto his back.  Then, he walked into the living room where his Aunt waited, setting his necklace on a small table near the door.  He would put it in his room later.z

Their quarters were a bit larger than average, since it was a family dwelling.  The main room was the semicircular living room with two couches, connecting to the station corridors via a small foyer.  Along the flat side of the living room,  A kitchen and a small studio connected through large open doorways.  In addition to these rooms, there were four bedrooms and a utility closet.  Two of the bedrooms connected to the living room, Mezzo's and Minuette's, one on either side of the room.  The other two, Octavia's and Vinyl's, connected to the studio.  The utility closet was in the kitchen, mostly hidden behind a pantry, making it a pain to move things in or out of it.

Mezzo sat down on the couch, opposite Octavia.  He shook off his little sister, letting her sit in his lap after dislodging her from his mane.  "I came back earlier, but you guys weren't here.  I ended up going back out."

Octavia nodded.  "I found the carrots.  I'll cook them up tomorrow."  She waved towards Minuette.  "I'll let her tell you what happened to us.  Minuette?  Why don't you tell your brother what you learned today?"

The grey filly tapped her hooves together and looked up sheepishly.  "I learned that it's not good to eat things that I don't know are safe."

Octavia crossed her hooves and leaned against the arm of the couch.  "And, how do you know if something is safe?"

"If mommy or Mitso or Aunt Scratch give it to me," the filly recited, "or if they say it's ok."  She looked up at her brother, and motioned for him to lower his head.  He did so, and she grabbed his ear, whispering into it, "I ate mommy's music plant."

"The music plant?" He asked in concern.  "It wasn't poisonous, was it?"

Octavia shook her head.  "It made her lose her voice, but that was all.  As you can tell, she already has it back.  But, I gave the plant to Growl for safe keeping anyway."

Minuette happily tugged on her brother's mane, pulling his attention back to her.  "Hey, a nice lady helped me when I couldn't talk.  But I didn't get to say thank you.  What should I do, Mitso?"

Mezzo scratched his chin in exaggerated thoughtfulness.  "Well, let me think.  Do you know her name?  That seems like a good place to start."

Minuette nodded rapidly.  "Her name is Ribbon, and she's really pretty.  Her mane is even more colorful than yours, it has all the colors of the rainbow.  Her tail does too."

The colt stiffened.  "Why don't you write her a thank you note?  She's a nurse, so you can have it delivered to medical.  I'm sure somepony would make sure she got it."

"That's a great idea," Octavia added.  "Why don't you go write it now?  Your crayons are still in your room, you could draw a picture to go with it."

"Ok!"  The filly hopped down to the floor, giving her brother one last look.  "Mitso, you have to deliver it, ok?"

He sighed.  "We'll see, ok?  I'll make sure it gets there though."

"Thank you, Mitso!"  Minuette ran off to her room, closing the door behind her.

Octavia straightened up and moved a little closer to the colt.  "Mezzo, what was that?"

He looked over at her.  "What do you mean?"

"I saw the way you reacted when she mentioned Ribbon.  And, she never said that she was a nurse."  She got off the the couch and nodded towards the kitchen.  "Let's go sit at the table.  I started some tea earlier, it should be ready."

"Yeah, that sounds good."  He rolled off the couch and followed her into the kitchen.  He sat down at the square table at the far end while Octavia tended to a teapot on the stove.  She added the finishing touches to the tea, and he busied himself with retrieving mugs from the cabinet.  He picked out two of them, and floated them over to the table.

Octavia watched the mugs float past her with a smile.  "This is a pleasant surprise."  She stirred a little bit of honey into the tea, then carried it over to the table, setting it directly on the polished, if slightly scratched, aluminum surface.  "When did you learn how to manipulate multiple objects?"

"A few days ago."  Mezzo shrugged.  "It's really convenient, but I can still only move two things at a time."

Octavia poured some tea in each mug.  "I'm sure Vinyl will be happy to hear it.  Has your fine detail control improved any?"

Mezzo nodded and sniffed at the tea.  "A little.  I was able to bend some tiny metal tabs down using magic.  One of them is a bit crooked, but the rest came out ok."

Octavia took a sip of her tea, pulling back when she found it far too hot.  She set the mug down.  "You'll have to show me.  I bet you can't even tell, and you're just being too critical of your own work again."  She gestured to her cup.  "Any chance you made progress on the temperature spell?"

Mezzo shook his head.  "I just can't seem to get that one.  Let me get you some ice though."

Octavia watched as he reached across the kitchen with his magic.  As he retrieved ice cubes from the freezer, two at a time, she asked, "So, how do you know Ribbon?"

The ice clattered to the floor, breaking apart.  Mezzo winced and started picking up the pieces.  "Sorry, just give me a moment."  Once the last piece of ice was moved from the floor to the sink, he got two fresh cubes from the freezer.  He stuck one in each of their cups, then shut the freezer.

Octavia swirled her tea around, watching as the ice quickly melted away.  "I'll ask again, how do you know Ribbon?"

Mezzo sighed and rested his head on the table.  "I ran into her when I was leaving work.  She picked up something I dropped, so I looked her up on the public records so I could go get it back."

The grey mare took a sip of her tea.  It was a much more manageable temperature now.  "That has to be the most concise explanation I've ever heard from you.  But you still have a ways to go, your mother has practically mastered the art of unnaturally short answers.  She probably would have said, 'Y'know, we met and stuff.'  Naturally, I would push her for more information if she gave me an answer like that.  I won't do that to you, but I am here if you want to talk about it."

"Yeah."  Mezzo smiled for a moment, thinking about how laid back his mother could be about things.  Others might mistake it for being aloof and distracted, but he knew it was just her keeping her cool, analyzing the situation, then calmy choosing what action to take.  He always wished he had inherited that part of her, that ability to just sit back and watch things happen.  Bringing himself back to the present, the colt pushed his mane back and held it there.  He wasn't calm like his mother, or his aunt, but he wasn't the type to leave his mistakes untouched.  "I think I need to apologize to her."

Octavia slowly sipped at her tea.  She needed to as well, but she would take care of that on her own.  "What happened?"

Mezzo buried his head under his hooves.  He could see the look on Ribbon's face when they parted ways.  The look of shock when he said it.  "I told her to stay away from me."

"Fair enough."  Octavia could understand that, and felt the same way.  But if Growl was so convinced that Ribbon was a good girl, she had to deserve a chance.  "Do you want her to stay away from you?"

With a groan, the colt sat straight up, back against the chair, eyes closed but pointed at the ceiling.  "I don't know."

Octavia smiled knowingly.  She wasn't a telepath, but it didn't take one to read this colt sometimes.  He wasn't good at sitting still, especially when something was bothering him.    Also, this was the first time she had ever seen him this worked up over meeting a filly.  Telepath or not.  "Do you think she's cute?"

Mezzo sighed, slumping over to stare at his tea.  The ice cube was almost completely melted, leaving only a thin shell of its former shape.  "Yes."

His aunt hid her smile behind her mug.  She was expecting an odd look, not an honest answer.  "You always did have a thing for bright colors.  The sky, especially, given how seldom you were able to see it.  Did you tell her that she was cute?  Or, did she, you know... sense it?"

Another sigh, and Mezzo grabbed his tea and chugged it.  He all but slammed the mug down after draining it, and wiped his mouth with a hoof.  "Apparently, I thought it loud enough to drown out my name."

Octavia refilled his mug.  The more she thought about it, the rougher telepathy seemed, for both parties involved.  One side had to deal with thoughts being taken away, and the other had those thoughts forced on themselves, both against their will. "And how did she react?"

Mezzo poked at the mug, rotating it by the handle.  "She locked herself in a closet and started screaming."  After a moment, he clarified, "Not like she was scared or anything.  It was more like...  Remember when you gave Minuette her first bowtie, for her birthday?  She was so happy that couldn't keep it in."

"I remember."  Octavia laughed.  Comparing the telepath to her own daughter, how unfair can you get?  She already felt bad about losing her temper, she didn't need it to be rubbed in that she yelled at a defenseless young filly.  "I wish I would have had a holocam then.  So, how do you go from that, to telling her to stay away from you?"

"It's complicated."  The colt put two more ice cubes in his tea.  He then mimicked Octavia's swirling action with the mug.  "You know that necklace I was working on?  The one I was making out of my limiter?"

Octavia nodded.  He only spent the last year or so working on it.  "I remember it.  That is the same one you mentioned earlier, right?  Did you finish it?"

"Yeah, and, I did."  He scratched at his mane.  "But I dropped it, and Ribbon found it.  She said it was linked to me, and that touching it let her experience my life for a few seconds."

Octavia cradled her half-emptied mug.  Her own reaction to Ribbon's powers came to mind, and she could only wonder how he reacted.  "Is that why you asked her to stay away from you?"

Mezzo winced.  "No.  I think it seemed that way, but..."  He felt his side with a hoof, tracing his own scar, much like Ribbon had.  "Something she said brought up a bad memory.  Things kind of got crazy after that.  I- I think she felt it."

"The burn on your side?"  Octavia put the mug down.  "You've never even told me, or Vinyl, the full story behind that, and Ribbon sensed it from a memory?"

Mezzo shook his head slowly.  "No, I don't think she knows the story.  I think she felt it, the burn, and the pain I remember every time I think about..."  He shook his head, stopping himself.  "I don't want my memories hurting others."

"She is a telepath," Octavia noted, recalling a face in tears after being yelled at.  "And more than that, she seems like a sensitive mare.  You think she was hurt by your memory?"

Mezzo nodded.  "I'm pretty sure she was.  But, I didn't want to remember it either."

Octavia leaned forward to take Mezzo's hoof.  "None of us want to remember Tankra, but we should never forget what happened to us.  What did she say that brought it up?"

"She..."  The colt hesitated.  "She said that ponies hated her for existing."

"That would do it."  The grey mare patted Mezzo's hoof.  "I bet any of the others would have reacted in a similar way."

Mezzo sighed quietly.  "Would they feel like crap about it?"

"I know I would."  Octavia pulled her hoof back.  She did feel like crap about it, her own reaction, that is.  How could she not?  That nurse helped her daughter and was berated until she broke down for it.  A simple apology wouldn't cut it.  "So, what are you going to do?"

"I dunno," he mumbled.  He downed the second mug of tea and sighed.  "I'll apologize somehow.  But I'm not going to go near her.  It's better for both of us that way."  He stood up and moved his empty mug to the sink.  "I'm going to see how Minuette's doing with her note."

As he walked away, Octavia whispered to herself, "Is it better?"  She took another sip of her tea.  "I'm not so sure."


> Over the Gun
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------

	Elder Tekrin walked slowly through the courtyard, weighed down by the saddlebags on his back.  The bags were nearly empty, and their physical weight wasn't much, even to his old frame.  But still, they seemed to drag him down.

He had known for years that their blacksmith had been reluctant to join them.  Even after witnessing the destruction of his world, Serus, he had been reluctant to give up the supposed protections of shields, lasers, and all the other weapons that had failed to keep his world safe.  Yet, he had joined them.  He destroyed his ship, gave up on technology, and settled down to a simpler life working a coal-fired forge.

Until the illness took him less than a month ago.  While somepony had taken over the smithy, his house had been untouched except for a distant family member who came to salvage what little food he had.  It stayed that way until today, when Tekrin himself had visited, and like a common looter, ransacked it.  It was not without purpose, and it was not out of disrespect, but necessity does little to ease the conscience.

Tekrin shifted the saddlebags uncomfortably.  He had held out hope that he wouldn't find them, the phased pulse pistols that the blacksmith kept hidden.  But, many in the settlement kept some memento of their pasts, usually a useless shell of some machine that has been repurposed.  Not the blacksmith though.  The chief engineer from some warship, he would never let anything fall into disrepair, not a gate, not a plow, and not his weapons.

He still held out hope that they would remain unused, but if the outsiders refused to deal with the witch of the lake, he would.  That grey outsider would most likely kill him for it, but he could accept that.  Every time she came to the village, death followed.  Other times, she merely left warnings, taunting notes of disasters none could prevent.  The witch not only killed, she tortured, leaving her victims in fear.  If he could save even a few of the villagers, his life was fair price to pay.  With the rest of his family gone, there was little chance of him being missed.

No, his family wasn't gone, not yet.  He looked up from the ground he tread to the buildings of the village.  The healer's cottage wasn't far.  He should go there, say goodbye.

He headed for the only building in town with a metal roof.  It was hard to miss, and that was by design.  It had been his daughter's idea to replace the thatched roof with a salvaged panel from one of Serus' ships.  Even to an outsider, that building would stand out.

He walked through the wooden door.  The rest of the building was made from materials harvested and crafted by hoof on Sevus.  Rough wood, rough fabric, and rough times.  The worst patients were brought here, laid out on tables as if they would actually receive help, then left to die alone.  The main floor was filled with tables, only a few of which were empty; the three nearest the door, their former occupants buried just that morning, and two others whose occupants must have expired since he visited last.

Tekrin moved from table to table, looking for his daughter.  Each table he passed brought pain and memories as he recognized the pony laying there.  The local baker, the blacksmith's apprentice, even the colt who helped him keep the paperwork in order.  The filly who helped Marooney with her fowl, the twins who grew peppers out past the river, the mare who started the orphanage, and several farmers he knew.

He made it to the last table, near the stairs to the second level, without finding his daughter.  She must be on the second floor.  There was a workspace up there, and storage for medicinal plants.  If that outsider colt was focusing on his efforts on her, then she's probably on a table up there.

The heavy, well-made treads made no sound as he started up.  If nothing else, the village would remain standing for decades to come.  When he reached the top, he saw the outsider standing over a prone figure covered with a sheet.  It was a young colt, maybe six or seven... No, six and a half.  It was the farrier's boy, Silver-Mane.  Like his name suggested, the yellow-furred colt had a silvery grey mane.  It wasn't the most imaginative name, but it was one the little colt was proud of.

The outsider pulled the sheet back.  On the young patient's chest, there was a square patch that was shorn to the skin.  The outsider moved to a nearby table, where his bags, and all his medical supplies were laid out.  He picked up a bottle, an amber glass apothecary jar, filled with blood red fluid.

Tekrin watched quietly from the stairs as Radio poured the fluid over a gauze pad in a tray.  He then brought the tray over to Silver-mane, and with a pair of tweezers gripped in his wingtips, swabbed the colt's chest with the gauze until the entire area was stained rust colored and sticky.

"Father?"

Radio looked over at the stairwell when he heard the voice from the first floor.  He smirked when he saw Tekrin standing there.  "Here to check on me?"

The elder looked back at the bottom of the stairs.  "Sparrow?"  His daughter stood there, carrying a bucket along in her magic.  "You... you got better."  He moved to head down to her, but she held up her hoof to stop him.

The mare walked up to him, pausing on each step.  She was breathing heavy, but she was breathing clear.  The wheezing that accompanied her every breath for months was gone.  "Father, it's working.  He's already healed another, the dyemaker.  And the farrier's son will be better soon."

Tekrin ran his hoof through his daughter's mane.  "How?"  He let his hoof fall, brushing against her side, over the bald patch there.  He looked back at Radio.  "How?"

The young physician nodded towards Silver-Mane as he deposited his tray on the table.  "By draining the fluid that accumulates in the lungs.  You can watch if you want.  I need to show somepony else how to do this anyway."  He picked up a plastic and foil pouch and held it out to Sparrow.  "You paid attention to the instructions I gave you when I was working on Bead, right?"

She nodded and took the pouch, setting her bucket down.  "Are you sure I should do this?"

Radio nodded.  "Yes.  I'm going to guide you for this one, but I can't do everything.  I need somepony to help me with the rest of the patients while I work."

"Wait," Tekrin told the Pegasus, "what do you mean by that?  What could you have to work on that is more important than healing the sick?"

"Keeping them that way."  Radio shook his head.  "Look, it's only been what?  Three hours?"  He pointed at Sparrow.  "I drained the fluid from her lungs, but she shouldn't have recovered this quickly.  I scanned her a dozen times, but the respiratory problems are the only thing I can find.  I don't know what's causing them."

"What does that mean?"  Tekrin glanced at his daughter and the colt on the table.  "You can't heal them?"

"I don't know!"  Radio groaned.  "I need to isolate a cause.  All I can do now is treat the worst patients as they come in.  And if I can't find out what's causing this, they'll just keep coming back."

"But you can treat the symptoms."  Tekrin reached out for his daughter, just to touch her, remind himself she was still there.  "You have been treating the symptoms."

Radio nodded.  "And I'll make sure they keep getting treated.  But, I'm running out of needles.  I have to set up the equipment to make more, but I need materials; Iron, steel, aluminum, just a little, and recyclable thermoplastics.  Ugh, but you probably don't have any plastic at all."

Tekrin looked down.  Plastic?  "Polynacrilene?"

"Yes!"  Radio snatched a laminated piece of paper off the table.  "Here."  He offered it to Tekrin.  "Anything on this list.  Where is the Nacrilene?  What form is it in?"

"A large tarp.  We used it as a roof for our temporary shelters, and put it in storage instead of burning it."  The elder took his saddlebags off.  "We have many such items.  Remnants of our past that couldn't be safely or easily disposed of.  I will bring them."  He nudged his bag forward.  "For the metal, begin with these.  It may be best if they were out of my hooves."

Radio opened the bag.  "Oh..."  By the time he looked up, the elder was already halfway down the stairs.  The pegasus gathered up the bag and lifted it towards the stairs like he was raising a toast.  "I'll get started then."  He set the bag down near the supply table and moved back to Silver-Mane's side.  "Come on, Sparrow, the anesthetic should have kicked in by now."





"This is it!"  Astral screamed into his communicator.  "I have fallen in mud, I have been chased by rock bees, and I have had enough of this ridiculous game of hide and seek."

"I'm sorry," the voice responded, "but I have to protect myself."

Astral scoffed and looked up at the canyon walls around him.  It was more of a ravine, really.  Craggy rock walls, three meters high and just less than that apart, stretching for a hundred meters in either direction.  "From what?!  If anypony was following me, don't you think you'd be able to see them?  In this wasteland, you'd see them from miles away."

Up above, carrion birds circled the ravine, little more than muddy brown pinpricks at their current height.  Astral snorted.  Tough luck, but he wasn't going to be on the menu to-  He squinted at them.  One of them was a little larger than the others, and a slightly different color.

"What do you see?"

Astral quickly looked down the ravine in either direction.  "Where are you watching me from?"  He saw a glint of light behind him and ran for it.

"What did you see?"

Astral found a glass bottle twenty meters behind him.  "Nothing."  He sighed and tipped the bottle over.  "I was just wondering why the buzzards aren't affected by what's going on.  Everything else is dying, but they seem to be doing well."

"Um... they're carrion birds, that's kind of how it works."

Astral rolled his eyes.  "I meant that whatever's killing the plants and animals on this planet should be affecting them as well.  Especially if they ingest the tainted animals."

"I'll explain soon, just keep following the ravine."

"Yeah, how did I know you were you going to say that?"  The unicorn glanced back up before turning around.  As he started walking again, he smiled to himself.  That purple mare sure was a clever one.





Radio yawned and laid his head on the table, pushing tools and instruments out of the way.  Six hours, that's how long it had been since they landed.  It felt more like sixteen.  Shortly after draining the mystery fluid from the last patient's lungs, more ponies started trickling in.  Rumors were spreading of the new healer in town, and every cut, burn, and broken bone was making its way to him.

The loss of their healer hurt the community greatly.  Even worse, both of healer's apprentices had died, leaving the entire community with nothing beyond basic first aid.  Some of the broken bones he saw were improperly set, and had to be broken again before proper setting and casting.  There also several injuries that needed stitches, potent antibiotics, or both.  At this rate, he was going to run out of medical supplies before nightfall, whenever that is.

He stood up and stretched out, giving his wings a few flaps to keep them from falling asleep.  One of the candles keeping the small room lit blew out in the sudden breeze.  The Pegasus picked up a laser scalpel and set it to cauterize.  He then direct it its beam at the candle wick.  The flame was back within seconds.

Returning light to the room made Radio realize that he never really looked at it.  He was so focused on his work that he didn't pay attention to where he was working, aside from sterilizing any surface he worked on.

He looked around now, now that things had slowed down.  The worst of the sick and injured were treated and resting comfortably, but it wouldn't be long before somepony else came forward, either with some malady they believed to be minor until the infection set in, or after collapsing from the respiratory problems plaguing them all.

They would be brought here and treated in this room, this old, weathered, wood-plank room.  Looking at the floor, Radio could see a little of the first floor through gaps in the floorboards.  It was a sturdy floor, made of thick planks, and was in no danger of collapsing, or even flexing under the weight of anypony that might come up here.  But, still, Radio pledged not to drop anything, for the sake of anypony that might be underneath.  The walls were nothing like the floor.  Pitched, sealed, and painted with some sort of natural dye, they were specifically made not to allow drafts.  The windows were the same way, tightly shuttered against the outside world.

Radio opened a window, letting sunlight bathe the room's interior.  He was greeted with a view of damaged thatched rooftops and dusty grey streets.

There was a bookshelf near the window, stacked high with magic tomes and medical texts.  Most were in standard, but there were a few in other languages as well.  The top shelf held only a few books, but they were hoof bound, probably written by the healer.  Records, notes, maybe even information about local medicinal plants; whatever they are, they may be of some use.

The wall across from the window was dedicated to storage.  There were many shelves, all covered with wooden boxes, and jars of clay and glass.  Between the shelves, there was a chest of drawers.  Each drawer was perfectly square, only a few centimeters across, with a small etched tag and a handle made of brass.  Radio didn't recognize half of the names on the tags, but the other half were things like gauze, scalpels, and tweezers.  Given how quickly his own supplies were waning, he would probably have to dip into those soon.

"Healer?"

"Yes?"  Radio answered.  He looked towards the stairs where another pony had found their way to him, a yellow filly of about twelve.  She carried a picnic basket, complete with a red checker cloth, and her orange hair was done up with bows, ribbons, and what few varieties of flower still bloomed.  She also seemed to be in good health, at least compared to the others who had visited him.  "What's the problem?"

"Oh, no problems, healer."  She set the basket down and curtsied, making Radio smile.  It seemed that a lot of ponies were acting more formal around him than they needed to.  "I just wanted to thank you."  She nudged the basket forward.  "And deliver this."

Radio lifted the cloth from the basket.  It was full of plates and bowls, all empty, and all plastic.  "For the recycler?  Thanks."  Radio chuckled.  "This will help a lot.  But, I don't remember you.  What were you treated for?"

She shook her head.  "Nothing, healer.  You treated my little brother, Silver-Mane."

"Oh, right."  The Pegasus nodded.  "I remember him."  He was one of the worst patients.  According to Sparrow, the colt had reached the coughing blood stage of the illness two days earlier.  He had held on longer than expected, but it left him weaker than the others once he was treated.  "How is he?"

"Better," the filly said with a shrug, "but he is still sleeping.  Are you sure he is healed?  The others you treated are all walking around and working again."

"Working?"  Radio sighed.  They weren't supposed to working.  They should be resting, letting their lungs recover.  "Well, your brother was sick longer than most of the others, he may need some extra time."  The filly didn't look too reassured by that, so he added, "But, if he's not up and about by morning, let me know, and I'll come check him out, ok?"

She nodded slowly.  "Ok.  Thank you, healer."

The Pegasus shrugged.  "It's nothing.  And call me Radio."

The filly tilted her head to the side.  "Why?"

Radio blinked at her in confusion.  "Um... because that's my name."

"Oh."  She nodded thoughtfully.  "That's a weird name.  Does it mean anything?"

Radio laughed.  For a moment, he had forgotten that these ponies rejected most technology.  This filly probably didn't know what a radio was.  "A radio is a device that allows you to send music or voices over long distances.  With one, you can listen to music that somepony is playing somewhere else, or listen to somepony talk from halfway around a planet."

"Oh," she said, sounding rather bored.  "So it's like a subspace communicator?"

"Uh... yeah."  Radio scratched his mane.  He was really trying to make it sound cool.  "How do you know about subspace communicators?  I thought you didn't use technology."

She shrugged.  "We still learn about machines and stuff, even if we don't use them.  And we have a subspace communicator, but there's something wrong with it.  It's been broken since before I was born, and even the blacksmith couldn't fix it."

"Really?"  Radio made a mental note to ask Tekrin about it.  "Well, thanks again for the plastic, I'll start recycling it right away.  You should go keep an eye on your brother, make sure he doesn't get too warm, alright?"

She nodded quickly.  "Yes, healer."  Then ran down the stairs, spouting a quick, "excuse me!" as she narrowly avoided bumping into somepony on the way down.

Sparrow walked into the space the filly left, looking back down the stairs with a sad smile.  "She is happy to have her brother back.  If only you had come a month earlier, she might still have her father."  She shook her head.  "Wish not for what cannot be done," the mare said to herself with a sigh.  She then lifted two covered stoneware bowls with her magic.  "You must be hungry, saving a planet is hard work."

"I'm not saving anything if I can't figure out what's causing the sickness."  Radio started clearing space on the work table, transferring trays and tools to the operating table.  "But, I am pretty hungry.  Just, don't get me wrong, I'm sure whatever you made is great, but I would be a little more comfortable sticking to the food I brought with me.  At least for now."

"I understand."  She set the bowls down and helped move tools.  She stuck to trays, gauze, and other analog devices, leaving the tech, like the laser scalpel, to Radio.  "You can scan it then.  If you can rule out food as the cause, you will have one less thing to scan later."

"Not really."  Having cleared off a good half of the table, Radio sat down, motioning for Sparrow to join him.  The only things left on the table were the two recyclers, their materials, and their power pack.  They worked quietly, hoppers loaded with broken up materials, metals in one, plastics in the other.  They cycled through a basic surgery kit, printing out two scalpels, two syringes, a pair of forceps, and a plastic tray every hour.  The only modification he had made to the program was to increase the size of one of the syringes.  When he had first set them up, he had set them to only make oversized syringes.  Even getting one every ten minutes, it had barely been enough.  "I'm going to have to scan every type of food in the village."

"That will not take long.  Our crops no longer have the variety the once had."  She opened the bowls, revealing two identical salads.  The forks were hidden inside.  "I was able to scrape up enough fresh vegetables somehow.  Normally, we only get a little lettuce with dried grains, or a carrot if we're lucky.  But things are already changing.  Many of those you have treated have already returned to the fields and found crops that survived their absence."

"AMA," Radio muttered.

"Hmm?"

The Pegasus sighed.  "It means, 'against medical advice.'  They should be resting."

Sparrow shook her head.  "How can they rest?  They have hope now, hope that they and their families will survive.  If I was not helping you, I would join them.  There is much to do, to rebuild."

Radio dug a bulging, brown foil pouch out of his bag, a Turian Military-Issue ration.  "It's going to be hard to rebuild anything with permanent lung damage."  He tore it open and dumped the smaller pouches inside onto the table.  "Just hours ago, they were dying.  They can spare a day to rest."

"I am sure they will pace themselves."  Sparrow started digging around in her salad.  "As you said, they were dying.  They wish to live again as soon as possible."  She found a small tomato, and ate that first.  Then, she pointed to a few odds and ends near the recyclers.  "What are these metal things?"

Radio poked a pile of little metal parts with a wingtip.  "This is what's left of one of those energy weapons the elder brought me.  Unfortunately, it's some sort of zinc alloy, and completely useless for recycling.  I didn't disassemble the other one yet."

"I see.  I suppose that's it?"  She pointed to the pistol.  "Make sure you lock it up when foals are around.  Anyway, while I was out, I overheard some villagers speaking about coming to you before they develop the blood cough.  Would that be wise?  Some of them are quite ill."

Radio sighed.  "I don't know.  I could drain the fluid from their lungs, but I don't want to poke any more holes in ponies than completely necessary.  If I can find the cause of this soon, they may not need such a drastic treatment."

"I will tell them to wait then."  She picked through, found a small, shriveled strawberry, and ate it with a smile.  Then she picked up one of Radio's pouches.  "Is this really food?"  She felt the hard lumpy thing vacuum packed in the pouch and lightly whacked it against the table, laughing at the solid thumping it made.  "It seems a little over-cooked."

Radio laughed and took the pouch, turning it over to look at the label.  "As a matter of fact, these are chocolate chip cookies.  Don't knock 'em till you've tried 'em.  I grew up on food like this."

"If you say so, Hunter."  Sparrow went back to her salad.  She had a forkful of lettuce halfway to her mouth before she realized her slip.  She lowered her fork.  "I apologize, Radio.  I did not mean to..."

"It's ok."  The Pegasus looked down at the salads.  It was obvious that she had put more work into his than she had her own.  There were no shriveled vegetables, and the lettuce looked crisp and wet, like it was washed.  Hers was dusty and  it looked like she took the leftovers from making his.  He quietly pulled it towards him and reached for a scanner.  "So, um...  I guess I must look like him."

Sparrow shook her head slowly.  "Not at all."  She lifted her fork again, just to drop it in her bowl and push her salad away.  "He wasn't even a Pegasus.  He was a unicorn, like me.  You don't even share any colors, but..."  She reached over with a hesitant hoof, brushing a lock of messy rainbow mane from the colt's face.  "You have the same smile."  Radio didn't say anything as she stroked his mane, what could he say?  Instead, he just focused on scanning the food.  "He would have had his eighteenth birthday in two seasons."

Radio's jaw tightened.  His birthday was in six or seven months.  If Sevus' seasonal cycle was similar to most other inhabited planets, meaning four seasons, at three to four months a season, Hunter was almost exactly the same age as him.

"And, you both focus so much on helping others," Sparrow continued.  "Hunter was the healer's apprentice.  He always volunteered to make deliveries, or go pick herbs outside of the village, and he never complained about the work."

The scanner showed nothing out of the ordinary.  There were no toxins, no viral agents, and acceptable levels of bacteria.  It would have flagged any unidentifiable substance, or set off an alarm for anything that was known to be dangerous.  According to the scans, the food before him was an ordinary salad in every way.

Except, it was a meal made by a mother, for a son that couldn't eat it.  He could understand Sparrow's pain.  He was one side of a coin, and she the other.  If his mother had been the one to return from that ship, would she feel like Sparrow did now?

He could let her pretend for a little while.  In truth, it wouldn't be purely for her benefit.  Mom was never the best cook, but she always loved to make food and get everypony at the table to eat.  He missed those nights, the four of them gathered together, talking and laughing, sometimes watching old movies.

He picked up the fork and took a big bite of the salad, almost gagging as it's taste spread on his tongue.  It was bitter, but at the same time, it was sweet, a coy, elusive sweet that hid itself in the mix.  A familiar sweet.

Radio spit the salad back into the bowl.

"You do not like it?" Sparrow asked, surprised by the sudden action.  "I could make something else."

Radio shook his head.  "No, it's not that.  Stop eating."  He dug in his bag until he found a bottle of rubbing alcohol.  "I bet this is gonna hurt."  He up-ended the bottle.  His eyes bugged out as his mouth started to burn.  He clamped it shut against the pain, and tried to swish and gargle, lasting only a few seconds before forcefully spitting onto the floor.  "Ahhh!"  He coughed.  "I was right.  Eck!"  He kept his mouth open, tongue dangling, and face contorting as the taste of alcohol started to burn away.

"What's wrong?"  Sparrow grabbed his hoof in concern.  "Hunt-"  She shook her head.  "Radio, why did you do that?"

"Sparrow, I-"  Radio coughed violently, pulling his hoof away to cover his mouth.  When the coughing subsided, he sifted through the food pouches on the table.  He tore open one filled with clear liquid, and holding it carefully upright, extended it to the mare.  "Drink this."

She took it gently, by hoof instead of magic.  She looked down at it in worry.  "Why?  What is it?"

"Just," Radio dry coughed, "just drink it."

She brought it to her lips slowly, taking a ginger sip while remembering the colt's reaction to his drink.  She blinked as the pure, crystal fluid washed over her tongue.  It wasn't long after that that she was holding the empty pouch upside down, having greedily drained its contents.  She shook the pouch, freeing one or two more drops for her to swallow.  It took a moment after that for her to remember that she needed to breath."That was wondrous."  She set the pouch on the table, and brushed her mane back.  "Is it some sort of medicine?  It's so clear, and refreshing."

Radio shook his head sadly.  "No."  He looked down at the salad that was unknowingly contaminated by Sparrow's care.  "It's water."

"What?" she grabbed the pouch and read it's label over and over, shaking her head with each pass.  "No," she mumbled in confusion, "that is not possible.  That was not the taste of water."  

He slowly slid his scanner over his salad, then hers.  Again, the scanner showed no indication of anything unknown, or known and dangerous.  Radio bit his lower lip.  He had a hunch now, a hypothesis bordering on certainty, and the scanner would prove it.  He switched it from detection mode to analysis, flipping a little switch on the side.  The colorful, easy to read, graphical interface was replaced by dark grey alphanumeric code and extensive text descriptions, all scrolling by far too fast to make sense of.

In this mode, the scanner was meant to be used in conjunction with another device, usually a data logger or a computer.  It showed all the information the scanner was collecting, basically telling you the chemical composition of everything it scanned, down to the molecular level.  Too much information to be useful on its own.  If you knew what you were looking for though, simple circuits could be rigged to react to specific chemical markers.  The scanner had a built in system for that, and Radio fired it up.  The scrolling text stopped, blinked away, and was replaced with a simple search box and onscreen keyboard.

With a sigh, Radio started typing.  When he confirmed the entered text, the scrolling data came back.  It scrolled and scrolled, until it came across a data entry that matched.

"Glycodexrin," Radio read out, "dissolved in water, seventeen parts per million.  Damn it," he said quietly.  He tossed the scanner lightly, letting its military casing bounce harmlessly against the table.  "The entire water table's probably contaminated."  He grabbed at his communicator, pressing the blue button.  How slowly did this happen?  How long did it take for the village to become used to the taste of poison in the well?  "Astral?  Twi?  You guys there?"

A buzzing sound played from the device.  Radio thought it was a malfunction until Astral started shouting angrily.  "Yeah, I'm here!  make it fast!"  The buzzing sound clicked off shortly after Astral stopped.

Radio blinked a few times.  "What was that sound?" he asked through the communicator.

"Nothing!"  The buzz accompanied the captain's words just like last time, only a bit louder.  There was also the sound of frantic hooves.  "You called me, right?  Get to the point!"

The communicator must be picking up some environmental sound.  That, and given Astral's tone...  "Um," Radio lifted the communicator a little, "is something chasing you?"

"Brilliant deduction!  Whatever's going on, rock bees are doing just fine!"

"What's a rock bee?" Radio asked.

"The things chasing me!"

Radio winced.  "Right, stupid question.  Anyway, this is important, don't eat or drink anything that we didn't bring with us."

"Don't eat or drink anything on the planet that is mysteriously dying?  I think I can handle that!"

"Ha, ha."  The Pegasus groaned.  "I found out what's happening.  The water is contaminated with Glycodexrin."

"Engine coolant?"  The buzzing sound started to fade.  Astral's hoofsteps also started to slow, eventually stopping, and leaving only his panting.  "But, I... I thought glycodexrin was nontoxic?  Most of the ships on Serus used it.  Hell, I probably drank more of the stuff than this planet ever imported.  I used it right up until they stopped making it a few years ago."

"Yeah, so did the Furian Military.  But there were questions about the effects of long-term exposure.  Several mechanics developed respiratory problems, nothing as severe as is happening here, but enough to prompt the company to develop something new to feed the defense contracts."

"So, what, the company dumped the surplus here?"

"Radio?"  Sparrow touched the colt's shoulder, pulling his attention away from the communicator.  "You said the poison is in the water?"

"Radio, what was that?"  Astral asked through the communicator.  "Is there someone with you?"

"Yeah," the colt answered, "hold on."  He turned to Sparrow.  "It's in the water, but that means it's in everything else too, plants, crops, even the dyes and paints you make.  The planet's saturated in it."

"But, there's more of it in the water?"

"Yes, but..."

"No!"  Sparrow shook her head.  "It's the water that is killing us, that's what you are saying."

Radio sighed.  "Yes, fine.  The water is poisoned.  But everypony, where, and thing is so soaked in this stuff that not drinking the water won't cure anyone."

"But drinking more of the water makes the illness grow worse?"

"Nopony knows exactly how long-term exposure to this stuff works, it was discontinued as soon as questions came up.  No matter how much you're exposed to, it takes years-"

The table rattled under a sharp blow from Sparrow's hoof.  She stared down at the floor, hunched over as if a weight of lead hung from her.  "Yes or no?" she shouted, shaking, ready to collapse from that weight.

"Wha-"  Radio's eyes darted around, the salad, the scanner, his medical equipment.  "I-"  What should he say?  He didn't know.  He didn't have enough information, and he didn't have the time to get more.  "I don't know.  Maybe?  Why are you getting so upset about this?"

Sparrow turned her head slowly towards the table.  She reached one hoof out for Radio's bowl.  "Hunter always hated dust," she whispered, "didn't like the taste of it.  So, every day, I would rinsed his food at the village well.  Even after he got sick, I would wash everything he ate, thinking I was making it clean, that I was making it better."

"You couldn't have known."  Radio put a hoof on her shoulder.  "You were just being a good mother.  It wasn't your fault."

"No!"  She shoved the colt away, unconsciously adding a wave of magic to the force of her her hooves and toppling the Pegasus.  "I killed him!" she screamed.  She grabbed the salad, the one she had gone through so much work to prepare and wash for him, and threw it at the wall.  It was poison, tainted by the death of the planet, and she was the one who poisoned it.  "And I would have killed you!"

She ran off before Radio could lift himself from the floor, tripping down the stairs, slamming into a wall, and getting right back up and moving.  The colt could only watch through the floorboards as she tore across the first floor and out the door.

"Radio!  What was that sound?  What happened?"

The Pegasus groaned.  He must have hit the talk button when he fell.  He grabbed the edge of the table and pulled himself up.  Leaning against the table, his eyes went wide.  It was gone!  He hit the communicator.  "We've got a problem, I have to go!"

"What kind of problem?"

Radio skipped the stairs and jumped straight out the window, taking along only his scanner.  If he didn't find her quickly, he could use it to scan for the phase pistol she took.  He just hoped he would be fast enough.





"Radio!"  Astral shouted into the wristband.  "What's going on?  Answer me!"  He gave up and kicked the dust.  "Damn it!  How does one colt get into so much trouble?"

"You're one to talk."

Astral looked back down at his hoof.  "You know, if I wasn't out here in the middle of nowhere, I could be helping him.  If he gets hurt, I'm taking it out on you."

"You aren't worried about your other crew member?"

Shoot!  Did he just blow it?  "She's a combat unicorn, she can take care of herself."

"Then, she could also help him."

"If they're together," Astral replied.  "She was going to check the town records, remember?  You were listening in on the conversation."

There wasn't an immediate response.  Several seconds passed before the voice spoke again.  "Her communicator is quiet.  Even with the gain turned up, I can only hear muffled voices."

Not good.  "So?  Records are in the library, right?  And last I checked, the entire town wasn't exactly hustle and bustle."

"I should be able to hear her breathing, or pages turning."

That's it, she knows.  "She must have taken it off.  Now what?  Do we start this wild hurk chase all over again?"

"I was watching, and nopony followed you."  There was a pause, probably as she thought it over.  "Keep walking."

"For how long?"  Astral kicked up some dust.  "As much as I appreciate the grand wasteland tour, this is getting old fast."

"Not much longer.  Just to that tree in front of you."

Astral scanned the flat, rocky surroundings.  The ravine was a good distance behind him, and this seemed to be what remained of a quarry, partially filled with water.  There were boulders, pond, and scraggly little trees scattered everywhere, but only one tree stood out.  "Say, why do the villagers hate you so much?  Tekrin mentioned that you caused this disaster, and it sounds like it wasn't the first time."

"I didn't-" A sharp inhalation cut off her protest, and a calmer voice, shaky and low, followed it.  "I... I only tried to help.  A few years ago, there was a fire.  I tried to warn them, but they didn't believe me.  And, when it happened, and ponies got hurt, they thought I started it and chased me away."

"When it happened?"

She didn't hear his question, and continued her story, control of her voice degrading fast.  "I was just wanted to help, to save as many as possible, but they thought I was responsible.  Every time I went near the town, they would chase me away.  Every time they saw me in the wilds, they would turn and run.  One time, they... I...  There was a group of colts, and they came after me."  She was speaking in broken sobs by this point, but she forced herself to continue.  "I wasn't trying to hurt them.  I just wanted to defend myself, but I left them in the field, and I don't even know if they were alive or dead.  After that, it was all over.  To them, I was the face of evil.  It was easier to let them believe that.  A warning from the Witch of the Lake, telling of her next great calamity, carried more weight than my words ever did before."

Astral was listening quietly, but he wasn't sure he heard her right.  She was warning the village of things before they happened?  The fire wasn't lit and moving towards town, it wasn't even started?  "Berry,"

"No!"  Her fragile voice nearly shattered shouting at him.  "No!  Grinpa is the only one who gets to call me that.  No more talking, no more distractions.  Keep walking.  Head to that tree, and then I'll give you your next instructions."

Astral lifted his communicator.  It was such a small thing that set her off, but it sounded like she had good reason to be upset.  He just hoped there was some way to lighten the mood, maybe convince her that he wasn't a threat.  "I'm guessing you mean the big dead one?"

After the curt, affirmative, "yes," from the mystery mare, Astral dropped his hoof and let out an exaggerated sigh.  She wasn't going to talk to him.  Also, that tree was big, dry, and probably hollow.  With all the rocks around, it was the perfect place for a rock bee hive.  It would be the third one that day.

He walked towards it anyway.  What choice did he have?  He wasn't about to turn around after coming this far.  And if things got too bad, he had backup waiting above.

As he approached the tree, he kept his ears perked for sounds.  They scanned and tracked like radar dishes, scanning for the buzzes and clicks of rock bees.  He didn't hear any, but he wouldn't trust it until he looked in the tree himself and saw an empty hovel.

"Stay away from the rocks.  Stay in the open."

Astral hadn't noticed that his path was curving towards cover, but out of habit, he was keeping the rocks nearby.  "Why should I?"  He probably shouldn't be provoking her, but what other way was there to get her talking?  "You've been watching me this whole time.  I don't think I can lose you by ducking behind a rock."  To prove his point, he went a few more steps and tried to hop up on one of the rocks.

It gave way at his touch, soft grey fabric, covered with dust, stains, and bits of wiry moss.  There was a flash of pink from under the fabric as the hidden pony sprung into action, twisting the fabric around his hoof and pulling hard.

Astral rolled with the motion, and was on his hooves before the other pony was free of the cloth disguise.  Pink body and mane on an earth pony.  Was this the witch of the lake?  She lifted a hoof towards him, clad in a rusty plasma blaster with a jerry-rigged power pack.  Was that how she defended herself from those colts?

It didn't even get to point at him before he shot a rock into it, breaking it into pieces that cut into the pony's hoof.  She cried out in pain, leg bleeding, and fell back, clutching her hoof to her chest.  "Stay back!" she cried.  She pulled out another device, even more cobbled together than her weapon.  "I can still disable your ship!  I can change the access codes, and you won't be able to leave the planet!"

Astral shot another rock at the second device.  He was careful not to hit her, but launched it with a lot more force than the first.  It chewed through the plastic and circuity like a hungry bullet, leaving a smoking husk in its wake.  "You know," Astral stated calmly, "I really don't like having things pointed at me."  He straightened up as she whimpered and dropped the broken device.

"What are you going to do to me?"  She wrapped her good hoof around the bleeding one.  "I won't let you take me to the village.  If they're going to kill me, I'd rather die here."

Astral stared down at her.  This pony speaking of death looked to be Radio's age.  She was a young mare with a pastel coat and a dirty, puffy like candy floss, bubble gum colored mane.  Her cutie mark was an old circuit board in the shape of a balloon.  "Don't worry," he told her, "I won't.  I just want some answers."

"I don't have anything to do with everpony being sick.  But, I think I know what's causing it."  Her ear started twitching, and she grabbed it with a hoof.  "Uh-oh."

"Huh?"  A sudden noise made Astral look around.  "What's that whistling?"

"Astral!  Wait!"

The grey unicorn looked up as a shadow fell over him.  A purple blur, wings flapping to accelerate beyond the means of gravity alone, and untold kilograms of impact pressure were all headed his way.  He muttered under his breath, "Not again."

Hooves outstretched, Twilight slammed into him, latching on as momentum took them rolling across the hardpan.  Their tumbling ended with a solid thud against the trunk of the hollow tree.  Astral, who bore the brunt of the impact groaned as Twilight pushed away from him and ran to the pink pony in rapid bounds.  "Pinkie!"  She yelled happily.  "I’m so sorry, Pinkie, he didn't..."

The young mare shied away from the alicorn.  "W-who are you?  How do you have a horn and wings?"

Twilight's hopes fell as she got closer.  "You aren't Pinkie."  This mare was smaller, and her eyes were dark, almost purple, instead of blue.  "I’m sorry, you reminded me of somepony.  My name is Twilight.  I'm sorry about what happened here, but we have a doctor who can take care of that hoof."  She held out her own.  "May I see it real quick?"

The pink mare looked around, but knew there was no way she could escape from somepony with wings.  She slowly held out her injured hoof.

Twilight took it carefully and wrapped it in cool, soothing aura.  "This won't heal it, but it should help a bit."

The earth pony looked down in wonder as the pain subsided.  "You're the librarian, the one who studied hard and became a princess."

"Huh?"  Twilight stopped her magic.  No, it couldn't be.

The other ponies ear started to wiggle and twitch, prompting her to look up.

It had to be.  Just look at Radio, it was at least possible.  Fifty years is a long time, too long to be alone.  "What's your name?"

"Strawberry," the young mare responded, looking down from the clouds, "Strawberry Pie."

Astral leaned against the tree and sighed.  He had already figured it out, but that confirmed that she was the one he had been talking to.  But, if she had really seen him leave Sevus, she would have to have been about three.

There was soft, "Crick," above him.  He looked up.  There was a, "crackle."  A large branch was hanging by the bark above him.  He slowly moved away from the tree, careful not to bump or disturb it in anyway.  Once he was clear, he breathed a sigh of relief.  That just wasn't safe.  He gave the branch a little nudge with his magic, breaking it free.  It came crashing down and the rotted wood exploded in buzzing fury.  Of course there was a hive of rock bees in there.  "Run!"

Twilight looked back as Astral started running.  She threw a shield around the things chasing him, then turned back to Strawberry.  "Strawberry, do you know somepony named Pinkie?"

The mare shook her head.

"Pinkamena?"

Strawberry nodded quickly.  "Yes!  Grandma's name is Pinkamena, Pinkamena Diane Pie.  It is you."  She looked down quickly.  "Grandma always said you would come looking for her, but I was starting to think you weren't real.  She always made things up to make me feel better."

Grandmother?  Twilight's mouth moved silently as she tried to respond.  Pinkie had a granddaughter now, at least one son or daughter, a family.  "Can you take me to her?"

The young mare smiled.  "Mom and Grinpa too.  Even though you never knew them, we've all been waiting for you, you should at least visit them."

"Of course I should" Twilight agreed, "I'd like that very much."  Pinkie had a family.  With a smile, Twilight looked down.  So did Rainbow.  It didn't excuse her failure, but it was a relief to know that her friends weren't alone.  The alicorn looked back.  "Astral!  Get your flank over here!"

"I'll get right on that!" he shouted back.  "In case you haven't noticed, I'm-"  He glanced behind him, stopped, and threw a hoof up at the empty air.  "Where'd the bees go?"

Twilight pointed at the pink sphere near the tree, a buzzing magic sphere rolling around like a hamster ball as the little grey monsters inside tried to escape.

Astral approached it carefully.  "Ok, now that's impressive."  He peered into the sphere, getting a good look at the creatures within.  Last time he had intentionally gotten this close to one, he was seven years old, and Sevus was a lot livelier.

Despite being called bees, these stone skinned insects don't sting, they bite.  And that one he had so carelessly approached back then bit him, right on the nose.  Of course, his mother had been right there the moment he started crying, digging a bug bite cream out of her pack.  She even let herself be bitten on the finger when he wouldn't stop complaining.  "See," she said then, "now we both know what it feels like.  Pain isn't so bad when you know someone else understands, right?"

"Astral!  Let's go!"

"Yeah!"  The unicorn shook himself from his thoughts.  "I'll be right there!" With one last glance at the rock bees, he started over to them.  Understanding?  What an odd thing to remember now.

He followed Twilight, who in turn followed Strawberry, as the earth pony led them to the edge of the lake.  Instead of stopping at the water, she waded into it.  The water didn't seem to be more than a few centimeters deep, so Astral and Twilight followed.

The muddy texture of the shore vanished after a few steps, giving way to a solid surface under the water.  Astral looked down.  Fish swam beneath a pale white webbing of light, grotesquely mutated fish with additional eyes, gills, and other orifices, but still fish.

A force field, like the one on Canterlot, but stretching across a lake, just under the surface so it isn't seen.  No wonder Strawberry's nickname was witch of the lake.  You can't have a force field like this without a power source, transmission lines, and monitoring equipment to keep everything in sync.  An impressive amount of technology to have at all, more so on a planet like this, not to mention the clever trick of hiding it underwater.

A particularly large and toothy ichthyan broke the lake's surface near Twilight, eyeing the newcomers with lifeless black eyes, like a doll's eyes.  Twilight shrieked at its gaping maws and took to the air, hovering what she believed to be a safe distance above.  "Um, is it safe to be walking here?"

Strawberry nodded as she walked.  "There's clean water ahead, we can wash our hooves off there."

Twilight landed with a slight splash.  "That isn't quite what I meant."  A school of minnow darted between her hooves.  One, a little slower than the rest hung around a bit.  It had two heads, one pointed forward, one pointed back, like it was two fish sewn together by some mad scientist.  One was trying to follow the school, and the other was trying just as hard to go the opposite direction.  "But that is good to know."

Twilight stared in morbid fascination at the mutant minnow and waited for Astral to catch up.  "Hey," she hissed in his ear, "what the hell is going on with this planet?  Some of those vultures I was flying with just dropped dead out of nowhere, and now we're wading through Frankenstein's fishbowl."

Astral swished his hoof towards the little minnow, disturbing the water enough to scare both heads into agreeing on a direction.  "Radio identified the problem.  It's an engine coolant called Glycodexrin.  It's based off an artificial sugar molecule, and supposedly nontoxic."  Astral pointed at the minnow as a larger, also two headed fish made a meal of it.  "Apparently, it was never meant for long-term exposure."

Twilight sighed.  "It makes sense.  Fish and amphibians are more sensitive to chemicals in their environment, but they are also more likely to adapt.  Carrion eaters are the last to suffer, because any toxins they receive are filtered through previous victims.  Ponies, well, I guess we're just stubborn."  She lifted her hoof and watched the water roll off.  "So, it's in the water?"

"Looks that way."  Astral gave the surface of the water a sniff.  "Yeah, you can smell it.  It's faint, but it's there.  If it built up slowly enough, it would have been impossible to notice."  Astral looked back to shore, then across the lake.  "This much of it...  Where's it coming from?"

"Do you think somepony dumped it intentionally?"

Astral shrugged.  "It's possible, but why dump on an inhabited planet, and risk getting caught, when there are thousands upon thousands of uninhabited rocks and billions of light years of empty space out there?"

Twilight stopped herself from scratching her chin with a wet hoof.  "Maybe there's a mutated strain of algae producing the molecule?"

Astral leveled a stare at her.  "That's an oddly specific scenario."

The alicorn gave her head a little tilt.  "Maybe, but when we first developed life support systems on Equestria, we used magically mutated strains of algae for waste control, simple food, and oxygen production.  I could never get the algae to produce a suitable fuel, or complex food compounds, without additional processing, but maybe somepony overcame that to produce this coolant?"

Astral nodded slowly.  "If that's the case, there might not be a way to save the planet.  Everypony would have to be evacuated."

Twilight sighed.  "I don't think the villagers are going to like that."

Astral started walking after Strawberry again, letting Twilight follow.  "I don't think they have a choice."
> Hajime No Ribbon
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------

	Ribbon did her best to sneak through the shopping area.

More commonly known as The Commissary, it was really more of a shopping mall.  Two levels, filled with small shops, and connected by lifts and moving ramps.  Potted plants were placed wherever it was possible, and the central area was turned into a park.  Grass covered a small courtyard of artificial hills, giving foals and children of several species room to romp and play, and an aluminum framed river wound from one end to the other, kept flowing by pumps and filters.

The area had a warm organic feel to it, a welcome escape from the stark metal and constant construction that filled most of the station.  The environmental controls probably contributed to that the most.  The ceiling was a large display panel, and was set to show an image of the sky from a given position on Canterlot.  At night, it showed stars.  During the day, a bright sun.  Today though, it was kind of cloudy.  Fans in the walls generated a soft breeze that made up for the temperature being a little higher than station standard.  Every detail of the surface weather was replicated, right down to the humidity and air pressure that promised future rain.

Ribbon sighed.  She would have to hurry.  She had always been good at noticing weather patterns, and the way things were now, it was going to start storming in less than an hour.  Of course, the lightning was always dialed back in volume and intensity, but the rain usually wasn't.

The colorful mare made her way to the nearest down ramp.  As she stepped on, she noticed that everypony on the adjacent up ramp, including a Curaxxan family, was staring at her.  They weren't the only ones.

She kept her head down, carefully avoiding eye contact.  If she didn't focus on any one mind, her telepathy was pretty much reduced to empathy in a crowd.  But that could still be a little overwhelming.  Especially if, like now, the whole crowd was staring at her.  She wasn't getting a negative impression though.  That was almost as confusing as the fact that they were staring in the first place.

"Ribbon?  What the hell are you wearing?"

"Lilybelle?"  Ribbon started scanning the crowd.  Every time she made eye contact with somepony, she got a little snippet of thought.  That's nice, I'll have to remember that, I want one of those.  Ribbon was utterly confused by the time she found Lilybelle.  The other nurse had just passed her, heading up to the second level.  Her cousin, Annabelle was next to her.

The blue and pink nurses hopped the separating rail between the to mobile ramps.  Then, they made their way down to Ribbon, Lilybelle in the lead, ignoring the protests of the ramp's other passengers.

Lilybelle was still splotched with grey, but from up close, Ribbon could see that the edges of the stains were starting to soften.  She should be back to normal inside of two weeks.

"Are you two shopping?" Ribbon asked, pointing to the empty saddlebags they carried.

Lilybelle tilted her head to the side.  "You think?"

Annabelle nodded, keeping a bit of distance between her and Ribbon.  "Um, where did you get that?  If you don't mind me asking?"  Ribbon heard the, "it looks nice," that the blue nurse left out.

The younger nurse looked back.  "Butter-fried Biscuits!  I knew this wouldn't work!"  Ribbon spun in place.  She was wearing a wide-brimmed hat and an impromptu skirt, taking the idea from when Mezzo had visited her earlier.  She reached for the knot holding it in place.

"Hey!"  Lilybelle slapped her hoof away.  "Are you crazy?  You can't just strip in the middle of the commissary.  You wore it out, so you're stuck with it."

Annabelle nodded.  "She's right.  What are you all dressed up for anyway?"

They reached the end of the ramp, and Ribbon pulled her fellow nurses into the alcove behind it, out of sight of the other shoppers.  "I'm not dressed up for anything.  This is just a bedsheet I wrapped around myself.  What do I do?  I was trying to disguise myself, but ponies are staring worse than ever!"

Lilybelle and Annabelle both poked and prodded the white fabric.  "But, why a bedsheet?" Lilybelle asked.

"Could it be, that you don't have any real clothes?" Annabelle asked.

Ribbon tried to shoo them away.  "I don't go out much, so I don't need any.  But that has nothing to do with it."  Annabelle got behind Ribbon and started pushing her out into the open.  "Hey!  Wait!  What are you doing?"

"Can't you tell?"  Annabelle motioned for her cousin to help her push.  "I am getting you into a clothing store."

Ribbon planted her hooves, stopping them all in their tracks.  "What gives?  I thought you hated me!"

Lily and Anna pushed as hard as they could, but couldn't budge the obstinate Ribbon.  Annabelle abandoned pushing and jumped to the smaller unicorn's side.  She then through all her weight into a shoulder check aimed at Ribbon's side.

For all the good it did, Annabelle may as well have thrown herself at a tree.  She bounced off the smaller unicorn and fell to the floor, panting.  "Honestly?  You scare the shit out of me."  She picked herself up and dusted off.  "And this isn't doing much to help that.  But, that's no reason to let a young mare to go without a single set of nice clothes."

Lilybelle walked around to Ribbon's other side and gave her a good shove.  The younger mare didn't move, and there was no give to the muscles under her fur.  "Come to think of it, Growl doesn't enforce your physical training routine.  After that acrobatic display the other day, I have to wonder if you're really just some sort of telepathic android."

"What acrobatic display?" Annabelle asked.

"Remember Astral?  The stallion we had to cut out of that armored spacesuit?"  Lily poked ribbon in the small of the back.  "Well, he was abducted by some shadowy government agent, and this girl chased after him."  The pink nurse moved her hoof around in frantic swirling motions.  "You should have seen her.  I was following her, and she was flipping over stuff, jumping over ponies, and, get this, she did this crazy thing where she jumped off one wall, onto another, then off that one, and over this giant section of panels that was blocking the way."

Annabelle propped herself up on Ribbon, hanging her hooves over the smaller pony's back.  "Then, how did you follow her?  I have to kick your flank out of bed just to get you to take a morning jog."

Lilybelle propped herself up next to her cousin, treating Ribbon's back like a bar table.  "For your information, I went through it.  Melted a hole in that sucker big enough to fly an aircar through."

"Eh?"  Annabelle shook her head.  "You're too destructive Lilybelle.  What's that handsome pinto going to think if you disintegrate something on your first date?"

Lilybelle blushed and jumped back.  "What are you talking about?  I wouldn't do something like that.  Besides, he hasn't asked me out yet."

"Oh my."  Annabelle brought a hoof to her mouth.  "Did I forget to tell you about the flowers?"

"What flowers?" Lilybelle demanded.

Annabelle shrugged and lowered herself off her cyan perch.  "The ones that were delivered with that love letter earlier."

Lilybelle pounced at her cousin, scrambling over Ribbon to get at her.  "When were you planning on telling me this?!"

"Eventually."  Annabelle giggled and ran around Ribbon, positioning herself opposite Lilybelle.  "Hey, you pulled the same stunt with my Luna Academy acceptance letter."   She blew a raspberry at the mottled nurse, then looked over at Ribbon.  "And what are you smiling about over here?"

"Nothing."  The rainbow unicorn laughed.  "It's just that...  today kind of got off to a rocky start, but it's really turned around.  I got some good news from home, and now I get to go shopping with friends like I've always wanted to."

"Whoa.  No."  Annabelle shook her head.  "Let's slow down there a little.  We aren't exactly friends."

"Oh."  Ribbon looked down and nodded.  "Okay."

Annabelle scratched at her mane and tried not to think about how pathetic and pitiable Ribbon's expression looked.  She looked like a orphaned prill, so sad and miserable that you just can't help but pick it up.  "But, we can consider this, a, um..."

"Test run?"  Ribbon finished.

Annabelle nodded.  "Yeah."

"Orphaned prill?" Ribbon asked.

Annabelle kept nodding, exaggerating the motion.  "Oh, yeah."  She laughed a little more, then cleared her throat.  "So, did you catch him?"

Ribbon stared at the blue nurse for a moment.  "Oh!  The chase.  Yes, I caught up to them.  But it was ok, the pony wasn't some sort of spy or anything.  It was all just a big misunderstanding."

Lilybelle trotted over to her cousin.  "But, miss mind reader here only found that out after bonking that pony on the head with a giant wrench."  After a moment's pause, she whispered, "And I am going to get you back, just wait for it."

"A wrench?"  Annabelle asked.  "Did you knock him out?"

Lilybelle shook her head and answered, "No.  Watch this."  She punched her cousin in the leg.

Annabelle and Ribbon both rubbed at their legs.  "Hey, that hurt," they said in unison.

Annabelle's eyes went wide as she looked over at Ribbon, then she broke out in snorting, raucous laughter.  "You!  Pfft!  You mean, she-  Hah, ha!"  She couldn't finish her question because of how hard she was laughing.

Lilybelle already new what the question was though.  "She sure did.  The pony she hit was huge.  Biggest earth pony I've ever seen, all red fur and muscle.  Honestly, he was kind of hot, in that lovable muscle head sort of way.  But she just smacked him in the head anyway.  He didn't even flinch, but you should have seen her."

"Sorry, Ribbon."  Annabelle kept laughing.  "That is just funny.  But it proves you aren't an android at least.  No pony would program an android to do something that silly."

Lilybelle chuckled.  Having been there to see it, it wasn't quite as funny to her.  It had actually been quite serious at the time.  And when Growl got involved, she had been expecting somepony to end up seriously hurt.  "That still leaves the question of what she is, exactly."

"No it doesn't."  Ribbon touched a hoof to her chest.  She couldn't believe she was about to share this, but after exchanging messages with her dad, she knew that it was no longer classified.  Besides, these two were her coworkers, and the closest thing she had to friends right now.  "I'm a genetically-engineered super soldier."

Lilybelle nodded.  "Ok, so you must have held back so he wouldn't be too badly injured."

Ribbon nodded.  "A little.  But that red pony was pretty sturdy.  I don't know if I would have been able to knock him out at full strength even.  I bet my dad could take him though.  He's first generation, and at least a dozen times stronger than I am."

Lilybelle broke out in full laughter, enough to match her cousin's snorting fit in volume, if not quite intensity.  "Wow, Ribbon, when you tell a joke, you commit.  I never knew you had a sense of humor."

"Definitely," Annabelle agreed.  She stopped laughing and sighed.  "It's a shame we didn't talk to you sooner.  You don't seem at all like we thought."

Lilybelle nodded somberly.  "Yeah.  I guess that's our fault."  She looked around and pointed out a shop across the way.  "Let's not waste time then.  We have catching up and shopping to do!"  She ran off, cutting through the grassy park with Annabelle hot on her tail.

Ribbon reluctantly chased after them, using her magic to mind the hem of her clothing.  "Hey," she called out, "why don't you believe me?"

The two cousins slowed down enough for the smaller nurse to catch up.  "Ribbon, Ribbon," Lilybelle sighed, "you have to know when to let go of the joke."

Annabelle nodded.  "Besides, there's no way a supersoldier would be so short.  You're only a year or two younger than us, so you really should be taller."

"What?!"  Ribbon stopped and scoffed.  "Well, I can't help it if my height doesn't match expectations.  Maybe it's a side effect of the gene therapy?"

Lilybelle looked back.  "There's a fine line between funny and sad."

Ribbon pursed her lips.  Then, she started scanning the commissary like an eagle searching for fish in the water.  There had to be something that would let her prove her story.  Something heavy to lift?  Some sort of obstacle she could climb?  Wait, what is that?  "There!"

She pointed at a small crowd gathered near the visitor's center, the small office that served as the lifeblood of Canter Delta's limited tourist trade.  Nestled between two unassuming shops, it served as a welcome center most of the time, but was often rented out for events.  Today seemed to be one of those events.    Ribbon wasn't entirely sure what that event was, but she could hear the lure of treasure, the sting of loss, and several distinct thoughts of, "No way, I was stronger than that guy!"

Ribbon started walking over, forcing her reluctant friends to follow her.  As they got closer, Ribbon started getting clearer thoughts from the crowds.  "How could I lose?  All that money, gone!  At least I did better than he did.  My score wasn't too bad.  How could my right hook lose to a jab like that?"  That last thought caused Ribbon some confusion.  Was there a prizefight going on?  There was no way.  She definitely would have known about it if there was.

By the time they reached the fringes of the gathering, the jumbled thoughts had overlapped and jumbled themselves into an unpleasant grinding.  For Ribbon, it was like walking around with a running chainsaw strapped to her head.  Aside from the volume and incomprehensible nature of the noise, there was an insistent pressure to it, like trying to hold a door shut against a flow of water or sand.

From here though, Ribbon could see bright yellow posters advertising the event.  "Prove your strength, win a 500 bit shopping spree."  She tilted her head to one side.  She had guessed there was some sort of contest of strength going on, but the sign didn't really clear anything up.  Though, it did seem to imply that this event was open to the public, which she could guess based on stray thoughts.  It probably wasn't a prizefight then.

"Yo, tiny?  You in line?"

Ribbon looked to her left and right, looking for the thought that was making it through garbage disposal of insanity surrounding her.

"Back here, filly."

It was a voice, Ribbon realized, not a thought.  She looked back.  Behind her, stood three tall creatures.  The one closest to her was a human, lean and mahogany-toned.  He had shiny black hair that was short except for two long, thin braids in the back, and his muscle structure was so well defined, that it looked like it was pulled straight from an anatomical diagram.  He was the shortest of the group, but still stood three times Ribbon's height.  He also seemed to be the one who spoke, and was waiting for answer.

Ribbon blinked.  "I'm sorry," she yelled, "I tend to space out in crowds.  What did you need?"

The human chuckled.  "You're standing in the line.  I was wondering if you meant to be here, or if you're just enjoying the show."  He ran a hand through his hair.  "Girls from all over the station are here today.  There's almost more of them here than there are guys.  I guess there's a lot here to enjoy.  Aside from the chance at the prize, every strong man, pony, and dragon on the station is here today,  each testing themselves, pushing themselves to the limit."

"Yeah," Ribbon yelled again.  "I'm in line."  She pointed at Lilybelle and Annabelle, who were standing behind the three.  "They are too!"

The tall creature closest to the two nurses looked back and laughed.  He was a bulky, wingless dragon, standing upright, like a tree with bold blue scales.  His claws were sharp and curled, like the bucket on an excavator, and a stripe of yellow ran down his center like the line on a groundcar road.  "That's cute."  He knelt down on one knee to bring himself closer to their height and pantomimed tipping a hat.  "Best of luck gals.  But, cargo team three will be taking the prize."

"It's true, ladies."  The human rapped his knuckles against the scales of the dragon's chest, making a sound like he was drumming on wood.  "The three of us are the fastest, strongest, most experienced cargo handling team in this system.  We'd have to try not to win."  He whispered to the dragon, “Don’t ever do that again, that hat thing looks so stupid, I don’t know to describe it.”

"Is that so?"  Lilybelle chuckled nervously.  She edged her way over to Ribbon.  "Why are you yelling like that?" She asked her.

"Yelling like what?" Ribbon shouted in her ear.

The pink mare's face contorted in pain.  "Like that."

The third creature, a bony, grey being with four arms, whose species Ribbon didn't recognize, made a chuffing sound that she assumed was laughter.  He was the tallest of the three, as well as the thinnest.  He leaned towards the human and spoke with a series of clicks and pops.

The human listened carefully, nodding to himself.  When the grey creature finished, he looked down at Ribbon.  "Clak here says that you hear what the rest of us don't, whatever that means.  He also suggested that, in our current situation, it would be appropriate to make a little wager.  If we win, we will treat you to one round of drinks at any refreshment stall in the commissary, provided you do the same if you win."  The grey being made another series of clicks, much shorter this time, which the human didn't translate.  "So, do we have a bet?"

Annabelle made her way over to the other mares.  "Um, I'm not even sure why we're-"

"Yes!"  Ribbon inadvertently shouted in the blue cousin's ear.  "We'll take the bet!  Thank you!"  The rainbow nurse looked up at Clak and sounded off with some clicking sounds of her own.

He excitedly tapped the human on the shoulder and started clicking away like a tap dancing skit.

"Yeah, yeah."  The human brushed the three-fingered hand away.  "I heard her, she said it perfectly."  The human kneeled down to look Ribbon in the eye.  "But, where in the galaxy did you learn to speak Talkan?"

Ribbon shook her head.  "I can't speak it!  Never heard it before today!"  She nodded towards Clak.  " I just repeated what he said when he thanked you for translating."

The human snorted.  "And here I thought my job was in danger."  He stood up slowly.  "Anyway, my name's Drayk."  He gestured to his two companions.  " You already know Clak, and the other guy is Softy."

The dragon waved, at Annabelle in particular.

She reluctantly returned the wave.  "So, why do they call you Softy?"

"Because it's my name," the dragon replied.  "But also because of this."  He stretched out like was going to yawn, and took a deep breath.  He curled up in a flash of sparkles, and was replaced by a puff of blue smoke.When it cleared, sitting in his place was a creature that was not so much a dragon, but a scaled teddy bear.  Fat and round, with plump cheeks and an infectious grin, the stubby little lizard pointed up at Annabelle.  "Never underestimate dragon magic."

The blue nurse scooped the baby dragon up and squeezed him.  "Oh, that's just so cute!"  She squealed like a filly with a new toy, then held the dragon out at hooves length.  "So, that's what you normally look like?  I like it!"

"No," the dragon choked out.  "Did you have to squeeze me so hard?  This is just one out of the five forms I can take."

"Oh."  Annabelle dropped him.  He bounced.  "Then what do you really look like?"

"Like this!"  He stretched out again.

Drayk stomped on him before he could transform, squishing him like a rubber toy.  "Focus!  You need to save your energy for the contest.  As the strongest dragon on the station, you're our ace in the hole."

Clak started clicking again.

The human looked at the rest of the crowd.  "Yeah, you're right.  The line's moving again."  He gestured to the trio of nurses.  "After you, ladies."

Clak kept clicking as they followed the line deeper into the crowd.

When they came to a stop, Drayk waved a hand in front of Ribbon to get her attention.  " Excuse me, rainbow mane?"

Ribbon shook her head and looked up.  "Yeah!?"

The human pointed at his grey friend.  "He's still going on about how you said, 'thank you,' in Talkan.  He's saying that it is an honor to meet one with both the ability to hear, and the wisdom to understand.  Also, whatever the outcome of this contest, it was worthwhile to know there are beings like you among the citizens of this station."  Drayk looked back.  "Is that everything?"

Clak nodded once.

"Good."  The human looked back at Ribbon.  "Ok, if you have, 'the wisdom to understand,' maybe you can tell me what the heck he's talking about."

Ribbon shrugged.  "Sorry!  I don't have a clue!  I just want to get away from this noise!"

"Ribbon!"  Lilybelle shouted at her.  "It's not that loud!  Stop yelling!"

Ribbon pointed in front of them.  There was space opening up.  "Look!  The line's moving much faster now!"

Lilybelle groaned quietly and moved forward.

Ribbon looked back at Drayk.  "Tell him thank you for me!  I don't think I'd get it right a second time!"

Clak chuffed, and Drayk smiled.  "Don't worry, he heard you."

After that, the line started moving at a rapid pace.  Dejected crowd members were walking away while muttering things like, "there's no way," or, "forget it, I'm not going to embarrass myself."  Ribbon didn't notice any of it though, she was trying to focus on forming a mental barrier to ward off the ocean of bees that were the stray thoughts of nearly a hundred beings.  Annabelle and the still baby Softy weren't paying much attention either, being locked in an animated discussion about the differences between dragon and unicorn magic.  That left Lilybelle, Drayk, and Clak to realize that they were walking into a place that others were leaving in despair.

Sunken, sullen faces ambled past them, leaving the area.  Some of them clutched tiny, brightly-colored packets in their hands, claws, and other limbs.  Not a single one seemed satisfied with the outcome of whatever was going on up ahead.

After a few minutes of wading through others' despair, they made it to the front of the line, and the true nature of the contest was revealed.  A rather official-looking unicorn stallion with a salesman's beard, and a suit and tie, was standing by a large, thoroughly chromed, metal contraption secured to a wall.  The device had lights all over, and a large numerical display at the top.  In the middle of it, apparently adjustable in height, was a padded red button, forty centimeters across.  Off to the side, was a screen displaying a list of names, times, and what appeared to be scores.  At the top of the screen, "KaliKokuu," appeared next to the highest score in letters twice as large as any other name.  The marked time was only a minute or two ago, roughly the time when the line started moving.

"Oh my gosh!  That's him over there!"  Ribbon pointed at a surly, barrel-chested Curaxxan leaning against the wall in an empty corner.    He glared at the crowd with one eye.  The other was long lost to some unknown injury, leaving a horrid scar in it's place.  The muscles under his green skin rippled with every movement, no matter how slight, giving the appearance of a coiled predator, waiting for the right moment to strike.  "That's him!  It's really him! KaliKokuu!  He's the current Middleweight Mixed Martial Arts champion of Canterlot!  He lost his eye when a competitor had him ambushed before a match.  He fought off half a dozen goons armed with pipes and knives, and still won his bout an hour later!  He was still bleeding when he delivered the final blow!  I'm going to go get an autograph!"

"Whoa!  Wait a minute!"  Lilybelle yanked Ribbon back.  "Where do you think you're going?  You haven't even told us why we're here."

"Isn't it obvious?"  Drayk pointed at the giant red circle.  "You hit that as hard as you can, and try to beat his score."

"That's absolutely right!" exclaimed the suited pony, pointing at the small group.  "If any pony, person, or thing, can beat mister Kokuu's score by eighteen hundred, station time, they will be put in the lead for five, I said, five hundred bits worth of credit, spendable at any shop on this station!  But, be careful, some upstart may come after your score next!"

Drayk cracked his knuckles.  "Looks like this just got interesting."

Clak answered with a single click.

The suited pony laughed.  "You boys seem confident!  Let me explain the rules.  You have fifteen, that's all, fifteen seconds, to display your power!  Hit the target as hard as you can, as fast as you can, or as many times as you can!  Those of you with poky bits, unicorns, dragons, and whatnot, keep 'em to yourself.  Today is all about blunt force trauma!"

"He's louder than Ribbon is," Lilybelle muttered.

"That's my job, sweetheart."  The suited pony clicked his tongue.  "Ain't nopony louder than me.  So!  Would you boys care to give it a go?  All you have to lose is a bit of pride, and that's only if you fail."

"Don't worry."  Drayk smirked.  "We won't lose."  He swept his hand to indicate Lilybelle.  "These mares were ahead of us though."  He looked down at the pink nurse.  "Wait, where are the other two?"

Lilybelle looked around with a sigh.  Annabelle was behind them, still talking with Softy.  But, where was Ribbon?  "Annabelle," she called, "get up here!  It's our turn."

The suited pony chuckled.  "This competition is open to all!  Try your luck, test your strength!  Tell us where you want the target, then let loose!"  He waved Lilybelle forward.  "The timer starts automatically after the first hit!"

She walked up and stood next to the contraption.  She didn't like being put on the spot and abandonned, but she wasn't about to back down.  Professor Evening Shine would never forgive a combat arts student that shied away from a challenge.  Especially not one at the top of her class.  "Um, a little lower, please?"

The suited unicorn made the necessary adjustments, and Lilybelle stood in front of it, looking back over her shoulder at the target.

The unicorn stepped away.  "Whenever you're ready."

Lilybelle took a deep breath.  She felt like a fool, standing in front of this huge crowd, especially given the competition she was facing.  It didn't help that the reason why she was there in the first place had just up and disappeared on her.

She changed her breathing pattern to a meditative one she had learned in combative magic class.  She closed her eyes.  Everything around her was pushed away, each breath pushed out not only air, but distraction.  She imagined her surroundings bathed in total darknes.  Light that was only permitted to shine on what was important, herself, and her target.

With a determined scream, Lilybelle kicked her hooves back, bucking the target with everything she had.  On impact, the target shook, and the contraption sprung to life.  Colorful lights blinked and flashed, and the numerical display lit up with her score.

Lilybelle heard a gasp from the crowd.  She opened her eyes and looked back.  Her score was high.  Nowhere near the high score, but much higher than she was expecting.

It took a shout from Annabelle to break her out of her shock.  "Don't just stand there!  Go!  Hit it!"

Right!  She still had time!  Lilybelle planted her hooves with a determined snort, and bucked for all she was worth.  After a few more hits, a red light appeared above the target.

The suited pony pointed at the light.  "Five seconds left!" 

Another light appeared.

"Four!"

Lilybelle put it all into these last few kicks, shouting as another light appeared.

"Three!"

"Go!  Go!  Go!"  Annabelle shouted as another light came on.

"Two!"

The whole crowd started cheering her on as the last light came on.

"One second!"

Lilybelle closed her eyes and screamed as she kicked one last time.  A loud buzzer went off,  but not before her score bumped up by more than the score of her first hit.  She stared at the scoreboard, sweating and trying to control her breathing.  "How'd I do?" she asked breathlessly.  She wobbled over to the screen that displayed the leaderboard.  She compared her score to those on the list, starting with the one on the bottom, tenth place.  "Five points short," she groaned.  "One more hit would have gotten me on the list."

The suited pony walked over to Lilybelle and spun her around to face the crowd.  "Dip me in feathers and call me a Pegasus!  Folks!  This pretty little lady was five, I'll say it again, five measly points from making the leaderboard.  Let's give her a hearty round of applause!"

To her surprise, members of the crowd actually started clapping.

"See, folks?"  The suited pony continued.  "Pure brawn isn't everything!  Speed, determination, and good, old-fashioned guts still count!"  He pulled several brightly colored, foil pouches from his suit pocket.  "And we can't let such determination go unrewarded, can we?"  He offered the pouches to Lilybelle.  "Five, count 'em, five, free samples of Protein-Pro Energy Shakes."  When Lilybelle didn't immediately take the offered samples, he stuffed them in her saddlebag and shoved her away.  "Poor gal's speechless.  Protein-Pro Energy Shakes!  The perfect complement to any workout.  Or maybe, you're running late?  Don't skip breakfast, folks!  Try out any one of our twelve amazing flavors!  Ready in seconds, and available for a limited time in a bulk pack!  One hundred pouches, with our special refrigerated Shake-Shaker, a fifty bit value, absolutely free!  Available wherever processed foods and supplements are sold."

Annabelle raised a hoof.  "Can I take my turn now?"

"Anytime you want, Sugar!"  He pointed at her.  "Look at this, folks!  This little filly's ready and raring to go!  Do you need the target moved?"

"No.  It's ok where it is."  Annabelle dashed for the target, getting a running start.  At the last moment, she spun on her front hooves, launching herself airborne.  She smacked into the the target with a flying buck, dropped to the ground, and started firing off rapid kicks, one after the other.

The crowd watched in stunned silence as her score steadily climbed for fifteen seconds.  When the buzzer sounded, her score was thirty points higher than Lilybelle's, putting Annabelle twenty-five points above  the current tenth place score and putting her on the leaderboard.

Unsurprisingly, the suited event manager was the first to recover.  "Astounding!"  He walked over and pat Annabelle on the shoulder.  "That was some fancy hoofwork miss, and it put you on the leaderboard!  Now, how about a name to go with that wonderful score?"

"Annabelle," she replied.

"Well, Annabelle."  He pointed at the leaderboard.  "Unfortunately, you fell quite a ways short of the grand prize.  But, you won't leave empty-hooved!"  He checked his pockets, then pulled out some more sample pouches.  "What a turnout, folks!  These are the last of the samples!  But can you think of anypony else more deserving than the young mare that valiantly challenged the odds?  Not only challenged, but broke the odds, and came out on top!"  He gave her the samples and walked over to the leaderboard.  "Name input, Annabelle."

The leaderboard lineup changed, swapping Annabelle's name and score into the tenth slot.  The mare happily planted herself in front of the screen and read through the list of scores above her.  She stopped at the second place slot.  "Lilybelle?  Come look who's in second."

The other nurse looked over.  "Growl?  Seriously?  And look at the time difference between her score and that Curaxxan's.  She was in first place for hours before he came along."

Annabelle shook her head.  "She's gonna be so pissed when she finds out she lost."

Lilybelle pointed to a name further down the list.  "Look at this, James is only in fifth.  And he went right before growl did."

Annabelle shrugged.  "I guess gryphons are at a disadvantage for something like this."

"Well, isn't this a surprise, folks!"  The announcer's voice drew Lily and Anna's attention back to the contraption, and to the rainbow-colored unicorn bouncing in place in front of it.  "We have a third, I said, third, young mare rising to the occasion!  This one is barely more than a filly, but she's not backing down!  What a shame that I'm out of samples, I'd give her a few just for the incredible spirit she's showing!"  He walked up to the target.  "Let me lower this for you, and we can get started."

Ribbon shook her head.  "No!  Higher!"

The suited pony blinked.  "You sure?"

Ribbon nodded.  "Yes!  Higher!"  She tore her makeshift skirt off and bundled it up while he made the adjustment.  Her hat was already gone.  "Higher!" she shouted, prompting him to lift it a little more.  She tossed the baled up sheet on the ground and kicked it away from her.  She then carefully set down a small, red plastic case on top of it.  "That'll do!"

The suited pony jumped back.  "Well!  Isn't she fired up, folks!"

The crowd started murmuring.  Several crowd members started laughing outright.  Ribbon ignored the crows and their cackling, and focused on the target.  She bounced back and forth, left and right, shifting and dancing like a fighter testing her opponent.

KaliKokuu made his way closer to the action, intently watching Ribbon's motions from beneath the brim of a frilly hat as she hopped back from the target.  Drayk pointed this out to his two companions.  "He sure got interested all of a sudden."  He shook his head.  "I've got a weird feeling about this."

Clak clicked his concurrence.

Softy shrugged it off though.  "So?  Maybe he just never saw a pony fight before."

"She isn't fighting," the human pointed out.  "She's just going to be railing on a target."

"You can't tell that by looking at her.  She looks like she's psyching herself up for a full-contact match."  Softy scratched his marshmallow chin.  "Do you think she's a pro fighter?"

Drayk scoffed.  "No.  She might have some training, but I doubt she's at the same level as that Curaxxan, or even us."

Ribbon advanced.  She planted her weight on one front hoof and swung her weight around.  She repeated that for her back hoof, swinging her front back around to face the target, and building up rotational speed.  Two more steps of that, and she reared up.  Using her rotation to balance like a top, she walked the last few steps to the target on her hind hooves.

Softy tugged at the cuff of Drayk's pants.  "Hey, that style, it looks like yours."

She hit the target with a double-hoofed slap using the full force of her spin.  The first hit scored her twice as much as Lilybelle's initial strike.  She planted both hooves, but kept her front legs swirling about, twisting and contorting her upper body as struck at the target with a combination of strength and momentum.

"It is," Drayk breathed.  "A pony using Wushu, now I've seen everything."

Ribbon started losing her balance.  Instead of letting herself just fall, she threw herself into a back flip, using the opportunity to kick the target before landing on all fours.

In just under five seconds, she had already reached Annabelle's score.  But she didn't stop there, not for a second.  She launched herself forward and slammed her left shoulder into the target, rattling the contraption's frame.

She hooked her right hoof behind the target like she was putting it a headlock.  Then, she freed her left hoof and gave it three powerful uppercuts, bringing her score up past ninth place.

She switched her right hoof for her left, and rained a lightning series of triplet jabs on the target.  Three, six, nine, a dozen, fifteen, more.  By the time she stopped with the jabs, she was just a few points under James' score.

She then spun around and gave the target two swift bucks.  The first one shot her score past fifth, and the second put her past fourth, but still under third.

The first red light came on.  There were five seconds left.

Ribbon reared up again.  This time, she was in a completely different stance than before.  A wide, stable pose, with her head slightly tucked, and her forehooves in a tight guard protecting her chin and front.

She leaned forward and wailed on the target with a flurry of assorted punches.  Jabs, hooks, crosses, and straights, all blurred from sheer speed.

"F-four seconds!" Mister suit announced.

Her score rapidly ascended past third, and approached Growl's.

"Three!"

Second place came and went.  First was on it's way.

"Two!"

The gap between second and first was substantial, and took time to traverse.

"One!"

There!  Her score jumped past KaliKokuu's, putting Ribbon in the lead.  But, there was still time, time for one more hit.  She shifted her stance, lining herself up for one last punch.  Throwing all her weight, strength, and flexibility behind it, Ribbon executed a perfect corkscrew straight.  She twisted it into the target from the hooves, up to the hips, and through the torso.  She added one last twist to her hoof as she drilled it into, and through, the target.

There was no buzzer.  Something inside the machine broke, shorting out the lights, and showering Ribbon in sparks.  Smoke followed the sharp bits of light, joined by pops of shattering plastic as the numerical display self destructed, digit by digit.  Even the leaderboard went black.

Silence descended on the area.  Even in thought, there was a temporary respite for the telepath as the crowd processed what it just saw.

"She won," somepony in the crowd said quietly.  "The filly won."

Those words caught the announcer's attention.  As more and more crowd members echoed that statement, he waved them down.  "Now, now, folks, we seem to be experiencing some technical difficulty here.  The scoreboard is down, and we have no way to confirm that her score was-"

"She won," a gruff voice stated.  It wasn't loud, but it drew all eyes to its owner.  KaliKokuu stood behind the announcer, arms crossed and glaring.  Even the pink bow on the fighter's hat couldn't mask the menacing intent in his stare  "She passed my score, before dealing the final blow."  He pointed at the smoke-obscured fighting filly.  "Try and deny that much raw power, and I might forget about that silly contract for a few moments."

Ribbon was still standing on her rear hooves.  Of her front hooves, one was still tight to her chest in a guard.  The other was embedded in the metal rail that once held the target.  The target itself was in tatters,  its red covering was torn, and its base and circuitry were broken into several pieces, dangling from wires around Ribbon's hoof.

Ribbon stared at her hoof and tugged back.  "Um, I think I'm stuck."  She twisted and wiggled against the bent framework.  "No, I know I'm stuck.  Can somepony-"

Her hoof popped free and she tumbled back with a short cry of alarm, flailing like a flipped turtle.

The announcer groaned.  "There's no way out of this," he muttered.  "All my equipment's dead, I can't record the award ceremony.  There goes the advertising material, the prize, and the repair budget."  He walked over to Ribbon and did his best to smile.  "Folks!  It seems like we have an unusual winner!  Due to technical issues, this contest will be coming to an early end, but Protein-Pro representatives will be here all day to answer questions about our products.  We may even get more samples later.  So give a warm round of applause to the strongest being on this station!"  He leaned over to Ribbon and whispered, "Hey, what's your name?"

She told him, and he straightened up.  "All right, folks!  Let's hear it for Ribbon Dancer, winner of the Delta portion of the first annual Protein-Pro station tour."

Silence descended upon the crowd a second time.  Furtive whispers passed from pony to pony, person to pony, and every other combination.  

"Ribbon, I recognize that name." 

"They don't mean that pony from medical, do they?"

"That colorful filly?  It can't be the same one, can it?"

"I've never seen her.  Have you?"

"No.  After what I've heard, I don't want to."

"Look what she did to that machine.  Is she even a pony?"

"She's gotta be some sort of freak, or an alien."

The announcer stared at the crowd.  What's going on?  Why weren't they cheering?  "Um, folks?"

"Don't bother."  Ribbon picked herself up and gathered her things.  She could feel the animosity, the fear building in the crowd.  Her name alone was enough to stir up the hornet's nest.  What had been aimless buzz earlier was now an angry swarm of wasps directed at her.  "I'll be going now.  Tell them I had to go back to medical, and they should be happier."

The confused stallion stopped her before she could leave.  "Wait, don't you want your prize?"  He held out a stack of three bitcards and waited for her to take it and add it to her wad of belongings.  "I don't know what's going on, but I have to go try to salvage this.  Well, congratulations, and be sure to tell all your friends about Protein-Pro."

Ribbon forced a smile and nodded.  "Yeah, friends," her voice cracked, "I'll do that."

She ran off before he could say another word.  She made her way through the crowd without having to push anypony out of the way.  They all made sure they stayed clear of her.  Behind her, she heard the enthusiastic proclamation of her exit.

A tangible wave of relief spread out as a result.
> A Few Shakes Short of a Sockhop
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------

	Once she was outside, Ribbon ran.  She picked a direction, took off, changing direction every time any living thing came near her.  She ended up near an out of order escalator, so she ducked into the alcove behind it, just behind a garbage can.

She huddled close to the wall and squeezed her balled up sheet to her chest like a plush toy.  "I should have waited," she whispered to herself as she rocked in place.  "I should have waited until it was empty before coming here.  Wait until midnight, and use the automated systems, that's what I need to-"

She stopped as she felt two minds approaching her.  The were idly chatting, but one of them was giving off a strong feeling of disappointment.  Ribbon stayed quiet as they walked up to the garbage can.  They didn't notice her.

"I can't believe I listened to that guy," said the first voice, the disappointed one, "this was a waste of bits."

"That Protein-Pro pony?"  The owner of the second voice was curious.  "It's not that bad is it?"

"Here, you try it."

Ribbon tasted something bitter, and heard the owner of the second voice equate the taste to vomit.  Then, the nearly full shake splattered against the side of her head.  The hard plastic cup stung, but she stayed quiet.  The cold slop stunk, but she didn't move.

The two walked away almost immediately after tossing the drink.  They hadn't noticed Ribbon.  They didn't even realize that they missed the garbage can.

Ribbon buried her face in her sheet.  "Next time, I just have the order delivered to my quarters."  She tensed up.  Someone had heard her, and that pony was wondering what she had ordered.  Even worse, that pony was thinking of asking about it.  She was also thinking about asking why she ran off so suddenly.  "Wait, Annabelle?"  Ribbon lifted her head.  "What are you doing here?"

The blue nurse responded with genuine confusion.  "Why would you even ask that?  First off, can't you tell?  And second, what the hell happened to you?!"   She sat down next to Ribbon and took the sheet from her.  Then, she started clearing away the lumpy brown goop that was plastered to the younger nurse's fur.  "You ran off like you were being chased or something, and now your eyes are all red and puffy like you're about to cry.  Lily and I were worried about you."

Ribbon stared at her in surprise.  "You were."  She smiled.  "You were."  She hugged Annabelle, smearing her with protein shake.  "Thank you so much, I needed that right now.  This is the first time since I moved to Delta that anypony besides Growl has been genuinely worried about me.  Thank you."  Ribbon pulled back as soon as Annabelle noticed that the shake was transferring to her.  "Sorry, I forgot about that."

Annabelle sighed.  "Yeah, you seem like the type who would."  She wiped herself off on the sheet.  "So, how were you able to pull of that stunt back there?"

Ribbon shook her head.  "I didn't use an enhancement spell, like you're thinking.  I don't even know any."  She waited until the other nurse thought up another possibility.  "No, I am not on steroids.  I don't take any medications."  She waited again.  " Nope."  Another wait, another idea.  "How is that even possible?"

Annabelle shrugged.  "It's about as plausible as your explanation that you're some sort of super soldier."

"So, that's how she was able to wreck that thing back there."  Softy peeked out from behind the garbage can.  The roly poly little dragon waddled up to the two nurses.  "I figured it had something to do with what Clak was on about, hearing, and understanding, and whatnot."

Ribbon was surprised by the small drake's appearance.  "Where did you come from?"

"Ah, I was right."  He tapped the side of his head.  "You're a psychic, so you're confused by my apparent lack of thoughts.  Pretty impressive, huh?"

Annabelle scratched her cheek.  "Wouldn't that just make you an airhead?"

"What?  No!"  Softy tapped the back of his claw in the palm of the other.  "Apparent!  A!  Par!  Ent!  It seems like there's nothing, but there really is something."

Annabelle giggled.  "Calm down there, Tiger, I'm just messing with you."

"Oh."  Softy scratched at his neck.  "Ok."

"So," Annabelle pondered, "you blocked her telepathy, did you?  Care to share the details of this amazing feat?"

Softy smiled as proudly as his short stature would allow.  "Never underestimate dragon magic."

Annabelle nodded sarcastically and leaned on the poor dragon, squashing him like a pillow.  "Yeah, you just keep saying that, don't you?  Well, I want specifics, not catchphrases."

"Ok!  Ok!"  He squawked.  "It's body modification magic!  I just change my scale structure to interfere with mental and magical wavelengths.  Just get off me!"

Annabelle obliged with a polite smile.

"Damn," he sputtered and muttered, "and I thought dragon females were scary."

Annabelle positioned her hoof above his head, as if she was going to lean on him again.  "I'm sorry, what was that?  I didn't quite catch it."

"Nothing," he mumbled.

"I thought so."  Annabelle replied, shining a hoof against her chest.  "Don't overestimate a mare's patience."

Ribbon watched them silently, with more than a twinge of jealousy.  They could talk to each other, bicker and banter, even lie.  They could get to know each other slowly, over the course of time, revealing themselves as they wished.  She would never get to know somepony like that.  And she would never get to feel the simple pleasure of a successful white lie.

Another presence approached them, from the far side of the escalator.  The mare was wondering where every pony ran off to.  "Lilybelle?"  Ribbon called out, "We're back here."

The pink nurse stopped at the escalator.  She looked up and down the ramp, then behind her.  "Where?"

"Behind it," Annabelle added.

Lily edged her way around the escalator, trying not to draw any attention from the other shoppers.  Fortunately, most of the crowds had dispersed after the contest ended.  "What are you guys doing back here?"  When she peeked over the garbage can, she added, "And what the heck happened to Ribbon?!"

"We were about to ask."  Softy looked up at Annabelle, then added, "Well, I was.  I don't know about her."

The blue nurse gave the plump dragon a solid whack on the head.  "I was getting to it."

"Hey, that hurt."  The tiny drake cradled his crown and stared up at her.  "Why do you keep doing that?"

Annabelle shook her head.  "Didn't your friend call you the strongest dragon on the station?  You can't take a little love tap from a mare that is most likely several times weaker than you?"

"Not in this form," he retorted.  "I'm pretty much a fancy doll like this.  The only thing it's good for is letting me into tight places."

"Well, not the only thing.  You are kind of cute like that."  Annabelle shrugged.  "So, what do you really look like?  I mean, you said you had five forms, but we've only seen two, this one, and that tall one."

"That was my power form."  Softy jabbed at the air with his pudgy little arms.  "You're just lucky that Drayk let you go first.  I would have taken that target out on the first hit.  I might have even taken out the wall behind it."

This prompted an eye roll from Annabelle.  "You're going to be a sore loser about it, aren't you?"

"Not at all."  The little dragon tried to cross his arms, but they didn't quite reach.  "I'm just going to make sure that the three of you stick to your promise."

"What promise?" Lilybelle asked.  "And no pony's told me what happened to Ribbon yet."

"I'm ok."  Ribbon finished wiping herself off and stuffed her sheet in the garbage can.  "I've never had so many ponies worry about me after knowing what I am.  Thank you."  All she had now were pieces of plastic, one red, one blue, and two yellow.  She offered the blue and yellow pieces, the bitcards she had won, to the others.  "Here, you can have these.  I'm just going to go back to my quarters."

Softy grabbed the blue card and turned it over in his claws with a whistle.  "A hundred bits, huh?"  He threw it back at the rainbow pony.  "Unacceptable!  The bet was for drinks, and I'm holding you to it."  He turned his back on her.  "Don't think you can make a bet with a dragon and not follow through."

Annabelle smiled and tossed the yellow chip back as well.  "He's right Ribbon.  It would be a stain on our honor if we backed out now."

"A stain on our honor?"  Lilybelle raised an eyebrow at her cousin.  "Seriously?"  She shook her head and offered her yellow card back by hoof.  "Ribbon, I don't know what happened, mostly because nopony will tell me, but I can't take this.  I want to, and I guess you already know that, but I won't."

The younger nurse pushed her hoof away.  "But, I don't usually shop here.  After I pick up my order, I might not come back here for a few months. These expire tomorrow.  They'll just go to waste if I keep them."

Lilybelle shook her head.  "Not if you use them today."

"Yeah," Annabelle pointed at Ribbon, "you still need some clothes, but now they're free!  How awesome is that?"

Ribbon looked down and smiled at the memory that Annabelle's question brought up.  "My mom would say, it's almost as awesome as she is."

"You're mother's a Pegasus, isn't she?"  Lilybelle rubbed her forehead before gesturing towards Annabelle.  "Our dads are pegasi, and that sounds like something they would say."

Ribbon nodded.  "She is."  The bright filly scratched at her sticky fur.  "Um, I'm going to go clean up.  This stuff is starting to itch."

Softy raised a claw.  "I can take care of that."

All three mares looked down at him.  "How?" they asked.

Lilybelle looked over at Ribbon.  "What are you asking for?"

"Dragon magic."  Annabelle pulled Softy over to her and knocked on his head like it was a door.  "He did something to his scales to block her telepathy.  Hey, Lilybelle, think we can do that with our fur?"

Lilybelle closed her eyes and rubbed her hoof on her snout between them.  "Hold on, back up.  What is going on?  I swear, Ribbon, you have been turning things upside down ever since that day we treated Astral.  I mean, you show up in the commissary wearing a bedsheet for a dress, then you beat a professional fighter in a test of strength, and now you're sitting behind a garbage can, covered in goop and crying over five hundred bits in free shopping.  And that was all in the space of, what?  An hour?  Less?"

Annabelle nodded slowly.  "That sums it up pretty nicely.  You should write those abbreviated versions of books that you get when you're too lazy to read the whole thing for class."

Lilybelle sighed.  "I'm going to ignore that, Anna, but you know what will happen if Growl catches you using those."

The other nurse nodded.  "I sure do."  She made a motion across her neck.  "That's why I hide them under your bed."  She emphasized the, "your," with a poke on her pink cousin's chest.

Lilybelle wasn't amused in the slightest, and batted the hoof away.  "If that's true, I'm burning them the moment we get home."

"Ladies, can we please focus?"  Softy broke away from the group and gave himself a bit of room to stretch out in.  "Ribbon needs to clean up so she can spend her money.  And, as for me..."  He back flipped, curling into a ball and bouncing once before exploding into smoke.  A slick, streamlined dragon stood silhouetted in that smoke.  Still blue, still striped with yellow, he was roughly pony sized and shaped, but with mildly angular features that lent a dangerously reptilian air to his being.  "I'm just waiting for my drink."

"Oh my gosh!"  Annabelle giggled.  "That's so cool.  You're secretly handsome."

Softy blinked, angles softening as his scales flattened out.  His air of mystery and danger faded with his smokescreen, leaving him looking like a mynar in an aircar's landing lights.  "Secretly?" he muttered.  "What the hey is that supposed to mean?"

Lilybelle dismissed his question with a wave of her hoof.  "Just ignore eighty percent of everything she says.  You'll get ulcers if you try to keep up with everything that comes out of her mouth."

The dragon nodded.  "Uh-huh.  Well, now that I'm back to normal, I can help Ribbon get cleaned up.  After that, we can get our drinks."

"So, that's your true form?"  Annabelle tapped the scales on his shoulder and ran a hoof over them.  "You're scales are so smooth.  They're hard, but they feel soft.  So warm, too."

"Um, thanks."  Softy looked away with a blush as the mare started rubbing her cheek against his shoulder.  "Um, how long are you going to do that?"

"Oh!"  Annabelle pulled her head back quickly.  "Sorry!  It just felt so nice, I couldn't help it."  She looked away as well, and lowered voice.  "And I didn't exactly hear you complaining."

"I can't believe this," Lilybelle groaned quietly, "they're flirting."  She tapped her hoof against the ground.  "Excuse me, but can we please get Ribbon cleaned up now?  You said you had some sort of magic for it, or something?"

"Oh, right!"  Softy cleared his throat.  "Dragonfire."  He blew a tiny puff of turqoise flame into the air.  "Every dragon has some sort of special property to their flame.  The honored ancestor of my clan taught me how to use mine, so I can do a lot of different things.  But, for right now, the important thing is that my flame only burns what I want it to.  I can burn that shake off without even touching Ribbon."

Lilybelle looked over at the messy nurse.  "Ok," she said hesitantly, "if she's ok with it, then get go ahead."  She looked back at Softy.  "But, if you burn her, I'll burn you.  So don't mess up."

"Heh, heh.  Yeah."  Softy scratched his neck.  Then, he pointed at Annabelle.  "Are you related to her by any chance."

Lilybelle sat down and crossed her hooves.  "We're cousins."

"Ah.  I would have guessed sisters."  He coughed dryly and looked over at Ribbon.  "So, are you ready?"

Ribbon nodded.  "I am."

"Ok, then.  Just stay calm, I'll start slow."  He blew a small amount of flame at Ribbon, barely more than a candle's light.  It landed on her chest and burned away the sticky brown residue of the energy shake.  Then, it quickly died, leaving clean, cyan fur behind.

Ribbon felt the spot with her hoof.  "It was cold.  This is the first time I've ever seen dragon flames.  Is it always cold?"

"Sometimes."  Softy chuckled.  "You know, that's the calmest I've ever seen anypony around dragonfire.  You didn't even flinch.  Most ponies, and even people and other dragons shout at the very least when it touches them."  He continued slowly, burning away the rest of the shake small bits at a time.

"Yeah," Annabelle agreed, "you are unexpectedly stoic, Ribbon.  And unexpectedly emotional as well.  And a little bit of a squealing fangirl when it came to KaliKokuu.  What was that about?"

"Oh, that."  Ribbon chuckled.  "Well, he isn't just a fighter.  I mean, he's a great fighter, better than any other in his weight class, but look at this."  She gave Annabelle the red plastic square she had with her.  "It's a copy of his latest album!  He even signed it!"

Annabelle stared at the little square, a standard sized entertainment disc.  It's label read, "KaliKokuu, Live with the Canterlot Charity Orchestra, Contemporary Human Jazz with a Curaxxan Flair."

Annabelle sighed.  "You've got to be kidding."

"Why?" Ribbon asked.  "He's good, really good.  I already have a copy, so take that and listen to it.  Just make sure you return it."

"She can do that later," Softy insisted.  "I got the last of that gunk off, so we can go get our drinks now."

Ribbon looked over her clean fur with a smile.  "Thank you.  All three of you, thank you for helping me.  I-"

Annabelle stopped the younger nurse with a pat on the back.  "Thank us after we get through shopping."

"Yeah," Softy agreed, "and don't forget, you owe me smoothies."

"Smoothies?"  Lilybelle asked.  "Your choice of any drink in the commissary, and you pick smoothies?"

"Yes!" Softy answered with determination, clenching his claw into a fist in front of him.  "Blueberry!  Blueberry smoothies from Pop's cart on the second level, the one tucked behind the cargo handling supply shop."

Lilybelle leaned back.  "Um, ok."

"Oh, yeah!"  Softy snapped his claws a few times.  "I almost forgot.  Clak got called away, and Drayk had to go translate for him.  They won't be coming along, so I'll take their smoothies too."

Annabelle nodded happily.  "That sounds good.  What do you think, Ribbon?  Lilybelle?"

Ribbon nodded slowly.  "I think that sounds fine."

Lilybelle scoffed.  "I think you're all crazy."

Annabelle laughed and trotted off.  "Thanks, Lily, you flatter me."

Softy laughed and followed her.

Ribbon waited behind with Lilybelle.  "Um, Lily?  I wanted to ask you something."

"Me first," the pink mare said.  "Why did you come out to the commissary?  You never go out in public, so why all of sudden?"

"That's kind of what I wanted to ask you."  Ribbon's head tilted to the side and she squinted at her fellow nurse.  "You did that on purpose, didn't you?  Thinking instead of speaking.  Why?"

Lilybelle shrugged and smiled like a fox.  "You're the telepath.  You tell me."  She nodded towards Anna and Softy as the two picked up speed in their hunt for blended fruit.  "Let's go before they completely leave us behind.  You can answer my question as we walk."

"Too late.  I think they've forgotten about us."  Ribbon pointed as the pony and dragon started racing to the escalator.  "We know where they're headed, so we can catch up later."  The telepath twiddled her hooves , nervously passing an awkward moment to put her thoughts in order before speaking.  "Actually, Lily, the reason I came to the commissary and the thing I wanted to ask you are kind of connected.  You know that colt who's always doing the repairs around medical, the pinto?  This is gonna be way more blunt than I want to put it, but do you like him?"

"Uh..."  Lilybelle chuckled.  "Yeah, that sure was blunt."  She scratched at her mane.  "You'll be able to tell if I'm lying, so I guess I have to be honest with you."  She took a deep breath, held it for a moment, and let it out with the words, "I don't really know."

Ribboned listened quietly and waited for her to continue.  The conflicting mish-mash of thoughts she was receiving from the other mare was too confusing to make sense of.

After a moment, Lily let out a single sharp laugh followed by a sigh.  "You know, it felt pretty good to finally say that out loud.  I mean, I don't dislike him, but I don't know him well enough to say whether I like him or not, especially not in like a romantic way.  I was always so focused on getting through medical school that never really put much thought into any of this before.  Objectively speaking, I'm not opposed to the idea of a relationship, and he is mildly attractive.  Plus, when I looked up his repair log on the computer, it showed that nothing he fixed ever needed additional repairs, so he seems to have a good work ethic and an eye for detail.  I wasn't able to find any other information though."

Ribbon blinked.  "You looked up his repair log?  Are you even allowed to do that?"

"Probably not?"  Lilybelle shrugged.  "Look, I wasn't kidding when I said I focused on medical school.  This whole possibly maybe dating somepony is one hundred percent brand spanking new to me, and I have to admit, it's sort of freaking me out.  I don't have any information to go on, so I, um, sort of muck it up as I go."  The nurse's eyes brightened as she got a sudden idea.  "Hey!  Do you think I could get your help one of theses days?  I want to talk to him and see if he fakes being interested in things."

"What?  No!"  Ribbon shook her head.  "That's a terrible idea!  What if he doesn't?  Then you'll feel guilty.  And if he does, it may be because he wants to be nice.  Then you'll still feel guilty."  The rainbow unicorn sighed sadly.  "I shouldn't have asked."

"Why did you?"  Lilybelle prodded the younger nurse with a hoof.  "It didn't seem like you were all that interested in a yes or no answer.  What gives?"

Ribbon winced.  "Promise not to freak out?"

Lilybelle nodded hesitantly.  "I'll try not to."

"I wanted to listen to your thoughts for a moment."  Ribbon looked down.  "I was hoping it would help me make sense of mine, sort them out, or something like that."

"You wanted to listen to my thoughts after asking if I liked..."  The dots connected pretty quickly for the pink nurse.  "You have somepony you like, and you don't know what to do."  Lilybelle laughed into her hoof.  "Oh, man, did you ever pick the wrong pony for advice.  I'm pretty confused about my own love life as it is."

Ribbon gave a tiny nod, lips pressed together in a thin, sheepish smile.  "You're more of a help than you think."

Lilybelle gave the junior nurse a small pat on the shoulder.  "You're welcome, I think.  But, that still doesn't answer my question.  Why did you come here in the first place?"

The colorful unicorn smiled.  "I need to pick up some jewelry I ordered."
> Stunned and Confused
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------

	At the cemetery gate, Radio checked his scanner again.  "She's here," he told Tekrin, who stood beside him, "or, at least the phase pistol is.  There are several lifesigns, so I can't be sure."

After she ran off, Radio had been unable to find her.  She must have teleported away, because even his scanner was unable to detect the pistol she carried.  With her out of range, his only recourse was to go to the elder and explain what happened.

And he had silently led him here, to a large cemetery.  Older graves, marked with headstones and simple chiseled markers mingled with hasty wooden monuments consisting of boards with names and dates carved in rough lettering.  Ponies dressed as Silver Mane's sister had, with ribbons and flowers in their hair, mourned in front of the wooden gravestones.

"Elder Tekrin!"  A stallion without decoration ran up to them.  His muddy hooves were as brown as his mane, and stood out from his pale grey coat.    "Has there been some change?"  His breathed wheezed between words as he talked, his illness probably nearing the final stages.  "For once, I have completed my work, and no more comes calling."

Tekrin nodded.  "Yes, Gourd, things have changed.  You will not have to bury any more today."  He put a hoof on the stallion's shoulder.  "You have grown worse since I last spoke with you.  Please, go to the healer's building and rest, but first tell me if you have seen my daughter."

"I have.  It has been a week, I almost believed she would not return."  He coughed lightly, a foreshadowing of what awaited.  "But she did not wear flowers.  I know there are still some to be found, so it is odd."  He looked over at radio, tilting his ear towards him.  "Tekrin, I have not seen this colt before, and I can not hear the sound of his breath.  Has the transmitter been repaired?"

"There is no time, Gourd, I will explain later.  Please wait at the healer's place."  Tekrin started off for the back of the cemetery.  "Follow me, Healer.  If Gourd is correct about the flowers, time is short."

Radio did as told, following as Tekrin started to run, following a path he must have travelled many times before.  "What's the big deal about flowers?"

They wove through several rows of wooden headstones before Tekrin stopped suddenly.  "Flowers are for the living."

Radio tripped over his hooves trying not to run into the older stallion.  He landed near another pony, on the mounded dirt of a meticulously maintained grave.  Sparrow was slumped before a wooden marker bearing a single word.

"Hunter."

The Pegasus gasped and jumped back.  "No..."  He stepped forward, about to reach out, but couldn't.  He couldn't bring himself to check for a pulse, couldn't bring himself to confirm what he already knew.  "Why?"  He asked.  "You couldn't have known, so, why would you...  How could you..."

Radio didn't finish the question.  He knew the answer already.  Any good parent would give their lives for their children.  His own had proven that to him long ago.  His mother was all but killed saving him from the Hydra, and his Father risked everything trying to secure freedom for him and Ribbon.  It was only natural that Sparrow was still willing to give hers for the son she could no longer save.

The colt drew a long breath, tried to calm his shaking, and said the only farewell that came to mind.  "You were a good mother."

"She was."  The phase pistol lay by her outstretched hoof, next to a withered patch of small yellow flowers.  Tekrin picked it up.  "I should have left these where they were, forgotten and hidden."  He walked forward and kissed his daughter on the forehead.  How he could be so calm standing next to his daughter's body was beyond Radio's comprehension.  There was no emotion in his voice.  He may as well have been talking about leaving his laundry on the line too long.  "Find rest, my little Sparrow.  You were a good mother, a good daughter, and a better pony than I ever was."

Radio only realized the source of the old stallion's composure when he turned the pistol on himself.  "Stop!"

The energy weapon flashed, and Tekrin dropped on his side.  It was so quick, so quiet, that it didn't seem real.  There was barely even a thud as the elder's body hit the soft ground.

Radio took a slow, heavy step forward, then another.  He was kneeling next to them before he knew it, phase pistol in the dirt in front of him.  Why didn't he dismantle it?  He clenched his teeth.  None of this would have happened.  His eyes burned and he ground his teeth.  He picked the pistol up and removed the power pack.  Tears started to flow.  Why didn't he at least do that much?

He screamed and punched the ground, dropping the phase pistol.  He hit the dirt over and over, packing the clay to a hard surface.  He kept hitting until it started to hurt, then he hit it harder.

The blue light on the side of the pistol in front of him faded as the charge in the weapon's capacitor drained.  There was a crack from one last punch, and a splitting pain that followed, racing up the colt's leg.  Why was it blue?

Radio leaned on his left hoof.  His right was damaged, possibly a broken bone. It sure felt like one, anyway.  But why was that light blue?  When he disassembled the other phase pistol, the light was red.

He scooped the pistol up in his wing and stuck the battery back in.  That blue light came back on, glowing to life within a second or two.  He ran the tip of a feather over the light, and it moved.  It only moved a little, like a loose button.

Radio pressed down on the light.  There was some resistance, and the sound of a straining spring.  Radio pushed a little harder.

The button clicked in, and the light turned orange.  Radio pressed it again, and it turned red.  One more made it turn green, and one last push brought it back to blue.

Radio looked at Tekrin.  His body had no marks, no damage or burns.  Neither did Sparrow's.  He limped up until he was standing over Sparrow, and laid his head against her side.  She was still warm, and...  breathing!  It was faint, but she was breathing, her heart was beating, she was still alive.

Radio limped over to check Tekrin.  The grass in front of him moved under his breath.  He was still alive as well.

A stun setting?  All that, and the pistol was locked on a stun setting?  Radio laughed as he fell over, clutching at his right hoof.  He flinched as something fell on his face, a drop of water.  Still laughing, a small turn of his head aimed it skyward.  "This is just perfect!" he shouted at the clouds as raindrop after raindrop fell on them.  "Way to set the mood!"

He looked back at the two immobilized ponies.  The crisis was over, their planet and ponies out of immediate danger.  But, they couldn't bring themselves to look forward.  Would there be others like that in the village?  How many ponies would be pulled back by the faces of the past, the faces of those lost?   How could he hope to help them all?

More importantly, would he be able to stop the suicide attempt before it succeeds?





Across the lake, the quarry landscape gave way to a vast graveyard of a different kind.  A junk yard, filled with electronic debris and the leftover scrap of countless ships.  Trails were cleared through some parts of the wreckage, linking what appeared to be a small, single story house with various spots scattered among the salvage.  Plants grew in barrels and pots, all covered from above to keep the rain away, and certain pieces of wreckage showed signs of being cleanly, and recently, dismantled for parts.  Strawberry led Astral and Twilight through the maze of parts, quietly focused on the house in the distance.

Astral stopped at a muddy piece of paneling, probably the exterior of a ship, to inspect it.  He wiped some dirt away to reveal a set of numbers, most likely a registration code, repeated in standard, curraxxan, and a few other languages.  The standard numbers were prefaced by the letter "c," marking the ship's home system as canterlot.  The rest of the numbers gave additional information about the vessel.  "Nice place you got here.  If I'm reading this code right, this particular patch of wreckage came from a seventy-two year old ship.  That would make it the Sevus, sister ship to the Serus, and the original colony ship that brought ponies to this planet."

Strawberry stopped and looked back.  "Most of this was part of the Sevus.  It was the largest ship ever to be dumped here.  None of the other ones even come close."

Twilight looked at the numbers.  "Out of curiosity, how many ships were dumped here?"

"My grandfather catalogued twenty-seven, and I've found at least fourteen more, including one that might have a fixable subspace relay."  The pink pony scratched her chin, then shrugged.  "I guess that doesn't matter any more.  But there haven't been any more ships, not since I was a filly."

"Out of curiosity, again," Astral called, "exactly when was that?"

Strawberry thought for a moment.  "Nineteen years ago, almost twenty.  A lot of ships came at once, but after you left, there weren't any more."

Twilight looked over at Astral.  "Um, how much of a difference is there between  a year here and one on Canterlot?"

"About a day."  Astral walked up to Strawberry.  "You barely look old enough to have been born when I left here, but you said you watched me go?  I'm finding that a little hard to believe."

"I'm just short."  Strawberry sighed.  "I was nine.  You were about my age, and you flew a small cargo ship with bright green markings.  You landed in the middle of town, instead of the outskirts like the other ships.  You let several ponies out of the ship and tried to talk to the Elder, but he didn't have time for you.  The settlement was being flooded with newcomers, ships were landing all around, and there was a strange light in the sky, like a nearby star had gone nova."

"Yeah."  Astral shook his head.  That was pretty much what happened.  Only that star was a massive thermonuclear detonation wiping Serus from existence.  "Then a mob formed around my ship, and I was forced to leave."

The pink mare nodded.  "And I tried to stop you.  I tied a note to a rock and launched it over the crowd with a slingshot.  I missed and hit you, and the whole crowd started throwing rocks.  I wanted you to wait, but you ended up leaving even faster."

"I still have the scar.  That was you?"

"Wait a minute," Twilight started.  "If you're..."  She pulled back suddenly.  "No, it's nothing.  Can you please take us to see your grandparents?"

"Oh... yeah...  We should try to get there before it rains."  Strawberry smiled weakly and started off at a trot.  "This way."

"Rain?"  Twilight looked up.  "But it's sunny."

Astral tapped her shoulder then pointed back the way they came.  Dark clouds were gathered on the horizon, not far away.  "Looks like the storm's over the settlement now.  It'll be on top of us in about an hour." Astral glanced back to see how far Strawberry had gone, then leaned over to Twilight.  " What is it?" he whispered.  "What were you going to ask?"

"I hope it's nothing, but..."  Twilight shook her head.  "I'm a little concerned.  If she's almost thirty, and Pinkie has been here for fifty..."

"I wish I didn't see what you're getting at, but you're right.  That doesn't leave a lot of time for logistics."

"That's a terrible way of putting it."

Astral shrugged.  "If you have a better euphemism, I'd love to hear it.  For now, how about we get moving before she leaves us behind."





"You think he's dead?"  A young colt peered down at Radio, silver mane bobbing as he inspected the muddy Pegasus.  "He looks dead."

A filly, slightly older, stood next to him.  It was raining pretty heavily, and both of them were soaked to the skin.  "Of course he isn't, Sil, he's looking at you and blinking."

"Oh, right."  Silver-mane poked the older colt.  "Are you sure?  He isn't moving."

"Yes, I'm sure.  You didn't move for three whole days, and you're still alive."  She pointed at Radio's colorful mane.  "Besides, this is the new healer, the one who saved your life.  He wouldn't just die out here."

"I guess."  The colt looked over at the other ponies on the ground.  "You think he needs help burying these other two?"

"Maybe, but isn't that the elder and Mrs. Sparrow?  I thought they were ok."

"They aren't dead either," Radio finally spoke up, "they're just sleeping."

"All the way out here?" the filly asked, raising an eyebrow in skepticism.

"It's a long story."  With a groan, Radio sat up, mud running down his back.  He favored his injured hoof, leaning heavily on the other one.  "Why are you two out here?"

"Sil woke up, so we came to visit our parents."  She pointed at two nearby graves next to a smaller, empty one.  "And, when it stops raining, we will fill in Sil's grave."

Radio stared down at the two foals in disbelief.  They shouldn't be going through this, nopony should.  "When it stops raining, I'll help you.  but first, can you help me real quick?  My leg is broken, and I need you to bring somepony that can carry these two back to the hospital."

She nodded once.  "You mean the healer's place, right?  We can bring help."

She started off, her brother following after her, but Radio called after them.  "Wait, do you two have anypony to take care of you?   Any other family?"

The foals exchanged glances before answering, "no, healer."  They both said it, but the filly was the louder of the two and continued, "we will manage though.  Mother taught me to grow crops, and Sil was learning father's trade.  We will do what we have to."

"Good," Radio managed a small smile.  "You always need to look forward.  Don't forget that when you grow up."





Twilight and Astral had caught up to Strawberry well before she made it to the house.  Predictably, it was built with the materials at hoof, wreckage, wreckage, and more wreckage.  The main structure, and most of the roof was a single piece of curved hull, arching over an walls of cobbled together panels.  Each panel was small enough to have been moved by an individual pony, and arranged like shingles, forming a metal snakeskin to guard against the elements.

The pink mare stopped next to the door, where a water spiggot was secured to the exterior wall with twisted wire.  As the other two waited,  she connected a small hose.

"There."  The valve squeaked as Strawberry turned the water on and started rinsing her hooves off.  "Granpa set up a filter a long time ago, so this water is safe."  When she was done, she turned the hose over to her visitors, letting them rinse off.  "It used to be only for drinking water, but when I noticed that the other water smelled and tasted different, I started using filtered water for everything.  Cooking, bathing, watering the plants,rinsing my hooves after crossing the lake, all of it."

Twilight blinked and turned her attention from the streaming water to their pink guide.  She couldn't quite put a hoof on it, but she was starting to get a little itch in the back of her mind that Strawberry was leaving something out.  "Wait, when you noticed?"

"Mm-hmm."  Strawberry nodded absentmindedly.  "I had to expand granpa's filter system, but it gets me by."

"Oh..."  Things snapped into place for Twilight as Strawberry set the hose down and walked around the corner of the house.  "Oh, please, no..."  I, me, everytime Strawberry spoke, the words she used...

"Twi."  Astral touched his hoof to hers as she stared after the pink mare.  It took him a bit longer to figure it out, but the tears forming in the alicorn's eyes filled in any remaining gaps.  "Why don't you wait here a minute?"

"Astral," Twilight pulled away from the touch.  She didn't deserve to be to be comforted, not now.  "She didn't go in.  She didn't go in the house."

"I know."  Astral watched the alicorn for a second.  She was frozen in place, not wanting to follow, not wanting to face what lay around the corner.  Damn it!  Before they landed, he was reassuring her that everything would be all right.  Now this?  "We should probably follow."

There was no response.  No movement from the purple mare.

"Twilight?"  Astral prodded.  They had to face this.  "Follow her."

Twilight looked over at him.  "I don't want to."  She shook her head slowly.  "I don't..."

"I know."  Astral touched her hoof again.  "But I'll be right here with you."

She started towards the corner in hesitant, jerky steps.  Astral could tell that she wanted to turn around and run each time her hoof hit the ground.  He followed behind her quietly, blocking any escape.  

There was no running from this.  

They found Strawberry sitting in front of three squared off stones, each one etched with a simple picture.  One was a crystal hidden among twisted metal, one was a simple circuit board, and the last, the one that Strawberry rested her hoof on, was three balloons.

The pink mare glanced back at her visitors before looking back at the stone with a smile.  "You were right, grandma.  She came to find you."  There was a small box in front of the stone, sealed with an electronic lock.  Strawberry picked it up and ran a hoof over it.  "I don't know what this is," she held it out to Twilight, " but, she said you would know the password."
> Subdivisions
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------

	These are good.  Ribbon's thoughts echoed the ones she heard from her fellow nurses as they sipped their smoothies.  The owner of the smoothie cart was away, leaving a hired hand in his place.  And though he shooed them away pretty quick after seeing the telepath, he had grudgingly prepared their drinks first.  "On the house, as long as you leave quickly."

Ribbon sighed sadly and gave the smoothie a little stir with the straw.  Lily and Anna weren't putting much thought into their drinks, instead, they were able to just enjoy them, savoring the cold and the sweet fruit flavors.  They would also be able to go back and get more without hearing the cart employee wish they were somewhere else.

Softy followed along behind them as they walked, trying to stretch his tail far enough forward to sip out of the cup it held.  "Man, you unicorns are lucky.  You get to walk and drink at the same time."

"Aww," Annabelle slowed down so he could catch up with her, "Is the poor fire-breathing, shape-shifting dragon jealous of a little telekinesis?"  With a giggle, she pulled his smoothie away from his tail and held it out to him.  "Here you go, whiney."

The dragon raised an eyebrow at her, less than amused by the antics.  Still, smoothie is smoothie.   He moved to take a sip of the offered drink, but exacted revenge at the last minute by leaning over and sipping from Annabelle's half empty cup instead of his own.  He gulped the cold slush down and smacked his lips as it's sugary presence filled his mouth.  "Thanks."

"You're welcome."  Annabelle brought his full cup of untouched smoothie to her mouth and started slurping, and slurping, and slurping.

"Hey!" The drake started to protest, but soon started chuckling.  His arms crossed in smug satisfaction.  "Fine, help yourself."

"M-hmm," Annabelle hummed as she drank.  "I wi-Gak!"

Softy held a claw out to catch his drink as she dropped it, then spun around to catch hers with his tail.  "What's the matter?"  He asked with a sly grin, raising an eyebrow at the mare.  "Brain freeze?"

"Mhmm," she whimpered, sitting and grabbing her head.  Luckily for Softy, she was too immersed in her own pain to see him use her smoothie to replenish what she had consumed of his.  "Give me a moment."

Lilybelle sighed as she sipped her own smoothie, at a slow controlled pace.  Raspberry with white chocolate chunks, she stopped every so often to dig out a piece of one or the other and chew on it for a bit.  "You never learn, do you?  You did the same thing with that Polorran Gelatto last time we went shopping, and before that at the soft-serve cart."

"Yeah," groaned Ribbon, wincing at Annabelle's pain.  She made a mental note to avoid cold foods when around the energetic nurse.  "Slow down a little, please?"

Lilybelle looked over at Ribbon and shook her head.  "You're going to be just as much trouble as she is."





"Why are you fighting this?!"  Annabelle pushed with all her might, Softy aiding in her struggles.  But Ribbon held firm, unyielding to the combined dragon and pony might.  "This could be the best thing that ever happened to you!"

"How?" Ribbon shouted back.  She looked down.  It wasn't hard to resist the shoving, but she was seriously starting to worry about damaging the floor.  "What in the Sam Hill do I need a swimsuit for?  We're on a space Station, and we don't have a swimming pool!"

"We're mares going shopping," Annabelle stated, halting her efforts, "stop trying to make sense!"

Lilybelle shook her head.  She had been sitting, leaning against a column while the rest of them fought over which shops to enter.

"But I don't even have a dresser."  Ribbon looked around for a furniture store.  "Maybe I should get one of those first?"

"Quit trying to distract me."  Annabelle pointed to a nearby store.  Unlike the other stores, which kept their doors open to the common area, this one kept its dark walnut door closed.  The polished brass handle followed a sensuous curve and was shaped to look like rope, tying itself in place.  The mannequins in the windows were wrapped in form fitting black lace outfits and the lighting was dark reds and purples.  Behind the mannequins, the windows were blocked off, concealing the rest of the store from view.  "Ten seconds.  You have ten seconds to pick a store and start shopping.  Or I drag you in there, magically if I have to, and see what you look like in that cute dress in the window."

Ribbon went red in the face.  "I, I, uh, th- there's um," she struggled to stammer out a rebuttal, but she didn't know what shops were where.  How was she supposed to pick one?  Submitting to a swimsuit fitting was starting to seem like the less painful option.  "I think we passed an office supply store.  I do need a new bean bag for the medical closet."

"That's it."  Lilybelle stood up with a sigh.  "Anna, quit torturing Ribbon for your own amusement.  She obviously doesn't know what she wants or where to get it, so, let’s just go somewhere basic."

The blue unicorn's eyes lit up.  "You're talking about-"

"Yep."  The pink unicorn answered before Ribbon could even hear the completed thought.  "Let's go."





"Whoa."  Ribbon turned her head back and forth, trying to take everything in.  It was almost hard to believe there was something like this on the station.  Since she lived and worked in the utility sections, and avoided crowds at all costs, she rarely saw anything this nice.

They were in the largest of the shops on the main level.  Its selection of merchandise focused on general clothing, personal accessories and small electronics.  Something for everypony.  Everything was neatly arranged so there was plenty of room to stroll through and browse, and every shelf, bar, and hanger shone in the bright lighting.  Music played, loud enough to be heard, but quiet enough to be ignored, and the other shoppers were able to speak over it comfortably.

But the thing that caught the rainbow unicorn's attention the most was the centerpiece of the store.  Rising up into a dome in the ceiling, more than twice as tall as anything else in the store, was a column of water.  It was a single jet, forced up from a nozzle in the center of a wide pool.  at the top, it hit a forcefield that forced it into an umbrella-like curtain of rain.  The cascade was further disrupted by smaller forcefields that shifted in time with a catchy, upbeat song about something called a barchetta.

"Is she ok?" Annabelle asked her cousin quietly.

"I hope so," Lilybelle replied in kind.  "She's gonna get dizzy if she keeps this up."

"You'd think she never saw a wishing well before," Softy added.

Lilybelle looked over at him.  "She probably hasn't."

"That's so sad," Annabelle crooned as she dug out a few small coins.  "Alright!  I've got enough for everypony.  Let's all go make a wish."

"Ok."  Lilybelle took two of the coins.  "Ribbon!"

She flung the coin as the other unicorn looked back, blinking as the silvery metal bit bounced off her head and landed in the water with a splash.

"Oh!"  Ribbon looked back at the pool, noticing the layer of change coating the bottom like glittering algae for the first time.  "So that's what it is!  I've never seen a wishing well before."

"We kind of guessed that," Lily deadpanned.  She walked over, offering Ribbon her second coin.  "I threw that last one, so it's technically for my wish I guess."  She looked up at the dancing, electronic waterfall, letting herself get lost in the flash and sparkle of ever changing forcefields as the music warned of selling souls for small desires.  "We'll see if it comes true."

"I'm sure it will."  Ribbon smiled as she tossed her coin in.  "Theirs too," she added, nodding towards Anna and Softy.  They were both arguing over which of the two remaining coins was luckier and most likely to get a wish granted.  "Maybe theirs already has."

"I almost forgot you could do that."  Lily chuckled.  "I guess telepaths don't count as telling somepony."

"Oh, sorry," Ribbon scratched her head.  "Well, if my wish comes true, you won't have to worry about it for long."

Lilybelle raised an eyebrow.  "Care to explain that?"

"Maybe later," Ribbon pointed as Annabelle ran off.  "Something just caught her eye."

Lilybelle rolled her eyes as she followed her cousin, Ribbon tagging along behind her.  Softy followed them after taking a moment to toss both coins into the fountain.  He stopped after a few steps though, and glanced back at the fountain.  "Wait, is that two wishes, or one wish twice as likely to come true?"





"I can't do it," Lilybelle said, staring at herself in the dressing room mirror.  "I'm trying on something else."

"No," Annabelle cried, leaning against the door, "I want to see it!  They didn't have my size, so you have to come out and let me see it."

"You know," Softy whispered to Ribbon, "I didn't think there would be that much of a size difference between them."

"I heard that!"  Lily shouted through the door.  "I'm not fat!"

"No," Anna agreed, "you're tubby!"

"Lily, they don't mean that," Ribbon cut in.  "And I can tell you like how the dress looks.  You probably look amazing right now."

There was a click.  The deadbolt undone, the door opened a few centimeters, hinges settling with a squeak as hinges tend to do.

"We don't have all day," Annabelle complained.

Lily braced her head against it and slowly pushed the door open.  She didn't realize it, but the motion, that last little flick to move the door away made it look like she was flaunting the outfit.  The dress was snug, but not uncomfortable.  It was silky black, wrapped at the neck, and loosely draped over one shoulder, then form fitting past that and cut round at the hip to show the cutie mark.  The rest of the material draped over the tail, hanging beside it and trailing just off the floor.  Lilybelle stared at the far wall, distant gaze giving her a model's indifference as she waited, unwilling to meet the gazes of the rest of her group.

That is, until Annabelle let out a loud wolf whistle.

"What the hell?!"  Lilybelle blushed as she shouted at her cousin.  "Don't you ever think before doing things like that?"

Annabelle shrugged.  "Sure I do.  Then I do it anyway."

Softy nodded his approval of the outfit.  "I bet that pinto Anna was telling me about is going to love this."

The mentioned mare giggled.  "Can you imagine the look on his face?"

Ribbon quietly pointed past Lilybelle.  "You mean, that look?"

All eyes turned towards the accessory area, where a single pinto colt, grease and mill scale streaked black on his coat, stared at the elegantly dressed Lilybelle.  The new red scarf in his hoof was completely forgotten as he waved nervously, managing a weak smile.

Lilybelle returned a stiff wave, then spun to face Ribbon.  "What do I do?" she asked in a frantic whisper.  "I haven't even spoken to him yet.  I don't even know his name!"

"Why are you asking me?" Ribbon whispered back.  "And didn't you look up his repair log?  Oh, wait, those only have station numbers, not names.  Sorry, I don't know!  Wait, wait!  That!  Do that!"

"Huh?"  Lilybelle glanced back at the colt, her mind racing with possible actions.  "You're not helping."

"You just thought about introducing yourself!"  Ribbon pointed at the young welder.  "Go!  Do!"

"Oh, right!"  Lilybelle nodded once.  She looked over at Annabelle.  "Should I thank him for the flowers?  Were they nice?"

"Oh, I made those up," Annabelle answered, "I just wanted to see you get all flustered."

"One of these days, you're going to prank the wrong pony.  And you're just lucky we're in public, and that I have something more important to do right now."  Lilybelle cleared her throat and ran an unnecessary hoof over her mane to smooth it down.  "How do I look?"

"The same as you did when you walked out of the dressing room, like you stepped out of a fashion magazine."  Annabelle nodded towards the colt.  "Now, get your butt over there before he leaves."

Even though there was no risk of that happening, it gave Lilybelle the push she needed.  She rushed over, stuck her hoof out, and nearly shouted.  "My name's Lilybelle, you can call me Lily."

"Well, uh..."  The pinto colt looked down at the hoof, wiped his own against his side to clear it of grease, then accepted the offer.   He gave her hoof a good shake.  "M-mine's Pipsqueak.  Most folks call me Pip."

Lilybelle smiled as they continued to shake hooves.  She was doing it!  She was talking to him!  And he had such a cute accent! "Nice to meet you, Pip."

The colt chuckled.  He had been working up the courage to introduce himself for nearly a month.  He wasn't expecting her to introduce herself first.  "Well met, Lily."

Annabelle smacked a hoof to her head.  "Ok, Softy, we need to gather every coin in the commissary and wish for this to be less awkward."

The dragon snickered.  "They'll be fine.  But I wouldn't mind another run at the smoothie cart.  You up for that?"

"Always."  The nurse looked over at Ribbon.  "You wanna tag along, or keep watching them bumble through a conversation?"

"Oh!"  Ribbon pulled herself away from the stunted conversation unfolding a few meters away.  She actually thought Lilybelle was doing pretty well.  "I think I might try some more shopping.  This store isn't very crowded, so I should be fine."

"Suit yourself."  Annabelle nodded towards her cousin.  "Make sure you pick out something that cute or cuter, or I'll just drag you out here again.  Hell, I may just take you shopping again anyways.  You're a lot of fun.  See ya!"

"Wait, um-"  As Annabelle and Softy walked, Ribbon gave up on trying to respond to the threat and waved goodbye.  "Thanks, Anna, I might like that."

"You better," she said without looking back.

Ribbon smiled and looked back at Lilybelle.  She and Pipsqueak were still shaking hooves, trying to start a conversation.  The rainbow unicorn decided to leave it to them, slipping away with a whispered, "Good luck, Lily."

Lilybelle started to look down.  She couldn't think of anything to say, and this was getting uncomfortable fast.  She ended up staring at their hooves.  What kind of idiot shakes hooves with a potential love interest?  That was something you did with business partners and acquaintances you see once every few months.

"Sorry," she pulled her hoof away.  When she did, she saw the long, jagged scar that had been hidden between their hooves.

He saw her staring, and brought his hoof back, pulling it to him and hiding the scar to his coat.  "Ya don't have ta 'apologize," he said, looking away.  This meeting was falling apart.  It might be best to salvage what was left and end the awkwardness.  "It was nice to meet you, Lily.  I guess I'll see you around?"  He grabbed the red scarf he had picked out and started to walk away.

The nurse followed, for a few steps, quietly asking him, "What wave were you?"

It was a simple question, but one that assumed the answers to several others, and it stopped the colt in his tracks.  The simple fact that she asked answered many of his questions about her.  "Third," the colt answered, "I was a messenger in the smelters.  You?"

"I was in the second wave."  She sat down, and so did he.  The realization of a common past broke whatever awkwardness existed prior.  "My father and I didn't make it out until after the rest of our family.  He worked the smelters for a while, maybe you know him?  His name is thunderlane."

Pipsqueak nodded.  "Sure do.  Grey bloke, missin' his left eye, hair done up in a Mohawk?  Did he get out in the second wave?  I thought I remember seein' him after that."

"He stayed behind to fight with the mercenary teams."  She blushed a little when the colt moved so they were sitting next to each other, but didn't protest.  "When he came back, he introduced me to Growl and she got me into medical school, Annabelle too."

"Y'know, I never took you ta be one a' the Tankrit."  The colt turned his hoof, exposing the splattered scar from his first run in with molten metal.  "Even the young didn't get away unscathed most a' the time."

"I don't think anypony got away unscathed."  She looked down at his hoof, then took it in her own.  "I've never shown anypony this, but on my neck, under my mane..."

When she trailed off, closing her eyes, Pip reached over with his free hoof.  After a moment's hesitation, he brushed her mane back, starting just below her ear.  "Ah, hell."

The criss-cross pattern was unmistakable.  Whips were a common punishment, but the marks usually went away.  These could only have come from a foreman's whip, with its glass-barbed leather and metal tip.

The colt moved his hoof from her mane to her far shoulder and pulled her to him.  He was expecting some sort of reaction, an objection of some kind, but she just let herself be pulled.

She leaned her head against him.  "After the first wave escaped, things started to get worse.  Punishments were more severe, and dealt out more often.  It was about two weeks after the wave, I was distracted, thinking about my family and how much I missed them, and I dropped a bolt of fabric I was supposed to deliver."  Pip put his other hoof around her as she started to shake.  "They made an example of me.  Whipped me right there in the street.  Nopony watched, nopony cared."

The colt rested his head on hers.  "And those who might have helped were too afraid to do anything."  Her story may as well have been his, or any one of dozens of station residents.  "Happened too many times."

She nodded, rubbing her face against his fur.  "When it was over, I could barely move, but they cleaned me up, poured styptic in the wounds so I wouldn't bleed on the cloth, and made me finish the delivery."

"Bastards, every last one."  Pipsqueak ran his hoof along her shoulder.  "It's hard to believe we were the lucky ones."

"Mmh," the nurse agreed, "there was white mare in the textile factory.  She had it bad, used to disappear for a day or two at a time, and always refused to tell anypony what happened.  Sometimes, she wouldn't speak at all."

"In the smelters too, there was a colt my age with white fur.  Guards always harassed him.  It made me appreciate my spots.  I got yelled at, but they left me alone if I kept ta the work."  Pip shook his head.  "That other colt was an angry one though, always fought back, even though it just meant getting beaten worse."

"What happened to him?" Lily asked.

The colt shrugged.  "Don't know.  I heard he got out with the third wave, and his family was gonna settle here on Delta, but I haven't seen him since .  I should see if there's any info on the station computer.  We only talked once, but I think his name was Mezzo."
> Red Ring of Hate
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------

	"It's outside, now leave."  The jewelry shop owner, a tawny-grey gryphon, pointed his claw to the door before slinking off to the back, leaving Ribbon alone in the store.

"Yeah, I'll do that."  Ribbon walked outside the small shop, head held high and a smile forced on her face.  This would end.  The stares, the resentment, the knowing exactly how much somepony feared and despised her.  That all would end today.

She found the paper bag beside the door, next to the trash left out for the nightly trip to the incinerator.  "The freak," scrawled across the top of the rough brown sack told her it was the one she wanted.

She bit down on the bag, ignoring the marker's bitter tang, and stiffly walked away, trying to maintain some small amount of composure.  By the time she ducked into an empty storefront, the bag was stained dark, and moisture was threatening to weaken it.  Out of sight, she let go of whatever fragile grip she had on herself.  The tears stung her eyes, and her nose and mouth watered, making it hard to breath as she ran to the farthest, darkest corner.

She dropped her bag and bit down on her leg, muffling the crushing need to cry out like an injured foal.  She knew exactly why the jewelry shop owner hated her, but that didn't make it hurt any less.  Like a criminal becomes angry at his captor before inspecting his own decisions, those with secrets, no matter how profound, or trivial, become angry at the possibility they may come to light.

Her ability isn't a two-edged sword.  It's the broken blade of a dagger, with no safe handle.  The more others worry about their secrets, the more they think about keeping things hidden, and the more visible that darkness becomes.

What was she supposed to do now?  She didn't want to know that the jeweler had been cheating his customers for years.  Swapping out purchases for identical items of lesser quality materials, showing fake stones and glass as genuine, and worst of all, knowingly trading in stolen goods from the surface.

She shouldn't know this!  She shouldn't have to know this!  Why does she have to be the one stuck with this responsibility?  She had two choices now.  Turn him in, and Growl would have to arrest him.  The official report would contain record of telepathic intervention, and she would get to watch paranoia set most of the station against her.  Let him continue, and she would bear the guilt for every con, every swindle, every theft he writes the paycheck for.

No, there was a third option, but just thinking about it made her sick to her stomach.  She could confront him herself, let him know she was on to him.  Force him to give up his dirty dealings with the threat of exposure.  Blackmail him.

"Gah!"  She threw her hooves over her head and flattened herself on the ground.  Her mother never lived like that, working from the shadows.  No matter that she lived under a codename and operated from hidden bases, anything she did, she could walk away with her head held high.  She gave everything she had to live with pride.  Her decisions, right or wrong, never brought her shame.  They only moved her forward.

"I wish you were here now, mom," Ribbon mumbled to herself, "You'd know what to do."

Ribbon looked over at her bag, ignoring the sting of its written epithet long enough to slide it to her with a hoof.  She slowly worked herself up, ignoring the dust clinging to her coat.  All other decisions aside, she was going to remove her curse, unlock her cage and free herself.

"I'm sorry, mom," she whispered as she tore open the bag, "you told me not to be ashamed of who I am, but how am I supposed to know who I am, if everypony fears what I am."

She stared at the tiny blue box inside.  It's contents would change her life, she knew that, counted on it.  The good or bad of that change would have to be seen, but she couldn't stay as she was now.

She wanted to be able to laugh, to smile, to spend time with friends enjoying her day without everypony else reeling in fear, becoming uneasy, or flat out leaving.  She wanted to be normal, to be able to do what everypony else could without stopping them from doing the same.  She just wanted to live.

She opened the blue box and delicately picked up the gold-colored ring inside, balancing it carefully between two hooves.  It almost looked like the class rings you could get for Luna's Academy, extra wide and sturdy looking.  She closed her eyes as she lifted it above her, focusing on the buzz of hundreds of minds going on with their day.  With a sharp breath, she dropped the ring on her horn.

When she breathed out, it was the only sound she heard.  The sudden emptiness was dizzying.  It was like she had stepped through the door to her room, or to the filing closet in medical.  As hard as she focused, she couldn't hear any buzz, any stray thoughts.  If she listened really close, she could hear the sounds of ponies outside, but it was their hoofsteps, their shopping bags, their voices.

She started crying, for a different reason this time.  It worked.  She didn't know why she didn't think of it sooner.  She didn't know why nopony suggested it sooner.  She focused on the discarded sack at her hooves, trying to lift it with her magic, and was rewarded by an unpleasant sensation of heat around her horn.  If that was the tradeoff, she could live with it.

She stepped on the bag, flattening the box and the receipt for the several- thousand bit piece of jewelry.  She wasn't going to return this.  Who would willingly return the tool that gave them freedom?  She might have to give it up once she figured out what to do about the jeweler, but that could wait, and she could get another one somewhere.

"Is someone in there?"

Ribbon nearly screamed.  Stuffing a hoof in her mouth stifled it to a gasp, but she was still heard.

"Hello?"

Ribbon pressed her back to the pillar.  She was pretty sure she wasn't supposed to be here.  She could hear hooffalls echo in the empty space, strong, sure clicks against the simicrete.  That and the voice, it was a stallion, maybe a security guard?

Ribbon tried to control her racing heart.  This was terrifying.  Even though the worst outcome would be a warning, and an extra shift when Growl found out about it, she couldn't help the fear.  She couldn't tell if he knew where she was, and the echoes made it hard to tell his location by sound.  It was like being blinded in the middle of a battle.

The hoofsteps stopped, and Ribbon pressed herself tighter to the pillar.  Was he going to give up the search?  Was he about to call for back up?  Did he stop because he could tell where she was hiding?  Ribbon closed her eyes.  She didn't know!

There was a scratching sound.  A hoof rubbing against the floor.  "Are you crying?" the voice asked quietly.

Ribbon looked down.  On the floor, barely visible in the dark, were the droplets of her tears, a trail leading straight to her.

Wait, she knew that voice.

"Are you lost?"  Hoof steps started again, slower, softer, gently making their way to her.  "It's ok, let me help you."

Would he still want to, when he knows who it is?  Ribbon wiped at her eyes and stood up.  "Mezzo?"

The colt stopped on the far side of the pillar.  "Yes?"  Wait, that voice...  "Oh."  Of all ponies, it had to be her.  He held up a hoof as she stepped out of hiding.  "I didn't mean it like that."  Except, he did.  She was the last pony he wanted to see right now, and she probably knew it.  "Look, I'm probably not somepony you should-"

Even in the dim lighting, she looked terrible.  Covered in dust, eyes red and puffy, and snot still caked on her snout.

"A-are you ok?" he asked.

She nodded quickly, managing a small smile.  "I am.  I really am.  Mezzo, you can tell me anything you want."

"Um, alright..."  Was that her way of telling him she knew already?  "Look, I'm sorry.  My thoughts are just kind of messed up right now.  It's probably better for you if you don't have to deal with that.  I probably could've worded it better when I said you should stay away."

"No."  Ribbon shook her head.  "No, you don't have to worry about that anymore."  She pulled her mane aside enough for him to see the glint of metal settled near the base of her horn.  "See?  you don't have to worry about thoughts anymore, you can just talk to to me.  I can only hear what you want to tell me, and you can even lie, I won't know."

Mezzo stared at the metal band, recognizing it immediately, but not quite believing what he saw.  "A limiter?"

Ribbon nodded.  "It worked, it blocks my telepathy.  I don't have to hear anypony's thoughts anymore.  Isn't it great?"

"What?"  Mezzo stared at the band wrapped around her horn, memories he tried to keep buried digging themselves up with frightening ease.  He knew that design, this wasn’t just any limiter.  "No!  Where did you get that?"

Ribbon blinked, smile fading.  "But, I thought you would like this.  I can't hear your secrets anymore.  Isn't that what you wanted?"

Visions raced through the colt's head, recollections of the life he and so many others tried to leave behind.  The first time he realized he was wearing a limiter, the first time he saw what a unicorn without one could do, the first time he tried to remove his, and the first beating that followed.  "You put that on because of me?"

Ribbon took half a step back, stumbling over her forgotten bag.  "I just wanted to talk to you.  You know, like normal ponies do?  Just for a little?"

He could remember the exact moment in his past when he realized that what he saw around him wasn't the way things were supposed to be.  Life may not be fair, but it wasn't meant to be that cruel.  And he, somehow, inflicted some small piece of it on this poor mare, whose only sin was wanting what little he could still take for granted.  "Take it off."

"Why?"  Ribbon reached the back wall with her next step.  "I would hear your thoughts again."

"I'll put up with it, just take that damn thing off!"  He reached for her horn, to grab the limiter, and she ducked away.

"No!"  A quick sidestep, then a spin, and she was behind him.  Why was he acting like this?  "All I want is my freedom!  Why won't you let me have it?"

"That thing destroys freedom!" He roared.

With a surprised yelp, Ribbon dodged when the colt lunged for her.  "Why are you doing this?"  She cried, bolting for the door.  She was through it in seconds, with Mezzo on her tail.  She glanced back, seeing the anger on his face, and wishing for once that she knew the thoughts behind it.

She reached a crowd of shoppers and turned around.  With this many others around, the colt would have to calm down and-

He hit her at a full run.  Shrieks and panic hit the crowd as the two ponies careened across the floor.  Ribbon managed to get up and tried to push herself away, but Mezzo held her down.  She felt his hoof grasp for the limiter, as she struggled to free herself.  "Stop!  Don't!"

She lashed out, a single strike with her hoof.  She just wanted him to let go!  She heard the colt grunt, but Mezzo only fought harder.  The blow to his ribs was easily ignored.  He threw both hooves around her neck and pulled her down, grabbing the limiter with his teeth.  He yanked it off, spit it out and let go of Ribbon.

She staggered back, sudden release from the fight lost in the instantaneous assault of white noise and clamor.  With the limiter gone, in this panicked crowd, she was surrounded by a thousand voices, all screaming through a broken speaker.

She brought her hoof to her head as she tried not to fall.  It hurt.  So many voices.  How did she put up with it before?  It hurt so much.  That brief taste of silence turned what should have been normal for her into torture.  So loud, so many thoughts.  Why would that colt put her through this?

A single shout cut through everything.  A single pain, clear and crippling, pierced the droning pressure of the crowd.  One thought, above all others, "Now do you understand?"

Ribbon looked up.  For all the previous sensation of drowning in the crowd, they were actually giving her and Mezzo a wide berth.  One or two brave souls who were about to step in were stopped and unsure now that the fight was over.  What they planned, Ribbon couldn't tell.  Everything was replaced by the colt in front of her.

Blood pooled under his hoof as he stared at the telepath.  For the first time since meeting her, he was calm.  This moment brought him an important understanding, and this pain he felt was the price to be paid.  She didn't know what this meant to him.  No one did.  No one could.  "Now do you understand?"

Only that she understood nothing, but still, she slowly nodded.

They stared at each other for a moment.  He knew, anything he remembered, every stray thought, would be seen, felt, by her.  The blistering heat of the foundries, the bite of the overseer's whip, crawling in the dirty gravel in a hopeless attempt to flee senseless torture.  Maybe this time, she would understand that she should stay away.

He limped away, leaving the crushed, broken limiter in a small puddle of red.
> Grey Sheep of the Family
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------

	Astral sighed as he poked his fork at the tomatoes Strawberry had offered them.  They had gone in the house about an hour ago, to avoid the approaching rains, and Strawberry put together a simple lunch of vegetables and boiled grain meal.  In that time, a certain member of their party had been completely silent, her expression sunken and hollow as she stared at the lockbox in front of her.

The storm had started a good while ago, and was starting to wind down as Astral and Strawberry ate in uneasy silence around the alicorn.  A plate was set in front of her as well, but she never even looked up at it.

"Twi-" Astral started, only to be cut off by a purple hoof raised to wave off his words.  He nodded and turned back to his meal.  Whatever he had to say, it was clear she didn't want to hear it.  "Berry?"  He set his fork down and nodded towards the door.

The pink mare stole one last glance at the quiet alicorn and nodded.  She pushed her own bowl towards the middle of the rusty table, then made her way to the door.  Astral followed, and they left Twilight alone in the empty house.

They stood together under the eaves as the light, finishing rain fell beyond.  And, as Astral closed the door from the outside, he looked over at Berry.  "Why didn't you tell us?"

The mare shifted uncomfortably.

Astral walked away from the door, hooves sticking in the mud.  There was a garden bench nearby, dry in the shade of a propped up solar panel, so he headed for that.  "The way you were talking about your family earlier, it made us think that..."

"They were alive?"  Berry finished for him.  She walked over and sat down on the bench before Astral, eyes on the ground the whole time.  "Sorry."

"Don't apologize to me."  Astral sat down next to her.  "Twilight's the one who's hurt by all this.  Is there a reason you wanted us to think your family was alive?"

Berry shook her head.  "I wasn't trying to trick you.  It's been so long since I've really talked to anyone, I guess I didn't realize how it sounded."  She looked up at Astral.  "You know, I never knew my mom, but Grandma would always talk about her like that, like she was still with us.  She would even go out and talk to her stone sometimes.  When I asked her about it, Grandma told me that mom was never really gone, as long as somepony remembered her, and because I was still around."

The mare looked back down.  "Grandma always knew what to say to make me feel better.  She could make anyone feel better when they were sad.  When she died, Granpa did his best to cheer me up, but it usually went the other way."

"Then, think of something to cheer up Twilight."  Astral crossed his hooves.  The moment the words came out of his mouth, he realized it probably wasn't possible.

"I'm not sure how to."  Berry Took a slow breath and let it out with a sigh as she looked towards the house.  "It's been five or six years since Granpa died, I haven't really spoken to anypony besides the computers.  I think the best I can do is apologize for lying to both of you."  

Astral shook his head.  "Apologize to her.  I'm just a pilot.  I have no stake in this."

The mare shook her head.  "Yes you do."  She pulled her gaze from the house and looked up at Astral.  "You forget that I've watched you.  You care, and not just about about her.  You care about what happens to this planet."

Astral shrugged.  "I'd have to be a pretty cold-hearted bastard to want an entire planet to die."

Berry shook her head and looked away.  "You won't admit it, but that's not the only reason."

"I won't?"  Astral looked down at her again, noticing for the first time that her mane wasn't as dirty as he thought it was.  Sure it was a mess, but most of the dirt brown color was from streaks of natural color.  He had seen that before.  It couldn't be, could it?  The color was the same, but it wasn't possible.  "Where'd you get that brown in your hair?"

"Hmm?"  She pulled on her mane to look at it.  "Changing the subject? Granpa said it came from my father, but I never knew him, and he and grandma never talked about him."

"I wasn't trying to change the subject," Astral sighed.  "I was just distracted."

Berry blinked.  "By what?"

"I have family on this planet."  Astral leaned back on the bench.  "The last of my family as far as I know, even if they don't know or care about me."

Berry twisted her mouth into half a pout.  "You keep changing the subject."

"Yeah, I do.  Just bear with it a while."  Astral started looking around.  "Berry, do you have anything I can write with?"

She glanced around.  "I have a laser pen in the house, or some charcoal out here, but anything with ink dried up years ago.  Why?"

"The charcoal, where is that?"

Berry pointed to the house.  "Around back, there's a covered fire with a large kettle."

"Thanks."  Astral hopped off the bench and ran around the small house.

As soon as he was out of sight, Strawberry started laughing.  He reminded her of her grandmother, always moving from one thing to another, thinking things through and acting before anypony else had a chance to catch up.

"Ah shoot!  That's hot!"

The sudden shout made her jump, but she quickly started laughing even harder.  He's a unicorn, but he must have reached his hoof into the pot.  It looked like he was the type to take action before anypony had a chance to think it through, including himself.

She started kicking her hooves as she waited for him to come back.  This was kind of nice.  It was the first time anypony had ever actually visited the house.  The purple one seemed really upset that she couldn't meet grandma, but it was still nice to have somepony around. 

She thought about what Astral said a few moments ago.  Maybe she could do something to cheer her up?  Grandma would probably make pancakes at a time like this, but making flour was so time consuming that Strawberry hadn't bothered to grind any of the wheat she had grown.

Before she could think of any alternative cheer-bringing methods, Astral came back around the house.  He went to the door and scribbled something on it with the charcoal he held in his magic.  After that, he walked over to the bench where the pink mare waited.  "Let's go."

Strawberry straightened up and stopped her idle kicking.  "Where?"

"Into town."  Astral tossed the charcoal onto the bench next to her.  "There are ponies I need to talk to, and I need to know how much water your filter can produce in a day."

"No."  Strawberry shook her head, "I can't go in to town, they hate me."

"No, they don't hate you, they don't even know you.   They hate an idea."  He lifted a hoof to her mane, pulling a loose lock away from her face and smiling at the streak of dull color in the pink.  "And this can explain everything to the right pony."





"She's waking up."

"It's about time.  Here, let me get by... wait, don't-"

There was a crinkly thud and a muttered, "oops," as something fell to the ground.

"-do that."

Sparrow blinked in the darkness.  She couldn't see the source of the voices around her, but she recognized them.  They were the voices of children, two foals from the village, and one from the stars.

"Sorry, Mr. Dance," a young colt's sheepish voice apologized.

There was a sigh, and the young healer from off world corrected him, "Dancer, not dance.  And don't worry about it, you can't really hurt these with just that."

"Ok," the young colt answered happily.

"But don't touch anything else," Radio quickly added, "not everything here is as sturdy."

Sparrow brought a hoof to her head, shedding the blanket she didn't know covered her.

"Wait, you might not want to-"

The middle aged mare found a cool damp cloth resting over her eyes and pulled it away.  Regret for that action came quick as light stabbed at her, making her throw her hooves over her face as a shield.

A weight on her shoulder rolled her back, and the cloth was quickly replaced, bringing soothing darkness again.  "You'll want to leave that on for a while.  A phase pistol works by causing a phase shift, energy waves attenuated one hundred and eighty degrees to whatever energy source they act upon.  If the weapon is strong enough, this can cause the breakdown of the energetic bonds between atoms, at a stun setting, it causes a disruption of the electrical impulses that keep the body functioning.  Your nerves are all on edge because they were temporarily deprived of all signals.  They have to readjust, especially the optic nerve."

"Stun setting?"  Then, she failed.  "Hunter-"  She felt a pull on her hoof.  It took her a moment, but she soon realized that Radio was holding it.

"He's not here."  The blanket was pulled up to her chest, and Radio tucked her in like a foal.  "But you are, and so are ponies that need you."

"Who needs somepony like me?  Who can't even atone for her actions?"

"You wanted to kill yourself to make up for what happened to Hunter."  It wasn't a question, or even an accusation, just a statement.  The young Pegasus was quietly, his tone more solemn than Sparrow had ever heard it.  "I think I can understand that."  There was a pause, and the mattress she laid on shifted as somepony leaned against it.  "I didn't tell you this earlier, but when I was Silver-mane's age, I lost my mother.  I was hurt, and she nearly died protecting me.  She's been... asleep, ever since then, and every day, I wish it was me laying there instead of her.  Sometimes, I think the only reason I never tried to hurt myself was because I still had my sister, somepony who needed me as much as I needed her."

There was another shift, and a warm weight settled against Sparrow's side.

"There are ponies here who need you," Radio continued.  "Silver-mane and Sunbeam lost their parents, so did a lot of other foals.  They have nopony to take care of them.  I hope you don't mind, but I told them that you would."  When Radio spoke next, it wasn't to Sparrow.  "You two keep an eye on her, ok?  I need to go check on another patient."





Down the stairs, Radio crashed into an empty bed.  He used it as a support to lower his weight to the floor.  He was doing his best to put on a brave face for the foals upstairs, but holy crap that hurt.  A surreptitious scan, performed while younger eyes were distracted, showed that his leg wasn't entirely broken, but still had a hairline crack.  As long as he didn't do anything overly stressful, like, oh say, walking, it would heal on its own in a matter of hours.  One of the perks of being the result of a military genetic manipulation program, he guessed.

Access to proper medical equipment would be a better perk.  Even having his second bottle of self-setting spray polymer to make a cast would make his recovery a lot more comfortable, but for some reason, Astral and Twilight locked the shuttle before going AWOL.  They had better be ready for a flank-kicking when they get back from wherever they ran off to.

Radio looked up with a groan as the hospital door slammed open.  He forced himself up on his good leg when he saw the grey unicorn that opened it.  "Speak of a Wirran..."  He scoffed at Astral, but when he saw the pink pony behind him, his expression softened.  It was somepony he didn't recognize, and that meant she hasn't been treated yet.  "Aw, hell, another patient?"

"No, she's fine."  Astral looked down at the colt's front hooves, noticing that one was hovering just off the floor.  "What did you do to your leg?"

"I broke it," Radio stated, "matter of fact.  And guess what, you locked the shuttle."

"No, I didn't."  Astral looked back at the pony following him.  "Unlock the shuttle."

"But," she started to protest.

"No," Astral cut her off with a pointing hoof.  "Unlock the shuttle now, no arguments.  We won't leave without you."

"Promise?"

Astral nodded.  "Yes, I promise."

With a squint, the short mare peered into the captain's eyes.  "Berry promise?"

Astral blinked.  "What?"

"Cross my heart and hope to fly, run a laser 'cross my thigh."  The pink mare pantomimed her statements, drawing an 'x' over her heart with a hoof, flapping her front legs like wings, and finishing up by slapping across her cutie mark.

Astral stared at her for a moment.  "That sounds painful."

She nodded.  "It is."

"Sure, whatever, I've been through worse."  Astral sighed.  "I Berry Promise."

She looked at him expectantly.

"I hope you're not waiting for me to do the motions."

She looked down quickly.  "Oh, um, no, I'm not."    As quickly as she had dropped her gaze, she lifted it and stared at Radio.  "Um..."

Radio flicked his ear as he waited for her to finish her sentence, but the words never came.  Five seconds later, he scratched his cheek.  Ten seconds later, he sighed.  Fifteen, and he decided to stop waiting.  "What?  Do you need something?  And who are you anyway?  How are you not sick?"

She answered the question immediately.  "My name is Strawberry Gingersnap Pie, and I'm not sick because I filter my water and grow my, uh, my own food in itty bitty pots."  She then pointed at the little communication device strapped around the Pegasus's good wrist.  " Can I borrow that?"

"Huh?"  Radio shook his head.  Forget the obvious lie of filtering her water; there was no technology on this planet capable of filtering the coolant from water.  Forget the obvious lie that she grew food in tiny pots; hydroponics tech was similarly absent.  What is with the way she pronounced the word, 'gingersnap?'  She used the guttural, 'guh,' sound for the first syllable.  Weird.  Radio shook his head again.  "Sure," he said, taking the radio off with his teeth, "why not?  I've got extras."  He tossed it to her, and she caught it, fumbling only slightly.  "My name's Radio, by the way."

Berry giggled as she started examining the communication device.  "So this is Radio's radio?"

"We'll have time for puns later," Astral butted in.  "Radio, where's Tekrin?"

The colt nodded over his shoulder, to the door leading to the previous doctor's sleeping quarters.  "In there, but he's still recovering from-"

Astral didn't bother letting him finish.  "Berry, join me as soon as you're done."  He looked over at Radio.  "You take a break, fix your leg if possible.  That's an order."

"No, duh."  Radio his eyes.  "I was actually considering a nice jog instead."

Astral didn't take the bait as he headed for the door.  He let the pegasus quietly rant about his, 'infinite wisdom,' as he slipped into Tekrin's darkened room, shutting the door behind him.

He blinked a few times.  The room was almost completely dark.  No candle's lent their flickering light, no oil lamp glowed steadily, there was only a faint rim of white surrounding the heavy tarp secured over the room's only window.

"Who's there?"  Inquired a voice in the dark.

Astral focused on his magic.  For the second time in years, he forced the aura to coalesce into visible energy, casting a soft white light into the shadows.  He saw Elder Tekrin in a bed.  The old pony winced at the sudden brightness, but pulled his hoof away from his eyes when he saw its cause.

"You," he said, slowly raising himself up to lean against the headboard. 

"Yeah, me."  Astral scoffed.  "You never bothered to ask my name."

The elder's head leaned back until it rested against wood.  His movements were awkward, jerky, as his muscles adjusted to receiving commands again.  "Have you done what I asked?"

Astral found a table in the middle of the room, and several candles on top of it.  He focused his magic on the wick.  He couldn't summon flames at will, but even he could generate enough focused heat to-  The candle made a soft noise as its wick burst into gentle flame, releasing smoke and a faint cinnamon scent.  "I actually wanted to talk to you about that."

As he closed his eyes against this new light, Tekrin pulled the sheet off his chest and rubbed at a perfectly square bald spot shaved into his side.  "While I was unconscious, that brat of yours decided to get my treatment over with.  Didn't bother to ask if even I wanted it."

"Yeah, that sounds like him."  Astral walked over to the bed.

Tekrin recovered enough to open his eyes, and fixed them on Astral.  "And what of you?  Have you completed your task?"

"Ah, yes.  I wanted to talk to you about that.  The witch of the lake?"  Astral asked in mock surprise.  "She's out in the waiting room.  I've been introducing her to everybody."  A startled Tekrin tried to sit up, but Astral pushed him back down.  It was a light push, but Tekrin hissed in pain, addled nerves still overly sensitive from the phase pistol's jolt.  "You'll get to meet her in a minute.  You'll like her, she's like the granddaughter you never had."

Weak as he was, the old pony grabbed Astral and pulled him face to face.  "You dare mock my family?"

"Oh, that's rich, coming from you."  Astral pushed away from him with ease.  "You used to love it when ponies mocked your family.  Especially your brother.  Remember?  Your misguided, technology-loving, human-obsessed brother?"

Tekrin froze.  "Who are you?  How do you know so much about my brother?"

"I know about more than your brother.  I also know that you had a son, a year or two younger than Sparrow, and that something happened to him almost thirty years ago."  Astral lit another candle, making the elder wince.  "I also know that you pretty much forbade talking about him."  Astral lit another candle.  "What's the story behind that?  I heard he was a troublemaker, aggressive and manipulative tail-chaser, wanted your job, didn't give a tar rat's ass what he had to do to get it, the usual."

Tekrin looked at the ceiling before Astral could light the last candle on the table.  "He was killed, by the witch of the lake.  What good does it do to bring up his shortcomings now?"

"I only bring him up because he died thirty years ago."

"Twenty-nine years, and three months, to the day tomorrow.  For all his problems, he was still my son."

"That's interesting, the witch of the lake that I found is only twenty-eight years old."  Astral shrugged.  "Must be a coincidence, let's talk about something else.  Did Hawk have any distinguishing features?  Brown flecks in his hair like every pony else in the family?"  Tekrin's head jerked towards Astral, who scratched his temple.  "Oh, wait, the brown fades as you get older, for males anyway."

Tekrin stared at the unicorn, shaken by his inexplicable knowledge of his family.  "Who are you?  How do you know his name?"

Astral shook his head.  "You don't even recognize me, do you?"

The door squeaked open.

Astral stood up as Berry walked in.  He waved her over and motioned for her to sit next to the bed.  "Strawberry, I want you to meet somepony.  This is Elder Tekrin, he runs this colony."

The elder went pale.  "It can't be," he whispered, "all this time..."

Berry bowed her head nervously.  "Um, it's very nice to meet you, Mr. Tekrin."

"Mr. Tekrin?  Eh, it's a little formal."  He pat the pink mare on the shoulder and looked over at the elder.  "Don't you think, Uncle?"

Tekrin gasped, the unicorn's identity finally clicking.  "Astral?"

Astral gave a weak smile.  "It's been a while, hasn't it?"

"You survived."

"Obviously," Astral sneered.  "No thanks to you forcing me out into the galaxy, hurt and alone with a damaged ship and no fuel."

Tekrin shook his head, all fight and anger slipping away as he pushed himself away from the bedframe.  "I never meant to force you away."  He reached out and touched the grey unicorn lightly, just to make sure he was really there.  "You are all that remains of my brother.  As much as we clashed, he and I were still family.  If anything, I wanted you to stay.  But, I can't regret what happened now.  Not only were you spared our illness, but you brought salvation back to us."

Berry looked back and forth between them.  "Wait, you two are related?"

"Yes."  Astral looked down at her.  "And so are you."  He nodded towards Tekrin.  The elder's eyes were wide with shock, and the expression of surprise on his face was a dramatic contrast to the rough scowl Astral remembered.  "This is my uncle, your grandfather."
> Lost, Alone, and Unforgotten
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------

	The crew of the unnamed shuttle stood outside the opened doors.  A small group of ponies from the town gathered in the dawn light with them.  Dew hung from their coats in the slowly warming air.

Nine days had passed since the shuttle landed.  In that time, all the villagers had the fluid drain from their lungs.  Tests on Sparrow, the first patient treated, as well as several volunteers, showed that the fluid was building up again, but was slowed dramatically by limiting exposure to contaminated water.

To aid with that effort, Strawberry's water filter was removed from her house, and with her help, rigged up to the town well.  And, with the sacrifice of three of the shuttle's beverage dispensers, the filter was modified to produce enough clean water to sustain the village's daily needs.

Even so, the draining of lungs would become a monthly ritual if nothing else was done.  Radio's recyclers were left set up in the healer's building, and several ponies were trained in their maintenance and operation.  Several ponies were also trained in basic first aid and simple emergency procedures, as well as the draining process that would keep them alive.

"We've already sent out a distress call," Twilight told Elder Tekrin.  She stood stiffly, and spoke formally, holding herself tall and ridding emotion from her face.  Her demeanor was one befitting a politician in negotiations, hiding their feelings and their selves.   "Once we reach orbit, we'll drop a signal buoy in geosynchronous orbit above the settlement."

Astral sighed.  She had been like that since returning from Berry's hut.  He wasn't expecting her to be ok right off the bat, who would be after learning they lost a friend?  But Twilight wasn't allowing herself any emotion, grief, sadness, or otherwise.  He hadn't seen a muscle on her face so much as twitch for a week.  "With any luck," he added to the alicorn's explanation, "Galactic Assembly aid ships will arrive within the week."

Sparrow, standing next to Radio, ruffled the colt's mane.  "Even if they don't, the young doctor has provided us with the means to care for ourselves for a long while."

"Speaking of the young doctor," Astral glanced back at the shuttle, "did we get everything packed up?"  He was in no hurry to leave, but Twilight had expressed her desire to head to the next planet as soon as possible, no doubt wanting to rule out any possibility that one of her other friends was ever there.  "I don't want to reach orbit and hear that you left a laser scalpel behind."

"I left one on purpose," Radio answered, "well, five, actually.  I have extras, we're good to go.  I packed everything up and double checked it all days ago, after my leg healed.  I'm leaving a lot of stuff behind though, we'll need to resupply soon."

"Healed?"  Sparrow asked in worry.  she grabbed his hoof and pulled it up, looking his leg over carefully.  "What did you do to your leg?”

"He broke it," Silver-mane chimed in before he could answer.  "When we found him at the cemetary, he couldn't walk.  He got better quick, huh?"

The motherly mare gasped.  "You what?"  She demanded sternly.

Astral laughed as the mare continued to dote on the pegasus.  His chuckling faded as he looked over at Tekrin.  The two of them had been working side by side this last week, trying to salvage what they could of abandoned farmland, and guiding the villagers in their efforts to rebuild.  But despite that, they never took a chance to speak with each other.  It was like they both wanted to pretend the last 20 years never happened.  He walked over to the old unicorn.  "I know we had a rocky reunion, but you, Sparrow, and Berry are the only family I have left.  If I ever have time..."

Tekrin held up a hoof to stop him.  "There is no need to ask.  You will always be welcome here, all of you.  Ms. Sparkle has even provided me with contact information.  Should we have to leave this planet, I will be able to get a hold of you."

"Thank you."  Astral was about to raise a hoof, offer a shake, but decided against it.  It was too formal for family, even as distant as he and Tekrin were, and they weren't on good enough terms for a hug.  Perhaps one day, that would change.  "Even before the loss Of Serus, I never got to see you unless there was some emergency or formal event going on, but my father always spoke highly of you.  I apologize for letting my anger out on you earlier."

Tekrin nodded.  "The apology is accepted, but unnecessary.  I have done more than enough to deserve your anger.  I would look forward to you and my granddaughter visiting during happier times."

Astral blinked.  "Wait, isn't Berry staying with you?"

Tekrin's eyebrows pulled together.  "She told me...  She said she was going with you, and left late last night to gather her belongings."

"This is the first I've heard of it."  Astral shook his head.  "Besides, when I knocked on her door this morning, she said she wanted more sleep."  The unicorn winced.  He was beginning to get a good feel for Berry's personality.  "She still had Radio's Com-unit.  Give me a moment."  With a sigh, he walked over to the shuttle, up the stairs, and opened the door.

Berry jumped at the sudden sound and the natural light that was thrown across the shuttle's interior.  She looked up Astral with weary eyes and a guilty smile.  "Five more minutes?"

Astral stepped over piles of junk, scrap metal, and gutted electronics to pick up the Com-unit next to the earth pony.  "You said that earlier."  He swirled it around his hoof by the strap as he surveyed the wreckage.  All the seats were folded away, leaving the pink pony to sit on the floor in her own personal sea of components.  "You know, stowaways usually try to hide their presence on a ship."

Berry shrugged and yawned.  "I was gonna hide in the back," she muttered sleepily, "but this took longer than I thought.  And my soldering gun ran out of battery, and my torch is out of fuel."

"Why didn't you recharge it?"  Astral gestured to the wall.  "There are adjustable power ports right next to you."

Berry shook her head.  "It's solar powered.  I would need another soldering gun to rewire it."  She picked up a circuit board.  "I only had two or three connections left."

Astral inspected the circuit board, and followed it back to the spherical metallic shell it was pulled from.  "Is that our signal buoy?"

"Yeah," Berry gave the metal housing a lazy shake, listening to the rattle of armor plates, "It's not a very good one, but it works."

"You mean, it worked, before you took it apart."

"No, it'll still work."  She held up a pair of capacitors and pointed to two open slots on the circuit board.  "I just need to solder these in place."

Astral took the tiny pieces in his magic and looked them over.  The markings on them indicated that they were the same value, and were bidirectional, so it didn't matter how they were arranged, as long as they were soldered correctly.  "Do you have flux and solder?"

Berry looked left, then right, then grabbed a small tin and a chunk of wire from under a plastic face-plate.  "Here."  She held them out to Astral.

Astral took them and gave the pale yellow compound in the tin a tentative sniff.  He recognized the scent immediately.  "Rockbee wax?"

Berry nodded. " I harvest it when it's cold, and the bee's aren't active.  It works really well."

Astral applied it like normal flux, then looked at the solder.  It was rough, likely cast and hammered out by hoof from reclaimed material.  He placed his components in place, applied heat with his magic, then touched the solder to the right spots for it to melt into place.  It was high temperature solder, designed for use in extreme conditions, so it took a great deal of magic and effort for Astral to get it to melt.  When it was done, he wiped the sweat from his forehead and inspected the joints.  Clean and shiny, no blobs, perfect.  "There you go."  Astral offered the circuit board back to Berry.  "Now, put it back together.  We need it."

She looked at the board with a pout.  "I wish I could do that," she mumbled before starting to assemble the various parts and pieces.  She worked quickly, despite her fatigue, snapping the circuit board into place, and arranging the necessary mechanical pieces around it.  She tightened them where necessary, bolted and screwed together.  Some parts just slid into place, and one or two made her hold it up for Astral to solder together.

After a minute or two of working at that pace, she ran out of parts.  All that was left beside her were four machines, a dirty old canvas bag of tools, and stains on the carpeting.   "There."  She wiped her brow, smearing it with black.  "Now the signal buoy can be used for realtime subspace communication."  She picked up the second device, her Com-unit.  "You'll need this, and the one I left in my room, to make it work."

"Will a unit that small send a signal so far?"

"It will now."  Berry choked back another yawn, tapping at the third machine while she waited for her mouth to close.  "I also rebuilt my water purifier again.  It doesn't work as fast as it used to, but it can run constantly now."  She picked up the last item, a beige plastic housing, matching the rest of the shuttle's decor, with a busted screen.  "This, I borrowed parts from...  You may need a new one."  A piece of plastic startled her by popping out like a springy toy.  "Definitely need a new one."

"I'll take care of it."  Astral nodded towards the back room.  "There are beds back there, why don't you go take a nap?  I'll bring the filter to Tekrin, and make sure he knows how to use the communicator."

"He already knows."  Berry stumbled back to the door.  "I showed him last night."  The door opened, and she took a good look at the bunks.  "Ooh, these mattresses aren't all pieced together.  They look soft."  She wobbled over to the closest one, dumped a bag of Twilight's robes on the floor, and climbed in.  "Ohhhh, they are."

Astral chuckled.  He could reminder times where he had gone weeks without a proper bed to sleep in, and how soft mattresses always seemed after that.  "Comfy?"

The silence answered him better than she ever could.  With a bemused shake of his head, he grabbed the filter and communicator and headed outside.





"You lied to me."  Twilight shouldered past Astral, headed for the front of the shuttle.

"When?" Astral asked in confusion.

The alicorn stepped inside the door to the cockpit and looked back.  "You told me she was sleeping, in her room, on Sevus."  She glared at him as the door swished shut between them.

With a scoff, Astral looked over at Radio.  "I never said where she was sleeping."

The colt shrugged.  "She's sleeping pretty well, too."  He waved a hoof in front of Berry's face, wondering if he had a marker somewhere in his bags.  "Should we wake her up?"

"Nah."  Astral adjusted Berry's blanket, tucking her in.  "Jump won't be over for a few hours, let her rest.  You should get some sleep too, you didn't sleep very well last night and I want everybody in top condition for this next planet."

"Uh, yeah, about that..."  Radio rubbed his leg, and for a moment, Astral was reminded of the first time he saw Ribbon, how small she looked walking into that OR.

Astral put a hoof on the colt's shoulder.  Last night, he and Radio bunked in the hospital's main floor, on two of the many, happily empty, beds.  He had listened the colt toss, turn, and mumble for most of the night, and seemed to be the only one to notice the bags under his eyes.  "Are you ok?"

Radio shook his head.  "What?  Yeah."  The colt didn't meet Astral's eyes.  "I'm fine."

Astral wasn't sure he believed the colt, but pressed no further.  "If you say so.  Get some sleep.  When you get up, I want you to give Berry a check up.  I think it's safe to say she's never had any real medical attention in her life.  Good night."  Astral clicked the lights off and stepped out of the back room before closing the door.  If he stayed, the colt would just argue, and if he really wasn't tired, he would be out of there in seconds.

Astral took a few steps back from the door and waited, silently counting.  He reached twenty before deciding the colt was probably already asleep.  With a sigh, he walked up to the front of the passenger compartment.  He knocked twice on the door separating it and the cockpit.  "Twi?"

"Go away," came the immediate reply.

"Ok.  Where should I go?"  Astral glanced around the empty cabin.  "Not a lot of choices right now, we're hurtling through slipstream at incalculable velocities."

He could hear the angry snort through the door.  "Like you actually know anything about slipstream technology."

"That's it!"  Astral hit the button to open the door.  When he found it locked, he groaned and reached out with his magic to hit the button on the other side.  The door slid open and he stormed in.  "Look, I have been trying to get along with you for this mission, and I have been giving you space because of what happened to your friend, but enough is-"

Astral stopped when got a good look at the source of his frustration.  For the first time, he noticed that the lights were off.  The door had closed behind him, and the dim cabin was lit only by the light from the swirling subspace beyond the viewport.  That light reflected off tears and metal.  Twilight sat in the co-pilot's chair, curled up around the lockbox Berry had given her, crying for the first time.

Twilight turned away from him with a muttered, "jerk."

Astral sighed and glanced at the pilot's chair.  "Yeah, I'm a jerk.  Tell me something I don't know."  His jacket sat there, partially folded next to Twilight's communicator and a hoofbound journal that could only have come from Sevus.  Instead of moving anything, he just sat on the floor next to Twilight's chair.  It was getting hard to stay mad at her, even if she had no such reservations about him.  "Did you crack the code yet?"

Twilight tightened her grip on the lockbox.  "I don't want to talk about it."

"I noticed that.  I noticed that you don't want to talk about anything lately." Astral pushed on the chair, and turned it so they were facing each other.  "Look, you're not alone.  I know how hard it is to lose someone, but try to remember there are others around you; ponies who rely on you, and ponies you can rely on."

Twilight looked up at him for only a second.  "Astral, the box..."  She looked down at it, running a hoof over it like one would the cover of a treasured book.

Astral looked down at it too.  "It's locked.  So?  You'll figure it out.  Your friend would have picked a combination you knew."

"Astral..."

"A date, maybe?  A birthday?  Lots of ponies use important dates as passcodes, something they won't ever forget."

With a loud wail, Twilight dropped the box and fell off her chair in front of him.  The box sprung open against the floor, and clattered to stop, empty.  Twilight stared at the ground, crying like a newborn.  "But I did!" She screamed.  "I almost forgot the most important thing!"

"Twi-"  Astral reached out to her just for her to swat his hoof away.  He pulled back with a sigh.  He had seen her angry before, but not like this.  She was angry at herself this time, not at him, and he wasn't sure how to react.  All he could hope to do was draw her out, keep her from withdrawing into the recesses of pain and despair.  "What was the code?"

"It was a date," she choked out, gasping, sobbing, "the date."  She brought her hooves to her head.  How could she forget?  How could she not have tried that combination first?  "Pinkie used the day I moved to ponyville, the day I met my friends."  She suddenly looked up at the stallion before her, letting her hooves fall as she stared at him, face blank save for tears.  "I failed her, Astral, just like I failed Rainbow.  I failed all of them.  My friends are dying, and all I can do is show up, years too late to do anything."

Astral put a hoof on her shoulder, expecting a slap or rebuke of some kind.  There was no resistance though, even as he pulled her to him, letting her head rest on his shoulder.  All she did was quietly stare, and for a moment, all he did was silently stroke her back.  "Twi," he whispered to her, "You haven't failed them.  You've only been out of suspension for what, three years?  Everything that happened did so before you could have possibly done anything to change it.  Just the fact that you managed to track them down is amazing."

He paused when he felt Twilight shift, burying her head in his shoulder, leaving a warm, wet spot in his fur.  With each gasping sob, she shook in his hooves.  This was the most fragile he had ever seen her, and he didn't like it.  He was just starting to get used to the proud know-it-all with the perfect magic.  It was hard to believe that this was the same pony.

He knew there was nothing he could say to bring that would bring that other pony back.  No words, no action would erase the pain she felt now.  He knew that.  Knew it better than most would.  Nothing anyone ever said to him made the loss of his home and family easier to take.  The only thing that he could do was sit there, let her cry, and try to understand.

But, he didn't understand.  This mare, this alicorn, the world she came from, or the ties that bind her to this mission she dragged him into; he understood none of it.  More than ever before, he found himself wanting to.  This wasn't just a job anymore.  This wasn't some small mission that he could walk away from at the end.  He wasn't entirely sure what it was really, but he was sure about one thing.

He wanted to understand.

"Twi," he whispered, "tell me about your friends."



> I'll be Thinking of You'll be Thinking of Me
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------

	Ribbon shifted nervously, pawing at the strap across her chest, and knocked again.  This was the right place, she was sure of it.  She could still feel the colt's pain.  In the hour since the commissary, he didn't give his injuries any sort of treatment.

She brought a medical kit for just that reason, but if he didn't open the door, then it wouldn't matter.  She knocked again.  To her surprise, a mare's voice answered with an exasperated sigh, "Who is it?  This isn't really a good time."

Ribbon sighed.  The colt was blocking everything out for her, just as effectively as the limiter did.  It wasn't the same as the limiter.  With that, everything was blocked away from her telepathy, like trying to look at something behind a wall.  With this, it seemed like her abilities were being pulled towards one single point, like staring at a breathtaking piece of art, and realizing you don't see the frame.    "Is Mezzo here?"

The door slid open, revealing the mare who yelled at Ribbon in medical yesterday.  "Oh, um..."  The worried grey earth pony floundered for words for a moment, then settled for stepping out of the younger mare's way and waving her in.

Ribbon cautiously accepted the invitation, immediately noticing the rag and bucket of water left nearby.  The cloth was streaked with red, and there still a few drops of blood left to be cleaned up.

The mare saw the nurse stare, and returned to her work, wiping up the floor.  "I'm trying to get this cleaned up before Minuette sees it.  She adores Mezzo, and I don't want her to panic.  I think I'm panicked enough.  He locked himself in his room, he won't talk to me, and he left this."  She scrubbed at a stubborn red smear for a second before looking back at Ribbon.  "Is he ok?  What happened?"

Ribbon looked down.  There was another drop of blood in front of her.  "This may be my fault.  Knowing that, may I stay here and speak with him?"

"Your fault?" Octavia repeated.  "How?"  The mare quickly held up her hoof.  "No.  I don't need to know.  I have one question, and I want an honest answer."  She met the telepath's eyes and held the gaze.  "Can you help him?"

Ribbon hooked her hoof on the strap of her medical kit.  That was what she came here to do, help him with his hoof.  Beyond that...  "I don't know."

The mare closed her eyes, nodding.  "Do what you can, the override for his room is three-five-four-seven."

Ribbon bowed her head slightly.  "Thank you."  Without another word, she followed the trail of freshly cleaned floor to his door.  A work schedule taped to it with, "Mezzo Forte Melody," across the top only confirmed it.

The door panel was the same as every other panel on the station, and Ribbon brought her hoof up to it.  She closed her eyes and keyed in the overide, not giving herself a chance to change her mind or back out.  The door slid open, and she slipped into the room, turning and locking the door from the matching inside panel before it was even shut.

"It's my past," said a voice behind her in the dark, a coarse whisper, ragged, tired, pained, "as terrible as it is, why won't you let it stay mine?  Why can't you leave me alone?"

Ribbon looked over her shoulder.  Her eyes weren't adjusted yet, but his probably were.  "Because I'm the only one who hears you screaming."

There was no answer.  

Ribbon closed her eyes.  She listened for the colt.  His thoughts were suppressed, solely focused on the pain in his hoof.  There was nothing for her to listen to except his ragged breathing.  She followed the sound until her hoof bumped one of his.  She reached for where his shoulder should have been, but it was a neatly made mattress, blanket folded and undisturbed.

She let her hoof slide off the bed, and it came to rest against the colt's side.  "Sharing your past doesn't make it any less yours."  She sat down beside him.  "I wish you could choose to share it with me, but that doesn't change the fact that you're hurt, and need help."

"Why do you care?"  She heard him grunt in pain, and felt the searing flash, when he moved his injured hoof.  "What am I to you, that you keep digging into my pain?"

"Strong."  Ribbon lifted her first aid kit with her magic, opening it.  She saw the colt in the faint glow, eyes pressed shut against tears, and his bloody hoof clutched to his chest.  She set the case down, releasing her magic and restoring the darkness.  "I see, and feel, amazing strength all the time, from so many unexpected places, but you are among the strongest I've ever felt.  Your presence isn't something I can ignore, even if I try."

"What's strong about me?"  He pulled away from her, moving for the first time since she entered the room.  "What's strong about an injured colt who can't even crawl into his bed to cry?"

"That this whole time, you were worried about me."  She reached out and took his hoof, warm and wet though it was against her fur.  "You told me to stay away so your memories couldn't hurt me.  You were willing to hurt yourself to avoid inflicting your past on anypony else."  She wrapped his hoof with magic, a gentle, numbing energy, lighting the space between them with a pale white glow.  "Let me prove that I'm strong enough to take it."

He looked up at her, meeting her eyes in the soft light as his pain faded.  He could only think of one way for her to prove herself.

She looked up at the nightstand, immediately seeing a familiar velvet box.  "Are you sure?"  She looked back at him.  "You know what that would mean?"

He nodded once.  "That you would experience everything I do.  Every memory, every fleeting thought.  If you want them that badly, take them."

She shook her head.  "That's not what I want.  That's never what I wanted.  I just want to talk to you, to get to know you, to be normal.  I don't get you.  I don't understand you, and I want to, but...  I also want you to understand me.  I don't want to just read your mind, but my brain and my magic are wired wrong.  They always have been.  I hear thoughts, and feel emotions, and see memories, even if I don't want to.  I can't change that!  And when I tried...  "

He winced, remembering his reaction to her wearing the limiter.  But, he didn't regret it, and he wouldn't apologize for what he did to the infernal thing.  "I shouldn't have been so rough about it, but I couldn't let you keep wearing that.  Those rings have hurt too many, and even though I don't know you, I didn't want you added to the list."  He put his good hoof on hers.  "If you want to understand, do it however you need to.  Don't be ashamed of what you can't control."

"You really mean that."  Ribbon started looking over his hoof, blinking away her own tears as they started to cloud her vision.  "I...  Even after everything I put you through?"

"What did you put me through?"  He flexed his numb, bleeding hoof.  Now that pain was fading, and his earlier adrenaline gone, he could think clearly about what he did.  "This is my own fault, and Tankra had nothing to do with you."

He moved to stand up, but Ribbon kept hold of his hoof.  "No, don't.  You can't feel it now, but your hoof is cracked.  It's going to to take a while to treat."

He glanced down at it, then back up at her.

Ribbon reached into her medical pack.  "Probably a week?  Maybe a bit more?"  She pulled out a towel, and started wiping the blood away.  "You can't just seal it up, or the blood will pool up behind the hoof, bruising for sure, abscesses likely, and if infection sets in, you could become permanently lame."

He sighed.

"No, I haven't, contacted security."  Ribbon looked up from her cleaning with a small sigh.  "I know it's standard procedure to report injuries.  But, I can tell Growl later.  No, she would have to- What?  How would I even-  Slow down, I can't... Wait, you're testing me."

"Yes, I am."  He let himself relax against the bedframe.  "I told you to get to know me however you needed to, don't be surprised if I do the same."

"But," she pointed out, rubbing her head, "you're the one that's surprised right now.  And don't do that."

"I am a bit surprised," he confirmed.  "I was expecting...  I don't know what I was expecting, I just know that wasn't it.  How could you not know what I was doing?"

Ribbon shrugged.  "All you were doing was asking questions.  Testing me may have been the reason behind it, but thought processes aren't always that clearly defined.  It's not like I completely understand how it all works.  I hear what I hear, and see what I see.  If I try really hard, I can make somepony else hear my voice.  The other pony plays a big part in how strongly my abilities manifest."

"And how do I affect those abilities?"

Ribbon pulled the hoof away from her head.  "Right now, you're like a black hole.  You pull everything in, and I can't escape.  I can't hear anypony else, but it's still overwhelming.  I'm confused, and a little scared."

Mezzo nodded.  "Then I'll be as clear as possible.  I'm going to put you through one last test."

Ribbon's brow furrowed.  She didn't like the sound of that.  He wasn't thinking about what he was going to do either, only that he was going to act and was willing himself to remain calm.  "Mezzo, what are you-"

He bit down on his good leg, hard and fast, and she cried out in pain, grabbing her own.

The surprise wore off quick, and she was on top of him in less than a second, trying to pull his hoof out of his mouth.  "Are you stupid?"  she cried as she fought him.  "Do you want to be lame in both legs?"

Both ponies stopped.  The words stopping him, and his shock stopping her.  He slowly released his good leg, and she kept her grip on it.  They stared at each other for a moment, a single, unspoken word echoing between them.

"Lame?"  Mezzo finally asked.  "You said..."

Ribbon winced.  She didn't mean it like that.  "You won't be able to walk until the treatment's finished.  When the spell wears off, the pain will come back, and if you walk while it's numb, you can cause more damage."

"Only for a week, right?"  He asked cautiously.  Until it's treated?"

"Yes, mostly," she answered with some hesitation.  "It takes almost a month for something like this to heal completely.  It takes a whole week just to be able to patch the hoof.  You can't walk on it at all during that time.  After that, you'll be able to walk, but you'll need special shoes for a while, a special diet to help keratin growth along, and most of all, you'll need rest.  You can't be straining the hoof.  But it will heal completely if you take proper care of it."

His hoof tightened around hers, asking one last question.

Her hoof tightened around his, answering it.  "If you'll let me."

Mezzo looked down at their entwined hooves.  "Take the pendant, but I want to tell you the story myself."





Mezzo sighed and wiped the sweat from his brow.  Ribbon had helped him into the bed, then he started telling her about life on Tankra.  He couldn't remember exactly when, but at some point, he had fallen asleep.

"This is what happens to those who refuse to work!"

The whip snapped across his back, its bite far more dull than he remembered.  The taskmaster lectured anypony nearby, threatening all who dared glance up from their assigned task.  Mezzo looked back at the armored unicorn, and received the butt of the whip across the face for making eye contact.  He defiantly made eye contact again, noticing that he didn't have to look up to do it.

This was a dream then, not merely a memory.

The taskmaster dropped his whip and drew an energy weapon from a hidden holster.  "Angry?" he asked, pressing the cold metal to the colt's head.  It was a stark contrast to the furnaces burning around them, being fed their fuel by long lines of ponies in chains.  "With that white fur, perhaps you feel yourself a descendant of the goddess as well?  If you meet her, why don't you ask?"

"Report!"  High on a catwalk, above the furnaces, overlooking crucibles of molten metals and glass, another unicorn yelled down at the taskmaster.  Large.  Fat, but with a once powerful build beneath.  With snow white fur and green mane, this pony was dressed in the flowing, decadent robes of nobility, and carried a ceremonial blade openly displayed on a leather sash.

"Is that?"  Older slaves murmured amongst themselves as the taskmaster teleported away.  "The king?  Here?  What's going to happen?"

As soon as he reappeared on the catwalk, he bowed low.  "Production is proceeding as scheduled, my King."

The other pony looked down on him for a moment, then cracked a smile.  "When is it not?"  He broke into a hearty laugh.  "The smelters run well, I would think the mills and factories could come here for advice."  He glanced over the catwalk's rail, meeting the eyes of the only pony who dared to look up.  That colt stared straight at him and spit on the ground.  "Well," his laughter faded to a chuckle, "I think I will make time to drop by more often."

"You honor us, sire."  The taskmaster straightened up.  "The foreman deserves the credit.  He harbors no sloth in his workers, and punishments are swift and public.  If you care to stay and observe, I was just handling a young colt with a rebellious streak."

"Ah, yes, I saw."  The king looked over the edge.  "About that..."  He took the taskmaster's weapon from him and tossed it over the catwalk railing, into a vat of molten bronze.  The weapon sunk, and the power cell burst from the heat, sending the ponies below scurrying from the splatter.  The king saw the damage and shrugged.  "Don't shoot the foals," he told the taskmaster.  With a tired sigh, he turned and started walking away.  "The elderly have far less work left in them."

Mezzo looked down at the shackles around his hooves.  They were small, wooden, held together by a lock and a crude hook.  He was a young colt when all this happened, no more than four or five, Minuette's age.  The shackles reflected that.  They barely closed around his hooves.

He broke them with ease, his surroundings falling away with the restraints, leaving nothing behind.

If only he could have done that so long ago.

He started walking through the darkness, a faint twinge of pain reminding him that he was supposed to be lame.  In a dream, did that really matter?  

He walked for miles, taking only a few steps.  The mind turns in silence, considering, calculating, rehashing and grinding the mish-mash of experience and desires.

He never wanted to share what happened to him in the smelters, but now that he had, he wished he had done it sooner.  Simply putting it into words for Ribbon made it easier to sort out in his own mind.  Like the taskmaster's whip, the memories hurt slightly less when put into perspective.  He was alive, and that particular taskmaster, if he recalled correctly, was dissolved in a batch of glassware that was probably distributed across half of Tankra right now.  Supposedly, it was an accident, a slippery catwalk.  But looking back, he had to wonder if one of the other slaves managed to loosen their limiter.

If sharing the past made it this event easy to look back on, maybe he should tell Ribbon about the rest of it.

The blackness around him shifted, taking on loose shapes, but not color.  Formless beings walked past, ignoring the colt, and the little filly next to him.  He glanced down at the blurry grey foal.  "Go play with momma," he told her, before pushing on into the slowly resolving shapes.

"I can't find her."

Mezzo stopped.  Black was now grey, varying in intensity, and fading in to color.  That wasn't Minuette, was it?

"I can't find mom."

He turned around, and a door opened.

A pony in uniform, accompanied by a higher ranking human stopped in their tracks when they saw the unicorn before them.  Brief flashes, images partially remembered, and embellished by the subconscious mind played out as they backed up, slamming the door.  Streaks of blood across a bulkhead, dark and ominous under the strobe of warning lights, sparking, torn wiring, the carcass of some slimy, alien monster pierced by debris.

A doctor walking down the hall dropped his clipboard.  "Are you mad?"  He asked someone behind the foal.  "Bringing her here?  Now?"

He caught the unicorn's eyes, and before he turned away, a clear image of an injured pegasus pushed away everything else.  She shared Ribbon's colors, and had a peaceful smile on her face.  Tears and gashes through fur and skin covered her limbs, like she was attacked and bitten by many creatures at once.  Worse than that, a ragged laceration ran from her neck back, terminating in a shard of metal still embedded in her torso- the same shrapnel that killed the monster.

The filly screamed.

She ran down the hall, past the doctor who unwittingly showed her such a horrible image.  "No!  Mom!"

The security guard caught her outside the last door in the hallway.

"No!  Let me go!"  She kicked and struggled, a filly against a much larger stallion.  "Mom!"

Mezzo held her back, keeping her from the door.  "Is this your pain?"  He saw the pendant the filly wore.  It wasn't hers, not in this memory.  It didn't exist when these events took place, not in that form anyway.  He put a hoof to it, the pendant he made from his limiter and a shock-blue sapphire.  "I always wondered why I gave it wings."





Mezzo woke with a start.  His hoof was still resting on the pendant, and the pendant was still around Ribbon's neck.  He carefully took it off of her as she twitched and twisted in her sleep, still fighting her nightmare.

He grabbed her, holding her as tight as he could with his injury, to fight against her struggles.  "It's ok," he whispered.  Should he wake her?  Should he pull her out of that hell she was reliving, or like him, did she need to see it through to the end?  

He waited until she started to calm down, then pulled her close.  "I'm sorry," he whispered in her ear.  Sleep was pulling him back, and he wasn't fighting it.  "I'm so sorry."





"Mommy?  You're drooling."

"Huh?"  Octavia groaned.  It was too bright.  She lifted her hoof to provide some shade while her eyes adjusted, and the biting scent of cleaning chemicals snapped her out of her drowsiness like citrus-scented smelling salts.  "Minuette!"

The mare sat up quickly.  She had fallen asleep on the couch in the middle of her cleaning!  She looked past her daughter in a panic, inspecting the floor around them.  No?  Good.  The tension sank out of her, and she let herself sink into the couch.  It looked like she managed to clean up all of the blood before passing out.

"Mommy?  Are you OK?"

"Yes," she answered quickly.  She shook her head and sighed.  She needed to calm down.  Everything was clean, everything was in order, and Ribbon didn't know that anything was ever wrong.  "Sorry, honey," she picked the filly up and set her down on the couch beside her, "I'm just a little tired.  Mommy was very busy last night."

Minuette nodded her understanding.  "Is that why the floor's all shiny?"  She craned her neck to look off the side of the couch.  She could see a faint reflection past the carpet.  "Aunt Scratch doesn't use soap when she does the floor."  The filly looked up at her mother.  "She doesn't use water either."

"I know."  Octavia draped her hoof around Minuette's shoulder.  "Just the vacuum, right?"

The filly nodded.  "Did you clean up because Ribbon was coming over?"

"Sure did," Octavia lied.  "It's nice to make things look presentable when you're expecting company."  She wasn't about to tell her daughter that she spent most of the night scrubbing her brother's blood out of the tile.  "So, you met Ribbon already?  Did you thank her for helping you yesterday?"

Minuette shook her head.  "She's still sleeping."

"Sleeping?"  The mare blinked.  That sounded like a really good idea right about now.  "Where is she sleeping?"

"With Mitso," the filly answered happily.  "You were sleeping, so I was going to see if he could make breakfast.  But, they were sleeping too, and you looked less comfortable, so I woke you up instead."

"Logical decision.  You are a very smart filly," Octavia told her, trying to keep a neutral face.  Just how comfortable did they look?  "Then, how about we go out for breakfast, just the two of us, and let Mitso sleep?"

"Ok!"  Minuette was running to the door before her mother was even off the couch.  "Where are we going?"

"Um..."  Octavia glanced back at Mezzo's door.  She would have a good long talk with him later, and probably with Ribbon too.  "Anywhere you want, honey, how does that sound?"
> A Journey of a Thousand Words
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------

	Fog.

Lifting.

Fading away, cold morning dew in the sunlight.

She shivered as feeling returned to her.  The cryogenic chamber rushed to raise her body temperature as it was pried open, sophisticated locks and failsafes overridden by means unknown, and unidentifiable, to self-diagnostics.

"That's it then?"  Laughed a cruel voice.  "It's a filly!  I thought ya said it was some ol' weapon."

She didn't like the voice, didn't recognize it.  That wasn't the voice she was supposed to hear.  Blinking against the blur did nothing to ease the haze of her abrupt thaw.  Her surroundings were nothing but brightness and warm, blowing wind.  "T-t-twilight," she called, asking for the one who should have woken her, "are- are you there?"

"Ain't that cute," sneered a second voice.  "She's askin' for 'er friend.  'Ere's an idea, Grin, why don't you be 'er friend?  Ya ain't going' nowhere else."

A third voice grunted in pain as it was kicked forward, stubbornly refusing to cry out.

"Hey," the first voice butted in, "I thought we was gonna kill 'im.  Leavin' him alive's too dangerous."

The second voice scoffed off the warning.  "Whot's he gon' go do, uh?  He ain't got a ship, and he ain't got any weapons."

The third voice grunted as he was kicked again.  "You should listen to your brother, Shpell.  If you leave me here, I will be back to haunt you.  Some day, some how, I will figure out a way to kill you, and I will make damn sure it hurts more than anything you've done to me today.  I will have my revenge on all of you who have betrayed me."

"Oy, I'm surprised ya still got 'enough kick ta talk shit ta me like that.  Griff!  Get over here and mess up his stump with them claws of yours."

Cracking knuckles and flapping wings heralded a fourth voice.  "I've got a name you know?"

"And nopony remembers it.  Get to work."

"Why me?"  The voice asked in irritation.  "You afraid of a little blood?"

"And you're not?"  Asked the pained voice.  "Fatal mistake."

"Fatal?"  Cackled yet another voice.

"Yeah," mocked yet another, "'e's gon monologue 'im ta death."

Laughter and ruckus revealed at least a dozen voices, each one rough, each one filled with contempt for the one in pain.  They all took delight in whatever suffering they were putting him through.

And he was having no part of it.  "Laugh while you can," he growled, low and dangerous.

She didn't want to be here, surrounded by such terrible voices, but she couldn't do anything about it.  She tried to move, but her body was still frozen.  The only feeling in her limbs was cold heaviness, like stone.  She still couldn't see, either, the only image before her the fuzz of blue sky and the inside of her chamber.

A howl, quick and thunderous, ended the laughter.  It was followed by a short, strangled scream, and shouts of surprise.

"Get him off!  Get him off!"  Cried the one called Shpell.  "Hurry!"

The commotion was short lived, ending with the hollow clang of a metal pipe against flesh and bone.

"Oy!"  Some new voice called.  "Oy, Griff!"

"Let me in," demanded yet another.  There were only hushed murmurs until he spoke again.  "Boss, his windpipe's bit clean through.  He's dead if we don't get him back to the ship."

"That crazy bastard," muttered Shpell.

"He's out," asked someone,"should we just kill him now?

"No," Shpell answered before spitting on something.  "Make him suffer.  Let him live in this dump for as long as possible with his precious ancient treasure.  Infection will get him within a week anyway."

The sounds of rushed movement replaced the voices.  A dozen sets of hooves and feet gathering what crates and supplies they could carry.  In seconds, They were gone, clambered up what sounded like a metal gantry.  Within a minute, the whine of engines and the deep thrum of some unknown machinery assaulted her ears, making her curl up tightly, protecting her head with her forelegs.

A blast of hot air washed over her, and a sudden shockwave punched her, then... nothing.  Silence.  All noise was gone, save her own crying.

She curled up even tighter, shaken by all that happened, and feeling sick from the shock.  This wasn't supposed to happen.  This wasn't how she was supposed to wake up.  This was wrong!  And...

And...

And there was nothing she could do about it.

She heaved.  Her stomach fought to twist itself in two, physically rebelling against the emotional realization that she was alone.  She had treated it as such a grand adventure, putting on a brave face when leaving her home world, but it was easy when your friends were leaving alongside you.  Here, alone, with no place to go back to, was different.

And what happened to her friends?!  They wouldn't have left her frozen, not by choice.  She knew and trusted them enough to know that.  Her mind started racing through possibilities.  Innocent and hopeful at first; there was a malfunction, and her pod wouldn't open.  But in her scared state, the possibilities quickly turned dark.  Were her friends hurt?

Her last thought before passing out was a simple question, but it pushed her mind so close to breaking that she shut down rather than contemplate the answer.

"Are my friends still alive?"





Bump.

Shift.

Movement stirred her from void.  Touch brought her back to waking.  Awareness came slow as she was set down and leaned back against something, maybe a tree.  No, not a tree.  The surface was to smooth to be bark, and too cold to be anything other than metal.  

Before she could bring herself to open her eyes, cool water splashed her face.  A wet cloth, wiping her forehead.

"Please, wake up."

The voice brought her back to the here and now with an almost violent start.  The pained voice, the angry one.  It was close, so close.  She pushed blindly as she opened her eyes.  For a moment, a scarred stallion held a rag in his mouth, touching it to her face, but her push dropped him to his hooves.  No, she realized with a gasp, to his hoof.  He only had the right one.  The end of his left leg, where his hoof should be, was cut short, and hastily wrapped with rough, bloody cloth.

She tore her eyes off the salvaged bandages to look at his face once more.  He wasn't scarred at all.  The gashes and small burns on his face were fresh.  They trailed down his entire body,ending at his cutie mark, half of which was eaten down to bloody, bubbled skin by what looked like acid.

He smiled when he saw her awake.  "It's true," he breathed in wonder.  He shifted, taking his weight off the end of his legs and ignoring the pain as he kneeled before her, almost in reverence.  "I didn't even dare to hope for this day."

She pressed herself back against what she now realized was a metal panel, part of a starship's hull.  All around, bits and pieces of wreckage littered the dirt, weeds and brush growing around them.  None of it was recognizable to her, none of the colors matched any ship she knew, and none of the shapes seemed familiar.  The only saving grace of the situation.  It wasn't her ship.

She looked back at the stallion, an earth pony, focusing her stare at his eyes to keep from looking at the horrors splattering the rest of his body.  He was young, older than her, but not yet old enough to lose that coltish look.  His face was rough, even beyond the injuries, beyond the dried blood still caked to his chin, the face of somepony used to pain.  And, for the moment, he was the only other pony around, and the only way she could find out what was happening.  "What do you want from me?"

"Knowledge," he answered quickly, pleadingly.  "All my life, I've searched, for the relics and weapons of your kind, but never have I dreamed I could meet a living Ancient.  Please, I'll take anything you deign to tell me.  No matter how little, it will be worth all I have gone through to get it."

"Ancient?" She asked, confused.

He blinked once, confusion starting to show, but quickly caught himself and bowed his head.  "Forgive me, you would not have called yourselves that, but that is the only name I know.  So few records exist.  You are the ones who came before, who built the first ships, who left their own doomed world to spread life across this galaxy."

With that, she understood.  "There are ponies across the galaxy?"

"Yes," he answered, crawling forward to grab her hoof.  "Hundreds of planets, thousands and thousands of smaller settlements, we stand on equal ground with any other race in existence.  The predator races, dragons, gryphons, even the humans, who treat war as art, acknowledge us as powerful allies."  He looked down at the hoof he held, his own blood soaking through the rags to stain the bright pink fur.  "It's all thanks to you, your kind, and your mission."

Slowly, she brought her hooves together around his injured leg, cradling it with care.  It was a terrible, ugly thing done in anger and hate, but it was a beautiful metaphor.  The hooves that held this pony up were gone, but the important part lived on.  And he refused to stay down, still struggling to stand in the face of a hopeless situation.

Ponies haven't changed at all.

"There was no mission."  When the stallion looked up, she brought her hoof to him, cupping his cheek.  "There was no plan.  All we wanted was our own selfish survival.  And we got it."  She let her hoof fall.  "I'm sorry," she started to cry, "I'm not this great ancient you seek.  I'm a lost pony, just like you."

"No," he insisted, "no, you were in the chamber.  That is ancient technology, I know it is!"  He looked off to the side, where the cryogeninc chamber lay discarded like its surroundings.  "Magic and technology, mingled so perfectly, hasn't been perfected yet.  It's the goal that scientists and sorcerers across the universe strive for.  You and your race are the lost pinnacle of this galaxy, the goal I have sought for years."

She stared at him for a moment.  Those eyes, begging and pleading with such earnest hope, seemed out of place among his injuries.  "We were running."  The truth may shatter his hopes, but he deserved to know.  "Our world was dying, threatened by an evil we couldn't fight, and we ran.  We scraped together everything we had, put the efforts of everypony that could help towards building ships to flee our world.  We took everypony, and enough animals and plants to start over, but left everything else behind."

He nodded.  "Don't you see the wonder in that?  Five ships!  Five ships to move an entire planet!"  He grabbed her hoof.  "That is beyond the reach of even Canterlot.  And the information I've recovered shows even more wondrous power;  complete control over the climate, immortal beings, even control over celestial bodies.  These are the miracles of the divine compared to our pitiful technology."

She shook her head.  "If you could have seen our world, you wouldn't say that.  Before everything ended, the most advanced technology I ever touched was an oven.  Magic was everywhere, everything.  Technology only became important when we had no other options."

"I do not care.  The circumstances do not matter.  The results speak for themselves.  And I will listen to anything you will tell me."

With a sigh, she consented.  "Then I'll tell you my story, if you tell me your name.

He smiled wide, his dreams answered.  " My name is Grinparch.  Grin of the Norland pirates.  Please, tell me your name as well, that I may call you something besides Ancient."

How could he muster so much enthusiasm in this situation, she wondered as she answered him.  "My name is Pinkamena, but all my friends call me Pinkie, and I came from a town called Ponyville a long time ago, in a galaxy far far away..."





Grin grit his teeth as Pinkie changed the bandage on his hoof.  In his mutinous crew's haste to leave, they left some supplies behind.  It was mostly food and water, bit there was also some human clothing and gryphon whiskey.  Despite his desire to put the whiskey to its intended purpose, Pinkie had insisted on using it as a disinfectant, a painful, yet effective one.  She also insisted on changing his bandages regularly, even though the sight of his wounds had been enough to make her violently ill when first she tried.

It had been especially hard on her to learn that he was not an earth pony, but a pegasus.  One of his wings had been discarded among the crates of supplies, and she was the one to find it.  The other was nowhere to be found, and he could only assume that it had been taken as a trophy by his mutinous crew.

He looked down at her, watching the top of her head as she worked.  In the three days since then, she somehow learned to keep her lunch down.  And her mane, straight as river-reeds when first came to, had started to curl a little at the ends.  She trembled as she worked, as she did every time she saw his injuries.  If he didn't stop her, she would start crying, feeling his pain more than he did himself.

He took his left foreleg, freshly cleaned and bandaged, and patted her on the head.  It was something he never would have considered doing in his old life, but she seemed to respond well to it.  "Pinkie, tell me another story."

"I've told you everything I can about our technology."  She sighed sadly.  "I wasn't an engineer."

He sighed as well.  He knew she wasn't, but piecing together what he could from her stories still provided him with useful information.  Even small details like how something was held could be important.  "Then tell me something else.  Anything you wish to share, I will listen."





"Ooh!  And then, there was this big rock thing, and everyone was scared, cause it was heading right for us, all angry and like, 'I'm gonna crush ya!!!  Arrgh!!'  And you know what happened next?  Huh?  What am I saying, of course you don,'t.  But, I bet you can guess!  You're really smart and all, kind of like Twilight, but without the excessive worrying, or tendency to put on winter pounds in the middle of summer, or..."

Grin smiled as she rattled off at least a dozen differences between him and her friend, apparently the lead scientist in charge of Equestria's evacuation plan.  Asking her to share her story as she wished was a good decision.  It made her less reserved around him, and she shared more than he ever expected.  Beyond the description of her homeland, its culture, and its technology, she shared tales of adventures, powerful creatures lost to time, and goddesses who loved cake.

His smile faded as she started to walk ahead.  They were exploring the wreckage, and it was proceeding slowly as he forced himself, against her wishes, to learn to walk without hooves.  She stayed by his side though, matching his pace.  But, every so often, she would forget, and start walking at a normal speed.

He hated it.  Not for jealous reasons, he was too proud of a pony for that, because of what always happened next.  She would realize what she was doing, stop, and slowly return to his side with her head lowered.  She would apologize, and then she would walk in silence, feeling bad for what she did until he told her she was forgiven.

She cared more for others than he ever did.  She was nice in ways that would make him suspicious of any other pony, but he couldn't help but trust her.  Not only was she a living, breathing Ancient, she had kept him alive for longer than Shpell had originally estimated.  Only by a day so far, but it was still a tasty morsel of revenge that he was defying his former subordinate.

And that was the problem, looking at her, he could see his own flaws.  He couldn't imagine this smiling pink pony seeking revenge on anyone, no matter the crime committed.  It was as if her only ambition in life was to be good to others.  Were the ancients so superior in altruism as well?

He saw her stop, and braced himself for her misplaced guilt.  He was once the leader of a fierce group of pirates, a position that didn't come with a clean conscience.  In his search for the Ancients, he had broken countless laws, trespassed, stolen, and those were the least of his sins.  He would kill to get what he wanted, and had before.  Why then should she feel so guilty for walking too fast?

"Maybe we should stop for today," she said, breaking the pattern.

Grin looked up.  She still carried the look of guilt, but made no move to return to him.  He looked farther up.  "It's only noon.  We haven't gotten very far."  Mostly because of his injuries, but he didn't care.  The sooner he gets used to walking without hooves, the better, but until then, exploring their surroundings would be slow going.

"If you open up your wounds again, we can't clean them out."

She was right.  They had plenty of food and water.  His rule was to bring three days’ worth of feasts for every crew member while planetside, and there were close to twenty crew members in his traitorous group.  But the whiskey was gone, used up cleaning his wounds.  "We can use salt water," he countered.  They had plenty of salt with the rations.

"You would heal faster if you rested more."

"I would heal faster if we got off this planet," he grumbled.  "A working subspace radio, or even a power source would do it.  There's more than enough scrap here for us to salvage something."

She finally looked back at him.  "But," she paused for a moment, to paw at a twisted piece of metal near her hoof, "I don't even know what we're looking for.  I don't know what you need, and I don't recognize any of this technology.  I probably wouldn't even recognize a cake mixer if it got tangled in my tail.  And let me tell you, that used to happen a lot."

Grin watched her kick at the busted piece of ship's hull in silence.  She kept looking at the junk around them, then back at him, as if she was expecting him to just point out the piece he needed.  Her mane was straightening out slowly, losing the frizzy curl it only recently gained.  She was losing hope, and couldn't hide it.  This pony couldn't hide anything.  Her emotions were worn on the surface.  "Fine, we rest."

She nodded quickly.  "Thank you."  Nodding towards a a large, T-shaped section of wreckage, Pinkie started walking.  She kept her pace deliberate and slow.  "We’ll have some shade over here."





Grin woke to the clang of metal on metal.  Somepony was building something.  And since there was only one other pony around, that meant Pinkie was building something.  But what?  She claimed to have no technical expertise, but it wasn't impossible that an unskilled ancient could well outstrip the most brilliant engineer in terms of mechanical aptitude.

He quietly pulled himself up, and started dragging himself towards the sounds.  The clanging came from beyond a curved section of what looked like the exterior hull of a Gryphon vessel perched on the edge of a hill.  It was a fairly old design, a modified freighter, but with a distinctly pony paint job.  Who knows how much tech was left.  Based on what they had seen, anything of value seems to have been salvaged long ago.

He tried to put his frustration out of his mind and followed the sounds.  Every so often, the clang and batter would stop, replaced by scraping.  He poked his head around the corner.  Pinkie was grinding the end of a metal rod against a rock.  She twisted it around in her hooves as scraped away, making sure she was grinding evenly.

Grin's face twisted in anger as he sawwhat she was building.  He stormed over as she took the rod, and fitted it into place as the axle in a crude cart.  Hot tears escaped his eyes and burned his cheeks as he asked, "What is this?"

She jumped, dropping the round access hatch she was planning to use as a wheel.  "Oh, you woke up."  She saw the look on his face, and immediately started to worry.  "It's a, um, I made you a cart.  Well, not made you a cart, since obviously you aren't one, but I made a cart for you."  Her forced smile faded, as he stared at it.  It was rough, made from a hatch and some access panels, and tied together with rope and coolant lines, but it should work.  She had even found a pair of bearings in what was left of a sliding door.  But, why was he looking at it like that?  "Don't you like it?"

"No!" he screamed.  He limped forward, slamming himself against the cart and breaking off the one attached wheel.  He glared at Pinkie, and she backed away slowly.  "You will not treat me like an invalid!"  He advanced on her, forcing her back to a wall.  "I am trying to come to terms with the fact that I will never fly again, but even missing one hoof, I can still walk.  And I will do so under my own power until it kills me!"  He punched the wall beside her with his remaining hoof.  "Understand?"

The earth pony stood silent for a moment, the only movement a twitch of her tail.  Then, without warning, she shoved him back, hard.  She was strong, and he was unprepared, and he tumbled past the cart and down the hill.  As he fell, so did the top of the hull, swallowing up Pinkie in its rusted maw as it swung down.

She had seen that coming.

"Pinkie!"  He yelled before coming to a stop at the bottom of the hill.

Telesthesia.  He had seen it referenced in ancient writings.  The ability to glimpse moments into the future.  Just one more of the wonders lost...

"No!"

He ran up the hill, ignoring the pain in his left leg.  She couldn't be lost!  Not because of him.  He made it to the hull and called out for her.  "Pinkie!"

Why did she save him?  Now in two pieces, the curved section of hull formed a clamshell, wedged tight on both sides.  He could barely see through a hole in the twisted metal at one side, but he couldn't see her.  "Pinkie?" He called out again, a growing dread rising within him.  "Pinkie?"

A quiet cough answered him.  "Grin?"  The sound of movement and falling dirt accompanied a groan.  "I'm ok.  I ducked in time."

He slumped against the metal wall as she moved into view.  A hollow laugh escaped him as the tension and worry left his body.  "Pinkie, that's the first time you've called me by name."

"Is it?"  The earth pony made her way to the hole.  She could see Grin on the other side, and held her hoof up to it.  She felt his touch it within seconds.  "Sorry.  It's a good name."

"It doesn't suit me."  The stallion pulled his hoof away.  "Pinkie, can you dig your way out?  I can try to dig in from this side."

Her hoof moved from the hole, and she shook her head.  "There's dirt on top of it, but the floor is all metal in here."

Grin shook his head.  There had to be a way out.  "Look around.  Can you see any light?  If there are any cracks or holes, we might be able to-"

"Grin?"  The sound of of her voice broke his heart.  The fear he heard scared him more than anything ever had.  "Am I going to die in here?"

"No!"  He pressed himself to the wall, pushing it, trying his hardest to move it even if just a little.  "No, Pinkie, I will get you out of there.  No matter what it takes, I promise."  He stepped away from the hole, and looked up at the hull.  "I will get you out of there!"

There!

He ran around to the back of the hull section.  The side that had fallen was sitting at a steep angle, but not too steep to climb.  And there, a few meters up was an emergency hatch.  "Pinkie!  I found a hatch.  I'll get it open, so just sit tight."

"Ok," answered her quiet voice, "be careful."

"I will," he lied.  The hatch was four meters up an incline that even a healthy pony would have trouble with.  Even if he didn't fall, the climb itself would take a toll on his injured body.  But, he had to try.

He walked up to the hull and tested a panel seam with his good hoof.  Nothing came loose, and the edges weren't all that sharp.  He started up, catching his right hoof in the highest seam he could reach, then draging himself up until he could find purchase with his hind legs.  He kept himself low, using his left leg to steady himself since it was useless for climbing.  He made it halfway up like that, slowly traveling up the seams, but the next panel above him was much larger, and much smoother.

He shuffled himself over a meter to the right, where he could see more available hoof holds.   He could feel the muscles in his back twitch as what remained of his wing-shoulders moved by instinct to aid his balance, a painful reminder of what he'd lost

"I am not losing anything else," he growled quietly.  He wasn't about to let the last of the ancients die for saving him.  More than that, he wasn't going to let Pinkie suffer alone.

Once he reached the hatch, he realized that might mean trading his life for hers.  The faded warning label, something he couldn't see from the ground, gave instructions for opening the door.  It was a mechanically activated hatch, held on by explosive bolts.  The trigger mechanism was intact, but it was never meant to be activated from the outside.  In order to activate it, he would have to be standing on the hatch, and the moment he did, the explosive bolts would throw him and the hatch away from the hull.

He didn't give himself time to back down.  He jammed his hoof into the first half of the mechanism and twisted, disengaging the safety lock.  "Pinkie!  Cover your ears!"  He bit down on the second mechanism, the actual trigger, and yanked it free.  The chemical compounds that were once separated, mixed, releasing heat and sparks.

He closed his eyes.

Astral lowered the journal and heaved a small sigh.  Twilight was still propped against him, face buried in his fur, but she was quiet.  She had cried herself out hours ago, falling asleep with his hooves around her.  While she slept, Astral kept himself busy reading Pinkie's journal.  He was just starting a second read, and he had a feeling he would read it a third time.  As many times as it takes to permanently burn every detail into memory.

He closed the journal and set it down beside him, his now unoccupied hooves absent-mindedly stroking Twilight's fur as he stared out the window.

After the explosive bolts went off, Pinkie climbed up to the hatch using a bundle of wires.  She found Grin a dozen meters away, staring up at the sky and crying.  He had several new injuries, including severe burns to his hindlegs.  But, when she asked, he told her that there wasn't any pain.  His back was broken, and he couldn't feel or use his hind legs after that.

They were found a day later, by Elder Tarkon and a party that was investigating a sighting of an unkown ship.  Astral recognized several of the names listed.  Tarkon was his Grandfather, son of the original expedition leader that organized the settling of Serus and Sevus.  Tekrin was mentioned as well, though much younger.

They did what they could to help Grin, even going so far as to bring in an offworld doctor on one of Serus' cargo ships.  Though they managed to help him a little, fully recovering Grin's mobility was deemed hopeless.  The injury was too severe, and too old by the time the doctor reached him.  What little he did recover was deemed nothing short of miraculous.  But the best they could do for him was import a hover chair so he could move on his own.

Faced with his disability, and the fact that he was still a wanted criminal in most of galactic society, Grin decided to stay on Sevus, and put his advanced technical knowledge to use servicing the cargo ships that visited from Serus.  Pinkie, faced with being alone in a galaxy that had changed beyond her imagination, stayed as well.  She would help Grin with repairs, but also helped at a bakery in town.

They lived outside of the settlement, building a house in the scrapyard.  It was Grin's idea.  He didn't want to risk unexpected visitors to the settlement.  If anyone ever managed to track him down, or if his crew ever returned, he would be well separated from everyone else and behind a defense system of his own design.  He was also following Tarkon's wishes that the use of technology be limited within the settlement.

Pinkie seemed happy for the most part.  The settlement on Sevus was a lot like her hometown, and though she missed her friends, she kept herself busy.  Eventually, she and Grin had a foal, and married shortly afterwards.  Tarkon served as father of the bride, and Tekrin officiated.  Tekrin's younger brother, Astral's father, who served as an off and on apprentice to Grin, was best man, and a human named Ann caught the bouquet afterward.

Astral shook his head.  His family was so intertwined with them, and he never knew it.  If he never met Twilight, he might never know any of this.

Grin and Pinkie lived peacefully on Sevus for twenty-two years, until the day Grin murdered Tekrin's son, Hawk.  It happened in the town square, in front of dozens of witnesses, two days after his and Pinkie's fifteen year old daughter died giving birth to Strawberry.

Grin and Pinkie were outcasts after that, and the defense systems Grin had built ensured that they were left alone.  They raised their grand-daughter in seclusion.  The legend of the witch of the lake started around this time.  At some point, the glycodexrin poisoning started to present itself.  Pinkie was among the first to succumb, leaving Grin to raise his granddaughter alone.

There was an entry about Serus' destruction.  Grin had sent Berry to try and escape in the confusion.

The writing got harder to decipher near the end.  The clearest passages being technical notes and formulas, with the instructions that they be given to Berry when she discovers the need for them.  Other than that, it seems that Berry had gotten sick shortly before Grin's death.  The last entry was Grin expressing his relief that she was recovering well, and that his proudest weapon served a better purpose in the end.

Astral could only wonder what that meant.  There was no further information, and what he could decipher of the technical information seemed to focus on remote computer control, similar to what Berry used to override the shuttle controls.

With a sigh, he shook his head.  Grin and Pinkie went through so much for their daughter and granddaughter.  Astral looked down at the journal and patted it with a hoof.

"Don't worry.  We'll take care of her."

> Dawn Over an Old World
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------

	"It's beautiful," Strawberry whispered.

Before her, Picus IV stretched out among a field of stars.  Grey-green planet filled the lower half of the view screen, dark fog and storm clouds rolling across the surface.  The stars across the rest of the screen started to fade as the blue dwarf Picus crested into view.  The screen dimmed as the star's light flared through the atmosphere, illuminating daylight on the planet below.

Strawberry watched the star-rise from the darkened cabin, mouth hanging open in wonder as celestial lights sparkled in her eyes.  "I’ve never seen a planet from space before," she breathed in wonder.

"Why are you whispering?"  Twilight asked from copilot's chair.  "And can we turn the lights back on?"

Radio and Astral laughed.

"Lighten up Twilight."  Astral dialed the lights up a little, but kept them dim, allowing just enough light to see the controls.  "Can't you remember the first time you saw a planet from space?"

"I know I can," Radio butted in.  "Ribbon and I borrowed a two-man fighter on our fifth birthday and took it into orbit.  Star-rise over a crystal planet has to be seen with your own eyes.  Screens and recordings just don't cut it."

Astral gave the colt a skeptical glance.  "Ribbon, 'borrowed,' a fighter?"

Radio shrugged, not taking his eyes of the viewscreen.  "Well, maybe I did the actual borrowing, but Ribbon did the piloting."  He glanced at the two ponies who were currently his commanding officers.  "So, what were your first times like?"

Twilight crossed her hooves and leaned back.  "I don't really remember.  I've seen so many planets that they start to look alike."

"I don't believe that," Astral scoffed.  He looked at Radio.  "I was younger than you, couldn't have been more than four.  My dad took me on a cargo run, just the two of us.  It wasn't the first time I had tagged along, but his old ship didn't have fancy screens or windows, just radar displays.  On the last day of the trip, my dad woke me up and said that we were almost home, then he asked if I wanted to see.  Ten minutes later, I was in a spacesuit tethered to an open airlock, staring down at Serus from hundreds of thousands of kilometers away.  It was night time, and I can just remember all the lights, and little fires.  Looking down at the planet was like looking up at the stars."

He looked away quickly, shaking his head.  "Anyway, we need to land."  He flipped the lights to standard levels without warning, bringing a hoof to his eyes as he flinched.  "Strawberry, get off the dashboard."

"Oh, right!"  The blinking earth pony scrambled to comply, shuffling back away from the viewscreen until her hoof caught on the locked-down copilot's steering controls.  She had enough time to mutter, "whoops," before pitching back, knocking Twilight out her chair and onto Radio, flattening the poor colt to the deckplates.

"Slow down you two!"  Twilight picked herself up and checked on Radio.  "We don't even know where we're going to land yet."

Radio dusted himself off and waved off her attention.  "You're a bit on the heavy side, but not that heavy."

She stared at him in disbelief.  He did not just say that.  "Excuse me?"

He looked up, met her glare, and glanced side to side in confusion.  "What?" he asked innocently.

Astral choked back a snicker, and decided to intervene before the colt had his head chewed off.  "So, where do we start our search?  Scanning for lifesigns only brought up a couple thousand results in the one square kilometer we tried to scan.  Do we just start picking random spots?  Maybe we should throw darts?"

"Ooh," Berry bounced in her seat, excitedly raising a hoof.  "I could build a random number generator, would that help?"  Three ponies turned to look at her.  "Ohhh, that was sarcasm, wasn't it?"

Astral nodded.  "Yeah."

"Oh."  Berry flattened her ears back, embarrassed.  It was only a few seconds before they were up again and she was poking at the sensor readout.  "Why don't we scan for traces of refined metal?  Unique crystalline structures should read easier than lifesigns at this distance."

"That could work."  Astral started working the controls.  "OK, starting a new scan, cross-referencing metallic materials with nearby lifesigns.  Well, four results so far, but that's better than the last scan.  Five, six, there's three there, so nine."

"Well, we were at about a hundred at this point in the last scan."  Radio gave a hooves up.  "I'd say that's a good sign."

"Ok," Astral scrolled along the list that populated on his screen, "scan complete, we have twenty-nine results, and that's just on the largest continent."

"That few?"  Twilight asked.  "Computer, holographic display, sensor results."

The scan list that Astral was looking through flashed to life in the middle of the cockpit.  Strawberry let out a low whistle when she saw it.  "That's got much better resolution than mine."

Twilight pointed to the first result.  "This is underwater, three hundred meters down."  She flicked her hoof to the side, dragging the listing along to start a new column of results.  "Same with these."  She dragged two more results over.

Berry let out a girly squeal.  "It's interactive?!  Where did they put the sensors?  How do you make the computer recognize actual input and disregard extraneous motion without debilitating processor overhead?  How..."  She caught herself in the middle of reaching for the display and clammed up, sheepishly clicking her hooves together.  "Sorry.  Um, these results," she quickly started swiping results into a third column, repressing happy giggles the whole time, "these show a composition indicative of extreme thermal stress, add the identical radiation traces shown in the notes here, and these seem to be part of a ship that broke up in an uncontrolled entry."

"Uh, wow."  Twilight expanded one of the results Berry was talking and about and examined it in greater detail.  "It looks like you're right, this radiation signature is what you see when a small fusion reactor overloads."

Radio counted out the listings.  "Ok, that's seventeen bits of wreckage, and three sinkers.  We still have nine possible locations.  Can we narrow it down any more?"

Astral reached in and swiped four of the remaining listings into a new group.  "These are all transmitting transponder IDs.  One seems to be a downed Nav-buoy.  One is a distress beacon, but the date coded in the signal is from two hundred years ago.  One is an actual ship, but it's over four hundred years old.  And, the last one seems to be a remote weather monitoring station.  It has a powerful transmitter, and seems to be sending out a realtime subspace stream.  It's registered to... Canterlot Interplanetary Forecasts Inc."  Astral shrugged.  "So, I guess that's as far as we can narrow it down?"

"Hey," Radio interrupted, "don't I get a turn?"  He nodded to the remaining listings.  "How much detail can you pull up on the lifesigns readings?"

Astral turned back to his console.  "We're about to find out."  The first listing expanded itself.  Dozens of smaller smaller listings scrolled below it, showing masses in kilograms, average velocities, and relative positions for different objects.  "That's pretty detailed.  Looks like each of these smaller listings is an individual life form."

"Yeah," Radio inspected the numbers for a moment, "well this is a flock of birds or something.  None of them has a mass over one kilogram."  He swiped that listing away.  The next one only had five sub-listings.  "Seven hundred Kilos a piece?  What the hell are these?  And they're underground?"  He swiped that away.  "Those definitely aren't ponies."

The next listing was a single reading, eighty-five kilograms and standing still, nineteen hundred kilometers away from the focal point of their geosynchronous orbit.  Definitely a possibility, but damn, that's a big pony.  "Almost as big as Red.  Let's remember this one."  Radio moved it to the side but left it up instead of removing it.  Thousands of sub-listings popped up in its place.  Radio scrolled through, but they all seemed to be a uniform mass at less than one tenth of a kilogram each.  "Don't know what the hell that is, but I bet it's a nasty squiggling mess."

Radio swiped to the last listing.  There were two lifesigns, each about three hundred Kilos, and according to the velocities and positions, they were circling each other.  "I don't think those two-"  Velocities spiked suddenly, and their relative distance dropped to zero.  One of the masses dropped by several dozen kilos, then that sub-listing disappeared, leaving one lifesigns that started to increase in mass by a few kilos every few seconds.  "Did you guys see that?"

"Yeah," Astral grunted, "eat or be eaten, huh?"

Twilight stepped in to take over the hologram.  "That's all the possible readings, and there's only one that could be a pony."  She pulled back the listing Radio saved.  "Oh, hell."

Three more lifesigns had appeared.  Big ones.  Several hundred kilograms each, but the computer kept shifting the numbers, until finally displaying the word, "error."

Astral's hooves flew over the sensor controls as he tried to bring up more information, but the sensors were already at max focus, and they just didn't have the software to resolve any clearer of a picture.

"The navigation system!"  Berry switched on the control panel closest to her.  "There should be some sort of landing simulator, we can feed the raw sensor input into it like it was a ground readout to get an idea what's happening."

"Do it," Astral ordered, strapping into his chair's safety harness.  "Everypony buckle up.  Computer, transfer sensor control to copilot and activate manual navigation and overrides for pilot's panel."

Berry copied Astral's movements to strap herself in, then jumped to work on the sensors.  Radio started to head for a chair in the passenger cabin, but Twilight stopped him.  Wall panels on either side of the cockpit door glowed purple for a second before flipping down to reveal basic emergency seating, complete with safety belts.  She and Radio strapped themselves in just as the shuttle nosedived towards the planet.

"It'll take at least three minutes to get there."  Astral kicked on the atmospheric engines before the shuttle actually entered the atmosphere.  "Hold on."

Twilight was about to explain why atmospheric engines don't work in space when the holographic display changed drastically.  A landscape made of featureless grey cubes appeared before her.  Like pixels in a picture, they made up a rough model of trees, ground, and who knows what else.  A single blue cube hid among a twisted pipeline of what could only be a representation of tree roots as a red mass approached.

The red mass was made of several parts, a central body on legs, and three twisting, snake-like appendages.  "I- I've seen that before," Radio stammered.

"It's a hydra," Twilight pointed out.  "Based on its size, if that blue cube is a pony, then it's a renegade male.  They can be extremely violent, an average pony won't stand a chance."

The shuttle entered the atmosphere with barely a rumble, then when oxygen levels grew high enough, the fuel that had been building up in the atmospheric engines ignited all at once, creating a rocket-like propulsion that shot the shuttle across the sky of Picus IV like a meteorite.

"You moron!"  Twilight scolded, shouting over the sound of rushing air and holding on to her seat as the shuttle shook and rattled.  "Fuel safeties exist for a reason!"

"So do overrides!" Astral countered.  He started coaxing the ship into a smooth arc towards their destination.  "Call me crazy, but don't we need to get there before mystery pony becomes monster brunch?"

The blue cube started to move, slowly creeping to the edge of its hiding place.

Twilight looked at the viewscreen.  Flames from re-entry's friction licked the shields, forming a teardrop shaped inferno around them.  "Astral, can't you adjust the shields for better aerodynamics?  We need all the speed we can get!"

"I'm trying."  Astral spared a glance at the simulation.  "I know seconds count here, but I don't know what to do with the shield.  I've never done this before.  What if I slow us down?"

The hydra walked past the blue cube, and for a moment, it looked like it would leave without incident, but then the cube left its hiding spot.  It walked into the clearing behind the hydra and something must have happened that the sensors couldn't see, because the hydra stopped in its tracks.

"Use this!"  Twilight shouted.  Her horn glowed, and for a moment, so did Astral's.

He blinked a few times, shaking his head as several complicated diagrams flashed in his his vision.  "What did you just do?!"

"No time!  Fix the shields!"

"Gah!"  Astral shouted in frustration as he pulled up the shield controls.  It wasn't just diagrams he realized, somehow he had a basic understanding of them, and of the theory needed to make them useful in this situation.  "You and I are going to have a talk after this!"

The hydra turned around.  It spotted the pony and started moving towards it.  There was no reaction from the blue cube.  If it was a pony, it was either a very brave one, or a complete idiot.

Astral punched in the last adjustment for the shield and the change was dramatic.  the rattling stopped, and the roar of wind was reduced to the whisper of friction's flame.  The fireball that once surrounded them was now a blowtorch flame extending behind them.  And, they were gaining speed, fast.  The engines that were merely overcoming the force of friction moments ago, were now able to push them faster and faster.  By the time he cut the engines, his panel showed their velocity as mach 43, inching towards double the speed of an uncontrolled re-entry.  He would have to start braking now.

He glanced back, fixing Twilight with an icy glare.  He wasn't happy with what she did, but he couldn't fault the results.  "Eta, one minute."

The blue cube finally moved, running along the ground away from the lumbering red mass.  An earth pony?  The hydra was catching up when the cube shot up into a massive tree.  A pegasus!  It juked to the side once on its way up and came to a rest on the lowest branch, barely out of the hydra's reach.  It scrambled against the tree, single mindedly chasing the pony as the forest started to move behind it.  One branch of a nearby tree started to move, slowly falling at first, then accelerating into a wide arc towards the hydra.  A trap!  Grey cubes met grey cubes, paying no heed to the red between them, obliterating one head of the hydra's representation.

Twilight, Radio, and Berry watched in shock as the blue cube jumped to the next branch.  The one it left started to list and swing down.  The blue cube ran along the branch, to the base of the tree, and the branch broke completely free.  It crashed to the ground, imapling the second head on its way down.

With only one head left, the hydra flailed about.  It was pinned in place by the branch skewered through it's second head.  The pony, if that's what it was that so efficiently decimated the massive monster, soared skyward.  It almost made it to the treetops before looping and entering a dive.

It dove towards the hydra's head, colliding at more than terminal velocity.  The hydra's head slammed back, but the pony just seemed to enter another loop.  The hydra's last head slowly wobbled, then slumped against the tree, red mass of cubes starting to fade to grey.

"One lifesign left," Berry mumbled.  "Is that really a pony?"

"I don't know," Twilight admitted.  "It might be a gryphon.  But what was with that attack at the end?  Where there any energy readings?"

Berry shook her head.  "No, nothing."  She tapped her controls.  "I'm going to try something real quick."  Bits of green showed up in the grey landscape, several in the grove where the blue cube started off, one in the center of the hydra's last head, and a few among the branches of either tree where traps had been set.  She looked up at the others.  "Those are the metal readings.  Maybe some type of weapon? And anchors for some sort of rope for his traps?"

"Almost there," Astral announced.  "Speed is down to mach one, and we're about to break through the cloud layer."  All eyes went to the front as the shuttle dipped into the clouds cast over most of the continent.  "Berry, can you find a good landing spot?  Get us as close to that battle as possible."

Berry nodded.  "I'll try."  She looked down at her console.  "It's gone!"  Her eyes shot to the holographic simulation.  "The pony's gone!"

"Focus, Berry.  He can't have gone far."  The shuttle broke through the clouds into the dreary grey of average Picus weather.  Astral slowed the shuttle to a comfortable cruising speed and decreased altitude until they were just over the tree tops.  "As long as he's not in danger we can take the time to search.  Let's land, then we can decide our next step."

Berry nodded.  "I’m transferring three sets of coordinates to your console now."

Astral checked the coordinates.  The first was the location where the hydra fell, the second was the largest concentration of metal in the area, and the third was a clearing roughly halfway between the two.  "Good thinking, Berry."  He headed the shuttle for the third option.  "Ok, Radio?  New planet, you know what to do."

"Yes, sir."  The colt started to unbuckle himself.  "Um, it is safe to get up, right?"

"Yes," Astral affirmed, undoing his own restraints.  "Unless I hit a tree or something."

Radio paused, hooves still on his seatbelt.  "Uh..."

Astral waved his hoof back.  "Go on, the shuttle's hovering right now.  I still have to make sure the ground is solid enough to land on."

Radio left his seat and headed to the back of the shuttle.  He returned a few seconds later with his scanner under his wing.  "Ok, ready."

"Setting down then."  Astral lowered the shuttle.  Treetops, then towering, vine-wrapped trunks filled the viewscreen.  This went on for almost a hundred meters down.  Even the smallest tree around them stood at over twenty meters tall.  A small dust cloud kicked up around the shuttle as they set down on packed, dry dirt.  It was stable ground, and didn't shift under the shuttle's weight.  "So, what happens now?"

"We find that pony," Twilight answered immediately.

"No" Astral turned around in his chair so his chin rested on the headrest, "that happens soon, but not quite now.  Radio?  What happens right now?  This is your call."

"Nothing."  The colt sighed.  "We can't open the airlock."

"Ok, wasn't expecting that."  Astral shifted so he was sitting in his seat the right way and spun to face his crew.  "This planet is out of the way and abandoned, but ponies come here-  Well, I won't say all the time, but with enough regularity that it's classified as a safe-travel planet."

Twilight raised an eyebrow.  "The planet of monsters is a safe-travel planet?  What's considered dangerous?"

"Safe-travel just means that you won't get sick by breathing the air.  No virulent diseases, no exotic spores, and breathable air mixture."  He scratched his chin.  "So, what's out there that keeps us from opening the hatch?"

"It's not out there."  Radio shook his head, then nodded to their newest member.  "It's in here."

"Strawberry?" Twilight asked.

The earth pony looked up from the sensor panel for the first time since the simulated battle ended.  "Huh?"

Astral sighed.  "Shoot.  Berry, you probably never had an immunization in your life, have you?"

She blinked.  "Um, a what?"

"I have the vaccines with me, but it would take at least a week to administer them all."  Radio shook his head.  "Even if I just gave her the recommended vaccine for this planet, wide spectrum retrovirus, it would still take twenty-nine hours to become effective."

"Well the sooner you give it to her, the sooner twenty-nine hours goes by."  Astral looked at Twilight.  "Sorry, but whoever's out there can probably take care of themselves for another day."

"No," she said absent-mindedly, "I understand.  I don't want to risk anypony getting sick."  She stared at the wall for a moment.  "But..."  She looked over at Radio.  "Wait, Berry can't go outside, but what about the rest of us?"

Radio consulted his scanner again.  "I can't see why there would be a problem."

"Hold on now."  Astral pointed at Twilight.  "You're thinking of teleporting out, aren't you?"

She folded her hooves.  "Do you have a better idea?"

He folded his.  "What do we do if there's an emergency?  We won't be able to come back inside.  And are you planning to sleep on the ground, or do you expect us to stay awake the whole twenty-nine hours?"

"For your information-"  Twilight blinked.  "Wait...  Us?"

"Yes, us."  Astral scratched his head.  "It may be a stupid idea to go out there now, but there's no way in hell you're going alone.  If there's an emergency, and I mean an absolute emergency, Berry can put on one of the spacesuits in the back, then we can come back aboard."  He held up a hoof.  "I still recommend we wait a few hours so we aren't spending a night outside, but I'll let you make the call."

Twilight chewed her lip for a moment.  "Astral, you know what I'm going to say."

"Yeah," he sighed.  "I'm ready when you are, just give me my jacket back first."  Twilight nodded, and in a flash, they were sitting on the ground outside the shuttle.  Astral hung his head with a weary groan.  Somehow, she even managed to give him his jacket back during the teleport.  "How impatient can you get?"

"I'm sorry, but we can't wait."  Twilight stretched her newly freed wings.  "I'm not going fail anypony else."  When she finished her stretches, she lifted her right hoof.  Wrapped around the ankle was one of the communicators.  "Radio, can you hear me?"

"Yes," came the colt's voice, small and tinny through the compact device.  "But only because the shuttle's exterior camera has a microphone.  Push the button to talk, remember?"

"Oh," she chuckled nervously, "right."  She pushed one of the devices buttons.  "Like this?"

"That's the self-destruct."

"What?!"  Twilight scrambled to pull the thing off, but Astral stepped in and grabbed her hoof.

"Radio," he said sternly, "that wasn't..."  He glanced over at Twilight, who had gone about as pale as a sonorran winter.  "Ok, that was kind of funny.  But, don't do it again."

"You got it, boss.  Only works once anyways."

Twilight went red in the face as she started to recover her color.  "He's exactly like Rainbow," she muttered with a small pout.

Astral chuckled and spoke into the communicator.  "Ok, Radio, if you're done playing around, we can get this show on the road.  We'll check out the hydra first, and see if we can find any way to track down the resident badass.  I want you to keep scanners on and report any major changes.  More hydras, bad weather, whatever, I want to know about it.  Other than that, just get Berry's vaccine taken care of."

"That reminds me."  Twilight pulled her hoof away so she could have access to the communicator.  "Berry, what were you doing with the console?  You seemed pretty focused."





"Huh?"  The pink earth pony lifted her head.  She didn't think she was that hunched over, but the curls of her brown-flecked hair were touching the screen.  "Me?"  She wasn't paying too much attention, but she was pretty sure that last question was directed at her.  "Um, I was reconfiguring the sensors.  We only had a clear picture of the hydra battle because we knew where to focus the sensors.  Now that we don't know where the, um, target, is, we can't just tell the sensors to find it.  Scanning for lifeforms the right mass is a little difficult too, because we're at ground level and there's a little bit of a Doppler effect going on.  It seems to be inflating the mass readings.  So, what I did is set the sensors to follow you, calibrate off your masses to compensate for the Doppler shift, and notify us if you get within thirty meters of a life form between twenty-five and a hundred and fourty kilograms."

"That's a pretty wide range," a voice crackled out of the communicator Radio had set on the console.  It was twinned by a clearer voice out of the holographic camera view hovering in front of the main viewscreen.  "And thirty meters isn't much warning."

"The Doppler effect gets worse the more you try to scan at once, so a wider radius would mean a wider range of masses."  A red dot appeared on her screen, and she tapped on it, making sure it wasn't an error.  "Speaking of, um, well, it seems like there's a fourty kilogram lifeform headed towards you now.  It's on the ground to your left."

"Yeah," said Astral calmly, "I see it."

"See what?" Twilight asked.  "Holy crap!  Big snake!  Big, big snake!  Ok, I'm searching from the air.  Astral, Have fun down here, cause I'm-  What are you doing?!"

"What does it look like I'm doing?"

"It looks like you're getting ready to shoot it!"

"Twi, that's a Traborean arbor snake, they're harmless, vegetarian, and almost as popular a pet as prills.  I guess this is just their native habitat, the continent of Trabor.  Go figure."

"Then why load the gun?"

"Because I don't know if the next creature will be so benign.  Hey, Berry, leave the upper end of that scan range off, would you?  It would be nice to know if we're accidentally sneaking up on something big and sleepy."

Strawberry entered the necessary commands, then rested her hooves on the console, well away from any active controls.  Then, she rested her head on her hooves and listened to Astral and Twilight bicker with a smile.  Each time one of them made a point, the other would present a counter-argument, and that would just get shot down.  Then the other would make a point, and the same thing would happen in reverse.  The tension, the name calling, the verbal joust, it almost seemed like they enjoyed it, and were keeping up the fight just to have a little more fun.  "They get along well, don't they?"

"Yeah," Radio answered.  He was watching the argument on the display.  "I keep waiting for it to come to blows, but it never does.  They always come to some sort of understanding before it goes too far.  That, or one of them realizes they were wrong and backs out as gracefully as possible."

"Ugh, fine.  Just be careful with it."

"Like that?" Berry giggled.

"As somepony I recently met would say, eeyup."  Radio rolled his eyes.  "Honestly, I don't see how they can keep up the energy."

Berry chewed her lip for a moment.  "You know, one of the characters from grandma's stories used to say that all the time.  The red farmer who was strong enough to move a house, and tall enough to reach the tallest shelf."  She tapped her hooves on the console to mask the silence as she debated her next words.  "There were also a bunch of stories about the best flyer in the universe, a sky blue pegasus with a rainbow for her mane and tail."

Radio slowly sat down, suddenly somber and serious.  "That sounds like my mom," he said quietly.  "She was an amazing flyer, able to outclass all but the very best atmospheric fighters with just her wings.  I probably don't even compare."  He looked over at Berry.  "And, you know, you look a lot like somepony in mom's old photos."

"Do you think they knew each other?  Your mom, and my grandma?"

Radio nodded.  "And Mac, he's the red pony, and Twilight.  I'm sure they knew each other.  I think they were friends from another time.  I don't know the whole story, but I know that somehow, they ended up frozen in cryogenic storage, then something went wrong, and Astral and Twilight are determined to find them all."

"Think she can do it?" Berry asked hopefully.  "I want to know more about Grandma, and Granpa too.  Meeting their friends would be a good first step."

Radio shrugged.  "Well, they found us, didn't they?"

Berry nodded in agreement.  "They did."





"You idiot!"  Astral huffed as he ran through the jungle.  Surprisingly dry and dusty, and smelling of salt, it was still a jungle.  As such, it was full of all the vines, underbrush, and brightly colored, likely poisonous, small creatures one would expect from a jungle with a much higher moisture content.  "How the hell am I supposed to find you now?"

She was gone, out of sight.  Something caught her eye in that clearing, and she chased after it without a second thought.  Then, like the idiot he was, he chased after her without a second thought.  Did he really think that he was going to keep up with a flying halicorn, or whatever she called herself, while on hoof?

Still, he continued on, hoping that once she caught up to her quarry, she would realize she left him behind and retrace her path back to the shuttle.  "Twilight!"  He groaned in frustration.  As smart as she claimed to be, she didn't think far enough ahead to give him a communicator before leaving the shuttle.  "Twilight Sparkle!  You are a thick-headed, impatient, self-important, bossy, nagging, dolt!"

There was a rustle behind him.  He was facing the sound, crouched low in a protective stance, weapon at the ready, by the time a small, birdlike reptile flew out of the underbrush.  He sighed and stood up as two more followed it, one of them stopping on a nearby branch to click and warble at him.  About the size of a sparrow, it was a dull, dusty grey, perfectly blending in with the rest of the dreary jungle.  It probably didn't have poison to protect it, so it relied on camouflage instead.  It flicked its blue forked tongue out and warbled one last time before flying up into the canopy.

Astral resumed his trek.  That bird-lizard-thing obviously wasn't that worried about getting away there, given that it stopped to look at him.  But he still turned his head at every snapping twig, rustling leaf, and crunching soil he heard.

He continued like that for several minutes, encountering nothing larger than a beetle whose shell looked like it could be turned into helmet.  "That's it," he punched a tree and turned around, "she can take care of herself.  I'm going to wait outside the shuttle."

There was a sound behind him, a thump against wood, in the direction he had been walking just a moment ago.  Was that a hoof?  He headed for it, cautiously.  It sounded like a hoof against wood, but that might have been wishful thing.  There had to be other things on this planet that could sound like that.  It could also have been an echo from hitting the tree.

Another sound, two thumps, farther ahead.  Whatever it was, it was moving away from him, into dense undergrowth.  He picked up the pace a little, wanting to find the source of the noise.  As he got closer, it became a little more distinct, the sound of hooves, somepony walking.

He broke into a run, and so did the pony ahead of him.  He followed it as it wove through the underbrush, through areas of hanging vines, past jagged, porous, rock formations, and what seemed like dried up bogs.  He didn't follow it all that far though,  the terrain just changed quickly.  It seemed like there were distinct changes to the surroundings every hundred meters or so.  The only thing that remained constant was that the other pony stayed out of sight.

Astral caught up to the sound in a thicket of much smaller trees.  They were grey, smooth-barked , and not a one was more than half a meter across.  Astral's fur stood on end.  Something was wrong.  He didn't catch up with a pony, he caught up with a sound.  He could still hear a pony running, but it was nearby, continuing over and over like a recording.  He inched towards the sound, towards a small shrub near one of the trees.  And, leaning against the tree, he peeked over the shrub.

Before him, stretched a large, grey centipede.  Just under a meter long, with several legs sticking up the wrong way, from its back.  Four of these legs drummed on its shell, mimicking the sound of galloping hooves.

"Clever girl," Astral muttered as the bark under his hoof split into segments.

He jumped back as the camouflaged insectoid waiting there reared up, hissing like a leaky gas tank.  Easily four times the size of the lure, it lunged at him only to be dropped by a well placed shot to the face, the semi-incendiary round turning the centipede's head into charred paste.

The unicorn suddenly wished he had his old pistol, with its higher ammo capacity, instead of the revolver he now carried.  Several more of the creatures were crawling down the trees, hissing and clicking.  He counted six of them, not counting the lure that was still hiding behind the bush.  He had four shots left.  At some point he would have to reload.  Running wasn't an option either, The lure was able to outrun him, staying ahead of him every step of the chase, so he could only assume the rest could do the same.

Astral took a deep breath and muttered something his parents used to say.  "If my only option is to fight, I'm ok with it."  Astral raised the gun and fired, taking out the largest one, and most of the trunk it was clinging to.  The carcass hit another centipede as it fell, and they both fell to the ground with a satisfying crack.  

The sudden loss of two comrades spurred the others into action.  They let go of their trees and curled up as they fell, unfurling the moment they hit the ground.  The two closest ones , ahead and to his left, surged forward.  Again, Astral chose the larger of the two and fired a single round into its hissing maw.  Then, to dodge the other, he side-stepped into the path of the falling carcass, ignoring the splatter of ichor as it hit his back.  He twisted and bucked, throwing the dead weight at the other creature, knocking it on its back as it turned to attack again.

The others were drawing near, and one of them reared up.  Astral dropped that one without a second glance and then shot the one that was working to free itself from its fallen brethren.  Five shots, six bugs, not a bad count, but he was down to brass.

He spun and kicked as the last centipede leapt into the fray, knocking it in the head and stunning it for a moment.  He grabbed a speedloader and dumped the spent shells from the revolver.  As he tore the lid from the full clip, he realized that the sound of galloping hooves had finally stopped.

"Crap!"  He threw up his hoof and twisted away as the lure, the small centipede that got him into this mess, threw itself on him, aiming for his neck.  The bug latched onto the arm of his jacket as it hit him, rolling the unicorn into the dusty dirt.  He recovered quickly, but there was still a good twenty kilos of insect latched onto his leg, trying its dead-level best to crush the bone.

He lifted his hoof and slammed it back down several times, trying to shake the determined creature.  When that didn't work, he rolled on top of it, pinning it down and using his body's weight to keep its many legs from scratching at him.  He used to his free hoof to punch at it.  Once, twice, when even a third strike didn't seem to phase the creature, Astral stood up as much as he could.  The creature's legs immediately started flailing about, scratching and cutting the pony's underside.

Astral let loose with a battle cry, voicing his pain and anger, as he reared up, dragging the meter-long centipede off the ground.  As soon as he reached full height, he threw his weight back down, bringing both his weight and the centipede's in to a vicious stomp.  His hoof crushed the monster's carapace, breaking its grip on his leg.

As the lure squealed and died, Astral turned his attention to the last centipede.  It was now standing over him, menacing and angry, ready for the meal the others died for.  Smallest of the bunch, it still towered over him, mandibles clicking together in anticipation.

"Bring it," Astral whispered.  He charged forward, ramming his shoulder into the centipede's midsection, knocking it back, but catching a scraping claw across the back of his neck for his trouble.  As the creature struggled to right itself, Astral scrambled for his weapon.

He found the revolver, and the now empty speedloader, where the lure had knocked it out of his grip.  The new cartridges were dumped out and scattered across the grove.  He could see one round resting against one of the fallen centipedes, and he grabbed it.  It then became a race, as the centipede righted itself, to see who would land the final attck first.

As the monster rushed forward, Astral stood his ground, loading the single round into the cylinder, then locking the cylinder into position.  He took aim as the monster jumped, then was gone.

It was all a blur, but something just slapped it away, mid-leap.  Astral looked over in disbelief as the centipede squirmed and squealed against the crude spear pinning it to the tree.  Two more spears, each about a second apart, put an end to the creature's struggles.  They hit with a loud, solid sound, and must have been thrown with an incredible amount of force because they buried themselves quite deep in the tree.

Astral turned, and in a swirling whirlwind of color, his would-be savior was behind him.  His weapon was knocked away from him, and his rear hooves were swept out out from under him with some kind of stick.  He was grabbed by the jacket, and like a ragdoll, got flipped over to face his new attacker.  Fangs, fur and the sharp end of a crude, twisted spear greeted him.  Out of instinct, he tried to push the spear away, but ended up receiving a swift strike across the face with the butt end of the spear.  That was followed by a snarling face in his, clearly warning him of the dangers of trying that again.

Astral took the hint and laid still.  His attacker didn't seem interested in eating him at least.  It was a beast of a pony, ragged fur and violent fangs, growling quietly as she tried to determine if he was friend or foe.  She rivaled Mac in size, and her eyes blazed, even in the limited light of the centipede's grotto.  One was bright, fiery red, and the other was icy, topaz blue.

She was a pegasus, but her wings were mismatched, much like her eyes.  One was full and feathered, like you would expect on a pegasus, but the other was only partially feathered, with spans of tough, leathery membrane making up most of the wing.  Her yellow fur was rough, longer in some patches like a dog's winter coat, or perhaps more fittingly, like a wolf's.  Her mane, pink, and long enough to drag along the ground, matched her tail.  Seemed like neither of them had seen any serious grooming in a long time.

She straightened up a little and stopped growling, giving a short grunt.  Astral stayed quiet, and she grunted again, a little more forcefully.

"What?" Astral asked calmly.  Given her size, strength, and fighting prowess, it was probably a bad idea to antagonize this wild pony any further.  "I can't understand you."

With a frustrated sound, she stabbed her spear into the ground and repeated her grunt.  She kept at it, growing louder little by little until her noises finally resolved themselves into a single word.

"Who?"

"Astral," the unicorn answered.  He was starting to understand the situation.  "My name is Astral.  And you?  How long have you been stranded here?"

She made another grunting noise, different from the first.  "Shuh."  She backed off, letting Astral up.  She patted her chest.  "Shuh."

"Is that your name?"  He asked as he stood up, being deliberately slow with his movements.  Was this pony they were looking for?  One of Twilight's friends?  "It's nice to meet you, Shuh."

"Nuh."  She shook her head.  "Shuh, Shah, Shh..."  She trailed off after a few tries and looked away sadly.

Was she having trouble with her own name?  Just how long do you have to be alone to forget that?  "It's ok," Astral reassured her.  "Don't get upset over it.  You can tell me your name later.  For now, can I call you-"

"Fluttershy?"  Astral looked behind him as Twilight walked into the grove.  "I...  I heard the shots," she stammered in explanation.  "I shouldn't have taken off like that.  I-  How..."  Her hoof squished in the unrecognizable splatter that remained of a centipede's head.  "What happened?"

"Twuh?"  The beast-pony stepped forward, eyes watering.  "Twuh!"  She ran forward, past Astral, and buried her head in the alicorn's chest.  Anything else the feral pony wanted to try to say was lost in mumbled sobs and grunts.

Twilight was too shocked to react for a moment.  Her mind was still reeling.  "F-Fluttershy... I-"  She wrapped her hooves around the abnormally large pegasus, and buried her snout in the tangle pink mane.  "I'm so glad you're safe."

The crying pony let go of Twilight.  She stepped back, fumbling for a moment for a satchel around her neck.  The cord holding it snapped, spilling her meager possessions out on the ground.  And, before either Twilight or Astral could react, she had produced a small knife from the clutter and drawn it across the front of her leg.

" Fluttershy!"  Twilight grabbed her friend's hoof, knocking the knife away.  It was a shallow cut, but it bled quickly.  She turned the hoof over to see how far it extended around the leg.  When she looked up, she looked in her friends eyes for the first time.  So much was different, but it was still her friend.  "Why?  Why would you do something like that?"

Fluttershy looked down at the blood on her ragged, yellow fur, then up at Twilight.  "Ruh...  Real?"

That was the last straw for Twilight's mental state.  She couldn't hold back the tears any longer.  "Of course I'm real, Fluttershy.  I'm really here."

> Time Marking
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------

	"You what?" Radio asked over the intercom, voice muffled by the device's volume settings.

"We found the pony."  Astral sighed and leaned against the rough hoof-carved table, adjusting a nearby candle as he repeated himself.  "Her name is Fluttershy, she's one of Twilight's friends that we've been looking for."

"And, she's the one that took out a massive hydra in single combat?"

"It looks that way.  She's stronger than your average pony, has battle instincts that border the far side of savage, and she hefts a mean spear."  Astral looked around around the dirty hovel Fluttershy brought them back to.  It was more of a burrow than a building, a half dug pit between the twisted mangrove-like roots of a tree, sealed up with panels from some wrecked ship.  The table he sat at was little more than a massive chunk of the same wood with a flattened top.   "She's also been here alone for a long time."

"Where is she now?"

"Sleeping, I think."  On the other side of the only wall, a heavy curtain, made from some kind of leather, separated the sleeping area from the rest of the burrow.  "Twilight's with her.  The poor pegasus hasn't left her side since we found her."

"Um, are you sure the name was Fluttershy?"

Astral blinked.  Why would Radio question that?  "That's what Twilight called her, and she seemed to respond to it."

"Oh...  Cause my mom described Fluttershy, um, as a, well, let's just say she was described differently."

Astral tapped his hoof on the table.  "Radio, you aren't making sense."  He rubbed his hoof over the wood.  It was a rough table, primitive, like everything else in the makeshift building.  The surface was covered in small scratches, left by whatever knife was used to carve it?  His hoof ran over a smooth spot, and Astral took a closer look.  "Hey, I need you to do something for me.  Check the computer and tell me how long a day on this planet is in relation to Canterlot."

"Eighteen hours, why?"

That was fast, the colt must have already had the information on the screen.  "I'll let you know in a bit.  How long until Berry's vaccine kicks in?"

"It doesn't just magically kick in," Radio answered, annoyed.  "Her immune system needs to acclimate to the foreign material and create antibodies.  In this case, the material is a variety of retroviruses modified so they can't attack the cells.  The exact time needed varies from pony to pony, but given her body weight and the dosage, Twenty-nine hours is the most it will take."

"And how much of that is left?"

"Twenty-six hours, but I'll run blood work in a few hours so we have a more accurate estimate."

"That's all I needed to know."  Astral shook his head.  As helpful as he's been so far, that colt needed to work on his attitude.  "Thanks, Radio."

"No problem, captain, but can you please talk to Berry?  She won't let me finish her dental exam, and she's making unreasonable demands."

Astral raised an eyebrow at the communicator.  "I don't think you get to complain about anypony being unreasonable.  Or did you already forget the first half of our stay on Sevus?  Berry?  Let him finish checking your teeth.  Radio, as soon as you're done with that, humor her.  Unless it's truly unreasonable, like wanting to put on the spacesuit to go for a stroll, or making modifications to the shuttle.  Understood?"





Radio sighed into the communicator.  "Yes, sir."

Berry leaned in and yelled into the device, "Understood, Uncle Astral!"

"And try to get along.  We're going to be stuck with each other for a while."

"No promises," Radio muttered.

"I promise," Berry started her practiced motions, "Cross my heart and hope to fly, run a laser 'cross my thigh."  She nodded solemnly at the end of her oath as Radio stared in bewildered silence.

"Radio, if you don't at least try, I'll make you do what she just did."

"Fine!  I'll try," the colt answered quickly.  There was no way in hell he was doing that.  He would just take a real laser to his thigh out of principle.  "But that's all, no guarantees."

"That's all I'm asking.  Sit tight, you two, we just have to wait it out for one day.  I'll check in after seven hours or so.  Astral out."

The com unit went silent, not even playing the static of an open channel.  Radio set it on the Dashboard, just past the sensor console.  "You heard what he said," he told Berry.

"Yep," she nodded.  "He said you have to do what I ask."

"Yes," Radio ground out, wrinkling his snout, "after I finish checking your teeth."

The pink pony hid behind the pilot's chair, hooves clamped over her head.  "I don't need it!  I brushed every day!"

Radio jumped up on the chair and looked down over the top.  "Did you use toothpaste?"

She looked up, then ran to the back of the shuttle.  "I don't what that is, but it sounds nasty!"

"You're making this harder than it needs to be!"  Radio sighed and sat down.  "I promise it won't hurt."

"Liar, liar, tail on fire," came the reply from the passenger cabin.  "That's what you said about the vaccine."

The colt threw his hooves in the air.  "It was really that bad?"

"It itches!"

"Yeah, they do that sometimes, but it's better than having a retrovirus rewrite your  DNA."  Radio took a deep breath.  Arguing was getting him nowhere.  He needed to try a different tactic.  "Look, as soon as I check your teeth out, and make sure you don't have any cavities, I will move the shuttle four meters to the left, just like you asked."

"Five meters," Berry corrected, peeking out from behind a seat.

"Alright, five meters."  Radio sighed.  And as a bonus, I will throw in..."  He thought about it a moment.  "Ice cream!  You've never had ice cream before, have you?"

She pulled back into hiding.  "Is that another one of your nasty medicines that hurts even though you say it won't?"

Radio hopped out of the chair and walked into the back, ignoring Berry as she stuck her tongue out at him.  He headed into the far back, stepping over the electronic debris that had been swept out of the way.  In the combination sleeping quarters and kitchen, there was a food synthesizer built into the wall above the hideaway table.  It could only make simple foods, restructuring them from preloaded vats of basic proteins, chemical compounds, and artificial colors, but what was more simple than ice cream?

Radio keyed in a simple vanilla ice cream, then flipping through the options, found that it could be made just a little more complex.  He selected the options he wanted, hit start, and waited as the machine worked.

Berry heard the beeping of a control panel, but stubbornly stayed put.  Then, the whirr and hum of machinery started.  No longer able to suppress her curiosity, she poked her head into the aisle.  Radio glanced back, saw her, and shifted so he would block her view of the synthesizer.

With a teeny tiny growl, Berry crawled to a different chair, hoping to get a better angle.  Again Radio moved to block the view.  She climbed over that chair, into the next one, getting closer to the machine.  The pegasus yawned, stretching his wings, completely blocking the earth pony's view.

"Hey!"  She jumped out of the chairs and stomped towards him.  "You're doing that on purpose!"

"Sure am," Radio answered with a smile.  With the tip of his wing, he hit the button that controlled the door to the sleeping quarters, closing it in Berry's face.

She took a deep breath, and was just about to yell something mean at the colt, when the door opened up again.  Centimeters from her face, there hovered something she couldn't quite explain.  She could feel the cold surrounding it, but also smell warm, sweet bread.  A swirl of clean white on top of a golden brown bowl, all topped with colorful specks that rivaled Radio's mane and tail.  All this sat on a plate that was as white as clouds, next to a metal spoon that was polished more than she thought possible.  She stared at her distorted reflection for a moment, then looked up at Radio.

"Ice cream is served," the colt said with a smirk.  "Good old vanilla in a toasted waffle bowl, topped with sprinkles."  He pulled it away, and Berry followed it for a second.  "It's yours, if you stop giving me a hard time about the dental work."

Berry sat down and crossed her hooves.  "Stupid head," she said with a pout.

The colt rolled his eyes.  "Fine, here.  You're just as stubborn as Ribbon."  He held out the plate.  "Eat it before it melts."





Twilight crawled out of bed carefully.  It wasn't really a bed though, just a mat made from layers of dried leaves, grass, and hydra leather.  The mat's other occupant was still fast asleep, but until now had been holding on to her.

Twilight stood next to the bed for a moment, watching Fluttershy sleep.  Her mouth hung slightly open, and dried grass moved with each breath that passed her fangs.  Both eyes were closed, but the image of them was burned into Twilight's mind, mismatched, red and blue, both of them filled with tears.

"I'm so sorry, Fluttershy," the alicorn whispered.  She pulled a lock of frayed, tangled mane out of her friend's face.  "I'm responsible for all of this."

"At least she's alive," said a quiet voice.

"Astral?" Twilight whispered.  She let herself out from behind the heavy curtain that separated the bed from the rest of Fluttershy's shelter.

She didn't see the grey unicorn at first, only the roots and dust that made up the structure.  The whole thing reminded her of Fluttershy's old home in Equestria, built around a tree as it was.  Then again, her own home was pretty much a tree as well.

After a few seconds of looking around, she saw him.  His dark blue mane was just barely sticking up from the other side of the table.  She walked around to talk to him, but found him asleep even though he was sitting up against the table.

Twilight rubbed her eyes.  She must be more tired than she thought if she's hearing voices that aren't there.  Opening her eyes, she noticed the ground in front of the unicorn.  Scratched out on the dirt floor were several steps of multiplication and division, ending with an answer of seven point seven six two five.

She reached over to wake Astral up, so she could ask him what the numbers were supposed to be, but saw something that stopped her.  There was dried blood on his neck, almost completely hidden beneath the collar of his jacket.  She pulled back on his collar, lightly, trying not to wake him.  But, the jacket stuck, dried to the cut he received from the centipedes.

The unicorn stirred, and Twilight put her hoof on his shoulder.  "Wake up, sleepy head," she whispered.

He blinked, still drowsy, and looked at the mare who woke him.  "Twi?  What did I do now?"  He rolled his shoulders and stretched, wincing as his collar pulled free of the injury on his neck.

"You lied to me," she answered softly, "you idiot."

"Yeah," he yawned.  "You're still upset that I dragged Berry along?"

Twilight shook her head.  "No, and I shouldn't have gotten upset about that in the first place.  I was still thinking about Pinkie, and didn't want to be reminded that I would never see her again."  She sat down next to Astral.  "And, I never thanked you for making me see that she wasn't gone completely, that some part of her would live on in Berry, and the friends whose lives she touched."

Astral yawned again.  "I said that?"

Twilight nodded.  "It still isn't easy to accept, but it helped me focus on moving forward."  She looked down at her hooves.  "You made me realize that, even if I fail somepony, there are still others depending on me.  I can't just shut down because I don't want to deal with the pain."

Astral reached up, and slowly brushed her mane back, tucking a few stray hairs back behind her ear where they belonged.  He looked at her for a moment, and smiled.  "Was I huffing coolant fumes?"

"You jerk," she chuckled.  "See if I say anything nice to you again."

"Wait, I must have missed something, when did you say anything nice to-"

Twilight flicked her hoof at him, giving him a light smack in the gut.  His wince and sharp sharp intake of breath startled her.

"Astral?"  She asked in concern.  "What was that?"

"Nothing."  He caught her hoof with his own when she reached for his lapel.  He wouldn't look her in the eyes though.  "It's nothing."

"You're lying again.  You said you were ok.  Why?"  She slowly used her other hoof to pull his jacket open, revealing the spiderweb of thin red lines running from chest to barrel.  None of the scratches were very deep, but there were so many of them.  "Astral, these were from those creatures you fought, aren't they?"

"Yeah."  He let go of her hoof and didn't protest as she pulled his jacket open.  "Nasty little buggers."

"Why hide it?"  Twilight looked up from the injuries.  She pulled his head around to face her.  "Astral, why didn't you tell me you were hurt?"

He pulled his chin away from her insistent pull.  "Because I didn't, can we leave it at that?"

"No, we can't."  Twilight pulled the candle closer to her with magic, letting her see Astral's wounds more clearly.  "What if those things were poisonous?  What am I supposed to do if you up and get yourself killed?"

He huffed, blowing a loose hair out of his face.  "I'm sure you'd be fine."

"How can you say that?" she asked in disbelief.

He chewed his lip, fighting back the urge to shout his next words at the purple mare.  "Because," he whispered, "I'm weak."

Twilight's mouth opened to say something, but hung there as she tried to sort through what she heard.  She never would have expected the stallion to say anything like that, much less believe it.  "Astral..."

"I know, it's stupid, but that's why I didn't tell you I got hurt.  I didn't want to look weak."  He looked down at his hooves.  His right hoof still ached from stomping that last Centipede, and his left was bruised from being caught in its jaws.  "I mean, look at everypony else.  We've got you, the demi-goddess, Mac, the giant, Radio, the child prodigy doctor and pilot, Berry, the electronics genius, and now, Fluttershy, pony of the wild.  Then look at me, the angry freighter jockey.  I'm nothing compared to any of you.  All I have is my little parlor trick for hiding my magic."

Twilight shook her head.  "And years of experience traveling through the galaxy, and the will to fight in the face of certain defeat, and the heart to give up your own safety for the sake of others."  She placed a hoof on his chest.  "We don't need your strength, we need you...  I need you."  She pulled away and stood up.  "Without you, we wouldn't have made it this far.  Mac, Silver, and I would probably be hanging up flyers on bulletin boards right now, looking for a pilot.  And even if we found one, we probably would have spent a week negotiating pay, another week debating where to go, and who knows how long chasing our tails once we got there."

She retrieved a mishapen clay jar from a cubby hole carved out of a nearby root, the medicinal paste Fluttershy applied to her leg before going to sleep.  "You made the decision to help, then followed through without hesitation.  You were able to identify the soil from Sevus, and you helped us reach a peaceful resolution when we got there.  You fought wild monsters alone, then found Fluttershy while I was off chasing some stupid bird-frog thing.  Astral, no matter who we find, nopony can replace you."  She walked back to him.  "You're the captain, and all of us chose to follow you of our own free will.  We wouldn't have done that if we didn't believe in you."

She removed the lid from the medicine, nose wrinkling at the bitter scent.  "Take off your jacket."

With a sigh, he acquiesced, reaching both hooves over his head to grab the collar before sliding the whole thing off.  He worked his hooves out of the sleeves one by one as Twilight moved to his side.  "Tell me about the first time you saw your planet from space."

She scooped up some medicine with her hoof and started spreading it across the back of his neck.  "I told you I didn't remember."

Astral tightened his grip on his jacket.  The paste stung at first, but after a few seconds, it started to work like an anaesthetic.  "And I told you that I didn't believe it."

"Lean back."  She nudged him back with the clean hoof until he was propped up against the table.  She set to work on the myriad of tiny cuts on his front and underside.  "It was a long time ago, not just because of the whole millenia of cryogenic storage thing, but for me, it seems so long ago.  It was a few years before we left Equestria, in the early stages of our space program.  Development and testing on our rocket systems was complete, but we still needed some sort of maneuvering system, something more adaptable than precalculated trajectories and tiny chemical fueled thrusters.  We ended up with a pulse engine.  It was primitive compared to the pulse engines you're used to, and generated a lot of excess radiation."

"We couldn't test it in the confines of our atmosphere, so we mounted it on one of our rocket capsules and sent it into space.  I wouldn't let anyone else take the risk of testing an engine I designed, so I was piloting it."  She looked in the jar.  The medicine was running low, but she was almost done, and Fluttershy wouldn't need it after tomorrow.  "For some reason, Celestia insisted on coming with me.  I tried to argue with her, but in the end, her being there was the only reason I survived."

She stopped there, staring off into her memories.  After a few seconds, Astral nudged her back to the present with a light touch.  "What happened?"

"Something went wrong," she answered, slowly shaking her head.  "I don't know if it was because exhaust pressure was higher than anticipated, or if the emitter nozzles were out of alignment, but enough energy built up in the fuel chamber that it created an overload.  I was so busy trying to get it under control that I didn't notice that the chemical fuel had ignited.  Celestia grabbed me, tore open the airlock, and launched us both into space as the thrusters and re-entry engines all ignited at once.  The capsule was shredded by the engines all trying to go in different directions, and with the containment systems gone, the nuclear material from the pulse engine detonated.  I remember bright light as she shielded me with her wings, then it all faded and she let go of me."  Twilight smiled.  It was faint, but it was there.  "It was the first time I had flown in space on my own.  Until then, I didn't even know it was possible.  I was a little panicked at first, but once I realized I didn't need to breath, and that depressurization wasn't an issue, I started to calm down.  Eventually, I realized that I could control my orientation and movement, and sort of stood up.  Celestia was just standing there in front of me, in open space, then she walked towards me.  She turned me around with her wing, and that's when I saw it."

Astral smiled.  "Your planet?"

Twilight nodded.  "All of Equestria stretched out before us.  We were close to the planet, so we couldn't see all of it, but what we could see just shined.  Bright blues and greens, white clouds from the other side, sandy tan deserts, grey mountains, every color of life, concentrated below."

"It's not something you forget," Astral said softly, "no matter how many times you see it."

Twilight nodded.  "The first time is something special."  She looked down at Astral's midsection, checking to make sure every scratch was coated in dull, mottled green paste.  "There, all done."  She wiped her hoof off on his side and closed the jar.  "Need anything else?"

He put his hoof over hers.  "Yeah..."  He pulled her to him, throwing his other hoof around her shoulder.  He held her close for a moment before whispering.  "I need to thank you."

Once Twilight got over her surprise, she closed her eyes and relaxed into the embrace.  "What for?"

"I've always traveled alone," he answered.  "Even when I was part of a convoy, or transporting passengers, I kept my distance.  Working with a crew is so different, and having others I can count on is so much better than being alone."  His other hoof wrapped around her.  "That's why I was so worried about being weak.  I don't think I want to go back to being alone."

Twilight shook her head.  "You don't have to.  Even if I could replace you, I don't think I would."  She was quiet for a moment.  "You can't just replace friends."

Astral slowly pushed Twilight back until he could look her in the eye.  "Does that make us friends?"

She nodded once.  "After everything we've been through, it would be insulting to call you anything less, even if we do fight and argue over stuff."  She pushed herself up.  "Well, I guess I'm going to go sit with Fluttershy.  I don't know if she'll take it very well if she wakes up alone right now."

"Probably not," Astral agreed.  He looked down at his calculations.  Most of the numbers were scratched away, but he remembered the final result.  "She's already been alone for more than seven years."
> Back to the Raft
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------

	"Astral!  Astral, wake up!  Captain, can you hear me?"

Astral groaned as he fumbled around for the buttons on the communicator.  "Calm down, Radio, what's the emergency?"

"No emergency, really, but-"

"Can it wait then?"  Astral pushed himself up with a grunt.  He fell asleep leaning against the table, and he would be paying the price in terms of a sore back and shoulders for the rest of the day.  "I don't think the girls are up yet."

"I'm up!"

"I meant Twilight and Fluttershy, Berry."  Astral yawned.  "But good morning."

"Oh, ok, good morning."  There was a slight pause, then the earth pony hissed into the communicator, "don't trust Radio if he gives you something called ice cream, it's a trick!"

"It wasn't a trick," Radio countered.  "That's just what happens when you don't take care of your teeth.  If you just tried it again, you might like it."

Astral sighed.  Right now, he felt more like their babysitter than their captain.  "Radio, what did you do?"

"Nothing," the colt protested.  "I gave her a bowl of ice cream, and she ate it too fast.  It wasn't my fault.  And I would have known about the cavity if she would have let me check her teeth first."

So, they wanted him to play mediator.  Fine.  Astral stretched out, pleasantly surprised by the lack of pain from his cuts.  "Berry, I'm sure Radio didn't mean to hurt you.  He just gets things out of order sometimes.  If you tried ice cream, and ate it real slow, I'm sure you'd like it."  He cleared his throat.  "Radio, is that all you were calling about?"

"No," came the annoyed reply.  "Give me a break, I wouldn't have bugged you unless it was something big."

"Then what is it?" Astral asked, starting to losing his patience.

"You can come back on board.  Berry's done absorbing the vaccine, and has antibodies in her system."

"What?"  That was good news, but what happened to the original estimate?  "How long have I been asleep?"

"We've been out of contact for a bit under six hours.  I ran the blood work exactly nine hours after administering the vaccine, and there was no trace of the modified virons.  That's about as long as it would take a healthy dragon to create antibodies, but it's a tiny bit on the fast side for a pony."

"But we are clear to come aboard."  Astral clarified.  "We'll be on our way in a few minutes.  Have Berry scan the path between us and the shuttle for lifesigns.  Start with us and work back, notify me of anything large, or any groupings of smaller signals.  Astral out."

Astral rolled over, groaning as he stood up.  Then he ran over to the sleeping area and pulled back the curtain.  "Twilight!"

In a flurry of yellow and pink, he was slammed to his back before he could say anything else.  Wincing in pain, he offered an awkward smile to the pony snarling down at him.  "We really need to stop meeting like this."

Fluttershy sat up quickly, remembering Astral as she woke up a little more fully.  She rubbed her eyes and looked back at the sleeping mat where Twilight was just starting to wake.  "Ruh- Real," the pegasus whispered as the alicorn yawned.

"Yes, real."  Astral pick himself up.  "And we're going to take you somewhere safe, somewhere you won't have to worry about being attacked by wild monsters.  Would you like that?"

She looked back at him, mane falling over her red eye leaving only her blue one visible.  And that one was starting to fill with tears.  She shut them tight and nodded quickly.  "S-Suf, ru-real."

Astral offered a better smile this time, genuinely happy to be part of this moment.  He looked over at Twilight as she started to sit up.  "Who's the sleepy head now?  Radio just called.  We're clear to go back aboard, and Berry's scanning the path back so we shouldn't run into any trouble."





"What was that about not running into trouble?"  Twilight growled.

"Oh, shut up," Astral growled right back.

Fluttershy just growled.

Astral clicked the communicator to automatic.  "Berry?  I thought you were scanning for lifesigns.  What happened?"

The three of them were backed up tail to tail, surrounded by a trio of what could only be called golems.  Heavyset, hunched like reptiles standing on their hind legs and covered in moss and stony plates, they blended in with the terrain until they stood up, instantly surrounding the ponies.  Their short, clubby tails twitched in anticipation, and their heads swayed back and forth as they circled their quarry.

"What do you mean?"  The pink pony's voice crackled with static.  "I am scanning.  Did something happen to the communicator?  It sounds like it got dropped."

Astral slowly drew his revolver, careful not to make any sudden movements.  "Berry, we're surrounded by hungry looking stone creatures."

"Um, well, they aren't giving off lifesigns then, because I only see the three of you, and you're almost here.  Hold on, I'm going to switch scanner modes."

"I'm sure they'll wait patiently," Astral replied.  "In the meantime, Twi, can't you just vaporize them like you did with the construction drones on the Philomena?"

"Not without igniting the atmosphere and turning everything within a few kilometers into scorched carbon."  She glanced back at Astral out of the corner of her eye.  "There wasn't any oxygen on the Philomena at the time."  She looked back at the circling creatures.  She could almost swear she saw gills moving on their necks.  "I may be able to take them out with fireballs and gravity mines, but I won't be able to attack more than one at a time.  I don't think the others will stand still while their comrade bursts into flames."

Astral nodded.  "So we have to time it right and make a run for it the moment-"

Fluttershy dropped the bundle of spears she was carrying, undoing the bindings and flinging one at the largest creature in one smooth motion.  The twisted wood and metal lodged itself in the golem's single eye.  She ran forward as the monster writhed silently, incapable of crying out.  Her wings grasped four more spears, and she transfered one to her mouth as she ran.

The other golems moved to protect their injured leader.  Twilight launched several small fireballs at one, and Astral started firing at the other.

Fluttershy twisted around, coiling like a spring before throwing the spear into her golem's chest with form and strength few ponies could match.  Her weapon buried itself between two large bony plates, leaving what seemed like splinter sticking out of the giant creature.

Twilight flew at her target as it tried to bat away the swirling balls of flame around it.  She passed it unseen, attaching several gravity mines to its back without it even noticing.

Astral's monster took three shots to its bony plates without damage.  The unicorn made sure the thing saw him when he fired the fourth shot.  Its attention drawn, Astral started to lead the creature away from the other fights.

Fluttershy leapt as the golem lashed out at her, launching herself over it and flinging a spear straight down into its head.  She landed behind the creature, immediately striking at its legs with a wide slashing motion.  Tendons severed with a loud snap, and Fluttershy dodged the creature's clubbed tail as it fell.  By the time it hit the ground, Fluttershy was on top of it, stabbing her last two spears into the center mass of the tail club.

Astral had drawn his monster far enough away.  He doubled back, putting himself between the golem and the other fights and put his last round into its eye.  He then reloaded with ammo he hadn't been expecting to use, depleted uranium rounds with fused Tanerac cores, meant for punching through ship hulls and disabling automated attack systems like drones and turrets.  Oddly enough, these rounds were common on Furia, and the cheapest ones available.  Astral fired one shot at the golem's chest.  The shot kicked back like a Terellian pack mule, but the bullet punched a hole straight through its target as if the monster was made of wadded up paper.  Astral wasted no time emptying the revolver of the remaining four rounds.  One in the head, one in each leg, and the last in the lumpy tail.

There was no change until the last round.  The creature may have been angered by the other shots, but it kept moving.  One round through the tail stopped it cold.  Astral walked back slowly, reloading with another clip of the same ammo.  The creature crashed to the ground, limp and lifeless.  Their brains are in their tails!

Astral ran towards the last standing golem.  Twilight was circling it, barely dodging its strikes as she attacked with fireballs, gravity mines dozens of times stronger than she used on him, and spears of ice.  "Twi!" Astral yelled.  "Get back!"

She looked back, and almost got smacked out of the air.  Point taken, she flew towards him, leaving the golem to chase her.  The last gravity mine, on the creature's leg, triggered, rooting the leg in place as the monster bounded after the alicorn.

"Berry!"  Astral shouted into the communicator.  "Raise the shields!"

"What?"

Astral dove to the ground and braced the revolver against his legs.  "Just do it!"  He sighted down the barrel mounted sights as the monster fell towards him.  "Berry?"

"Done!  Shields are up!

Astral pulled the trigger.

The shot tore straight through the golem, entering the head and exiting the tail.  Astral stayed crouched, ready to fire again, but the creature didn't move again.  After a few seconds, he stood up and looked over at the largest fallen golem.

Just in time to see Fluttershy bite into its neck and tear a chunk of meat and skin out from between its armor.

She chewed it just enough to swallow it, moving on to the next bite quickly, like a predator that needed to beware of scavengers.  She was almost through with her third mouthful of grey-blooded flesh when she saw Astral watching her.  Her eyes went wide, and she looked down quickly, staring at the blood-soaked ground as she realized how her actions would look to other ponies.

Astral started towards her.  He saw her scrape at her mouth with her hooves, trying to wipe away traces of her rapacious meal.  He picked up his pace when he saw her cutting her hooves on her own fangs, grabbing her hoof as soon as he got close enough.  " Fluttershy, " he kept his voice as calm and even as he could, "come on, we need to keep moving."

Twilight joined them after finishing her inspection of the other golems.  "Everypony okay?  I'm pretty sure these things are dead.  I'm also pretty sure they're some kind of fish."

"Yeah," Astral answered.  "We should get going, just in case there are-"

"Astral, Astral," Berry's panicked voice came through clearly now, "something just hit the shields!  It was small, fast, and faintly radioactive!  If the shields weren't up, it might have put a hole in shuttle!"

"Relax, Berry, that's why I told you to put the shields up."   He looked over at Twilight.  The alicorn was staring at him like he was crazy.  "What?  I made sure the shields were in place before I pulled the trigger."

"Astral," Berry continued, only slightly calmer, "there was some sort of electromagnetic disturbance in your area.  It was interfering with the scanners, but it's gone, and I still can't detect any lifesigns except you three."

Of course not, Astral sighed.  "Berry can you scan for that distortion?  It seems that there are creatures here that can hide from sensors."

"Um, Uncle Astral?"  There was a long pause from the communicator.  "I scanned for that distortion.  And, here's one headed straight for the shuttle.  A big one.  Like, real big."

Astral pointed at Fluttershy.  "You, grab the rest of your spears."  He pointed at Twilight.  "You can make shields right?  Be ready to put one around us if we end up using the shuttle's weaponry.  But both of you stay behind me so I have a clear shot.  Understand?"  Both mares nodded.  Astral nodded back with a smile.  "Let's go!"

Fluttershy ran to her bundle of spears and took flight after grabbing them, weaving through the branches above Astral and Twilight as they ran through the trees and underbrush.  She sniffed the air, smelling a familiar scent, and bark out a warning to the other two ponies.

Astral heard it and looked up at her as his intercom sprang to life.  "Uncle Astral!  Small concentration of lifeforms ahead.  Seven, no, eight signals, ranging from thirty to ninety kilograms."

"Small fry," Astral muttered.  "Fluttershy!  Get down here with us!"  He looked behind him.  "Twi, if you prepared eight fireballs, could you pass four of them to me to launch?"

"I think so."  Twilight spared a brief glance as Fluttershy set down next to them, effortlessly switching from flying to running.  "Why?"

"Do it and fall back a little!"   Astral pushed himself a little faster.  The fireballs he asked for appeared in front of him within seconds.  Each roiling lump of energy was surrounded by a thin pink shield, and when grabbed them, he heard a faint, echoed, "good luck."

He didn't have time to respond.  He could hear another set of hooves from up ahead, telling him exactly what he was facing.  He headed for the largest bush he could see, the one that offered the best cover, and leapt over it.  Once on the other side, he spun, and sure enough, the centipede hiding there started hissing.  He launched his first fireball at it, turning most of it and its hiding place to ash.

He scanned the nearby trees for movement, knowing their tactics now.  There!  He launched his fireball at a tree much farther away than he would have expected, nailing the trap and leaving a scorched outline on its hiding place.  They must have caught the bugs by surprise, because the rest of the pack started crawling down trees much farther ahead than he planned for.

Whatever.  He glanced back then ran straight through them, taking out the largest ones with his last two fireballs.   The rest dropped to the ground behind him.

Twilight and Fluttershy were far enough back to see it all and be prepared for their part.  Twilight launched her fireballs one after another.  Much hotter than the ones she gave Astral, they turned each centipede into a steam explosion.   She took out three of the centipedes, but the misjudged the movements of the last and hit the tree behind it.

The bark exploded, looking the same as the centipedes, and Twilight didn't see the one she missed until it reared up to attack her.  She was running straight for it!

Before she could even try to stop, Fluttershy shot past her, snarling.  She rammed her shoulder into the tree with enough force to crack the centipede in two at the torso, striking out with her wing to launch the mass of flailing legs away.  The pegasus was running again before Twilight even caught up.

"Fluttershy!" the alicorn called forward, "That was great, thanks for the save!"

Twilight couldn't see it, but Fluttershy smiled to herself as she ran, blushing at the first compliment she had received in years.

Up ahead, they could see Astral stopped in front of the shuttle.  Past him, they couldn't see much of anything.  Was the forest always that dark?  Even though it was night, the proximity of Picus II and III gave the appearance of twin moons, and lit the night quite well.  Twilight looked up.  Oh.

The light of the neighboring planets was blotted out by a towering golem.  It lumbered through the clearing towards the shuttle, fitting perfectly in the corridor between trees barely as tall as it was.

"Get in the shuttle!" Astral shouted.  "As big as it is, maybe it doesn't even care about us!"

Twilight nodded and ran for the shuttle.  "What about you?"

He drew his pistol.  "Be ready to teleport me in, but not until I say so."

"You're crazy!"  Twilight stopped.  You could feel the rumble of each step the golem took, and it was stronger with each one.  "It's right on top of us, and you want to play cowboy?!"

Astral looked back at her.  "If it moves to attack the shuttle, I can distract it.  I have fourteen depleted uranium rounds left, that should anger it enough to let you guys take off."

"And leave you here?"  Twilight stomped towards him.  "If anything, I should be the one staying.  You're the pilot, and I have a better chance of surviving."

"We're seriously arguing over over who gets to fight the giant monster?"  Astral groaned.  "What part of, 'teleport me in,' did you not hear?  You should know me well enough to know I'm not a big fan of suicide missions."

Twilight looked back at the golem.  "Well, it doesn't matter now."

Astral looked up as well.  The creature was close enough to strike at them if it wanted to, the featureless arms hanging by its side were more than long enough to reach them.

Fluttershy walked over to Astral and Twilight and made a noise, just a random sound to get their attention.  When they looked over, she shook her head.  She sat down and watched the monster calmly, without the bristling she displayed while facing the smaller golems.

"Fluttershy," Twilight sat next to her friend.  "Are you telling us not to worry about it?"

Fluttershy looked over at her and nodded.

"Astral," Twilight looked back.

"I know," he said without looking away from the golem.  "If it was going to attack us, it would have."

A massive foot clad in stone plates came down a few meters ahead of them and off to one side.  A few seconds later, the other foot fell beside them, leaving a crater large enough to set the shuttle in.  Two more rumbling steps, and the golem was past them, ignoring them completely.

Things were silent for a moment as the colossal being kept walking away, until Fluttershy spoke up in her broken, grunting voice.  "Ai-ghu-ul," she said softly, watching the golem leave.

The monster stopped.  It turned, not completely, but enough to look at them with its one eye.

Fluttershy waved her hoof over her head a few times, and the golem answered by waving back once, knocking several trees over in the process.  It then continued on its way, headed for a destination only it knew.

Twilight walked over to her friend, resting her hoof on the shoulder not covered in crushed centipede.  "You haven't changed, Fluttershy, not a bit."

"Uncle Astral?"  Berry seemed relatively calm given how close they all came to being stepped on.

"Yes?"  Astral responded.  "What is it, Berry?"

"There seems to be several more of those creatures following the big one.  I count at least five more disturbances, and they're all headed this way.  It's hard to be sure, but they look to be the same size as the one you encountered earlier."

"Understood.  Open the shuttle, we're coming in."  He walked over to Twilight and Fluttershy.  "I hate to break up this tender moment, but we're getting out of here.  More of those things are on the way, and I'm guessing the small ones aren't so tame."

Twilight nodded her understanding.  "Fluttershy, we need to-"

The yellow pony's eyes were glued to the shuttle.  There, at the top of the stairs, a shock of colors held her eyes.  "Rah-bo!"  She launched herself at Radio, who was standing just inside the shuttle's open door, tackling the colt.  After a second or two, there was another shout from the beastly pegasus.  "Peh-kee!"

Astral and Twilight ran up the steps as Berry screamed.  Inside the shuttle, Radio was collapsed in a bug-gut and twig covered heap.  Closer to the back, Fluttershy was squeezing Berry and shaking her around in a bear hug even a grizzly would envy.  She snuggled into the terrified earth pony, oblivious to the fact that she was transferring her accumulated battle debris to Berry's coat.

"Help me," Berry pleaded quietly when she saw Twilight.  "Why does this pony have fangs?"

"It's ok, Berry," Twilight reassured her.  "She's just happy that she's not alone anymore."

Fluttershy stopped shaking her pink captive.  She looked at Twilight with concern.  "Bah...ree?"  She slowly dropped the earth pony, giving her a closer inspection.  Only now did she notice the size difference, the extra color in the mane, and the differing cutie mark.  This was not the pony she remembered, this was not Pinkie Pie.  Fluttershy backed away until she hit a chair, looking to Twilight for an explanation.  "Peh-kee?"

Astral stepped forward, cutting off anything Twilight might have said.  "This is Pinkie's Granddaughter.  She's a relative of mine, kind of like my niece, and she was helping us look for you."  He glanced back at Twilight.  "Not now," he whispered, for her ears only, "not yet."

Berry looked up at the towering yellow pony, working up the courage to speak.  "Um, were you friends with my grandma?"

Fluttershy looked down with an inquisitive grunt.  She appraised the earth pony for a moment, she certainly looked much like her friend.  "Fruhn." She nodded, adding another grunt.

Berry smiled weakly.  "I'm sorry for screaming then."  She scraped some of the goo off her coat, naively assuming it to be mud.  "Uncle Astral called you Fluttershy.  Grandma told me all sorts of stories, were you the shy pet keeper?"

"No," Radio shook his head as he recovered from being bowled over by the monster pegasus.  "My mom told me stories too, she's too much of a bad-ass to be Fluttershy.  This has to be Spitfire."

Fluttershy blinked at Radio for a second, then started laughing.  It was an unsettling, snarling noise, barely recognizable as laughter.  She pointed at the colt.  "Noh Rah-bo.  Rah-bo Foh.  Rai- bo ha Foh?"

"Two of them," Astral added, Nodding towards Radio.  "He has a twin sister."

Fluttershy smiled, fangs gleaming in the cabin light as tears touched her eyes.  "Rah-bo muh-uh... udd...er."

While everypony's attention was on Fluttershy and Radio, Astral slipped off to the cockpit.  Using the pilot's controls, he quickly closed the hatch, brought up the ladder, and warmed up the engines for liftoff.  As soon as they were ready, Astral took the shuttle up.  He piloted it slowly, making the ride as smooth as possible.  He parked the shuttle several tens of meters above the treeline, scanning the forest below for the colossal golem's electromagnetic signature.

He double checked the location when he found it, not believing it at first.  After a moment, he just accepted it and turned the sensors back to automatic.  He leaned back in his chair.  The golem was heading for the spot where Fluttershy killed the hydra.  Given her farewell to the stony monster earlier, he could only assume she was feeding her pet.  He chuckled to himself.  It looked like they just added another interesting character to the crew.

As he readied a course for orbit, he glanced over at the copilot's screen.  There, under a blinking indicator, was a little note, "tell Astral."  Curious, Astral pulled it up on his own screen.  The memo was linked to a subspace sensor readout of a powerful signal, far too powerful to be natural.  Whatever it was was too far away to identify, but with subspace scanners, that meant several lightyears away.

Astral pulled up the subspace scanners, checking to see if the mysterious signal had grown any closer.  It had.  Astral leaned forward.  It was less than three lightyears away.  That would put it in the nearest star system, Cyphus, a dead system save for several terraforming candidates and the research outpost studying them.

He pulled up the signal details, seeing if he could identify it.  A little filtering, and he found that the signal was simple embedded text, "Galactic Assembly - Emergency Medical Transport - Solomon's Ring."  That was a ship's registrar, description, and name.  It was followed by a serial number which provided additional information, the ship was registered on earth, seven years ago, by the Dos Aery Shipyard, yadda yadda.  All interesting information to somepony, but not to him.  The only thing he need were the last twelve digits, the subspace communications settings.

He punched in the settings and opened a channel.  "This Astral Plane, piloting a COC personnel transport shuttle, calling the Solomon's Ring, come in Solomon's Ring."  He slipped into the customary formality of internship communication with ease.  It was something every pilot learned, when communications were spotty, slow, enunciated words sometimes made the difference between a legible message and a jumbled mess.  "Message repeats.  This is Astral Plane, calling the Solomon's Ring.  Come in Solomon's-"

"This is Solomon's Ring, answering Astral Plane.  Please come in."

"I read you Solomon's Ring, loud and clear."

"Please state your location, com settings, and reason for contact."

"Location is Picus IV, low atmosphere.  Com setting," Astral checked his console, "1748-2057-9364.  Reason for contact is to report a medical situation on planet Sevus."

"Adjusting Com parameters now, do you have holographic display capabilities?"

"Affirmative, Solomon's Ring."  He keyed in the holographic display.  A secondary data stream appeared in the audio signal, and a tap of a control turned it into a picture of the Ring's communication officer.  He didn't recognize the species, some sort of large, pastel, beetle-like being with a name tag affixed to its carapace.  Astral zoomed in a little.  "I can see you clearly, Cathy."

"I can see you clearly as well, Mr. Plane."  The voice was female, indistinguishable from a human's or a pony's, despite coming from between mandibles that gave the centipedes a run for their money.  "We are currently preparing to respond to a distress call from planet Sevus.  The originator was a Miss Sparkle.  She also listed her ship as a COC transport shuttle."

"It's the same shuttle," Astral confirmed.  "Miss Sparkle is our, um, Official COC representative.  I'm just the pilot.  We have other crew members as well.  We could use safe berthing while we sort out everything that's happened to us."

"Understood."  The beetle pressed several controls in front of her, apparently typing something into her computer.  "Picus is close enough for us to make a stop en route to Sevus.  Please wait near the coordinates I am sending.  Are medical services required?"

"We have sustained minor injuries, but our medical officer can handle it."

"Understood.  Would your medical officer also be willing to provide additional information on what transpired during your visit to Sevus?"

"Of course."  Astral nodded once.  "He can provide information regarding the illness plaguing the planet's inhabitants.  He can also outline the emergency treatments he organized for the inhabitants."

Cathy nodded.  "We will reach the Picus system in approximately three hours.  In the meantime, will you be willing to speak with our captain?  Any information you provide can only aid us."

"Certainly.  Patch me through, and I'll tell him what I-"  Before he could finish, Cathy's spotted shell was replaced by a bearded human with spots running down either side of his face, tracing his neatly trimmed hairline and short triangular beard.  His slightly greyish skin suggested he wasn't completely human, and when he turned to relay an order to someone off screen, his long, trailing earlobes, and the glowing spots running their length, confirmed it.

"Captain Plane, I presume?"  His voice was deep and dignified, carrying an undertone that human vocal chords couldn't possibly produce.  "I am Halifax Nova, Captain of the Solomon's Ring.  I understand you put boots on the ground on Sevus?  Or hooves, in this case."

"Yes, sir."  A quick check of the shuttle's database showed that Radio had uploaded all his scan information and wrote summaries like he was asked.  With a little more experience, that colt was going to become a medical officer that captains would fight over.  "I can send you our medical officer's records, but in summary, the water table has become contaminated by Glycodexrin.  It's causing respiratory issues in the entire populace, but a temporary treatment regimen has been put in place."

Captain Nova typed as he listened to Astral's explanation.  "Were you able to ascertain the source of the contamination?"

"No."  Astral sent the records via coded data burst.  "We scanned for concentrations of the compound, but it seems to be evenly spread through every body of water on the planet, including the oceans."

"That is quite pervasive, far more so than you would expect from a natural phenomenon."

"I agree, but what is there to gain from attacking a small outpost of ponies who reject technology?  The planet has no great mineral wealth, no strategic importance, and any plant or animal life has been decimated by the toxin."

The humanoid nodded sagely.  "It could be a test run," he suggested, "or perhaps not an attack at all.  Artificial disasters can happen by accident as well.  Either way, we shall learn more when we begin our investigation.  I will pass along the data.  It will help my crew's preparations immensely.  You have my thanks, Captain."

When Captain Nova's image blinked out, he was still typing.  
> The Binds that Tie
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------

	"Ribbon, are you paying attention?"  Growl waited a few seconds, tapping on the counter all the while.  The young nurse she was speaking to had been spacing out more than usual for the last few days, and had yet to give a reason for it.  With a sigh, she realized she was going to have to forcibly pull Ribbon's attention back to the task at hand.  Luckily, James taught her an effective trick to do just that.  "Peeling purloined peppers proffers paltry peppers peeled!"

"Wait," Ribbon blinked a few times and looked over at Growl, "what?"

"I should be the one saying that."  The head nurse shook her head.  She only thought the tongue twister, but she still felt ridiculous.  There wouldn't be enough of Ribbon left to feel sorry for if she had to say that out loud.

Ribbon took a quick step back.  "S-sorry, ma'am, it won't happen again."

"Yes it will, Ribbon."  Growl leaned against the counter.  "You aren't a very good liar, and I know you too well.  What happened?  What is it that keeps pulling you away?"

Ribbon shrugged.  "It's kind of hard to explain."

Growl rolled her eyes.  "Does it have anything to do with the fight in the commissary three days ago?"

Ribbon winced.  "You know about that?"

Was she serious?  Growl raised an eyebrow.  She was only attacked by a large colt in front of a hundred station residents, a colt that left the scene bloody and limping a few moments later.

"It wasn't like that!"  Ribbon shook her head frantically.  "No, Mezzo was only-"

The older mare held up a hoof, stopping the rush of explanations and excuses that was about to follow.  "I know what happened.  Mezzo's Aunt and Mother are friends of mine, and I paid them a visit after sorting through the first few dozen reports and inspecting the crime scene."

Ribbon's eyes went wide.  "It wasn't a crime!  Mezzo was just-"

"Shut.  Up."  Growl cleared her throat and continued.  "The first words out of the colt's mouth were, 'It wasn't Ribbon's fault.'  It took a while to get the whole story out of him, and even then, I'm sure he left a lot out.  About the only thing he was clear about was that he should bear the brunt of the punishment, and not you."

The young nurse looked down.  "That's not true," she said quietly, fully expecting Growl to silence her again.  "He only wanted to protect me."

"Well, let him, but make sure you protect him back."  Growl gave her young assistant a rare, warm smile.  "You've both had hard lives, but you need to realize you aren't alone.  You both have friends on this station, even if you don't realize it yet."

Ribbon smiled back.  "I think I'm starting to."

"Good."  Growl leaned forward and rested her hoof on Ribbon's shoulder.  "Now, try to focus on your job for five minutes, would you?"

Ribbon nodded.  "Yes, ma'am.  I'll try."

"That's all I ask."  Growl spun around on her stool and hopped down.  She made her way out of the little booth and headed around to the front.  Ribbon was staring off into space again, so the head nurse decided to snap her out of it one last time.  "I'm pregnant."

Ribbon slammed her hooves down on the counter, body tensed like she was about to leap over it.  "You're what?!"

Growl laughed.  "Just making sure you were still listening."  She pulled down the tarp that hung above the counter and walked away with a smile.  "You're a good girl, Ribbon.  All three of you are."

Growl kept to her course for a bit, then looked back.  The stand she left looked just the way she wanted it to.  Despite being hastily welded from scrapped shipping containers, or perhaps because of it, it wasn't out of place at the comissary's edge, marking the boundary of the maintenance section.  It welcomed ponies in and away from the trudge and tedium that came with keeping Delta in orbit.

The lavender purple color, stolen from a certain visitor, stood out just enough to catch the eye without being gaudy.  And where she had pulled the canvas tarp away, a large picture of Astral's face sat next to a hoof-painted sign, promising with a grin, "Fresh Apples, Two for One Bit."

Already, curiosity was taking hold.  Shopkeepers were peeking out of the windows of their shops, and passers by were turning their heads to look.  It wouldn't be long before somepony worked up the nerve to head over.

It was up to Ribbon what happened next.

A gentle buzz tugged her away from waiting for the first customer.  She turned away and brought a hoof to her ear.  To anyone walking by, it would seem like she just scratched her ear, rather than activate the small communications chip hidden there.  "Growl here."

"Ma'am," answered a voice only she could hear, "Cocoa, from security, Data and Records Division."

Growl didn't recognize the name, this girl must be one of the new hires.  The meet and greet for the new security and maintenance personnel was still a few days away, but at least a dozen of them had already been pressed into service.  "Go ahead, Cocoa."

"It's about that report you gave us yesterday, we cleaned up the item in question and cross-referenced with police planet-side."

Growl nodded.  That was what she asked them to do.  "And?  I hope you didn't contact me just for that.  Do you have results to report?"

"Oh, um, yes, ma'am.  The results came back just a minute ago, I called you immediately after reading them."

Growl waited for a moment, but Cocoa didn't continue.  "Cocoa, let me give you some advice, not as a friend, but as your boss.  I don't like suspense, and I don't like surprises, and I don't like it when ponies dilly dally and state the obvious.  You aren't going to last long if you don't learn to get the point.  This isn't a planet-side desk job, forget the procedural crap and tell me what you learned."

"S-sorry, ma'am, um, the limiter was one of a set of three stolen from the museum of alternative magic roughly one month ago.  The suspect was known to fence things off-planet, but it was never determined exactly where."

"Good.  Did you send my prepared message?"

"Yes, ma'am."

"And the response?"

"They sent only sent back a short message.  It said, 'within the hour.'  Also, about the colt's statement..."

"What about it."

"We confirmed it."

"As did I," Growl rolled her eyes, "when he told us."

"The limiter is made of Iron-bonded Telluride, and not structured Arcanum.  This makes it illegal to use as a limiter, or to sell as one due to the possibility of injury, as well as the long term side effects.  A quick way to tell the two apart is to push it against something on it's edge.  Arcanum is soft enough to deform under slight pressure, but Telluride is extremely hard and expels stored energy when struck."

"I already knew that."  Growl changed direction and headed off into the crowded sections of the commissary.  This girl needed some training if she wanted to keep her job.  "Keep this channel open, and be ready to start recording.  We're gonna have some fun with this."





"Hello~oo?"

The sparrow-pitched sing-song lifted the jeweler's eyes from the piece he was polishing.  The blonde earth pony poking her head in the doorway was a welcome sight.  Apparently there was some sort of scuffle nearby, over some ring or something, but since then, business has been slow.  Were the ponies and bipeds of the station wary of being mugged for their valuables?

He puffed his chest out.  A gryphon would never bow to such fear.  If anything, a gryphon would take it as a challenge and wear their ornaments proudly.  Standing proud, he turned to his customer and greeted her with a strong, confident voice.  "Good afternoon, fine mare.  What brings you to my establishment."

"Fine mare?" She giggled.  "You sure know how to flatter a girl."  Growl ran a hoof through her hastily dyed mane.  Was this guy serious?  Her smile never wavered, and she walked into the store like a gawking tourist.  Her flowing, layered summer shirt, made from layers of thin blue fabric and based on the latest planet-side fashion, reinforced her traveling appearance.  "I heard this was the only place to find good jewelry on this station."

He nodded once, a smooth, slow motion.  "It is indeed, miss...?"

"Emerald," Growl answered happily.  The shop was small, but so were most of the others.  Space was a precious commodity on the station, and most of the available space was taken up by the courtyard that made up the central mass of the commissary.  Even the department store that boasted the largest layout among the stores relied on bright lights and design tricks to seem larger than they really were.  "It sure is impressive that you can keep this place running on such a small station."

"Quite right."  He shined his claws on his chest.  "It isn't easy, I can tell you.  A good number of shops have withered because their hapless managers were unable to adjust to the scale and climate of station life."  His grin grew into a smirk.  "I assure you, I will not fall the same way."

"Oh, I should hope not."  The mare buried her face in a nearby display case, hiding the look of disgust on her face.  He was going to fall in a much grander fashion, she would make sure of that.

The shopkeeper made his way over.  "Have you graced my shop before, miss Emerald?  I must say, you seem familiar."

"Really?"  Growl looked up with a smile.  "I should hope I seem familiar.  I'm a singer down on the surface.  The Verdant Gemstones?  Perhaps you've heard of us?"

"That must be it," the shopkeeper conceded, smirk growing larger as he noticed the incomplete mane coloring for the first time.  He had never heard of the, 'Verdant Gemstones,' before.  An old mare, desperately trying to stay young, while singing in some no-name band?  This was going to be his easiest sale this month.  "I would have guessed you were a model."

"Oh my, you flatterer."  Growl giggled.  This disgusting son of a bitch sold a potentially harmful magic artifact to her youngest nurse?  "I used to do some modelling.  Mostly for the album covers."  She wandered over to another display case.  Hopefully, her anger wouldn't break through the thin, smiling mask she wore, because right now, she wanted nothing more than to reach up, tear that smiling beak off his face, and gut him with it.  She would have to settle for knocking his ego down a peg.  "Anyway, I'm looking for something for my boyfriend.  He's a gryphon, like you, but taller and whole lot better looking."  She glanced up in time to see the shopkeeper's mouth twitch.  "Any suggestions?"

"That would depend on his interests," he grumbled.  "Though, necklaces and claw rings are generally preferred over fur clips, bracelets, or earrings.  Bracelets, especially, can be uncomfortable around a gryphon's front legs."

"Good to know."  Growl brought a hoof to her chin.  "His interests, huh?  He's kind of into magic.  I mean, weirdly into magic.  Even had me pretend to be a unicorn last time we-"

"Well!"  The shopkeeper quickly cleared his throat and walked to another display case.  A gryphon and this sort of lowly prey animal?  He knew it was common, but that didn't mean he wanted to hear about it.  "If it's magic he likes, I may have just the ticket."  

"Oh, cool."  Growl followed him over.  Looks like she struck a nerve.  "By the way, would you know where I could get a fake unicorn horn?  We kind of broke the last one.  It had this headband to hold it on, so you could hide it under your mane, and it felt really realistic, not like plastic or anything."

The jeweler clenched his mouth shut, nostril's flaring as he took a deep breath.  "I doubt you could find something that specific on this station.  However," he reached into the display and pulled out an oversized ring, "this is a vintage piece, an antique limiter, roughly four hundred years old.  It has borne witness to generations of magic, and served as a training tool for an untold number of unicorns during that time."

"Oh, that is so gonna turn him on."  Growl inspected the ring closely.  Its patterning and color were different from the one taken into evidence.  And, it was bent.  Just a little, like it had been damaged and straightened back out by an amateur.  "Ooh, any chance you have another?  We could put them on chains and wear them as matching necklaces.  That would be so romantic."

The shopkeeper's face clearly showed his disgust now, but he wasn't about to miss out on this sale.  "You are in luck then."  He put the limiter away.  "In addition to a wide variety of necklace chain that I can cut to size, I also have two more limiters."  He pulled out a pair of velvet boxes, both identical in size and color to the one recovered from the abandoned storefront.

Growl moved close as he opened the boxes.  Minus the blood, these were exact matches for the limiter in evidence, right down to the engraving.  The only difference being that one of them was so small, it would barely fit on a child's horn.  And she knew exactly which child.  "Looks pricey."

"They are."  He took one out of the box and set it on the glass of his display a little closer for her to inspect.  "Pure Arcanum, and easily twice as old as the other one I showed you.  Normally, I would charge fifteen thousand bits for each piece like this, but I could be persuaded to let both go for, hmm, twenty-eight?"

Growl ran a hoof over the ring.  She had seen too many of these, many of them on ponies who now lived on this station.  She fought with those same ponies to free them from what these infernal rings enforced.  While she was looking the other way, they were creeping back.  "Thief."

The jeweler chuckled and picked up the other limiter.  "Now, now," he chided, swirling it about a talon, "there's no need to insult me for asking a fair price, is there?"

"There is, if you ask a fair price for stolen goods."  Growl looked up, eyes burning with tears and rage.  "You are under arrest, you shit eating sack of down.  For trading in stolen goods, for knowingly trading in harmful artifacts, and for bringing these damn things on this station."

The jeweler set his limiter down in the box.  "Now I know why you looked familiar."  Damn it!  Why didn't he notice it when he saw the dyed mane?  She's the grass-eater that's always hanging around that doctor.  She looks in the window every time they walk by.  "I thought you were a nurse."

She let out a loud snort.  "I am."

"And you came to arrest me, alone?"  He flexed his claw.  "I'll be off this station long before they find your body."

Cocoa's voice rang in Growl's ear.  "Get out of there!  I'll send backup, and-"

"Don't," Growl commanded.  "This is my fight, and I will not lose."

"Who are you talking to?"  He stood up and started to climb over the display case.  "Station security?"

Growl looked up at him with a smirk.  "Bitch, I am station security."

She lifted her hoof and slammed it down on the larger limiter.  Blue light rang forth, a glowing shockwave that shattered every display and window in the small shop.  Pure, concentrated magic washed over every surface, fusing metal, burning unnatural materials, and causing wood to sprout limbs and leaves.  Growl let the magic flow over her, through her, the last fleeting touch of a long dead friend.  The jeweler tumbled from the collapsing display, and Growl helped him along by swinging her hoof at his head.  It didn't connect as well as she wanted, but it still shook him as he scrambled to stand.

Cut and bleeding, he backed away, flaring his wings.

Growl merely stood up.  Her shirt was gone, synthetic fibers reduced to cinders around her.  Her mane and tail were not only back to their normal colors, but growing longer at a visible pace.  Such pure, natural energy.  As an earth pony, Growl could feel herself being strengthened by it as it flowed through her.  "Those limiters are not centuries old."  Growl looked over where the ring had fallen.  It rested on a small wooden plaque that was slowly unfurling leaves.  She could sense that the magic was fading, and she was powerless to save the last of its light.  "Twenty-seven years ago, that limiter was cast and placed on an old stallion's horn while it still glowed red.  It burned to his flesh, becoming impossible to remove.  Twenty-two years ago, another limiter was placed on his daughter's horn in the same manner.  Both had just waken up from an endless sleep, dreaming of a new world where they could live in peace."  She looked back at the jeweler.  "Instead, I pulled that ring off his dead body nearly decade ago.  And his daughter and grandson wouldn't know the freedom he longed for until years after that.  This small limiter was placed on her son's horn on the day he was born, welcoming him to a world that saw him as property, and making his first waking moment one of pain and cruelty."

He paced back and forth, waiting for Growl to make a move, to leave an opening.  "What?"  He taunted.  "You want me to feel sorry for a bunch of dead grass-eaters?  Oh, boo-hoo, maybe I should turn myself in?"

"No, I'm not stupid enough to expect that.  And, I'm not kind enough to want it."  She took one step towards him.  "I just want you to know that I'm beating you half to death for something a little more important than some stolen trinkets."

The jeweler caught himself wanting to take a step back.  "And you think you stand a chance against a gryphon?  If it wasn't for that explosion, you'd already be dead."

"Blood matters not."  Growl took one more step.

He shook his head.  "You've got to be joking."

"Fur matters not."  Another step.

The jeweler stepped back.  "Shut up!  The oath of honor is-"

Growl took one more step forward, shouting him down.  "My heart that beats, my soul that burns, with all that matters, I choose!"  She raised her head, and shouted for all to hear.  "I am Gr of the Ohlen Highlands, and I Am Gryphon!"

"You are nothing!"  He charged forward, slashing for her head.

She dipped under the attack, stepping outside his movement, and wishing she had a beak or fangs as she bit down hard on the back of his neck.  She turned, pivoting to follow his momentum, adding her own force and control to throw him into the base of a tall display like a battering ram.

Gold and glass and precious gems showered down around him.  He shook the shards away before opening his eyes, and Growl was before him, hind legs raised for a vicious attack uniquely suited to her race.  The jeweler threw himself to the side, leaving the display to splinter under the force of a double hoofed kick.  A buck, they called it?  One of a pony's few natural weapons, and a devestating one at that.  He ran around in front her.  Given the damage to the display, this pony might be able to put that buck to fatal use.  But, she lacked any other true means of attack.  As long as he didn't overextend like that first attack, he only had to avoid being kicked.

Growl turned again, bringing her hooves to bear, and he dodged back the way he came.  She didn't kick, merely continuing her spin.  As her head swept around, he barely saw the blur as the steel rod she tore from the display's carcass snapped across his cheek.

He crashed to the ground, shoulder skidding across shattered glass while his body expended its momentum.

He fought the pain to get his claws beneath him, right eye already swelling shut from the impact.  Before he had a chance to stand, much less defend himself, the rod cracked across his back, right behind his shoulder blades.  He felt one shoulder tear out of its socket as he crashed back to the floor.

Growl didn't give him a chance to cry out in pain before swing the rod again, connecting with his ribs, knocking him on his side with a loud crack.

As she stood over him, he reached out with his working claw, weakly wrapping his talons around her hoof.  "Being strong does not make you a gryphon."  His voice was raspy, pained, as he drew shaky, uneven breaths.  He was on the edge of blacking out, and desperately trying to keep his left eye focused on Growl.  The other was swollen tightly shut.

One last swing of the rod broke his leg and his grasp on consciousness.

Growl pulled her hoof free of his limp talons and walked away, spitting out her weapon.  "I never said it did."  She let out an angry snort.  Any new shopkeepers would have to undergo a much more thourough vetting process from now on.  

When she reached the shop's busted glass door, she stopped short.  There was a crowd gathering, gawking at the shards of glass and twisted window frames left in the wake of the magical explosion.  She lifted a hoof to her ear, and was pleasantly surpised that the comm-chip was intact, probably because it was a semi-organic ceramic instead of metal.

"Cocoa, this is growl.  Send security personnel and a thaumaturgic clean up crew to my location."

"What happened?!"  The screaming new hire made Growl wince.  "He threatened to kill you, and then your comm line went dead.  We sent an assault team immediately, but station sensors registered an explosion, and a massive amount of magic has flooded the station.   We're already getting complaints from sensitive individuals and reports of unusual phenomena."

Growl sighed as the assault team arrived.  Running silently and clad in flat black combat armor, they were a group she took great pride in having trained personally.  Two humans armed with pulse rifles, three gryphons and an earth pony wielding kinetic field generators, one unicorn specializing in sheilding and restraint, and a pair of pegasi armed with sound-shock suppression modules.

They placed themselves between the crowd and the shop, set up a barrier behind them, and took up positions to storm the jewelry shop.  One of the humans took up position next to the door,looking in and past growl down the barrel of his weapon.  Seeing only one unconscious gryphon, several broken display cases, and his boss staring at him, he lowered his pulse rifle and signaled the all clear to his team mates.  "No hostiles."

Half the team moved in to the shop, two gryphons taking up guard positions on either side of the door while the earth pony and one of the pegasi swept the shop for weapons or hazardous materials.

The human walked in slowly, taking in the destruction around him.  The floor was littered with glass and blobs of gold.  Loose gems, and twisted jewelry on charred velvet, were all that remained in the displays.  Wooden cabinets had sprouted branches and leaves.  One such cabinet, in the center of the room, looked like it was run over by a hover truck.  The front face was completely smashed in, leaving splinters supported by a carcass of steel rods.  There was also a small, but not negligible by any means, amount of blood splatter present.  "What happed?"

Growl shrugged.  "He resisted arrest."






Halfway across the Commissary, Ribbon was vaguely aware that there was some sort of commotion going on elsewhere.  But it was relatively minor, a temporary burst of panic, dimming quickly to mild confusion, followed by a tangible wave of serene calm.

The calm feeling felt like it came from a single pony, which means she shouldn't have been able to sense it from far away.  Unless, of course, it came from Mezzo or Astral.  Astral had a very distinct mental voice, one that was clearly audible from a distance, and something about Mezzo seemed to change the way her abilities worked.  Whoever it was that felt so calm right now definitely felt like Mezzo.

She just wished she could work up the nerve to go talk to the colt.  She knew where he lived, but couldn't bring herself to face him after waking up alone in his bed.  And she couldn't figure out how he had gotten past her.  No matter how high his pain tolerance is, or how soundly she was asleep, she should have been able to feel it the moment he put any weight on his bad hoof.

Instead, he managed to sneak out, and she was woken up by his aunt sometime around noon.  Lunch with her and Mezzo's little sister was awkward, but quiet, and she left quickly afterwards.

Ever since, she had been distracted, thinking about him, wondering how his hoof was doing, and remembering the story he told her.  It almost seemed wrong to call it a story.  There needed to be a stronger word.  It was more than a story, and it was mixed in her mind with images and feelings that almost made it seem like her own memory, instead of his.

She was pretty sure that was caused by the pendant she was wearing.  It was made from the limiter he wore, and so inseparably charged with his magic that being in contact with it amplified her connection to him.  She needed to tell him that he shouldn't let her touch it anymore.  She wasn't sure how strong the connection could become, and if it was affecting her this strongly, it may start to affect him.

An annoyed rapping of knuckles on the counter in front of her brought her back to the task at hand.  Hand?  Human!  Ribbon looked up in a panic.  This human had been waiting for his apples for over a minute while she was spaced out.

She accidentally made eye contact with him.  He wanted a dozen apples, and was about to pay with a twenty bit coin.  She was working as hard as she could to speed up the process, but she couldn't sell the apples fast enough.  The line was backing up, and there were at least a dozen ponies waiting for a chance at the fruit she somehow ended up in charge of selling.

No!  She shook her head as her hoof reached for the change.  Some of these ponies, people, no-  customers, didn't know who she was.  It was easier to deal with it if they didn't know.  The ones who did know couldn't think about anything else.

She waited for the human to place his order and offer his coin, then bagged the produce and started counting out the one bit coins she had for change.

Around nine bits, a flash of blue and white in her peripheral vision distracted her.  She turned to look, but the pony was already lost in the crowd.  She looked for him until her customer's impatience pulled her back again.

"Sorry," she said quickly.  Looking down, she forgot if she was at nine or ten coins and hastily started over.  Once she had it right, she shoved them into his outstretched hand, "here, thank you."  She grabbed the little sign she was supposed to put up at closing from under the counter and set it up before hopping over the short wall boxing her into the booth.

She ignored the complaints of other prospective buyers as she navigated the busy commissary, searching for the specific combination of colors she just couldn't get out of her mind.  She really needed to talk to him, sort out what happened, but she hadn't even seen him in days.

She found what she was looking for in a small outdoor cafe.  Well, it was as outdoor as anything could be in the confines of a space station.  And she was pretty sure it wasn't here a few days ago.  Things happen quickly on this station.  There were even brightly colored umbrellas at each table to provide shade from the artificial sunlight.

At the table farthest from anypony else, back to her and watching the crowds go by, was a white unicorn with a familiar blue mane.  Ribbon ran over, reaching out.  "Mezzo, I need to-"

The moment her hoof touched white fur, the unicorn reacted.  Even with her artificially enhanced reaction times, she was pulled halfway over the back of the bench before she could stop it.  Her hoof was twisted and pressed to the table by one white hoof, and another was raised over her outstretched leg, poised to strike and break it.

For a moment, she was sure that it had already happened.  She had clearly seen the chop, the damage it would cause, and the hidden cattle prod that would then be jabbed into her chest.  Were those merely thoughts?  Instinct and fighting will so strong it projected that clearly?

This wasn't Mezzo.  Ribbon looked up.  It wasn't even a colt.  A middle-aged mare, not yet as old as Growl, glared down at her like a hawk about to kill a snake under its talons.  Her mane was slightly darker than Mezzo's but had a similar streak of a lighter color, easily mistaken if you didn't know to look for it.

Her flaming ruby eyes softened a little, and she loosened her grip on the young nurse.  "Sorry, kiddo."  She put on a pair of heavily tinted sunglasses that were sitting in front of her before smiling.  The dark shades almost hid the scar over her right eye, but not quite.  She was wearing some sort of leather chest plate with fancy gryphon-style tooling and matching bands on her legs.  A matching spaulder lay on the table.  To the average pony, it would look like gryphon formalwear, but Ribbon could recognize the energy dissipating mesh the leather was bonded to.  Furian combat armor was made of similar materials.   "You shouldn't sneak up on ponies like that."

"I didn't sneak up on you," Ribbon mumbled as she lowered herself back to the ground, rubbing her wrenched joints.  Who was this mare?  Ribbon saw at least 4 hidden weapons, none of which were the cattle prod.

The mare watched and turned her head.  "Huh?"  The way the mare tilted her right ear towards her, she must have been deaf on the left side. Looking closer, Ribbon could see the scar on the inside of her ear.  Straight, and evenly healed, it wasn't the sort of scar you would see after an accident.  "I wasn't paying attention," the mare lied, "did you say something?"

"Oh, sorry."  Ribbon rubbed her shoulder a little more.  The mare's thoughts betrayed how self-conscious she was about her ear, and the scar on her face.  "Um, I thought you were someone else."  The young unicorn gestured to the chair.  "Mind if I sit down?"

"Go ahead."  The mare felt slightly relieved when Ribbon walked around and sat on her right, but also worried that she knew about her ear.  "You must be a friend of Mezzo's.  I’ve been told we look alike from a distance.  Want anything?"

Ribbon shook her head sadly.  "Not really."  With a sigh, the nurse stared at the Spaulder.  There were several large metal accents in orderly rows that she was ninety percent sure were really throwing daggers.  "I wish though."

The mare shrugged.  "I don't mind buyin' ya something if you're a bit short on bits."

The nurse fought the urge to slam her head into the table.  "I'm sorry, I meant I'm not really Mezzo's friend."

"Marefriend then?"  She smirked.  That son of hers always had a thing for bright colors.  Guess growing up surrounded by dirt and pain does that to you.  And, with this filly's sky blue and rainbow, it must have been love at first sight.

A little extra pink added itself to Ribbon's palette, and she shook her head furiously.  "It's not like that," she hurriedly explained.  "I'm not even sure what your son really thinks of me.  We haven't even spoken to each other in days."

"Why not?"  The mare leaned back in the booth.  "The name's Vinyl, by the way.  So, what's your connection to my son, if you aren't his friend or mare friend?  He hasn't been making enemies while I was off hunting down his lowlife pegasus of a father, has he?"

"No, of course not," Ribbon answered quickly.  "It's kind of complicated, but-"

A buzzing sound drowned out whatever else she might have said, a small entertainment pad on the table giving a notification buzz.  It was an expensive model, well known luxury brand, and as clear as crystal.  Save for the words, "Incoming communication," displayed along each edge, in each direction, in tall glowing letters.

"Mind if I get that?" Vinyl asked before sliding the glass device over.  "It might be about me getting paid this month."

"Go ahead."  Ribbon looked away, already hearing what the mare really expected from the call.  A confirmation of the bounty she delivered.  A payment of more bits than she spent on her limiter to be delivered within the week.  A criminal back in his cell, but with tighter security this time.  She was a bounty hunter.

"Heh," Vinyl picked the crystalline sheet up and tapped it with a hoof.  "It's just a friend sending me a video.  I know the mare who runs the coffee shop, and she's the type that likes to share holopics and videos of cute animals and such."  With a smile, she read the subject line of the message.  "'Have you seen this?'  Well, no, but I guess I'm about to."  She looked over at Ribbon as she tapped play.  "Five bits says it's a baby prill being silly."

Ribbon glanced over, the mention of a prill stirring a foggy memory.  Any hope of grasping that memory faded as she realized that the video playing was of a crowded section of the commissary.  She buried her face in her hooves as she came running on screen.

Vinyl leaned forward.  "That's... you?"

On-screen Ribbon stopped and turned around, only be bowled over by a much larger colt.  The two skidded into the crowd, shrieks and shouts and shaky camera work giving the impression of a violent assault.  The camera recovered and moved closer to the action, looking over the shoulders of the crowd as the two ponies fought, colt holding down the struggling filly.

They made it to the point where Ribbon shouted, "Stop!  Don't!" before Vinyl slammed her pad down.  She let herself out of the booth, leaving the shattered screen where it lay.  Ribbon could feel the anger, seething, boiling beneath the surface, even as the white mare calmy walked to the counter and paid for her coffee.

Ribbon could only stare in wonder as the mare displayed self control that would make the most secluded of mountain monks envious.  Inside, feelings of failure, grief, and depression vied for control of her.  Her son had attacked a mare while she was away?  He was getting into fights in public?  How could she have failed so badly as a mother?  Would this even have happened if his father were around?   She stood in the middle of the coffee shop, standing amidst the tables and customers, hiding everything from the world around her.  She took a deep breath, then let everything into the open at once.  She screamed,"Where is he?!"

Cups spilled, chairs and occupants tumbled, and one very angry mare stood in the center of it all, nearly foaming at the mouth.

She ran off, and Ribbon scrambled out of the booth to chase after her.  She was head for the exit, out of the commissary and towards the residential area.  She was headed straight for home, where Mezzo was supposed to be holed up in bed.  Well, he wasn't when she left, but maybe he returned since then?  This angry mare didn’t watch the whole video, so she didn’t know that her son was seriously injured.  If she so much as knocked him out of bed without realizing it, it could cause the colt serious pain, and possibly set back his recovery.

Once in the residential hallways, Ribbon realized that the quarters were too close.  Prime real estate within easy walking distance of the commissary.  Even at a dead run, Ribbon wouldn’t have time to overtake Vinyl.  The mare was in excellent physical condition, and much faster than she looked.  The telepath settled for  keeping pace until they reached the door, and the older mare stopped to punch in the entry code.  Then, dashing in front of her when the door opened, she stood protectively in front of Mezzo in the middle of the main room.

The mare stopped to glare for a moment, wondering why the one attacked would defend her attacker.  “Please , listen to me!”  Ribbon moved when Vinyl let herself in, keeping herself squarely between mother and son.  “You don’t know the whole story!  Your son is seriously hurt, and if he’s… he’s…”  Ribbon looked back.  Mezzo looked down at her, eyebrows pulling together.  For the first time, the nurse noticed that he was more than a little on the tall side.  “He’s standing.”

Mezzo raised an eyebrow.  Not only was he standing, he was carrying a tray of drinks, drinks that were either very hot, or extremely cold.  What was she doing running in here like that?

“What am I doing?  What are you doing?” Ribbon demanded.  “How are you not in terrible pain right now?”

Growl cleared her throat from her seat on the couch, waving the colt over to finish his delivery.  Did she really forget?

“Oh,” Ribbon winced, “right, Dad’s new auto-surgeon.  It would be able to repair the damage beneath the hoof before sealing it with keratin paste.”  It wouldn’t be an immediate recovery, but he would be able to walk while the rest healed up over a week or so.  “Mezzo, I’m so sorry I didn’t think of that sooner.”

Looking around, Ribbon noticed that she had been so focused on Vinyl, that she barged right into a meeting of sorts.  Mezzo, freshly healed, and only slightly favoring his injured hoof, was carrying drinks to ponies seated on the room's two couches.  Growl sat on one, and Octavia and Minuette shared the other.

“Don't worry about it.”  With a sigh, Mezzo brought the last two drinks over to the grey earth pony pair after Growl took hers.  Ribbon felt no anger, even though that had been a constant in the colt's feelings, and his emotional state when he regarded her was greatly changed from before.  Not pity, but close to it.  The pain she had felt before was an echo, dulled by quiet contemplation.  But, of what?  "It's ok, you weren't thinking straight, and neither was I.  Too much happened at once to get caught up in regrets.  I'll be right back.”  He then headed back to the kitchen with his empty tray.

"And what, exactly, happened?"  Vinyl growled at Ribbon.  Confusion was evident, but thankfully, the anger was beginning to ebb.  Still, the mare was not about to let things go without an explanation.  “Now, one of you has some explaining to do before I start turning this station upside down looking for answers!”

Minuette sipped her hot chocolate and looked up at her mother.  "Is Aunt Scratch upset that Ribbon and Mezzo sleep together?"  The filly looked over at Ribbon.    She very much liked the nurse, and wanted everypony else to like her too.  Then, she looked over at her Aunt.  "You should like her, she's nice."

"Huh?"  Vinyl asked softly, hoping she misheard the little filly.  Sleeping together?  The mare's anger dropped like a rock, the rest of her emotions sinking with it.  Her son was growing up fast, and she wasn't here for it.  How could she not have realized he had a marefriend of all things?  How could it not come up in conversation?  They still talked, right?  She wasn't that absent, not like his father, was she?

Growl raised an eyebrow.  "Mezzo, I think you left out part of the story in that report you gave me."  She took a sip of her cold ale before musing, "but, it does explain why she's been distracted lately."

"What did I leave out?" Mezzo asked from the kitchen, not hearing the instigating comment.

"Nothing," Growl answered before taking a sip of her drink.

Minuette watched Growl take another drink and tried to mimic the way she held her mug in one hoof.  When she couldn't, she found something more interesting to watch.  "Mommy, why is Ribbon changing colors?  Is she a lizard?"

Octavia couldn't help but snicker a little.  "Minuette, dear, now isn’t the best time.  Do you think you could let the grownups have a moment to talk, hmm?"  She took the filly's drink in one hoof, using the other to balance her own.  "Go tell Mezzo I said you could have one of the cookies I made.  Ok?"

"OK!" She nodded happily.  "Mitso!" She yelled, hopping off the couch, "Mommy's letting me have a cookie!"

"Huh?" He called back.  "It's still before dinner though."

"It's ok," Octavia answered, "but she has to eat it at the table."  She cleared her throat and looked over at Vinyl.  "You can calm down, Vi, I'm pretty sure it isn't like that."

"No," Ribbon clarified, forcing her mind back from the emergency stop position, "there's no, 'pretty sure,' about it."  What Minuette said was true, they had slept together, but it was just that, sleep.  Terrible, nightmarish sleep, fueled by painful memories from the darkest places of their pasts.  Unfortunately, most adults see a specific meaning in that phrase.  She didn't want her boss, and Mezzo's family thinking they were in an intimate relationship when they weren't, especially since... they... were all... ok with it?  What?   "Um," the nurse looked around, but not a single thought of objection surfaced, from any of the three older mares, "but, it's not like that."

Grinning, Octavia calmly continued, "A lot's happened while you've been gone, Vi, but suffice it to say, she's a friend, and one I think we should get used to seeing around here."

"Really?" Vinyl and Ribbon asked simultaneously.

The armored mare looked over at the young nurse with an appraising eye.  "If Tavi vouches for you, I'll give you a chance.  But, what are you exactly?  You knew about my ear, and I'm pretty sure I caught you counting my hidden weapons.  You missed a few, but still, a filly your age shouldn't even know to check."

"She's one of my nurses," Growl explained.  Her glass was already long empty, but she would have to hold off on a refill.  She wanted something stronger than cold fruit juice, but that absolutely had to wait until she got her reports filed and the jewelry store mess cleaned up.  "She's also a political refugee, like the rest of us.  Only, instead of a mercenary or slave, she was a genetically-engineered child soldier on the planet Furia."

"I wasn't really a soldier," Ribbon said, defending her home planet.  "And my dad was genetically engineered, and some of it got passed down.  I didn't actually go through that much gene therapy."

"Not that much," the head nurse muttered sarcastically.  With a sigh, Growl pointed her empty glass at the mare.  "How many pushups a day did you do during basic training?"

"Um, only about three hundred," Ribbon answered, "as long as I didn't mess anything else up.  Why?"

The head nurse ignored her and launched into the next question.  "And what was your least favorite part of advanced combat training, the live fire exercises, or tear gas?"

"What?"  Ribbon shook her head.  "You know it was that survival test where they dumped me on Tarlam II.  I told you about that."

"Oh, right."  Growl nodded slowly.  "You did.  As I recall, Tarlam II is classified as a barely habitable.  Lower than normal oxygen content, extreme seismic activity, and clouds of toxic, volcanic gas floating across the surface.  To say nothing of the fact that there is almost no vegetation, and ninety-five percent of the animal life is large, carnivorous, and highly territorial.  You also mentioned that the drop ship they made you pilot to the surface had a malfunction, and crashed.  This left you stranded twice as far from the signal beacon as you were supposed to be, and with three cracked ribs."

Ribbon shut her mouth very tightly.  Growl had just played her straight into making her point.  It was something that only the older nurse had ever been able to do, and it caught the telepath off guard every time.  "But, they never made me fight, so you can't call me a soldier."

Growl set her empty glass down on the couch.  "What sort of weapon did you have on Tarlam II."

Ribbon winced.  "A, um, an AGR-44 plasma projection rifle."

Growl crossed her hooves.  "Shots fired during the mission?"

"Um, seventy-four?"

The green mare raised an eyebrow.  "Number of hits?"

"Seventy-two."  Ribbon looked down.  Growl was in interrogation mode now, and the young nurse knew better than to talk back or try to hide information when she was like this.

"Total kills?" Growl asked quietly.

"Eighty-seven."  Ribbon pointed at Growl.  "But that's only because the Drollskag fell on that pack of Stone Stalkers."

"Last question," Growl said with a smirk.  "How old were you?"

"Twelve," Ribbon admitted in defeat.  She may not have had a normal childhood, but it was still better than her dad had described his.  She wasn't around for the war.  Besides, Tarlam was nice and quiet compared to populated planets.

Vinyl's eyebrows raised out of the scowl they had been locked in for last few minutes.  "Awesome."  She looked back at Ribbon with a smirk.  Her whole demeanor was back to the way it was at the cafe, smooth, relaxed, willing to sit back and take things as they come.  It was a fast change, and and would've been a frightening one if not for an odd emotional undertone.  It was the same thing she felt from Mezzo earlier.  It wasn't pity.  It was some sort of sorrowful understanding.  "You know, kid, if you've got Growl backing you, that's  a pedigree in and of itself.  She brags about her nurses all the time at the bar."  Vinyl's smirk grew a little larger, and she tilted her head towards Ribbon.  "So, are you the bookworm, the energetic one, or the telepath?"

"Um, the last one," Ribbon answered.  She was about to find out sooner or later, it was better if she was the one who said it.  The nurse braced herself for the reaction.  Would her smile disapear?  Would she step back?  Or, like her son, would she remember some terrible, painful thing that happened to her?

Vinyl burst out laughing.  "Well, at least you answered honestly."  She climbed onto the couch next to Growl.  "She really has no control over it, does she?"

"None," Growl shook her head.  "Oh!"  She straightened up and put her hoof on the other mare's shoulder.  "You lost the shoulder-piece?  Did it get damaged?  I'm sorry, I knew I should have recommend an armourer with more experience, but Hess is the son of one of the best craftsmen in James' Aery."

"What?  Naw.  I just left it in commisary."  Vinyl waved off the nurses concerns.  "The armor's great, does its job better than surplus military gear for sure.  You can't even feel stunner blasts."  With a contented sigh she eased back into the cushions, removing her sunglasses, but taking a moment to scratch the scar across her eye with the corner of the frame.  "Fits a lot better, too."  She leaned her head back to look past Growl and called out to the kitchen, "hey, Mezzo!"

"Already on it, Mom," came the immediate reply.  Whatever he was working on, he was concentrating deeply on getting the temperature just right.

"You're a good kid," Vinyl muttered with a smile, "real good.  Even if ya did get in a fight with a  filly half your size."  She caught sight of Ribbon out of the corner of her eye, and Ribbon felt that odd emotion again.  She couldn't quite understand, but it tugged at her, compelling, tangible in a way that few other emotions were.  "Oh, yeah, you got any plans for this girl?  I wouldn't mind taking my new Telepathic Super-Soldier, Patent-Pending, Daughter-in-Law on a mission every so often."

"Mom," Mezzo came out of the kitchen with another tray, and three more drinks in coffee mugs, "can we not do this now?"  As he walked towards the couch, white wisps of steam became visible above two of the the cups.  He offered one to his mother, giving her a stern look.  "She does this to every female my age that happens to be within ten meters, even if it's just the checkout girl when we go shopping."

Vinyl took the cup with a shrug.  "Hey, I don't want my boy to be lonely.  You can't fault a mother for that."

"You leaned up on the counter, pointed at me, and said, 'hey, he's single,' while waggling your eyebrows."  Mezzo looked over at Ribbon.  "That wasn't even the worst part."  He gave an exaggerated wink that made it look like there was dust in his eye, and clicked his tongue.  He sighed and slowly nodded before speaking again.  "That.  She did that, and that was the worst part.  I thought the girl was going to call security on us, it was that bad."

Ribbon giggled, trying to picture this armored mare, scars and all, playing matchmaker.  Mezzo and his mother joined in her laughter, and Ribbon suddenly understood.  What she felt from the two of them was something so simple that she almost overlooked it.  They understood.  They knew what she had gone through, and they could identify with it.  They accepted her as she was.  Different, but still like them.

"So, some folks find me scary," Vinyl shrugged again, oblivious to Ribbon's runaway bout of introspection, "big deal.  I'll find you a nice mare yet, and you can bet she'll be tough enough to put up with me."  She took a big whiff of the steam rising from her mug, eyes nearly rolling back into her head.  "Oh, that's good.  Sure ya don't want him, Colors?  He cooks, he cleans, he does arts and crafts, and he can care for foals.  He's basically the perfect housewife, just a bit more badass."

Mezzo shook his head.  "You know she's not serious, right?"

"Um," Ribbon was slowly turning pink again, "she kind of is."  Their mere acceptance of her as a pony was overwhelming for her, the idea that such acceptance might run deeper made her want to smile and cry at the same time.  And, it was taking a good deal of effort to refrain from either action.  "And, um, that's a long list of reasons why you're the best colt on the station."

Mezzo leveled his gaze on Vinyl.  "Mom, stop it."

"Stop what?" she asked innocently.

He glanced over as Ribbon's cheeks went from cyan, jumped past watermelon, and headed straight to maraschino cherry.  "That!  Whatever you're doing to her, just stop.  Ok?  We aren't like that.  We're..." the colt went silent.  He looked to Ribbon for the missing words, but found nothing.  "I don't know what we are."

The young nurse shook her head.  "I don't know either, so don't ask me."  Her face was back down to a much tamer hue, somewhere between peach and bubblegum.  Even in the unspoken layers beneath his denial, there was no rejection of her, or the idea his mother had firmly entrenched in her mind.  To the telepath, the colt as good as added the word, 'yet.'

"Mom!"  Mezzo dropped his tray, using magic to keep the drinks upright.  He grabbed Ribbon by the shoulders as she started to cry.  "What did you just do?"

"What?"  Vinyl lifted her hooves in surrender as her son pulled the nurse to him, letting her cry into her chest.  "I didn't do that!  I don't think."

Mezzo pressed his face into his hoof.  It would probably leave a mark, but he didn't care.  "Growl said she had something important to tell us, so quit harassing Ribbon, and finish your drink."

"Sheesh, I leave for a few days, and all of a sudden you're head of the household.  Mezzo, Ceramzalachian layered chocolate is best enjoyed slowly, I'm not going to just chug it down, and especially not yours.  I know restaurants that can't make it to four layers."  She glanced over at Growl.  "Besides, I can already tell that she let her hair grow longer.  So, did you use nutrient gel or something, 'cause it's kind of a lot longer.  I may lose track of time now and then, but I wasn't gone that long."

"It wasn't nutrient gel."  Growl twisted the end of her mane around a hoof, staring at the shiny hairs.  Longer, smoother, and brighter in color than it had been in years, it was a mane fit for a younger mare than her.  "It was earth magic, pure, concentrated, unicorn earth magic.  I absorbed a good deal of it during an arrest."

"Enough raw magic to change your appearance?  When?  How did they get a concentration of magic aboard?  That shit has to be logged with security.  And are you ok?  Where there any side effects?"

Growl waved off the concern.  "It was a couple minutes ago.  And I feel fine.  I feel great actually, and I doubt there will be any side effects.  It was a limiter release, and I was friends with the unicorn it belonged to.  That's why I stopped here before heading back to the security office."

Ribbon snapped out it at the mention of the limiter.  Beneath the white fur her face was buried in, she felt Mezzo tense up.  He came to a terrible realization, and it was pulling up memories that he was still trying to keep hidden.  "Ribbon's limiter..." he muttered.

"Once belonged to your mother," Growl finished.  "It was stolen from Ten Penny's museum along with two others, and sold to an offworld fence.  That fence sold one to Ribbon, and while I was undercover, he tried to sell me  the other two."

"I hope you put him in the hospital," Vinyl snarled.  "What kind of trash steals from a sentient's rights museum?"

"Don't ask."  Ribbon drew eyes towards her, but she didn't care.  She grabbed a hoof full of Mezzo's fur and squeezed.  What he was about to do would cause him so much pain, and he already knew it.  "I know what you want to ask, but please, don't."

"I have to," he told her, "I have to know."  He placed a hoof on her head, and looked over at Growl.  "The other limiters, whose were they?"

Growl took a breath.  This was the news she came to deliver.  She wanted them to hear it from her before seeing it in a news feed somewhere.  Why didn't she want to say it now?  "Ribbon, you better do your best for that colt.  He's going to need you."  Seeing the nodded response made Growl feel a little better, but this was still going to be hard on them.  "One of the limiters was yours, Mezzo, the first one, that you managed to remove.  The other one, belonged to your grandfather."

Ribbon's breath caught.  It felt like she had been stabbed... No, that was Mezzo.  Ribbon started shaking.  It hurt.  She brought her hoof to her chest.  It hurt so much.  She looked up at him.  "Mezzo?"  What was this?  She touched his chest, where hers hurt so much, and felt a scar beneath his fur.  A memory?  Of getting stabbed in the chest?  "Mezzo, this..."

"Ribbon," the colt pulled her hoof away, "you shouldn't be here."

"Yeah," the trembling filly agreed.

"Leave."

"No!"  Ribbon grabbed him by the fur of his chest.  She didn't care how much it hurt, she wasn't going to leave him to bear it alone.  "I'm staying!"

"I'm staying!" the colt screamed again.  This close to the crucibles, coal fume and heat seared his throat.  The very air was acid around them, but it was always like that.  He couldn't remember a day when his throat didn't hurt, that he wasn't sore to the bone after the day's labor, or that his hooves didn't burn and itch from the coal dust and iron dirt caking his fur.  The only new pain was the knife in his chest, and he could already tell that it wasn't a serious wound.  "Run, grandpa, I'll stay and fight."

"No, child."  The old stallion standing between the colt and two armed guards turned to face the colt.  "Not now," he whispered, "not yet.  You must survive, and you must save your strength."  He turned back to the guards and struggled to stand.  His hind legs were bruised, and the left one dangled, useless, most likely broken.  Compared to the guards, he was frail.  Whatever strength he may have gained from manual labor, it was tempered by age and exposure to the toxic environment.  They had youth and armament on their side.  In addition to their armor, and the clubs they openly flaunted, the old stallion knew they carried much more advanced weaponry with them.  "Please, allow me to take the colt's punishment as my own.  I will not resist, I will not fight back, and I will cry out as loud as you wish.  You could make a far better example out of me than out of him."

"An interesting proposal."

The guards exchanged glances as another pony joined them, a large unicorn, carrying a sword at his side.  "Sire."  They bowed low, and the first one to rise gestured to the two slaves.  "We found the colt in posession of a weapon.  The old one was in the way."

The unicorn craned his neck to look around the injured old stallion, and chuckled when he saw the colt snarling at him.  "I suppose having a blade stuck in his chest could be called posessing a weapon.  Was he found like that?"

"No," answered the guard who had previously remained silent.  "I caught him hiding behind one of the furnaces.  He had dug a hole through the furnace wall and was using the fire to forge knives."  He tapped his hoof to his armor, where the chest plate was dented.  "He attacked me  with it rather than trying to run."

"Troubling," the unicorn mumbled.  He turned to the colt and shouted, "you!  Boy!  Who taught you to make that?"

"You did," young mezzo spat.  "You make us forge our own chains!  Knives are the same thing!"

"A clever one, eh?"  The unicorn raised an eyebrow.  "Do you know what we do with the clever ones, Mezzo?"  His horn lit up, and the knife ripped itself from the colt's chest.  It shot over to the unicorn and he looked it over as the colt fell to the ground, clutching the hole left behind.  "Shallow wound.  Well, aren't you lucky."  He turned to the first guard.  "Pull up the records.  I want to know who this old stallion is."  When that guard pulled a small tablet from beneath his armor, he turned to the second guard, quietly contemplating the dent in his armor.  After a moment, he looked back at the blade.  Without warning, he swung the knife in a short arc, connecting with the other side of the guard's chest plate with a loud clang.  That guard staggered back, and the other stared in surprise.

The unicorn looked back at the blade, and at its now deformed tip.  "The steel is soft.  The temper is fitting for a chain, not a blade.  Your story holds up."

"Sir?"  The first guard offered the unicorn his tablet.  "This stallion is the colt's grandfather.  But," there was a pause as the guard scrolled through a data entry, "it seems he was given as part of a payment to a mercenary team almost seven months ago."

"Really?"  The unicorn's face slowly pulled into a twisted grin.  He glanced down at the information on the screen.  He was given to the newest of the mercenary teams, one composed entirely of gryphons, but led by an earth pony mare.  He looked back at the old stallion.  "Then what is he doing here?"

Mezzo's grandfather looked straight at him, something even the guards refused to do.  They stood almost eye to eye, both unicorns, both slightly taller than average, and both bearing coats of snowy white.  "They offered me my freedom, and I asked to be returned to my family.  Obviously, they granted my request."

"Obviously," the unicorn muttered.  He drew his sword.  "I hope it was worth it."

"No!"  Mezzo screamed.  The colt tried to stand, to get his hooves underneath him, but his injured side didn't want to work.  "Stay away from him!  I'm the one who made the knife!  Stay away from him or I'll...  I'll..."

"You'll what?" the unicorn demanded, pointing his sword at the colt.

"I'll kill you!"  The colt tried to stand, his shaking legs giving out underneath him.  His right front leg hurt the most, the pain from his open wound pouring through him like the molten metal and glass he was forced to shape, day in and day out.  Forced, like everypony else he knew, by this unicorn before him.

Mezzo's left hoof stretched out towards him, reaching for the evil king, and clenching around empty hot air.  The colt screamed, focusing his pain and anger.  The limiter on his head felt suddenly hot as it rattled his horn, sapping away what should have been an uncontrolled blast of magic.  He wanted to dump everything on the king and his guards.  He want to shower them with the coal sparks that burned him, to throw them in the liquid glass that splashed and scarred him, he wanted them to know what he felt.

But the limiter stopped him.  It held back the magic that he knew was there.  He had seen magic before.  He felt it before, controlled by the king and some of the guards.   He knew it belonged to unicorns, but he was a unicorn as well.  He hated it, that he might be like them, even in that small way.  But he still desired magic.  He wanted it back.  The birthright that was locked away from him by the ring on his horn.

He screamed again.  Instead of focusing on anything beyond his hoof, he focused on the hoof itself.  Clenching it tighter, he braced for what he was about to do.

He slammed his hoof into his chest, striking his wound.  Pain shot through him, burning, stabbing.  He kept screaming, and kept hitting, letting the pain overtake everything else.  He raised his hoof for one last hit, and slammed it down instead, punching the dry, soot stained ground.  He leaned on that hoof, and leaned himself over enough to raise his other hoof.

He punched that one down even harder.  An excruciating jolt shot through the leg, and he rode the pain up to force himself standing.  The pain was the only thing keeping him going.  The thought of paying it back on those who inflicted it on him gave him purpose.

"He's a strong one," the king told the guards through a feral smile.  They backed away from him.  He was wearing an expression they had never seen, and it scared them.  His eyes were wide, focused on the colt, and starting to glow.  His smile was predatory, and anger wrinkled the bridge of his nose in a wild sneer.   Worst of all, the smile was genuine.  Their king was truly happy in this moment, watching this slave child fighting back, defying him, only to get beaten back down.  And he wasn't merely enjoying it.  He almost seemed proud.

"Sir?" The guard to the king's left stepped forward.  "A crowd is gathering, we should finish them both off and be done with it."

With a snort, the king looked down then snapped his head to face the guard.  HIs horn lit, and following the path of his eyes, sand and gravel shot up like a geyser.  The abrasive blast caught the guard by surprise.  He barely had time to close his eyes before it hit him, sending his helmet flying and cutting his pelt with bits of stone and glass.

"You will be silent,"the king breathed.  He looked around, at the hollow, sunken faces appearing around them.  Broken, defeated ponies watched from a distance, hiding behind their dirty workstations, or slunk away to the shadows of support structures.  "If they want to watch," he shouted, "let them!  Let them watch as I crush this rebellious foal."

The guard's only answer was to stagger back, his right side cut and dusty.  The intense wind had lodged sand in his coat down to the skin, and he was covered in small stinging scratches.  His right ear was ringing from the sudden change in pressure, and he coughed on what remained of the dust cloud that had engulfed him.

The king turned back towards Mezzo, smile returning, though the fire and rage behind it had dimmed a little.  "I could do the same to you, boy."  His words were much more calm.  "Or I could bury you in burning coal.  How can you even hope to fight me without magic?"

"I can't," Mezzo admitted.  That was the problem all along.  He needed magic to fight, but that cursed metal band around his horn locked it away from him.

The unicorn walked towards the colt.  "Then give up."

"No!"  Mezzo backed away from him.  He only stopped when his backside hit a table.  A simple wooden workstation among the furnaces, scorched by use, and scarred by tools.  A bucket of water sat atop the table.  To his left was a small furnace, and to his right, a box of glassworking tools.  "I'll never stop fighting!"

"Then have some advice."  The king thrust his sword into the nearest furnace.  "Steel is the foundation that every great empire is built on.  Mastering fire leads to the rise of history, mastering agriculture leads to the rise of civilization.  But only mastering steel gives rise to kingdoms."  He pulled the sword from the flames, and showed the colt the dull red glow at the tip.  "The material used in weapons is important, and the process more so."

He thrust the sword back in the furnace and shot a powerful burst of magic wind behind it.  The coal and coke glowed bright, and flames licked out from the opening.  The king stared into the fire, eyes reflecting the blaze they watched.

"Carbon and Iron, mixed with trace elements.  More carbon means harder, sharper, but brittle.  A good edge on a sword, but temper carefully, lest it shatter.  Less carbon means stronger, tough steel that can endure anything, but holds no edge.  Low carbon steel is used in chains.  That is why your knife was useless."

Mezzo watched the blade.  It was glowing bright red all the way to the hilt.  Glue and decorations on the handles were starting to smoke and smolder, the wooden grip charring black from the inferno.  The blade stayed firmly gripped by the king's magic and was pulled from the flame one more time.

"Add Chromium, and you resist rust.  Add Phosphorus, and you increase strength.  Nickel can impart any number of properties depending on the alloy."  He lowered his head and looked the colt in the eyes.  "Add telluride, and you can disrupt the flow of magic."

Those words spurred the colt into action.   With another scream, he stuck his head in the furnace.  Horn first, he touched the coals and jerked back, screaming the whole time.  Always breath out, the glassblower's first lesson.  His mane had caught fire, and his skin was starting to blister around his horn.  He flailed about, striking his horn against the stone opening of the furnace.

He swiped his hoof at the table, throwing his weight at it.  The thin weathered legs snapped under the weight, and the water splashed him as the bucket fell.  Most of his flames were snuffed, but patches of mane and coat still burned.  He fell, writhing, clutching at his head.  The sudden cold hurt nearly as much as the burning, and the crackling from his horn echoed through his skull.  It was impossible to tell if he damaged the limter or just his horn.

The colt forced himself up and lunged for the bucket of tools.  Sharp poles, wooden scrapers, glass edged instruments, and all manner of tongs; he threw his horn against each of them in turn.  He pried, scratched, and pulled at his limiter.  Each time a tool slipped, it cut him, or scraped already burned flesh raw.  Water dripped from his mane into his eyes, and he had to stop and rub the red liquid away.  

All while the king watched and laughed.

Once the colt cleared his eyes, and saw the laughing unicorn, he launched himself back at the furnace.  A wall of light went up in the opening, blocking the colt from the flames.

"Trying to melt it off?"  The king started walking again.  "Too bad, I won't let you kill yourself before I'm through with you."

Mezzo threw himself against the forcefield.  He didn't hear what was said.  The pain was deafening.  His head and horn pressed against the forcefield, sparking as the magical energy sizzled and skipped across his skin.  If only the limiter could touch it!  He flattened himself against it, turning and twisting.  All he had to do was touch it, destabilize it.  That was what the limiter did, right?

"Pitiful.  You don't even realize that you succeeded."

Mezzo stopped.  The voice was directly above him.  The shadow engulfed him.  "Why do you do this to us?"

"I do this to them for my kingdom!"  He shoved the colt down, and leaned in close, whispering,  "but you..."  The sword drew close, point held just shy of Mezzo's fur.  He tried to squirm away from the awful heat, but there was no escaping the weight of the large unicorn's grip.  "You look too much like your mother."

The heat of still-glowing blade seared the back of his neck.

"GYAAHHH!!"  Mezzo screamed in pain.  He twisted on the ground, writhing in agony.  He was at his limit.  His body was shaky and moving on pure willpower before this, but the injuries and pain kept piling up.  He saw the blade above him, and past it, the evil smile of his tormentor, hidden in shadows as vision started fade.  The colt offered up one last act of resistance, spitting what little his dry mouth could before his body went limp.

The colt's head dropped to the dirt.  The sounds around him grew far away, replaced by a faint ringing.  Even his pain seemed to be moving away from him, his injuries pale echoes of what they were moments ago.  His senses were leaving him, slipping away slowly as the king brought his glowing blade closer.

Was this what dying felt like?  The colt smiled as his eyes went unfocused.  At least he could say he fought to the end.  He didn't let them control him.  All dying meant now was that he won his freedom.

He felt pain in his side, far and distant.  It dragged itself from his hip to his shoulder, leaving a faint heat in its wake.  The colt saw was his grandfather limping towards him, stopping only for a moment, to pick up the colt's discarded blade.

Ribbon started falling, pulling Mezzo back to the present.  His hoof, still resting on her head, moved to her shoulder, catching her so he could lower her gently.  The colt shut his eyes and whispered to her.  "That's why I told you to leave, idiot. I didn't want you to go through that."

Mezzo straightened up once she was safely on the floor and ran his hoof over her face, wiping the tears from her cheek.  His breathing grew harsh and ragged as the rest of his memory played through his mind.  Ribbon was lucky enough to pass out early.

She didn't see his grandfather continue walking towards him.  She didn't see him stab the king in the leg with the dull knife.  She wasn't forced to watch him die on the same knife.  She didn't pass out while holding his lifeless hoof and begging the guards not to drag his body away.

It was wrong.  Everything about Tankra was wrong.  That planet never should have existed.  And his grandfather shouldn't have died because his grandson couldn't get used to chains.

Mezzo tilted his head back, and screamed.  Pain, fear, anger, locked away for years were let loose.  The others in the room looked down but remained silent.  They knew what he was going through.  They had gone through the same thing.  Each of them had that moment when they finally came to terms with it.  Tankra had been horrible to each of them in different ways, but the colt had never opened up to any of them.  Ribbon was the only one to get through to him so far.

In the kitchen, a little filly held her hooves over her ears.  She knew her brother was hurt, that he had been for a long time.  Mommy tried to explain about the planet they lived on before, but it didn't make sense.  All she knew was that it was very bad.  The filly didn't understand, so she didn't have any way to help Mezzo.

When the screaming stopped, she quietly crawled over to the doorway, and peeked through.  Her brother was collapsed on the floor, crying into Ribbon's mane.  The nurse had listened to her when she couldn't speak, maybe she could hear the things Mezzo couldn't make himself say.

Maybe she could help him not hurt.

Maybe?

The little filly could only hope.
> Ring Solomon
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------

		Berry's face was glued to the main window as the Shuttle approached the Solomon's Ring.  The small craft followed its autopilot into the docking bay like a fly wandering into a dragon’s mouth.  Fluttershy watched as well, sitting quietly in the copilot's chair.  By far the more reserved of the two, she sat silently, staring in awe, sharing little of the earth pony's excitement.

"That thing's huge!"  Berry exclaimed, looking back at Astral.  "I bet the entire settlement on Sevus would fit inside, and still have room for more."

Astral nodded slowly, thinking about the community he once visited often.  "You're probably right, Berry, and they may have to.  If they can't find out what caused the Glycodexrin contamination and put a stop to it, the entire planet might have to evacuate."

"As long as everypony's safe, I don't think they'll mind."   She turned back to the display.  "They might be sad, but Grandma told me about how her town had to leave their planet.  Everything turned out alright, and it'll go even better for Sevus, because there's so many ponies around to help."

"Ha~ah..."  Fluttershy looked down and cleared her throat, making about as much noise as a small mouse.  She moved her mouth, trying to use muscles long atrophied to form shapes long forgotten.  "Haa...  Ho..."  After getting over her initial excitement, more over meeting her friends' offspring than being rescued it seemed,  she started to pay very careful attention when anypony talked.  She watched everypony's mouth, the movements of their lips, the set of the jawline, and mimicked the motions in silence.  Any time she had to try and say something, she was very careful to try and make the correct sounds.  "Ha-ouw... How lah...ck...gk..."  The sounds devolved into a snarl.  She was still having issues controlling gutteral sounds, or making the closed-mouth sounds.  She could hear it in her head, the sound she wanted, but she couldn't make the sound happen.

"It's ok," Astral told her.  "It's going to take some time for you to get talking again.  There's no rush.  Are you asking how long?"

Fluttershy nodded.

"Um," Astral scratched his mane, "Since you were stranded, since we started looking for you, or since Equestria-"

Fluttershy barked out an affirmative to accompany her nods, disrupting the unicorn's question.

Astral sighed.  "Roughly five or six thousand years.  There's a whole galaxy full of ponies out there now, hundreds of planets like Equestria, and a bunch of other species to share them with."  The shuttle settled down on a landing platform, barely perceptible shake distracting Astral from his explanation.  He looked out the window as he stood up, watching a large set of doors close between them and open space.  "You'll get to meet some of them soon, but I need you to stay calm.  You are safe now.  There may be some different kinds of creatures outside, but they are not dangerous."

Fluttershy nodded her understanding, but Astral fervently hoped that Cathy wouldn't be on hand to greet them.  He walked back and opened the cockpit door.  Twilight and Radio were discussing something, hunched over the colt's scanner.

Radio looked up first.  "Hey, I felt that.  We landed, right?  Is the landing bay pressurized yet?"

"You have the scanner," Astral replied.

"Oh, right."  The colt looked down and fiddled with the machine.  "Twenty-two percent, looks like it might take a moment."

"Well, what's another minute or two?"  Astral looked over at Twilight, as she slowly lifted her head.  "And what are you moping about?"

She scoffed at him.  "Shut up."

"How about not?"  Astral shook his head.  With his help, she was able to locate three of her friends, or at least one and two of their descendants.  Why was she still being so pissy?  "Anypony want to get ready to disembark?"

"Get ready how?" Berry called from the front.  "Hey, did you guys see the actuators on these doors?  They look like sixty ton units, and there are three per door!"

"Yeah," Astral called back, not taking his eyes off Twilight, "it's impressive, that's for sure.  But I was asking if anypony needed to clean up a little.  Maybe get dressed?"

Twilight winced.  "Oh, I forgot."  She held out her hoof to Astral.  "Jacket," she demanded.

Astral raised an eyebrow.  "We're on an official Galactic Assembly ship, one full of doctors.  Half those doctors probably attended Luna's Academy.  This is probably the only time those robes you packed will ever be appropriate attire."

Twilight slunk off to the back without another word, and Radio looked up from his scanner.  "Hey, the do-"

"Docking bay pressurized," Cathy's voice echoed through the shuttle, slightly muffled as it played through speakers outside.  "It is now safe to exit your vehicle."

"Yeah, what she said," the colt sighed.

"You'll get to say it next time."  Astral patted Radio on the shoulder as he walked past him.  He headed to the back door, undoing the lock from the other side with his magic before slipping in.

Twilight groaned as he shut the door behind him.  "This again?  What's the point of telling me to lock the door?"

"Something's bothering you."

"Yeah."  She pulled her bag off the top bunk and dumped it on a more accessible mattress.  "You."

He walked over and put his hoof on the bag as she tried to open it, stopping her.  "Look, I thought we were over this.  We haven't tried to kill each other for a while, and we've been making progress on your mission.  Why do you keep getting more and more upset the farther we go?"

"Astral," Twilight pulled her hoof away from her bag, "Try to imagine the sweetest, kindest pony you can."  She spoke quietly, so quietly, Astral had to move closer to hear her.  "One that's so timid, she's almost afraid to speak to you the first time you meet.  Quiet, fragile, always clean, always courteous, never-" Her voice cracked, and she closed her eyes.  "Never able to walk away from any living thing in need."

"Who are you talking about?"

"Fluttershy."

Astral pointed over his shoulder, towards the other compartment.  "Not that Fluttershy," he stated simply.

Twilight sat down with a sigh.  "She used to be a normal pegasus.  A few years before we left Equestria, something happened.  I messed up a magical spell and turned Fluttershy into something halfway between a thestral and a vampony.  We turned her back to normal, but it must have left some sort of trace in her DNA.  Radio was explaining that a retrovirus caused mutations by bringing out dormant genes, and that's why she looks like she does."

"Can it be reversed?" Astral asked.  "You turned her back once, do it again."

Twilight shook her head.  "It doesn't work like that.  The retrovirus wasn't a magical change.  And after so much time passing, anything I try could kill or cripple her."  She stared at her hooves.  "No, Fluttershy's stuck as a monster for good this time, and it's all my fault."

"You need to get out of this cycle of depression."  Astral opened the bag and withdrew the instructor's robes.  "Yes, it's your fault that she looks like she does."  He tossed the cloak over her shoulders.  "That means it's your fault that she survived.  Look at what we went through in, what, ten hours on Picus?  Would your Fluttershy have survived that, over and over again, for seven years?  Her mind is intact, her body is stronger than it has any business being, and she's back among friends.  Ask her if she blames you, but I bet I already know the answer."

Astral turned to leave, but Twilight grabbed him by the hoof, the sudden motion causing her robes to fall to the floor.  "Even though she survived, even if she forgives me, what about everypony else?"

"Why don't you ask them when you find them?  That's the important thing right now, isn't it?  Finding them?"  Astral picked her robes back up, and put them back on her, undoing the clasp and letting it fall properly around her.  They locked eyes for a moment, and Astral gave a quiet sigh.  "There's something else bothering you, isn't there?  Please just tell me what's wrong."

Twilight shook her head.  "I already told you."

"Fine."  Astral busied himself with the clasp, buckling it securely.  "But if you want to talk, I'm always close by."

"Yeah," she sighed, "too close."

"What?  You-" He pointed his hoof at her with a frustrated grunt.  "You know, I don't get you.  And at this point, I don't think I ever will."

He turned to leave, rubbing the back of his neck as he activated the door controls with magic.  Twilight winced as she caught sight of the wound under his collar.   It was treated and bandaged by Radio shortly after they left orbit, but it might never have happened if she hadn't left him alone on Picus.

She turned away, as the door opened, and leaned against the nearest mattress after hearing it shut behind her.  How could she have been so stupid?  Chasing after some bird and leaving him alone in the jungle without even a communicator?  She dropped her head to bed and groaned into the sheets.  She could have gotten him killed.

The door opened again, and Twilight let out a loud groan.  All she wanted was to be alone and wallow in uselessness with some semblance of peace and quiet.  "Now what?" She growled.

She looked back, and Radio sheepishly held up his scanner, giving it a little shake as the door closed behind him.  "Sorry," he said quietly, "I just wanted to put it away real quick."

"No," Twilight shook her head, "I'm sorry, I should have looked to see who it was before getting mad."

Radio stowed the scanner on the top bunk, stuffing it behind the pillow for easy access.  "Are you mad at Astral for some reason?"

The alicorn sighed and straightened up her robes.  "Not really, except for the fact he can't leave me alone while I'm changing."  Twilight looked up to see the colt blush and break eye contact the moment it was made.

"Um..."  Radio scratched his mane.  "I guess I didn't realize.  I mean, Berry and I were talking about it earlier, and, well, I guess we didn't think you two were quite that close."

"What?!"  Twilight shuddered.  "Ew!  No!  We were just arguing, that's all."

Radio shrugged.  "My mom and dad argued too.  And, well, I'm here, ain't I?"

Twilight's expression showed her disgust as she slowly nodded.  "It's a bit different of a situation here, trust me."  She gave one last shudder and and pushed the misunderstanding out of her head with a sigh.  "Radio, we haven't gotten a chance to talk yet, have we?"

"What do you mean?"  The colt sat down and leaned against the lower bunk.  "We talked the entire ride from Furia to Sevus."

"I spent the whole time telling you stories," Twilight corrected.  "Aside from bombarding me with questions, you didn't really say much."

"Oh."  Radio shrugged with the shoulder not bearing his weight.  "Well, you answered my questions, I don't mind answering a few.  What do you want to know?"

She looked down, taking a steadying breath.  "Rainbow, I mean, your mother, what...  What was she like?  I can remember the friend I left home with like it was yesterday, but I never knew the mare that settled down to raise a family.  There's so much I must have missed."

Radio sunk deeper against the mattress.  "You and me both."  He looked at his hooves for a moment, then glanced up.  "It's hard to remember her sometimes, but when I do, she's smiling.  Always.  Every time she looked at me or Ribbon, she had this smile on her face that..."  He shook his head, staring off into the past.  "I can't really describe it.  It wasn't a big smile, or anything like that, but it was there.  Whenever you see it, you just want to smile along, you know?  When she taught me to fly, when she taught Ribbon gymnastics, she always smiled.  Even when we broke something, even when I stole a tank and drove it through the motor yard fence, even when I sealed her in the stasis chamber, there was this smile there, hidden under everything else."  The colt shook his head.  "I'm sure it's just my memory playing tricks on me.  Five year old me wanted happy memories instead of the ones I got, or something like that.  But, that's honestly all I can remember."

"That's enough, isn't it?"  Twilight put her hoof on the colt's shoulder.  "You know, it makes me feel better to know that she was happy.  She really must have loved you and your sister."

"Yeah, but," he looked up at Twilight, "I know she missed all of her old friends.  A few years back, dad showed me the two journals my mom kept.  I think Ribbon has them now, but one was titled, 'Things to tell my friends.'  It was a list of things she wanted to tell all her old friends, with a few details, and her thoughts on who would like which stories, and why."

Twilight closed her eyes, pain showing on her face even though she tried to smile.  "Remind me to ask Ribbon for it next time we're in Canterlot."

"Ok, but I won't have to.  You'll remember."  Radio straightened up a little.  "The other journal mom wrote was, 'Things to tell the kids.'  It was stories about equestria, and the friends she had.  She wrote a lot about you.  She wrote a whole lot about all of her friends, but a lot about you in particular."  He paused for a moment, looking Twilight in the eyes.  "Enough for me to know that something is wrong right now."

"Not you too," Twilight moaned, "did Astral say something?"

"No," Radio answered with some confusion.  He stopped her with his wing when she started to turn away.  "Should he have?"  She pushed past his wing, and he got up and rushed in front of her.  "Hey," he put himself between her and the door, "what's wrong?"

"Nothing."  Twilight shook her head.  She moved left, then right, to try and go around the pegasus, but he shuffled side to side to stay locked in her path.  "Ugh!"  She stomp a hoof.  "Why can't anypony leave me alone?"

"Because we're worried about you?"  The colt brought a hoof to his forehead.  "Even though Berry and I don't really know you, you are pretty damn close to family to us.  Call us crazy, but we care about you."

Twilight sighed again, looking off to the side.  "No one asked you to."  Her horn lit up, and Radio teleported a little to the left, enough for her to push past him to the door.

"Oh, no you don't!"  Radio grabbed the hem of her robes with his teeth and yanked back as she reached for the door controls.  Twilight fell on her rump with small yelp, and quickly checked the velvet fabric for damage once the colt spit it out.  "Ugh, do you ever wash that thing?"

"What the hell was that for?" Twilight demanded.

"For teleporting me without asking."  The colt sat down in front of the door, crossing his hooves in front of him.  "That's a crime on Furia, you know."

"Well, it isn't on Canterlot."  Twilight started adjusting her robes, especially the neckline where the bulk of the pull was felt.  "And it's almost expected when you stand in a unicorn's way."

"Look," Radio said in a no-nonsense tone, pointing a hoof at her, "I wasn't level-headed enough to notice it earlier, but I'm starting to realize I wasn't worried enough."

Satisfied with the adjustments, Twilight stood up.  "Radio, what are you talking about?"

Radio lowered his hoof, and glanced down.  "You're self-harming."

The colt's words dropped her back down to her haunches as fast as his earlier pull.  "Radio, what?  No, how could you even think that?"

"Because it's true!"  Radio brought his hooves to his head.  "Isn't it?  Look at your ear, when you grabbed the scalpel from me.  And you've been covered in small injuries since I've met you, and you take risks without thinking of the consequences.  It's like you don't care what happens to yourself."  He pulled his ears down, closed his eyes, and started speaking faster.  "I don't want to accuse you of anything, but I scanned you, and there's evidence of countless untreated injuries, and I wish I hadn't, but now I know, and I wish I didn't, and I just want to help, but I really don't know how I can, but I can't just let this go, and I am really really bad at serious conversations like this, so won't you please, please, please, just tell me what's wrong?"

The colt found himself pulled off balance, face first into velvet that smelled of storage, dust, and old books.  The weight of hooves wrapped around him, and a chin pressed down on top of his head.

"No, no, Radio."  Twilight shook her head as she hugged the colt.  "It's not like that, I promise.  I know I've been taking risks, and I didn't get all of my old injuries treated because I'm hiding my wings.  But I'm not trying to hurt myself."  She took a deep breath.  "Radio, the cryogenic pods from ponyville are being opened.  There's no denying that now.  One or two could be written off as isolated incidents, maybe even three.  But, now... Pinkie's dead, Rainbow's hurt, and Fluttershy is changed forever.  Cryo-7 has been found, the cryogenic chambers figured out, and I have to find my friends.  That's more important than me taking a few risks."

"No."  Radio squirmed his way out of her grip and looked her in the eyes.  "That makes it even more important that you stay safe and healthy.  What are the rest of us supposed to do if you get hurt?  We don't know what we're looking for, and we definitely don't know who we're looking for.  We need you."

"Mac knows."  Twilight shrugged.  "Fluttershy knows, Celestia, Luna, Chrysalis, they all know.  Anypony from ponyville we find will know as much as I do now.  I'm out of leads, and even those were mostly Silver's work.  I'm just tagging along and dragging things down."

Twilight let go of Radio and the colt stepped back, sitting quietly across from her.  Things had calmed down, and she wasn't trying to dodge his questions now, so he was going to listen to everything she had to say.

"When we were escaping Picus, Astral used my fireballs against those centipedes that injured him, he didn't miss a single one.  Then I jump in and almost immediately became monster chow because I missed with my own spell.  I didn't even think fast enough to make another fireball!  It would have taken less than a second, but no, I had to be saved from my own mistake.  And before that, when we fought the golems, he defeated mine in one shot. After I hit it with a dozen gravity mines and even ice spears."  She rubbed her hoof against her leg, and looked down at it.  "I'm useless out here.  A combat magic instructor who can't win a fight."

Radio waited for a moment for her to continue, but when she remained silent, he jumped in.  "You are so wrong it isn't even funny."  To his surprise, she didn't even open her mouth to protest.  "You just had bad luck this time.  The monsters you fought were just a bad match.  You teach combat magic for dueling, right?  Pony-to-pony fights?  Thinking opponents who analyze and scheme?  I remember how you broke up that fight on Furia.  I don't know any unicorn that could cow the whole of squadron zero like that, not even Astral.  He might be fast on his hooves and be a great shot, but that's something that a soldier can understand and stand up to.  Giving them face to face time with a miniature star is going to cause at least a bit of doubt.  Trust me, fighting monsters is a completely different skill than fighting an intelligent being."

"Even if you're right," Twilight started reluctantly, "how can I-"

"Of course I'm right," Radio protested.  "And you better not ask me a question you already know the answer to.  If you ask me how you can make yourself more useful, I will smack you in the head.  You are indispensible, and you can't be anymore useful than that."  Radio hit the door control, and it opened with a swish.  "Isn't that right captain?"

Radio smiled as he waited for Astral to back him up.  Twilight started smiling as she looked past the colt.  She chuckled as she got up and strolled past the colt into the empty passenger cabin.  "Geez, you're just as annoying as Rainbow was."

The colt's smile faded as he realized that the rest of the crew had already exited the shuttle.  "Thanks," he muttered as he got up to follow her, "I try."





"Um, as I was saying..."  Cathy inched back as Fluttershy sniffed at her, acting more  like a curious puppy than a pony.  This ragged looking pegasus was probably the largest example of the species she had ever seen, standing just about even with the top of her shell.  She was probably the least talkative as well.  "I'm sorry, is your friend all right?  Why is she sniffing me?"

"I'm sorry," Twilight apologized before moving to pull Fluttershy back.  "Cathy, was it?  This is just the first time she's seen a um..."

"The closest you would be able to pronounce would be, 'Kikrid," the pastel beetle explained.  "It means shelled ones."

"Shuh."  Fluttershy barked.  "Ka.  Tee.  Shuh."

"I think she's trying to introduce herself."  Twilight let go of Fluttershy when the yellow pony stopped trying to walk towards the insectoid receptionist.  "I must admit, it's my first time seeing one of your kind as well."

The facets in her eyes shifted, giving the appearance that she just blinked.  "That is not surprising.  Of my planet, the Krikid, the unshelled, are much more likely to roam the galaxy.  I am unusual among my race."

A door slid open behind Cathy.  "For which, we are ever grateful," Captain Nova stated as he walked into the small antechamber.  "Forgive me, I was eavesdropping from the airlock."  He walked over Astral and bowed slightly.  "Forgive me, Captain, for all the help you've given it would have been proper to be here to greet you, but I was tied up dispersing the information you provided."

"Don't worry about it," Astral assured him, "we're just happy to be allowed aboard."  Definitely not human.  Astral had to crane his neck to see the other captain's face.  He stood over two meters tall, relatively thin, and sported an extra opposable thumb on each hand, one on either side of his fingers.  "This is my crew."  Astral gestured to each pony in succession.  "Twilight Sparkle is our COC representative, and acting vice-captain.  Strawberry Pie, our engineer.  Radio Dancer is our Medical officer.  And this is Fluttershy, who we just picked up on Picus."

"A wrecker.  It's been a while since I've seen one, but there's no mistaking it, even when nonhumanoid."  Captain Nova kneeled down and offered Fluttershy a warm smile.  "Welcome aboard.  Have you gotten your voice back yet?"

She ducked behind Twilight, even though most of her body was still visible.  To answer the question, she shook her head slowly.

"Well, we might be able to help with that."  He nodded towards the beetle.  "First mate K'tthia has an excellent language program put together specifically to help people and ponies learn to speak again."

"Cool," Radio looked over at her, "that would make you a language specialist?"

Her mandibles shifted, possibly into a smile.  "That is how my medical career started, but is no longer my primary focus."

"She is being too modest again."  Halifax Nova stood up, straightened out his blue uniform, and swept a speck of dust from the single white stripe running down the left side.  "She speaks fourteen languages, understands, reads, and can translate a dozen more, handles most of our scheduling, personnel and communications issues, and is always the first to volunteer for hazardous duty assignments."

The colors of Cathy's shell became a little more vibrant.   Did she just blush?  "Only because radiation and microorganisms don't affect me.  It can't be called hazardous if I'm in no danger."

Astral nudged Twilight in the shoulder with his magic, earning a glare.

Captain Nova cleared his throat and addressed the ponies again.  "You'll find that every crew member has some sort of medical experience or specialty in addition to their regular assignments.  It can be hell trying to keep up with it all."  He looked at Astral.  "As small and informal as your crew is, I am sure you have a much better time keeping track of of the abilities under your command."

"Like you said, we are pretty informal," Astral agreed, "but you might be surprised.  Anyway, why are you telling us all this?  It seems like an awful lot of personal information to share with ponies you just met."

"Ah, yes."  The tall captain scratched a glowing nodule at the end of one earlobe as it rested on his shoulder.  "In all honesty, smalltalk is not my strong suit.  I am merely killing time for your contaminant scan to finish.  We have been upgrading our sensor systems for the last two weeks, and were called out before we finished installing the hardware in our secondary systems.  We have a crewman out there with a portable unit running the scan, so it may take a few moments more."

Radio shrugged.  "Well, while we wait, what's your specialty?"

"For the last fifty years, it has been telling others what to do."  Halifax chuckled .  "Before that, I was a biomedical engineer... for a perfume company."

Radio raised an eyebrow.  "Perfume?"

"Indeed." Captain Nova tapped his nose.  "What smells one way to one species may smell differently to another.  Hormones, pheromones, natural oils, artificial scents; commercial products must reach as broad of a customer base as possible if they are to be successful.  I was able to help with that."

Radio glanced at the others in the group.  "Ok, I'll bite.  How?"

Nova pointed to Astral and Berry.  "The two of you are related, though somewhat distantly."  His gesture swept past Fluttershy.  "She is carnivorous."  He pointed at Radio next.  "Your genetics have been artificially tampered with."  Twilight was last.  "And, her wings are itchy and warm in those robes.  Did you know that pony feather oil, while sweetly aromatic to humans and dragons, and stimulating to ponies, will smell remarkably like compost to a Curraxan?"

Halifax smiled at his deductions, but a few seconds of watching the ponies glance at each other uncomfortably prompted him to look back at Cathy.

She answered his silent question with, "You did it again, sir."

He winced and looked back at the silent group of ponies.  "I apologize.  Sensors replaced my position in the perfume industry, so I still tend to go too far to show off my ability.  Just goes to show how none of us are irreplaceable.  Rest assured, your secrets will remain safe.  Call it doctor-patient confidentiality."

After a few moments of silence, there was a knock at the airlock door.  Through a small window, a technician gave Captain Nova a thumbs up and held up a small pad display.

"About damn time," he muttered, reading the short note.  "I apologize again," he told the ponies, "K'tthia will show you to your room.  I am sure you wish to rest and clean up.  After that, you may wander the ship as you please.  Restricted areas are clearly marked and properly secured, but the rest is open to the public."  He signaled to the technician, and the door opened, allowing him to exit.

Berry was almost on his heels, poking her head into the corridor beyond to marvel at the wonders it held.

As the earth pony let herself out of the room, Cathy skittered over to the door, then turned around.  "Please don't be too hard on Halifax.  I've known him for thirty years, and his only fault is a lack of social understanding.  He is honest and trustworthy, and if he says your secrets will remain such, you can trust that they will."

Astral spared one look back at Twilight and Fluttershy.  "Thanks," he replied wearily.  "Well, lead on."

Fluttershy had pulled away from Twilight, looking down in shame.  Twilight did the same, feeling a shame of her own.  She had suspected.  In the burrow, Fluttershy barely had any stores of food,  maybe a little dried grass, and a few odd-looking fruits, but hardly enough to sustain even a regular sized pony for more than a day.  That, combined with the leather and bone used around the small home...  Just one more thing she was responsible for.

"Twuh?"  Fluttershy almost whined.

Twilight looked up quickly, putting on a brave face and smiling for her friend.  She nodded to the door.  "Let's go, Fluttershy.  Once we get you cleaned up, I'll help you brush your mane.  Would that be OK?"

Fluttershy nodded happily, batting at her tangled mane.

"Ok, done!" Berry shouted from the hallway.  The lights in the room dimmed, and a green matrix of light appeared near the ceiling.  In the space of about three seconds, it traveled to the floor, shimmering across the room's occupants.  "Well, according to this screen, there is, 'No harmful contamination detected.'  But the dust levels are off the charts!"

Astral groaned and followed Cathy out of the room.  He dragged Berry out of the chair in front of the scanner station.  An empty box and an instruction manual sealed in plastic sat next to the chair.  "Strawberry!  Don't mess with other ships' computers!"

"I was just fixing the empty panel," she whined, unsure what she did wrong.

Cathy's shell snapped open, revealing the wings beneath.  They buzzed to life and she hovered behind the chair to latch on to the back.  There were depressions in the side of the chair that looked like they were designed to make it easier for her to hold.  With her two front legs, she tapped the controls.  "Preliminary diagnostics show that the sensor controls are properly installed... and calibrated.  Though I must agree with Captain Plane, it can be considered rude at best to modify a ship's system without the captain's approval."

Berry looked up at Astral with hope in her eyes.

"The Captain of the ship you're modifying," Astral sighed.

"Oh," Berry answered sadly.





"Oh, that's nice."  Astral sank back into the soft mattress.  A towel wrapped around his neck and shoulders caught the water that dripped from his damp mane, and another towel, spread underneath him, soaked up the water from his tail.  His coat was mostly dry already.

"I know what you mean."  Radio was stretched out on another bed.  There were four beds in the room, a nightstand bearing a lamp near each one, and a closet and washroom off to one side of the room.  For rental lodgings on a planet, the quarters would be considered cramped, but for guest quarters on a ship, they were downright luxurious.  "It's amazing how easy you forget what warm water feels like."

A simple meal had been delivered to them, a large bowl of salad with a stack of bowls and utensils on the side.  This was also accompanied by a fruit basket.  After eating, the shower order was decided.  Radio went first, because he was likely going to be called to brief Captain Nova on Sevus.  Astral was allowed to go next.  Then Berry, then Twilight, both of whom were currently helping Fluttershy.

They've been in there a while now.  The amount of neglect to her coat, mane, and tail made brushing, and probably scrubbing as well, a slow, tedious process.  Her feathered wing was well preened, no doubt to keep it in flying shape, but that seemed to be the extent of Fluttershy's cleaning habits.  She was lucky that Picus didn't have an equivalent of fleas.

"Berry bomber!"  Strawberry ran out of the washroom surprisingly dry and leapt for the nearest bed.  She caught the edge of the bed hard enough to knock the wind out of her before falling.  "That didn't go as planned," she wheezed.

"No kidding," Radio deadpanned.

"Well, sorry I don't have wings."  She stuck her tongue out at him as she readied herself for another attempt.

"Wings have nothing to do with it."  Radio got up and leapt to the other bed.  Then, he jumped down in front of the nightstand.  With his rear hoof, he pushed the bottom drawer of the nightstand until it clicked.  When he moved his hoof, the drawer slid open, revealing a small platform.  "Try this."

With a smile, Berry hopped up on the platform, then clambered up onto the bed.  Once she was up, her smile quickly turned sour, and she looked down over the edge of the mattress.  "Wait a minute!  That's the kiddie-step, isn't it?"

"Sure is, kiddo!"  Radio ducked the first pillow thrown at him, then flew up to dodge the second one.  Hovering above the bed, he crossed his hooves.  "You need to work on your aim.  Are you even-"

Astral nailed him from behind with a pillow of his own, dropping him to the mattress.  Before the colt could recover, Berry was on top of him, flailing about with her last remaining pillow.

"What's going on out here?"

Astral looked over as Twilight walked out of the washroom.  She stood just outside the door, drying her ears with the end of the towel around her shoulders.  She watched the pillow fight silently as she rubbed her hoof in each ear in short twisty motions.  Her coat was still damp and shiny, and her wings slightly ruffled.

Come to think of it, as much as she's been flying, she hasn't had a chance to preen since they left Canterlot.  It showed too, now that she didn't have her wings hidden under layers of cloth.  Feathers stuck out at odd angles, or dangled loose, almost ready to pop free.

Odd, looking at her standing there, wings plainly visible, wasn't causing Astral a resurgence of bad memories.  Maybe it was the water?  Her mane, slicked back and slightly ruffled by the towel still dripped every few seconds.  The celestials would never even be able to touch water, their broiling bodies would just turn it to steam.

Twilight looked over at the pilot.  "What are you staring at?  And, why are they fighting?"

"I wasn't staring."  Astral adjusted his pillows to account for the missing one, and leaned back.  "I was just wondering why you were still wet.  Berry was pretty much dry when she came out."

"Yeah," Twilight sighed.  "She managed to duck when Fluttershy decided to shake."

Astral bit his lip to keep from laughing.  "Well, it's a good look for you.  Did you finish getting Fluttershy cleaned up?"

"What?" she asked after a slow double-take.

"Fluttershy," Astral repeated, "did you get her cleaned up?"

"No, I heard that," she nodded back to the washroom, "she's finishing up.  Wanted to preen on her own.  What did you say before that?"

"What?"  Astral crossed his hooves.  "I said you looked good."

Twilight let out a small snort, then started laughing.  She leaned on the edge of his bed to keep from falling over.

"Hey!"  He rolled over and started poking her head.  "Now what's the problem?"

"Nothing."  She looked up at him, laughter slowing, quieting until it stopped completely.  "Astral, I'm sorry about earlier.  I shouldn't have blown up on you about that without telling you what was bothering me."

"Whatever."  Astral let his hooves out from under him, flopping flat to the bed.  "As long as you're over it.  I've just accepted you and I fighting as part of the natural order of the universe."

"That's right, it's a fundamental rule of creation, us bickering is mandatory."  She folded her hooves on the mattress.  "You better watch out, you know.  I'm not planning on staying useless forever."  Face to face like they were, Astral saw her smiling.  Not just a pleasant smile, polite and convenient, and not one of temporary satisfaction when things went her way.  For the first time since meeting her, he was seeing her happy in a way that seemed like it might actually last.

"I still don't understand half the things you say or do."  He rested his head on his hooves and found an excuse to look away when Fluttershy entered the room.

If she was a werewolf before, she was a vampire queen now.  The knots and tangles were gone from her mane and tail, and they seemed to have gained a little length, flowing, trailing regally behind her as she walked.  The grime and patchiness was missing from her coat, replaced by smooth yellow.  The variations in fur length were still there, lending a small hint of wild.  Her mouth still hung slightly open.  The cause, her fangs, were visibly cleaner, shining like polished pearl.

Astral raised his eyebrows and looked back at Twilight.  "You sure did a number on her."

The alicorn nodded.  "It took long enough."  She smiled.  "But she looks a little more like she used to."

Fluttershy watched the pillow fight for a moment, then a small smile formed on her face.  She picked up one of the fallen pillows nearby and carried it over to the wall.  She settled down, laying her head on her pillow so she could watch comfortably.

"Oh, Fluttershy," Twilight moved over to her, "You don't have to sleep on the floor.  You can have one of the beds."

"Beh?"  Fluttershy picked her head up.  It took her a moment to remember the word, but when she did, she nodded quickly, looking at the nearest mattress with a smile.  "Beht," she confirmed.

Twilight opened her mouth to respond, but Fluttershy was faster.  She launched herself over the alicorn and the squabbling colt and earth pony, landing on Radio's abandoned bed on the far side of the room.

"Or you could do that,"  Twilight mumbled as she turned around.

Fluttershy tested the mattress with her hoof, poking the soft surface with a look of wonder on her face.  She walked to the edge of the bed and grabbed the comforter before rolling back to the middle of the mattress, wrapping herself in the puffy quilt.

"Beht!"  She happily told Twilight as she walked over.  "Laig beht!"

Twilight climbed up next to the rolled up pegasus, and Astral clapped his hooves to break up the raging pillow fight.  "All right you two, cut it out.  Time for bed."

Radio looked back, and Berry took that opportunity to grab the pillow from his hooves and give him one good whack in the face, toppling the colt off the bed.  "I win," she gloated as he picked himself up.

"Yeah," Radio conceded before slinking off to the remaining bed, "this time."

Astral smiled as he flipped the lights off.  "Goodnight, everyone."

A chorus of good nights, and one grunted approximation answered him.





A high pitched warble disrupted the sound of a piano-violin duet, breaking captain Nova from his relaxed contemplation.  "I need to change that damn doorbell chime," he muttered as he stood up from his chair.  Why were the default tones on electronics always the most disconcerting things?  He smoothed out his clothes and headed towards the door.  He had been expecting an unexpected visit, and had refrained from retiring for the night, opting to listen to music for a while instead.

He opened the door, and looked down at his visitor.  "It seems I made the right choice in staying up, eh, K'tthia?"

Her wings buzzed in a short apology.  "I do not wish to intrude, but I gather you know why I am here?"

"More or less."  He waved the beetle in.  The glow of her shell became readily apparent as she entered the darker quarters.  "Though, I didn't expect you to be this agitated about it.  I could probably read with amount of light you're putting out right now."

Cathy skittered to the middle of the room, and turned around to face the captain.  "Halifax, is it wise to allow a Celestial on board?"

"Straight to the point," Nova chuckled, his own glow becoming slightly brighter with his amusement, "same as ever."  He allowed the door to close, and sat cross-legged on the floor facing his first officer.  "Allow me to be equally blunt.  I know far better than you the sort of threat Celestials pose to living beings around them.  I also know that the creature we met, Miss Sparkle, if I recall, is not a Celestial.  She may be something similar," he gave his glowing earlobe a flick, "but I sense she is far more powerful.  Or has the potential to be, I am not entirely certain."

Cathy's eyes shifted, and Nova was unsure what the expression meant.  "That seems to me an even better reason to worry.  Shouldn't we at least increase security?"

The captain shrugged  "How would that help?  We may be able to fight a Celestial or two while sustaining a few casualties.  A being more powerful than a celestial could most likely tear through the entire ship with impunity, any crew we place in its path would become hollow sacrifices.  Celestials can be fought, but there are beings in the galaxy that shouldn't be challenged.  She may be one of them."

"Are you referring to the ancients?  Do you believe her to be one?"

Nova shook his head.  "I am sure she isn't."

Cathy's head tilted in a universal gesture of confusion.  "Then what?"

"The reason she shuldn't be challenged, my dear, K'tthia," Nova leaned forward, and whispered, "is because she sits on the committee that determines our budget."

Cathy's eyes shifted again, even though she tried to stop it, and the captain straightened up with a laugh.

"I knew that would get you."  He shook his head, heaving a sigh.  "Jokes aside, she smells familiar, and I feel it is in everyone's best interest if we assist her however possible.  Yours, mine, this ship and crew's... possibly even the galaxy's."

"That gut instinct of yours seems to be having delusions of grandeur."  Her shell shifted slightly blue, a shrug.  "Can't say its the first time."

Nova offered a shrug of his own.  "Was I wrong about Rhyllia?  How long did it take to scrub your shell clean after that?"

"We are not discussing that again, sir."  She let out an audible sigh, one of the few expressive gestures that she naturally shared with her captain and the rest of the crew.  "And what did you mean when you said she smelled familiar?"

"Ah, that."  He pushed himself up and head for an alcove off to the side of his quarters.  "It's quite the story, and a touch of a long one.  Let me get you a drink, and I'll tell you about the time I met the Sun and the Moon."
> A crew divided... Temporarily
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------

		It was a thin sliver of light, coming through the door, but it was a sliver that landed square in Astral's face.  He lifted a hoof to fend it off before opening one eye.  The door to the hallway was open slightly, just a crack, letting in some of the artificial light beyond.  Fluttershy grunted quietly as she tried to pry the door open.  It was hard to grip, and there was no handle to hold.

Astral crawled out of bed.  The rustle of blankets distracted her, and she looked back.  The door slipped from her hooves, shutting itself tight once more.

"You ok?" He asked her.

She growled.  Astral wasn't too surprised, she did a lot of that, but it was her stomach making the noise this time.  She worked her mouth for a moment.  "Fuh-ood," she managed slowly.  "Wa- food."

Astral nodded.  "Ok, let's go get some."  Cathy mentioned a cafeteria when she was showing them to the room, it shouldn't be too hard to find.

He tapped the panel next to the door.

Fluttershy jumped when the door slid open.  When she recovered from her surprise, she looked over at the panel Astral hit.  She lifted a hoof to the control and hesitated for a moment.

"It won't bite," Astral reassured her.

She touched it gently and the door closed.  With a nod and a grunt, she touched it again, strolling through with confidence when it opened.

Astral was about to follow her when she came barreling back into the room.  She slammed into him, knocking him to the floor, and darted under the nearest bed, barely squishing herself flat enough to fit.  With hushed, panicked grunts, she motioned for Astral to join her.

Astral groaned as he got up.  To Fluttershy's horror, he walked out the door instead of hiding.  The two tall lizard creatures that she was hiding from stopped at the door when Astral waved to them.

He asked them a question, and they answered.  Fluttershy blushed in embarrassment and started to crawl out of hiding.  If they could talk, they couldn't be monsters, could they?  Their conversation with the grey unicorn was short, and ended with them pointing down the hall with their stubby, sharp-looking, claws.

Astral looked over at her when she joined him.  "It's ok, those were Curaxxans.  They're like humans with scales."

Fluttershy tilted her head.  "Hoo-min?"

"Right," Astral scratched his neck, "you haven't seen those either.  Think Captain Nova, but shorter."

Fluttershy looked at him for a moment before answering, "Oh."

Astral could tell she was still confused, but he didn't press the issue.  They would most likely come across a human soon enough.  He would just point it out then.

He nodded down the hall in the direction the Curaxxans had pointed.  "Let's go.  Food's this way."





Radio stared at the ceiling and sighed.  He was rested and ready for a new day, but it was only about two in the morning, Earth central time, since this was an earth vessel.  Even in the Canterlot time zone that the shuttle was set for, it was only about four-thirty.  What time was it on Furia?

Was this one of those things you have to get used to with space travel?  Sleeping and waking without the benefit of a sunrise or sunset?  He looked at the clock again.  He only got three hours of sleep.

With a sigh, he looked back at the ceiling.  Actually, that was a sufficient amount of sleep for him.  He didn't really need that much unless he was injured, or was being lazy.  He could snooze a whole day away if he felt lazy, but he always woke up every three or four hours.  Usually, he just stayed up later so he could wake up at a normal time.

A sudden soft glow of light on the other side of the room grabbed his attention.  It disappeared quickly, as Berry threw a blanket over it, but the damage was done.  Radio was out of his bed and pulling at her blanket before she could mutter, "oops."

Once he tugged the blanket out of her grip, he could see the source of the light.  It was a pad, and on the screen was a guest menu, describing the schedule of various ship's services and events.

He looked up at Berry.  "You couldn't sleep either, huh?"

The earth pony shook her head.  "No.  I bet it's already morning back home, but I left my pad on the shuttle."

"Where did you get a pad?"

"Granpa made it for me."  She pointed at a listing on the schedule.  "This looks interesting, can we go see?"

"Of course not!"  Radio spun the pad around and read the listing out loud, "Transport tube number three, undergoing repairs until five A.M."  He shook his head.  "Berry, that isn't meant to be a spectator event.  It's only on the schedule so nopony tries to use the thing."

"Oh," Berry said sadly.  "It still sounds interesting."

Radio rolled his eyes.  "Ok, maybe we can walk by it."  He held a hoof up in front of her.  "But only to look, you have to promise you won't touch anything."

"Oh, ok," she whined.

Radio looked back at the schedule, quickly finding a listing that interested him.  "Then," he tapped the screen, "we head here."  He chuckled as he read the description.  "This is going to be fun."





Twilight groaned as she wrapped the pillow around her head.  An insistent beeping noise was demanding she wake up much earlier than she wanted to.  Was it morning already?  If so, which planet's morning?

The beeping ended, replaced by a scratchy knocking sound.  "Miss Sparkle?" Cathy called from the other side of the door.  "It is currently five A.M.    You said now would be a good time to speak with you regarding your request for medical equipment for your shuttle."

"Oh, that," the alicorn groaned.  She forced herself from the soft coziness of the bed and started fumbling about for her robes.  At first, she milled about in the dark, taking a moment to remember that she could use magic.  The application of a simple spell helped her find her robes and the light switch.

She threw the robes on, but before turning the lights on, she checked to see if everypony else was sleeping.  Instead, she found that they were all missing.  She flipped the lights on and double-checked.  Yep, she was alone.  "What the hay?  Where'd they go?"  She shook her head as she opened the door, giving the beetle outside a nod in greeting.  "Good morning, Cathy."

The insectoid officer replied with a nod of her own.  "Good morning, Miss Sparkle."

"Twilight, please."  The pony yawned.

Cathy nodded again.  "If you don't mind me saying so, Twilight, you seem rather disheveled.  You did mean five A.M. Canterlot time when we spoke earlier, yes?"

"Um, no?"  Twilight rubbed her eyes.  "I thought this ship ran on earth central, so I converted eight a.m. Canterlot Main City Time to Earth Central Standard time."

"Then I have woken you three hours early.  Forgive me, I will let you return to sleep."  Cathy skittered around in place then started to walk away.

"Wait."  Twilight flipped the lights back off and closed the door behind her.  "I'm already up, and you went through the trouble of getting up at this hour to speak with me.  We can talk now."

Cathy skittered around again.  "I thank you for your consideration, but I do not sleep.  At least, not in your sense of the word.  Neither of the talkan species do.  The Kikrid have an annual resting period lasting approximately ten days, whereas the Krikid make do with periods of active meditation varying in length and frequency from individual to individual."

"Is that so?"  Twilight shook her head.  "I never realized there were intelligent beings capable of going without sleep without magical assistance."

"We all require rest," Cathy countered.  "In that, there are no differences between us.  But the Talkan are a psychically gifted bunch.  As such, the minds are wired to rest a bit differently."

"Psychically gifted?" Twilight asked.  "Does that mean you're a telepath?"

"Not personally.  Most of the Kikrid have empathic abilities at the very least, but I have no extramental capabilities to speak of."  The beetle made a clicking noise that could be mistaken for giggles.  "This led me to study the communication methods of other races and eventually brought me here.  All in all, I am pleased with the way my life has transpired."  Her eyes shifted in a pseudo blink.  "Though, enough about me.  You are probably anxious to discuss your medical supplies."

"Oh, not at all," Twilight replied quickly.  "I find it fascinating to learn more about other species, and we have plenty of time."

"Indeed, the trip to Sevus will take approximately seventeen more hours to complete.   I can recommend several texts that carry more information about Talka than I could convey.  As for the supplies, we have a commissary that is open to guests.  There are many types of goods available, and the captain has already extended your crew a credit towards essential items as thanks for the detailed information you provided regarding planet Sevus."

"That was nice of him."  Twilight chewed her lip for a moment.  "You know, I should really let Radio pick out the medical goods."  Thinking about it, was there really anything she should pick out?  Astral could cover general supplies better than she could, and parts and tools were most likely Berry's realm from now on.  Wait, no, she wasn't going to get caught in this again.  There were plenty of things that she was perfectly capable of picking out, and there was one thing that stood out.  "This may sound odd, but are there any weapons for sale?"

"There are," Cathy confirmed.  "This is an earth ship, such a question is not unusual.  In addition to being available in certain shops, there is a system set up for trading pre-owned weapons between individuals.  I will show you where to access it."

"Thank you."  Twilight followed as Cathy started down the hall.  "But, is there somewhere I could make a call to Canterlot first?"





Astral watched in awe as Fluttershy went through the buffet.  Several others joined him in his confusion and wonder.  After getting over the shock at the large numbers of unusual beings, Fluttershy recognized the purpose of the room they were in.  It was a cafeteria, a restaurant with a buffet style lineup of food along two walls, and simple tables filling the rest of the space.

She had gone to the start of the line and grabbed a tray from the stack, but then, she skipped the plates and bowls, heading straight to the food.  She was very careful, delicate even, about using the provided serving utensils, but the sheer amount of food she was gathering overshadowed any manners she displayed.

By the time they sat down, her tray was piled high with fruits, vegetables and pastries of at least four planetary origins.  Astral's single plate, in stark contrast, held a single sweet pastry and some sliced kiwi, an exotic fruit from earth that smelled like it would be good for an early breakfast.

Fluttershy didn't immediately dig into her food, much to Astral's surprise.  Instead, she spent a few moments inspecting it, searching the tray for something.

With a smile, Astral held up his fork.  "I haven't used it yet."

With a barked noise that sounded like a thanks, she took the fork and tried to remember how to hold it.  It took her a few moments, but by her third try, she had a large fruit impaled on the end of it and was able to eat it in clean bites.

Astral took a bite of his pastry as she downed another fruit.  The food here was pretty good, but not good enough to warrant her rapid scarfing.  Then again, she was eating food that she didn't have to catch first for the first time in years.  No, wait, she ate with them earlier, the salad that was delivered to the room.  She was much more calm when she was eating then.

Astral shifted in his seat as she started to eat faster, each bite growing more desperate than the last.  Halfway through the tray, her stomach growled, and she shoved the tray away with a mangled groan.  Astral caught it before it went off the edge, but now, he knew the problem.

"Wait here," he told her.  He emptied his plate onto the tray as she dropped her face to the table top, hair hiding all but her drooping, tufted ears.

Astral stepped away from the table and headed back to the buffet tables.  Given what he saw on Picus, he wasn't surprised that fruits and pastries weren't filling enough for her. He went straight to the last buffet, the only one he and Fluttershy skipped on their first run through.  The smell emanating from the food there was strong enough that he had to take a moment to get used to it before walking up.

"Two of each," he requested as he approached, setting his plate down so the server behind the table could fill it.

"Huh?"  The human cook looked up from his grill.  "Yer a pony," he observed with some confusion, scratching his hands against a grease-splattered apron.  "What does a pony want with steak and eggs?"

"Ponies eat eggs," Astral retorted, probably a little coarser than necessary, but this guy looked the sort to appreciate bluntness.  "Besides, it's not for me."

The human shrugged.  "Not my business anyway.  Two of each ya said?"  Without waiting for Astral to confirm, he slapped two steaks down on Astral's plate, still sizzling and popping, straight from the grill.  This was followed by fresh sunny side up eggs, one a regular chicken egg, the other a speckled blue in the center.  This was followed by two strips of bacon, then another two strips of lighter-colored much flatter bacon.  That was followed by another two strips of bacon that were a rich purple in color.  The cook handled it much more gently than the other foods.  He then refilled the empty spaces on the grill before pointing to a small vat of boiling oil off to the side.  "Fried chicken and Rilian Bat have another four minutes to go.  You want to wait, or come back?"

Astral brought a hoof to his nose to ward off the overpowering stench.  "I think I'll come back."  What was that?  It didn't smell like any meat he ever smelled before.  Was it that oddly colored egg?

The cook noticed the pony's discomfort and grabbed the purple bacon off the plate with a pair of tongs.  "I've been gettin' that reaction all day.  Seems like a fifty-fifty chance between hate it and love it.  It's Curraxan bug-boar.  One of our crew-members hunted the beast himself when we were picking up supplies on Solra.  I've got nearly three tons of this meat, and only about three kilos get eaten a day."

"Leave it on there then," Astral said, motioning for him to put the bacon back.  "I'm not the one eating it."

The human shrugged again and dropped it.  The bacon released a small puff of smoke when it hit the plate, making Astral choke and gag.  He stumbled away from the table, dragging the plate along in his magic and keeping it a good distance away from him.

Fluttershy's ears perked up the moment he neared their table.  She slowly lifted her head, sniffing around and as he set the plate down in front of her.  She looked down at the plate full of meat and quickly looked away with a defiant sound.

"Hey now, calm down there."  Astral grabbed her shoulder.  She was biting her lower lip hard enough to draw blood.  "What's wrong?"

She whimpered something, so quietly that Astral couldn't make it out.

"Whatever it is, you can tell me."

"I... Muh, monsht," she choked out in a whisper.  "Monster."  It was a sad, resigned statement, and she followed it with a sigh, laying her head on her hoof on the table.  She stared longingly at the plate of meat for a moment, then buried her face in the fur of her leg.

Astral looked down at the plate he brought.  True, it wasn't a normal meal for a pony, but it wasn't all that unusual for any other race as long as you ignored portion sizes.  "No, you're not, Fluttershy."  He let go of her and sat down.  "You aren't a normal pony, but you aren't a monster."  He grabbed one of the steaks.  "You know, I'm not a normal pony either."  He took a bite and forced it down, trying not to gag on the rich, heavy taste.  Fortunately, it was regular beef from earth, and not some random alien monster.  "See?  There's nothing to be ashamed of."

Fluttershy glanced up at him, then over at the rest of the room.  Of all the odd creatures, human, reptilian, and otherwise, not a single one spared a glance their way.  That, and the hunger, mostly the hunger, Astral guessed, seemed to be enough convincing for her.  She looked back at the plate, slowly licking her blood from her lips, and Astral nudged the plate towards her.





"Hey, Radio, where do electronic parts come from?"  Berry followed the colt through the halls of the Solomon's Ring.  The repair had been rather boring.  The crew came by and replaced a burnt out component in a control panel with an identical part.  They were done in about forty seconds, and the rest of the time was spent testing and double-checking the rest of the lift.  There was no scrounging, no jerry-rigging, none of the fun stuff that she was used to with electronic repairs.

"Well," the pegasus cleared his throat, "when two computers love each other very much.."

"Huh?"  Berry shook her head.  She knew the pieces of technology littering the Sevus junkyards had to come from somewhere, and she shouldn't have been surprised that there would be places that didn't know a shortage of parts, but she didn't expect it to be so boring.  She sped up a little to match Radio's pace.  "So the computers have AI systems?"

The colt stopped and looked over at her.  "What?  No, that was a joke, a bad one, but still a joke."

"Oh."  Berry shuffled her hooves.  "I don't get it."

"That's probably for the best."  Radio pointed to a hologram in front of a door down the hall.  "Besides, we're here."

"Where?"  Berry didn't recognize the animal that the hologram represented, but after a moment she realized it was a stuffed toy, all stitched together with little button eyes.  "You never told me where we were going."

"We're going to a toy drive," Radio answered, walking up to the hologram.  "Hospitals hold them all the time.  It's basically a way to gather a bunch of toys to hand out to sick foals and children, especially if they have a contagious disease, and their toys have to be burned because of contamination."

Berry stared at the hologram for a moment.  "So, they're gathering toys for the foals on Sevus?"

"Most likely."  Radio pointed at the hologram.  "This is a teddy bear, so it was probably made by someone from earth, and the stitching is really good.  It ought to last an entire childhood, then maybe go on to the next generation."

"Who makes the toys?"

"Everypony."  Radio smiled and opened the door.  A shrill whistle sounded inside, and a dozen assorted aliens seated at a table in the center of the large room sprang into action.  Scraps of fabric were pulled from piles, cut with scalpels, and sewn together.  It was a race, one determined by speed and dexterity with a needle and thread.  "It's good practice for stitching and fine motor skills."

Around the outside of the room, smaller tables were set up in a similar manner.  Groups of three to four sat around them and talked as they worked at a much more leisurely pace.  Sometimes, someone would get up to swap fabric from another table, and sometimes a few of them would stop to compare printed patterns.

"Wow!"  Berry ran over to the nearest table as a human woman held up her finished toy, a little grey goose with a straw hat.  "That looks just like the geese old Mare Maroony keeps in the bell tower!  Only hers were mean and didn't wear hats."

"You like it?" the lady asked.  "It's my first time making one without a pattern.  It's mother goose."  She looked up as Radio approached.  "There aren't any ponies on the crew, are you two the guests we picked up at that terraforming station?"

The colt shook his head.  "We're from the shuttle that got picked up last night."

The human nodded.  "The ones who relayed the information about Sevus.  We already have the pharmaceutical plants manufacturing extra medications for respiratory problems based on the report your medical officer wrote.  He was quite thorough."

"Thank you."  Radio smiled proudly.  "That's me, by the way, the medical officer?  I wrote that report."

"Is that so?" Asked a human male from a nearby table.  Young and confident looking, with short hair that looked like it belonged to a hedgehog, he leaned his chair back to look at the colt.  "You don't look old enough to be a doctor.  Then, this shuttle of yours could only afford a nurse?"

"Hey," the colt said with a smirk, "I could say the same thing about you.  When do you graduate medical school?  Or have they even let you in yet?"

"For your information, I am a full-fledged doctor of xeno-vetrinary medicine."  He crossed his arms.  "What are you?"

"Trauma surgeon."  The colt's wings twitched.  He wanted to cross his hooves like the human was doing with his arms, but that would require him to sit down.  Lucky bipeds.  He pointed at his unfinished toy.  "I notice your Furian floatfish is in the dormant summer stage."

"I just haven't stuffed it yet," the human said defensively.  "Impressive that you recognized it."

"They're rare, but I'm from Furia.  You won't find a pegasus on the planet that hasn't gone floatfishing at least once."  Radio looked at the table's contents.  "No pattern?"

"I prefer to wing it," the human chuckled, "if you'll pardon the pun."

"Yeah?"  Radio glanced over  at the main table, where it looked like a four-armed creature was about to win this round of the race.  "You know, I've got an idea..."





Twilight smiled as she entered the officer's lounge.  Quieter than the other common areas she had seen so far, it was set up more like a coffee shop than anything else.  The central area was filled with tall single-legged tables and matching chairs made of shiny white plastic.  Off to one side was a simple coffee bar and a glass case for pastries.  The other walls were lined with low, wooden tables with cushioned armchairs on either side.

After stopping at the counter and ordering a hot chocolate from the pink-skinned waitress, she headed to one of the shorter tables in the back.  Not only did the seats look more comfortable, they were at a more reasonable height for a pony's stature.

The moment she sat down, the human two tables over looked up from his pad.  "Miss Sparkle?" he asked, setting down the electronic device.

She stared at him for a moment before recognizing him from the video call she made a few minutes ago.  "Dr. Margozzi?  I'm sorry, I didn't recognize you.  You look different without your glasses."

"I get that a lot.  My wife is pushing me to get my eyes repaired, but I like wearing glasses."  Twilight started to stand up, and he held up a hand to stop her.  "I needed to stretch my legs anyway."  He got up and walked over to the alicorn's table.  "So," he mused as he sat down, "you're an instructor at Luna Academy.  A high ranking one at that."

Twilight touched a hoof to the hem of her robe.  The thin silver and gold threads spaced out through the lining denoted the ranking, a tiny detail, and an obscure one.  Several other instructors held the same ranking, but only Luna, or her double, had a higher rank, and thus solid gold thread.  "You're familiar with the uniform.  Are you an Academy graduate?"

He nodded.  "Twenty-two years ago next month."

"That was before I started teaching then."  By a long ways.  Twilight took a sip of her drink, then set it on the table.  Odd to think of a decade or two as a long time when you're millenia old.  "So, you had the item I was looking for, how much are you looking to get for it?"

"I think eight hundred bits sounds fair."  He shrugged.  "I'm pretty sure the conversion rates have changed since I left Canterlot, but it isn't that big a deal."

"Oh."  Twilight pulled a pouch from her robe pocket, suddenly wishing she had asked Silver to withdraw more cash from her account before they left.  She wasn't expecting to make any large purchases, much less in cash, so she only had gotten enough to give all three ponies leaving Canterlot two hundred bits.  Though, the intended split was two hundred and fifty for her, two hundred and fifty for Mac, and one hundred for Astral.  Were there any banks on board this ship?  "I have six hundred bits on me.  I honestly didn't know what it would cost."

"I'm willing to negotiate, but six hundred is far too low.  I guess you didn't do much research on this.”  The human brought a hand to his chin.  "Though, I may have a way for you to make up the difference."

"Uh..."

The doctor straightened up in his chair.  "Wait, no," he said quickly, "I didn't mean that like it sounded.  I just need some help for my daughter's birthday.  It's tomorrow, and I wanted to make it special, so she remembers a little more than that mommy and daddy both had to work."

"Oh."  Twilight chuckled nervously.  "Of course, that's what you meant.  How old is she?"

"She's five, turning six, and she's lived her entire life on this ship.  Well, except for a vacation or two moonside, but she probably barely remembers that."  He dug out a wallet and flipped it open to a holo-projector.  "This is her."  He showed Twilight a picture of him holding a little girl while standing next to a human woman who shared the girl's hairstyle, if not the color.

"Then that must be your wife next to you?" Twilight asked, pointing.  "Are you both doctors?"

"No."  He shook his head as he put his wallet away.  "She's a pilot, a good one, and she left for Sevus on our advance shuttle yesterday.  We meet up with them later today, and she gets to spend the day with Sarah after that.  Unfortunately, that's when my job begins.  I'll be overseeing the equipment setup team, and that could take the whole day."

Twilight nodded.  So far, she understood the situation, except for one little thing.  "Where, exactly, do I fit into all this?"





"Done!" Shouted the human vet, slapping his hands on the table after tying off the last thread on his plush Talkan Goomhound.

"Done!" Shouted Radio less than a second later, snipping the excess thread off the last stitch of his stuffed tortoise.

"Yes!"  He clapped his hands and leaned back in the chair.  "Man, that was tough.  I wasn't expecting you to be able to use your wings like that."

Radio pulled his wings away from his toy, revealing an identical tortoise concealed behind his feathers.  "Yeah, it surprises a lot of people."

The human lifted his feet, letting his chair slam back to the ground.  "You made two?!"

At a neighboring table, Berry struggled with a pair of scissors under the watchful eyes of two human women and a short blue creature with a bald, crested head and giant, jet black eyes.  The other women had referred to this creature as Mary.

"Maybe if you held them more like this?" Suggested one woman, with brown hair.

"Perhaps like this?" wondered the other, blond hair showing streaks of artificial color.

"Maybe it just isn't possible?"  The first woman shrugged.

The second shook her head.  "I've seen a pony use scissors before, and it wasn't a unicorn using magic."

Berry tried adjusting her grip according to the contradicting advice and ended up flinging them past the silent blue spectator when she tried to actually cut with them.

Seemingly unfazed by the proximity of the flying cutting implement, the blue being blinked and lifted a two fingered hand to a thin horizontal line of seemingly decorative metal on her lapel.  The metal was pulled free and lifted to the creature's small mouth and she made a noise like a trilling series of computer beeps.  The metal lit up in several spots, points of light changing color rapidly as information was processed.  "Perhaps," said a synthesized voice, "a scalpel would be safer after all?"

"Ooh!"  Berry smacked one hoof on top of the other.  "How about a laser pen?  I've used one of those before."





Four steaks, a dozen eggs, and two kilos of bug-boar later, Fluttershy finally seemed full.  Fried chicken seemed to be a new favorite dish, and bacon topped cupcakes were apparently a thing on earth.  Astral had even tried the chicken.  It was a lot lighter than the beef and he really liked the coarse, crunchy breadcrumb coating it had.  The breading would probably be even better with some sort of vegetarian center.

"So," he asked Fluttershy as she wiped her plate clean with a napkin, "is that enough for you?"

Fluttershy nodded her answer, then stacked her plate with the other seven.  She was still gnawing on a bone from a Rilian bat leg, and it didn't look like she was about to give it up any time soon.

"Just remember, we can come back anytime you want."  Astral stood and stretched.  "You don't have to worry about going hungry."





"Sarah?"  Dr. Margozzi sat down on the bed slowly, easing his weight on to it so he wouldn't jar his daughter awake too abruptly.  He eased her dark brown hair away from her ear.  "Sarah?  Honey, it's morning, and there's someone here that wants to say happy birthday."

The little girl stirred, but didn't wake, pulling her covers tighter.  The light panels on the walls were slowly getting brighter, mimicking the sunrise streaming through curtains, and Sarah buried her face in the pillow.

Margozzi leaned in close and whispered, "remember how you asked for a pony?"

That woke the girl up quickly.  She rubbed her eyes and looked up expectantly.

"I guess you do."  Her father patted her head.  "Now, do you remember how I told you there was another type of pony?"

She nodded.  "You said the one I wanted was just a small horse, and the other was an alien."

"I said intelligent being, but close enough."  He looked over at the door, waving in their guest.  "I want you to meet someone."

Twilight walked in and stopped a meter short of the bed, giving a slight bow.  "Good morning, Sarah," she said with a smile, "and happy birthday."

With a gasp, the little girl looked up at her father.  "It talks?"

"She talks," her father corrected.  "And why don't you ask her?"

She nodded quickly and looked back at the pony.  She thought for a moment, having already had one question answered, she needed another.  "Do ponies have names?"

"They do," the unicorn answered.  "My name is Twilight Sparkle."

The girl giggled.  "That's a funny name."

"I suppose," Twilight said with a shrug, "but to me, Sarah Margozzi sounds even funnier."

Sarah giggled even harder, fidgeting with barely contained excitement.  "I like your colors.  Green's my favorite, but purple is nice too."

Twilight tilted her head in curiosity, exaggerating the motion and earning a fresh round of giggles.  "And why is green your favorite?"

"Cause it's the color of mommy's uniform," she answered, "duh."

"Right, duh.  How silly of me."  Twilight gave her head a light smack.  "So, what do you want to do today?"

Sarah shrugged.  "I don't know."

"Well, how about we get some breakfast, then you can decide."

The little girl twisted her lips to one side, then held both arms out in front of her.  "Ok."  She made a grabby motion with her hands, keeping her arms high.  "Ride."

"Sarah," her father sighed, "I told you, they're not horses."

Twilight held up her hoof.  "No, It's fine, she doesn't look too heavy."  Twilight walked up to the bed, standing sidelong against it.  "Just be careful not to-"  Sarah jumped onto her back, wrapping her arms around her neck to keep from falling off.  Twilight stumbled, but caught herself before toppling from the sudden shift.  "Ack!"

"Sorry," the doctor apologized for his daughter.  "I guess she's pretty excited about this."

The alicorn coughed lightly, using her hoof to loosen the little girl's grip.  "I can tell."





Astral waved to Berry and Radio as he headed for the door to their room.  They were heading down the hallway from the opposite direction, with smiles on their faces, and some sort of grey lump on Berry's head.

Astral glanced over at Fluttershy.  She was still gnawing on the bat bone, but she stopped and waved as well.  They waited at the door for their crewmates to catch up.

"Hey!" Radio was the first to make it to them, leaving Berry behind without even thinking about it.  "You went shopping?"

Astral gave the mylar bags he towed along a little shake.  "Just a little.  You need to go pick out medical supplies when you get a chance.  We've got credit, and I want to make sure we're stocked, especially with radiation meds, hyperoxy-tabs, and the like."

Radio nodded.  "Standard space-faring assortment, I can do that."

Berry sprinted to catch up, her unidentified head ornament revealing itself to be a small grey goose wearing a straw sunhat.  The pink ribbon around the hats brim matched the earth pony's coat.  "Radio and I went sewing, and we made some new friends, and look what one of the nice ladies from Radiology made for me!"  She bobbed her head, bouncing the stuffed animal in front of Astral.

Astral picked it up for a closer look, chuckling at the button eyes.  "We used to raise geese on Serus, but what's with the hat?"

"Cu, coo."  Fluttershy mumbled, reaching for the toy.  Astral let her take it, and she looked it over with a smile.  "Coot."  She nodded and set it back on Berry's head with a small pat.  "Cute."

"See," Berry looked back at Radio, "I told you they'd like it."  She added a whispered, "meanie," making the colt roll his eyes.  Behind him, down the hall, Berry saw the last member of their group walking down the hall.  "Miss Sparkle!"  The earth pony waved wildly.  "Come look at this!"

With a sigh, the alicorn waved back and started trudging towards them, dragging along a small metal case, a long cardboard box, and two more mylar bags like the ones Astral had.  Each step was slow, worn out, like she was walking through tar, and her bleary eyes belied the exhaustion she felt.

Astral raised an eyebrow as she finally made it to them.  "Well, you look like crap."

"Thanks," she muttered, walking past Astral.  "I'd hate to think I look like I feel."  She walked straight to the door control and pressed the side of her face against the panel, letting out another weary sigh as the door slid open.

"What happened to her?" Radio asked as she wobbled into the room and collapsed on the blanket he left on the floor earlier.

"No clue."  Astral motioned everyone in, and waited until he closed the door behind himself to ask, "Twi, are you alright?  Normally you would bite my head off for a comment like that."

"I'll do it after a nap."  With a groan, she worked her way out of her Academy robes and tossed the velvety fabric onto the nearest bed.  "Human foals have too much energy in the morning."

Astral set his items on the opposite bed.  "Care to explain that?"

"Maybe later."  She moved her head, sluggishly, like a snake on a cold morning, to indicate his shopping bags.  "You made another candy run?"

"You catch on quick."  Astral hopped on the bed with a chuckle.  "Everybody, up here, form a circle."  When the only response was an exchange of glances, he added, "Captain's orders."  He patted the bed, and urged them along with a, "hup-hup."

That was more than enough of an explanation for Berry, who responded with an enthusiastic, "ok," before leaping for the bed.  Her top half made it onto the bedspread, but her dangling flank slowly dragged her back to the floor, landing tail-first and falling backwards.  Undaunted by the failure, she waved at the nearest pony, Fluttershy.  "A little help here?"

Blinking, Fluttershy looked left and right, convinced the earth pony had to be waving to somepony else.  Seeing that she was the only possibility, Fluttershy tapped a hoof to her chest.  "Eh?"

Berry nodded quickly, then rolled onto her hooves.  "I just need a little boost, so give me a shove whenever you're read-  Eeeeh!"

Too eager to help, or perhaps, too excited about being needed after so long, Fluttershy moved to Berry's side and flicked her up with her feathered wing.  The pink pony sailed up and over the bed, crashing to the floor on the other side.

"Berry!"  Twilight bolted upright, while Astral and Radio leaned over to check on her.

"I'm ok," she groaned, raising a hoof in a valiant attempt to appear strong while lying on her back next to a poorly located pillow.  "Next time, less shove."  Fluttershy ran around the bed, to help the earth pony up.  Worried, crooning noises escaped her throat as she checked the smaller mare for injuries.  Berry giggled as she was jostled about.  "I'm really ok," she insisted, "I've fallen from worse heights than that."

Twilight's shoulders sunk in time with her sigh, worry for Berry's well-being leaving her, though the adrenaline rush would not.  She made her way to the bed, and crawled up next to Radio, opposite Astral.  Berry and Fluttershy joined them, the pegasus holding out a hoof to help Berry scramble up, then easily climbing up on her own.  They made their way across the bed, between Astral and Twilight, completing the small circle.

Astral looked around at them, and each one met his gaze.  Berry, the family he never knew.  Fluttershy and Twilight, ponies out of time, each beyond normal in their own way.  Radio, the headstrong, soft-hearted supersoldier.  He sighed and looked at Twilight one last time.  She nodded to prod him on, and he sighed.

"I feel-"  The unusually high tambour of his voice stopped him, and he cleared his throat.  "I admit, I may have broken into the candy ahead of time."  Actually, it was the fact that he spent almost the entire time walking with fluttershy talking, explaining all the new things they came across.  It was more talking than he had done in a very long time.  "Anyway, I feel like I should say something profound and leader-like right about now, but to be honest, I feel that speeches should be Twilight's job.  I haven't known any of you all that long, but you are all amazing ponies with unique abilities.  Radio, Berry, I am astounded by how quick you both agreed to follow me on a quest I don't fully understand myself.  I had to be hounded into this position, but you guys are able to put your trust in me and each other so easily that I am quite frankly embarassed by my own reluctance."

"You have nothing to be ashamed of," Twilight answered him.  "If I had handled things better on Philomena, we might have been able to trust each other a little easier."  Twilight looked over at the younger crew members.  "Even so, he surprised me by agreeing to help in the first place.  But like you two, once he made his decision, he put everything he had into this mission, without doubt, without hesitation, and without mention of compensation."

Astral raised his hoof to her.  "No, there will be mention of compensation, there will be lots of mention, you can be sure of that."  He lowered the hoof quickly with a sigh.  "Even so, this job is quickly shaping up to be one of the most interesting I've ever taken on, and the most fulfilling.  I think I would be able to live with not getting paid for it."  His eyes made the rounds again, each pony around sat comfortably, listening to what he had to say.  Radio leaned back on a pillow he folded up a few times.  Berry sat straight, a pillow between her hooves and her little plush toy on top of it.  Twilight had folded her hooves under her.  And Fluttershy sat next to her, close enough for their sides to touch.  "So, thank you all for your hard work."

Radio scoffed loudly, rolling his eyes as everyone turned his way.  "Dude, Berry and I sat on the shuttle the entire time you and Twilight were fighting your way across the planet of the monsters.  You two did all the work."

"You're kind of right."  Astral leveled a glare at the colt and lifted the pillow beside him.  "But I meant all the work you did before that, so learn to take a compliment."

Radio lifted his in response, rolling back as he yanked it out from under himself.  "Bring it on."  He jerked his head towards Berry.  "She's on my side this time."

The pink pony glanced down at the pegasus, then at the pillow she held.  "Yeah!" she agreed happily, raising it like a shield.  "I'm on his side."

"Then," Astral pointed across the bed, at Twilight and Fluttershy, "I guess they're on mine."

"I surrender," Berry said quickly, dropping her pillow.

"Hah!"  Radio snatched up the abandoned fluff weapon, holding it out in a defiant pose, a pirate pointing his cutlass down at a stronger foe.  "You can't scare me off that easy.  I'll take on the galaxy alone if I have to."

Astral chewed his lip for a moment, then raised an eyebrow.  "If I can't scare you off, can I buy you off with chocolate?"  He looked in one of his shopping bags.  "Milk chocolate with mint, white chocolate with orange, caramel filled-"

"Cookies and cream?" the colt asked quickly, pillow never wavering.

"Done!"  Astral scooped a foil wrapped bar out of the sack and held it out.

Radio tossed one pillow behind him and used his newly freed hoof to snap up the offered candy.  The other pillow, he pulled it to his chest as he fell forward, landing on top of it, and using it to prop himself up as he used his hooves to tear at his candy's packaging.

"Well, that was easy."  Astral dug out some more packages.  "All right, who wants what, we've got a lot to choose from."

Everypony surged forward at once, grabbing, inspecting and swapping rapidly.  Eventually, Astral dumped everything in a pile in the middle of the bed.

"I call mint," Twilight called out, magically flipping any candies with a label facing down.

Berry carefully pored over each one, trying to compare it to those around it.  "I don't know how to pick.  Which one's good?"

Fluttershy sniffed intently until she found one she liked and struck out like a snake, impaling it, foil and all, on her fangs.  She looked down at it for a moment before smiling wide, and everypony shared a much needed laugh.





After an hour of talking, laughing, and indulging in the finest cheap candy earth had to offer, most of the crew lay sleeping.  At least, Astral assumed it was sleep, and not a collective sugar coma.  They rested where they fell, the five of them crammed into the same oversized mattress with little room to spare.

Each pony was surrounded by bits of foil and paper, and each had one other item with them, worn like a badge.  About twenty minutes into the candy, Twilight brought out the gifts she bought.

Radio received a black and red pair of saddlebags specifically made for pegasi.  They were small, but would hold his scanner along with a few other supplies , and buckle together in a way that wouldn't move around or get in the way during flight.

Fluttershy had gotten a new spear, one with a proper scabbard, an etched meteor pattern blade, and a matching knife.  There was an adjustable strap that would let her sling it over her back, and the extendable, reinforced carbon fiber shaft had a lifetime, no-questions-asked, warranty.  "Which we guarantee you won't need," as the included paperwork boasted.  Still, Twilight had gone and given it some extra enchantments.

Berry's was kind of cheesy, but she loved it.  It was a cheap set of basic tools.  Astral promised to make sure they were all upgraded to proper tools eventually, but she was more interested in the case.  Originally designed as an angled utility belt for a human, it fit like a bandolier on Berry, putting all her tools within hoof's reach.

The only crew member left was Twilight, and she wasn't asleep either.  "I've got a gift for you too," Astral whispered.

"Same here," the alicorn whispered back.  She gingerly climbed across sleeping ponies, paying close attention that no careless move would break the fragile soap bubble of sleep.  Once across, she turned and fell, landing on her back propped against the pillows at the headboard.

"You did good," he told her, watching everypony asleep with their gifts, "those were perfect choices for each of them."

"Thanks."  Twilight told Astral as he laid back next to her.  She watched carefully as he offered up his last shopping bag.

With a smile, he dropped it between them.  "Let's see if yours suits you at all."

She took the bag with her hooves, immediately feeling the soft give of the fabric inside.  Looking inside, she saw dark canvas, possibly brown, possibly black in the dim light.  It wasn't until she pulled it out that she could tell the color.  It was a jacket, rich chocolate brown, with a cream fringe of faux fur at the neck and sleeves.  The bomber style was similar to Astral's jacket, but it was tailored in a much more feminine style.  the waist was taken in by a sewn in belt, and the brass buckle was engraved with a simple floral design.  The shoulders were smoothed out, and topped by a small buckled bit of fabric, and there were several pockets, inside, and out.

"I love it," she said with a smile.  She folded it up and crossed her hooves, pulling the jacket tight and running her face through the soft fringe.  "I guess this means you get to keep yours from now on."

"That's definitely a plus."  A contemplating nod bridged the silence for a moment.  "You were so used to borrowing mine, I probably should have just bought myself a new jacket."

"Nah," she said without raising her head from the fake fur.  "I would have just asked for the new one anyway."  Her eyes snapped wide open as she remembered something.  "Wait a minute!  Midnight!  I haven't seen her since we left Canterlot!"

"Calm down," Astral said with a wave of his hoof, "Midnight stayed on Canter Delta with Ribbon.  We can pick her up on the way home."

Twilight sighed in relief.  "Oh, that's good.  I was having an Odysseus flashback."

"A what?" Astral asked, eyebrow raised.

The purple mare bit her lip.  "Well," she said with some hesitation, "when I was a filly, my foalsitter, Cadence, gave me a goldfish.  And, his name was Odysseus.  I loved that little guy.  I fed him, I read to him, changed his water, took him for walks, and carefully monitored the oxygen content and nitrate levels in his bowl."

"Hold on."  The stallion lightly grabbed her shoulder.  "Did you just say you took your goldfish for a walk?"

She shrugged.  "Yeah?  why?  I put his bowl in a wagon and pulled him along with me when I went places."

"You've got to be the smartest idiot I know."

She gave him a quick whack in the gut, drawing small grunt from the stallion.  "I was a foal, ok?  Give a five year old their first pet, and of course they're going to want to take it everywhere."

"Not when it's a goldfish," Astral laughed.  "But for a pony who's supposedly super-smart, you sure do a lot of stupid stuff."

Twilight frowned.  "Add, 'getting you anything,' to the list."

"Oh, don't be like that."  It was an exercise in willpower, but Astral forced down his laughter.  "So, what ever happened to Oddyseus?  I'm guessing you left him somewhere during one of your walks.

" I did," Twilight admitted.  "I spent every minute I could looking for him, but he was nowhere to be found.  I was devastated.  After three weeks, I was convinced that I killed him, and that somewhere in Canterlot, there was a little wagon, a fishbowl, and a dried up little skeleton."

"That poor fish," Astral deadpanned.  Twilight flicked her hoof to smack him, but he caught it.  "So," he continued, "did you ever find the remains?"

"No."  Twilight reached over and smacked him with her other hoof, drawing another grunt.  "For your information, we found Odysseus alive and well after almost four months."

Astral grabbed for the hoof that hit him, and Twilight pulled it away. He lunged for it, ending up laying halfway across Twilight, pinning down both hooves.  "Alright, now you can't hit me.  Where did find your goldfish?"

"The library."  Twilight tried to squirm free.  "I would have found him earlier, but I went to a different library than usual that day.  The old mare that found him took care of him while she waited for the owner to show up.  She even let him live at the check-out counter so he would be visible."

"You got him back?"  Astral loosened his grip.  "That's good."

"Nope."  As soon as she was freed, Twilight flipped them both over,pinning Astral in the same way he held her down mere seconds ago.  "He was so popular that the librarian asked to keep him.  By then, she had taken care of him far longer than I had."  With a sigh, Twilight let go of Astral's hooves.  He looked up at her, but wasn't fighting back, and just holding him down held no interest for her.  She tucked her hooves beneath her and sat there, leaning on his chest as she continued her story.  "I didn't feel like I had the right to take him back, not after leaving him behind like I did.  He deserved to be with somepony that could take better care of him."

Astral nodded slowly.  "Pretty wise for a five year old filly."  Astral reached up and brushed some pieces of candy wrapping out of her mane.  "But, it shows how committed you are to those you care about."

His hoof lingered there a moment too long, and Twilight moved away quickly.  "A-anyway," she stuttered, "you still haven't seen what I got you."  She retreated away from his side of the mattress, lying back against the pillows she left earlier.  Her horn lit up, and she lifted the metal case she brought back with her from its resting place on the floor.  "I think it's the right model."

Astral's eyebrows furrowed for a moment.  "The right model?"  He opened the case, and smiled.  Inside, sat a duplicate of his old pistol.  "It's the right model.  Earth-made, even.  Nine millimeter, same caliber."  He checked the magazines.  "Twenty rounds, just like my old one.  It's identical.  Well, except the grips, but I'm not actually holding it.  I-  I was not expecting this."  He smiled to himself, closed the box, then excitedly looked over at Twilight.  "Hey, I wonder if I can get Fused Tannerac rounds for this one.  Those things were pretty awesome, weren't they?  Really knocked those golems on their stony butts."

"Yeah," Twilight quietly admitted.  Then, she offered a shrug.  "You know, I did check the subspace net, and you may not like this, but..."

Astral groaned.  "Go on, Twi.  I'm a big pony, you aren't going to hurt my feelings."

The alicorn raised an eyebrow.  "That's funny, I'm quite sure I have done just that a few times."

"Getting on my nerves and hurting my feelings aren't the same thing," Astral pointed out.  "And don't you dare look so proud about it."

"Fine."  She bit back the smile that was spreading across her face.  "Well, it turns out that you can't get Fused Tannerac Ammo anywhere but Furia, and only in one shop."

"I thought it was more common than that.  The shop I visited had a stack of boxes about to the ceiling."  It was Astral's turn to shrug.  "Anyway, it was still cheap.  I'll just stockpile a bunch next time we head by the place."

Twilight nodded.  "It gets better, or worse, really.  They only make it in the one, um, size, width..." Her horn glowed, and she looked down at her hoof, where glowing lines of letters appeared in matching color under the light of her magic.  "Caliber.  They only make it in the one caliber."

"You took notes?"  Laughing, Astral grabbed her hoof to look at the writing.  The letters faded the moment her hoof moved away from her face.  He pushed the hoof back towards her, and the letters reappeared.  He shifted over to be able to read them.  "That is the coolest spell I've seen you do yet."

Twilight yanked her hoof away, elbowing Astral in the side because they were now squished side to side.  She stuck her snout in the air as he rubbed at his side.  "Are you gonna grab my hooves again?"

"Yeah," Astral said defiantly, and snatched for her hoof again.  She yanked it away, and he grabbed her leg, wrapping his around it.  "I'll stop if you get back to reading the notes."

"You wanna hoof-wrestle?"  Twilight smiled confidently.  "I'm an Alicorn, I have almost earth pony strength, you know?"

Astral narrowed his eyes, looking for signs that the other pony was bluffing.  "I just want to get to the point."

"Fine," Twilight looked back at her hoof, ready to light her horn, and cleared her throat.

"What?"  Astral glanced over, saw her looking at their legs, and untangled his with a muttered, "sheesh, sorry," followed by a much more reverrent, "forgive me, oh Princess of Personal Space."

Twilight fought back a laugh.  "You are impossible."

"And you are smiling."  Astral pointed at her face.  "At least, I think that's what that is.  I'm not sure because you usually don't do that."

"I know."  She sighed.  "These last few weeks have been hard on me, especially, espec-"  She sniffed.  No, she didn't want to do this now.  She was trying to explain why she was better, not prove she wasn't.  She moved to sit up, wiping her eyes with her hooves.  "Sorry, I-"

Quietly, Astral put his hoof around her and pulled her back down, head to his chest.  "Don't.  Just, don't."  Astral winced as her hoof tightened around the fur on his chest.  "You're going to cry, so don't even try to fight it.  There's no way of knowing when you're going to think of them, but you'll remember they're gone, and it's going to hit you so hard you just want to shut down."

"I'm sorry, it's just..."  Her other hoof kept wiping at her eyes, trying to fight the buildup of tears.  "Astral, Pinkie's gone.  How am I supposed to deal with that?  How do you not hurt after losing somebody?"

Astral sighed as his hoof flattened out her mane.  "I don't think you do.  You just move on.  It's going to hurt, but you just survive."

"Survival!" Radio shouted in his sleep, throwing his hoof up and making the two waking ponies nearly jump out of their fur.  "..is," the colt continued, rolling over, "victory."

Twilight took a deep steadying breath before burying her face in Astral's chest.  For a moment, he thought she had passed out, but he heard her muttering something about Radio.  Astral kept petting her mane for a moment, hoping it would help both of their heartbeats slow down, then continued what he was saying earlier.  "Twi, the reason I agreed to help you... I- I know what you're going through.  We both lost our entire planets, our friends, family, everything we knew.  But, you have a chance to get it back, some of it at least, and I want to help."

"Astral," her voice was muffled, and the unicorn leaned in to listen to her, "why are we always fighting?"

With a snort, Astral let his head drop back to the pillow.  "Hell if I know anymore."  He chewed his lip for a moment.  "But we sure keep each other on our toes, don't we?"

Her ear twitched.  "Our what?"

"The tips of our hooves," Astral corrected, realizing he used the human form of the expression, "sorry."

With a sigh, Twilight brought her hoof over her head, draping it across Astral's leg.  "It's a basic invisible ink spell, the type colts and fillies use to pass messages in class.  It reacts to any sort of magically generated light."

"Back to business, eh?"  Astral gave her one last pat on the neck.  "We're gonna talk from now on, right?"

Her head wiggled up and down.  "M-hmm."

Astral sighed.  "Damn, I must be comfortable."

She lifted her head to glare at him.  "Don't let it go to your head."

He bit back a chuckle and used his hoof to smooth out the fur on her cheeks.  "I won't, promise."  He looked her in the eyes for a moment before turning away.  Even in the dim light, the redness was more than obvious.  Even if the tears themselves had stopped for the moment, it wouldn't take much to start them again.  "So, what other notes did you take about my new favorite ammo?"

He lit his horn, making what was now a conscious effort for him to cause a faint white light.  The letters on Twilight's hoof appeared again, only this time, instead of showing up purple, they gleamed silver, written in mercurial precision.

"I had a night light like this once."  Twilight pulled herself off and laid back down beside him so they could both read the writing.  "An enchanted selenite rod.  Cold, white light, but perfect for reading."

"I know a store on the surface of Canterlot that sells those."  Astral looked down at her.  His magic reflected coldly in her eyes, hiding the red he knew was still there.  She wasn't holding back the tears, wasn't bottling up explosive emotions in the hope of sealing them away.  They were just streaming out, and down her face.  Whatever Radio said to her on the shuttle must have made an impact.  "Since we're heading back to Canterlot anyway, we should stop by if we have any spare time."

She nodded without looking up.  She blinked as the tears continued to fall.  "I feel better now.  Lighter."  She still refused to look over.  She didn't want to acknowledge that she was showing weakness, even if it was to a pony who didn't care.  "Thank you, Astral."

"H-hey now," Astral flustered, "don't look at me, I didn't do anything."  He pointed at some lettering on her hoof, eager for a change of subject.  "Anyway, what does this mean?  'Kinda Armor Piercing?'  Those bullets pierced armor just fine."

"On an organic target," Twilight let out a shaky sigh, "those poor Golems."

"Oh, I know," Astral rolled his eyes.  "How sad, they tried to eat something that could fight back.  And remember, Berry said it might have punched a hole in the ship if the shields weren't up."

"Might," Twilight pointed out.  "Our shuttle is better than average, but it's still just a personnel shuttle with minimal armor.  You can't compare it to say, an atmospheric fighter, or even Philomena.  Though, she has a lot of aftermarket parts at the moment.  And the shields were up, rendering the round completely inert."

Astral shrugged, making sure he hid his smile.  Twilight was rapidly becoming more animated now that they were debating something.  "The guy at the shop said it was useless against energy barriers.  Something about an ablative reaction between the Tannerac and the core.  The bullet basically disintegrates itself when exposed to too much non-kinetic energy.  But, I bet it would still go through the armor on a high end fighter."

"At close range, yes.  But, how about the particle decay rates?"  Twilight flipped over, and looking down at Astral, continued her explanation.  "Tannerac is one of the few ultra-heavy elements that breaks down into non-radioactive byproducts, making it the go-to initial source of energy for sustained fusion cores.  When fused to a stable core and used as a projectile, the Tannerac shell starts to decay the moment kinetic energy is applied to the core.  Even at a bullet's velocity, by the time it's traveled a few hundred meters, there's nothing left but the tungsten core.  And even if you hit a ship without shields at point blank range, unless you hit a vital component, a hole the size of a small coin isn't going to disable it.  Between self-foaming liquid in wall panels, and emergency containment fields, the odds of causing debilitating damage with that small of a projectile are astronomically slim."

Astral smirked.  She was really getting into the explanation, and was now sitting over him.  "Mmh, yeah, talk to science to me," he whispered, tacking a little growl on to the end.

Twilight's face went beet red, and she straightened up, realizing that their snouts were only centimeters away.  "Wha- I- You- Ugh!" She tried to keep her voice quiet, but it was hard.  "You are infuriating sometimes.  I am trying to seriously explain  that those Tannerac shells are a, "door-knocker," style weapon with limited effective range, and you're acting like a... a..."

"Doofus?"  Astral offered.

"Yes." Twilight snapped.  "The captain of Doofus... es."  She crossed her hooves.  "Doofus face."

Astral crossed his.  "Come on, I know you can insult me better than that."

She looked away, raising her snout in the air.  "I'm too tired right now."

Astral raised an eyebrow, but stayed silent.  Twilight glanced over.  Their eyes met, and she looked away again.  Astral shook his head and started to roll over when he saw her look back towards him.  He looked back, and she turned away again.  He made a quick motion with his head as if he was turning, catching Twilight when she glanced over a third time.  "You..."  Astral started grinning like a foal on Hearth's Warming.  "You didn't get to finish your explanation, and now it's bugging you."

"It is not bugging me," she insisted.  "You just don't know the whole story yet.  It's really interesting."

"It is so bugging you right now."  Astral laughed, fighting the urge to rub his hooves together like a spy-novel villain.  "I almost forgot you were a proffessor.  What's wrong, did I interrupt a lecture?  There wasn't going to be a test on this, was there?"

"Fine, I won't tell you."  She grabbed her jacket and retreated as far away on the mattress as she could without ending up on the floor.  "I already know the story.  Why should I care if you listen or not?"

Astral winced.  Maybe he took that joke a little too far.  "I didn't say I wouldn't listen to the rest of the explanation.  I just thought it was funny how much you wanted tell it.  And I still love the gun you got me."  He set the box on the nightstand before looking over at her.  "And I will gladly carry it over that beast I bought on Furia.  Oh, also, I promise I won't try to shoot you with this one."

"You better not," she said, unable to avoid a small laugh as she donned her new jacket.  "You'd mess up the gift you got me."  With a sigh, she looked over.  "Plus, I told you that sort of weapon wouldn't work on me again."

"Yes.  Yes, you did."  Astral nodded.  "So, truce?  At least until tomorrow morning?"

Twilight shrugged.  "I can live with that."  She stepped in from the edge, and laid down next to Astral, back to him, and most definitely not touching him.  "Good night."

Astral rolled over onto his side, putting them back to back.  Half sighing, half yawning as his magic reached out to turn out the last small source of light in the room.  "Goo-"

"Its a saboteur's weapon," Twilight said quickly.

Astral glanced back, but Twilight wasn't facing him.  She had her back to him and was quietly finishing her explanation.  He turned off the light and listened to her.

"The atmosphere of the original planet Furia was destroyed by a chemical weapon during the war.  The chemical compound bound itself to the oxygen in the air, rendering the planet uninhabitable.  But, it happened slow enough to allow the Furians to take shelter in ships, spacesuits, and set up oxygen sources in bunkers and military buildings.  It was devestating, but nearly half the planet's population managed to survive.

They were still at war, but they had to figure out how they would survive afterwards.  Their moon was, at the time, a purely crystalline formation, but it had its own atmosphere.  They started transporting massive amounts of rock and soil to the moon, utilizing mass teleportation chains to load and unload every citizen ship, while stationing almost every military ship they had around the moon to protect it from another chemical attack.

Their enemy started to interfere with the supply chains by creating an asteroid belt between the planet and the moon, stabilized by massive gravitic field generators built in to some of the asteroids.  They waited until the Furians figured out how to navigate the field, then placed automated weapons platforms along the supply routes.

Things got pretty bleak after that.  The Furian forces were divided.  Any ship strong enough to fight past the weapons platforms was too large to navigate the asteroid field.  Smaller ships that could navigate the field weren't shielded enough to stand a chance.  Only a few of the fastest ships could make it through, and they were too small and too few in number to continue the operation to rebuild.

It wasn't until the weapons platforms were upgraded, and one of those fastest ships was destroyed that things started to change.  The pilot of that ship, a civilian by the name of Cube, managed to bail out in a spacesuit, and as he drifted through the asteroid field, he realized that the weapons platforms didn't recognize him as a target.  He relayed that information back to Furia, along with scans of one of the platforms, and the plan that would eventually win them the war.

They started developing a new weapon, and ended up with the Tannerac round.  They modified some old earth weapons they had, building clones from scratch while making improvements to the materials and mechanics.  The new pistols had to operate in space, sometimes for days with no servicing, and hold up to the comparatively massive pressure of the new ammunition.  And, the barrels had to hold up to the deposition of cobalt, iron, and several other heavy elemental byproducts of Tannerac's decomposition process.

They also developed new spacesuits, and retrofitted older ones with thrust systems.  A saboteur, or a team of them, would jump from asteroid to asteroid until they found a weapons platform, and would put one or two Tannerac rounds through it at point blank range.  The platform would be damaged, but not destroyed.  The limited damage caused by the rounds enabled the platforms to send a distress signal, and the saboteurs would lie in wait for the responding ship.

Sometimes it was an automated drone, sometimes a rocket deployment of a new platform, but sometimes it was an actual repair ship.  In that case, they would attack.  Capture of these ships were the priority, and the saboteurs would aim for the pilots from outside the ship.  They would then use the repair ship to go and disable other weapons platforms.

Eventually, scout vessels were sent to investigate losses, and a saboteur team was able to capture it.  A team of volunteers then flew the scout ship back.  They managed to dock with the mothership to lead an assault from within.  The capture of that mothership was the main turning point in the war.

See, despite how little they knew about their enemy, the Furians managed to determine that they were facing two allied powers, and not an individual force.  There were two distinct technologies, and three languages being used over communication lines.  One of those laguages was a codified combination of the other two.

Once the Furians had captured a battleship, it was a simple matter of ramming it into the nearest battleship of the other faction, while sending out a distress signal.  Reinforcements arrive, have seconds to decide which ship to help, pick the one on their side, and plunge themselves into a civil war that ends with them wiping each other out inside a generation.

Furia remained under attack, but to a much lesser degree.  The last sighting of either enemy was a short string of attacks on the new Furian settlement by the remnants of one faction.  The final attack was twenty-one years ago, and was fended off through the use of a secretive orbital defense program.

The enemy planet was, and still is an irradiated ruin, with no traces that either civilization ever existed.  Even the bodies recovered from the captured repair ships provided no information about who the enemy was.  Of seventeen enemy pilots, every single one was a clone of the same individual, and some of them weren't even completely formed.  The atmosphere in the enemy ships was no different than most inhabited planets, except for a slightly higher oxygen content, and massive amounts of airborne antibiotic agents.

They still don't know who the enemy was, or why they were attacked.

Good night, Astral."

Astral smiled.  "Good night, Twi."
> The Early Bird Annoys the Captain
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------

	A yawn, a stretch, and Twilight's hoof landed on Astral's head.  He smacked it away, and let out a yawn of his own.  When he shifted, wrappers crinkled under him.  One particularly sharp bit of foil jabbed him in the flank.

He groaned and sat up, using his magic to pull all of the candy and snack wrappers away from his fur.  Last night had been quite a party, and he wasn't sure if he was waking up from sleep, or a sugar coma.  He looked around the bed, and saw that the rest of his crew was in similar straits.

His crew.

He smiled.  It was taking a while to sink in, that he wasn't alone anymore.  It was no longer him against the galaxy, it was him, and a ragtag group of oddballs, against the galaxy.  Somehow, that thought was actually comforting.  One of those oddballs, Radio, had slipped off the bed during the night, leaving only a little bit of his tail up with the rest of them.  Strawberry, still wearing her tool belt, was also wearing what remained of some candied popcorn like a cupcake wears sprinkles.  Fluttershy, despite living alone in the wilderness up until yesterday, was the cleanest of them all.  Every wrapper, from every snack she ate, was neatly folded and piled in front of where she was curled up under a blanket, with only the tip of her snout protruding.  Also in front of her were several apples from the fruit basket Kathy had given them, each one a dessicated husk with two punctures in the skin.

The last crew member was laying next to him, and was just stirring awake.  "Good morning," he coaxed her awake.  "Rise and shine, Princess Bedhead."

Her eyes flicked open a little more as the cogs and gears started turning, preparing the mental machinery for another day.  She looked up at the stallion leaning over her, and her brain dumped a good seven shovels full of coal on the burner.  Her eyes snapped wide open, and her mind went into uncontrolled overdrive.  "Oh, sweet Celestia, tell me there was no alcohol involved."

Astral stared as her hue shifted warmer.  "Huh?"

She blinked up at him.  "Huh?"

His eyebrows pulled together.  "What are you talking about?"

"Nothing," she said quickly.  "Why are you staring at me like that?"

"Your face is red."   He held his hooves up to his cheeks.  "Right around here, like, bright, bright red."

She shoved him away before rolling out of the bed.  "Shut up, it's too early to be dealing with you."

"We've probably slept more than twelve hours out of the last twenty-four," Astral pointed out.  "But we made up for it by battling monsters the day before.  One of the hazards of space travel, I guess."

"Ugh, don't remind me."  Twilight stretched her hooves out.  A thought hit her, and she held them up, washing them in magic as she erased her hidden notes.  "But, that reminds me.  I did some research yesterday,and it turns out those golems actually are fish.  The tidal forces on Picus IV are caused by its neighboring planet, so things are pretty intense.  That entire jungle is under seawater for nearly a quarter of the year.  That's why everything was so dusty, it was crusted with salt.  "Say, Astral," she tugged on the collar of her jacket, "how do you take this thing off?"

"Why?"  He slid off the bed beside her.  "Is your magic acting up again?"

"No," she huffed.  "I just wanted to know how to do it."

"Ok, calm down, let's not start the day fighting."  He sat beside her and started pantomiming the movements.  "The easiest way is to reach up, over your head, and grab the back of the collar.  Pull it up, over, watch the horn, then down."

Twilight followed the instructions, and ended up with her mane in a mess and the jacket in her lap. 

"Like that," Astral chuckled.  "Now you can pull your hooves free one at a time."

Twilight did exactly that, then smoothed out her mane.  "ok, that makes sense."

She missed a spot in the back, but Astral kept quiet about it.  "What?  Not even a thank you?"

"I thanked you for the jacket."  Twilight stretched again,letting out a groan as she spread her wings and moved them in a slow circle.  "Instructions should be expected with the gift."

The unicorn shook his head.  "Fine, I'll give you that."  A feather broke loose during her stretches, and Astral picked it up.  It was a tiny one, soft and downy.  He waved it at her to get her attention.  "Hey, you haven't been taking care of your wings lately.  Do you want some help?"

Twilight's wings snapped shut, and she fixed him with an unbelieving stare.  "What?"

"What?"  Astral held out the feather.  "I asked if you needed help preening."

"I- um-"  Her face went red again, and she took a step back, not looking him in the eyes.  "Astral," she stood rather stiff and held up a hoof, "I think we might have a bit of a cultural difference here.  At least, I'm going to hope that's all it is."

"Uh, well..."  Astral scratched his neck.  He was actually surprised this was the first time this has come up.  Or maybe it was that they were just too busy fighting before to worry about it.  Hell, there were some pretty extreme cultural differences between the planets of the galactic assembly.  Who knows how different Serus and Sevus were from a planet and culture six millenia old.  "On Serus and Sevus, preening isn't that big of a deal.  Sure, it isn't something that you would just do with any stranger, but between family members and close groups like a crew, it's a friendly gesture.  Especially if there is an injury or something preventing them from preening on their own.  My family used to help my grandmother preen because she had arthritis that wouldn't respond to sinovial augmentation.  She had trouble reaching her wings, so we would lend a hoof, well, and my mother's hands.  Grandma always liked mom's help best."

"Oh, ok."  She visibly relaxed, letting out the breath she was holding.  "That makes sense.  You had me worried there."

"Why?"  Without thinking, Astral asked, "What does preening mean in your culture?"

She stiffened up again.  "Uh, well, unless it's a parent taking care of their children, or somepony unable to take care of it themselves, preening is usually done alone."  She rubbed her leg with a hoof.  "A stallion helping a mare preen would usually be seen as, um, foreplay."

Astral blinked.  "Oh."  He blinked again.  "Oh!"  His face started to take on a tinge of red as well.  "Sorry, I was not suggesting that at all.  I was only suggesting that your wings were starting to look ragged from keeping them covered constantly.  You should pay more attention to them, and keep them out as much as you can."

Twilight nodded quickly.  "I'll do that.  I mean, who knows when I'll need to be at peak flight performance.  Just look at Picus.  That golem almost swatted me out of the air like a fly."

"Yeah," Astral agreed with an awkward laugh.  "That's another thing.  We need to get you some sort of weapon.  If you can't use your combat spells for fear of hurting us or your surroundings, you need to have an alternative."

"I kind of agree."  Twilight smiled.  "But, I'll leave the choice to you."  She headed into the washroom, glancing back out the door.  "It doesn't have to be right away, so pick something good, captain.  In the meantime," she smirked, "I've been thinking up a few new spells."

Astral smiled.  Her confidence was back, at the very least.  "Twi?  Are we ok now?"

She thought for a moment, then nodded slowly.  "Yeah, I think so.  Get the others ready, would you?"  With that, she shut the door.





Astral and crew gathered in the hallway outside the shuttlebay before departure.  The Solomon's Ring was about to arrive on the outskirts of of Sevus' solar system, and they would depart at that time, heading back to Canterlot.  But first, Captain Nova had asked to see them off personally.

As they waited, Berry was watching Twilight.  Twilight wasn't really doing anything, but Berry was watching her all the same.  The alicorn seemed a little uncomfortable with the attention, and though Fluttershy noticed, she kept her interaction with the two limited to glancing back and forth.

Astral was starting to feel uncomfortable for Twilight's sake.  And how was Berry going so long without blinking?  He was about to head over when Twilight finally broke down and looked over.  "Is something wrong," she asked the earth pony.

"I'm not sure," Berry answered quietly, almost a whisper, "are you ok?"

With a sigh, Twilight glanced at the ceiling and shook her head.  "This again?"  She looked back at Berry, and after a moment, decided to answer truthfully.  "I wasn't, but I will be.  You don't have to worry."

"Oh, ok," Berry accepted the answer with a little hesitation, "you're sure?"

Twilight nodded.  "I'm sure.  I was just a little sad for a while."

Berry nodded, seemingly satisfied with the answer.  "Is that why you held back with your magic?"

Twilight was about to nod yes, before she processed the question.  "Wait.  What?"  She shook her head.  When did she hold back her magic?  Well, aside from keeping her fireballs from becoming overly dangerous on Picus.  And Berry didn't even see that.  "What are you talking about?"

"I was going over the sensor logs this morning, trying to figure how those big meany stone things did that distortion field thing they did, and I saw that I had info on when you fought those three on the way back."  Berry rolled a hoof on the ground.  "There were a whole bunch of localized temperature discrepancies, both high and low, and gravity distortions, and a low level ionizing electrical charge.  That was elemental magic, wasn't it?"

Twilight nodded.  "Fireballs, Ice lance, and Gravity mines," Twilight named off the spells.  "I didn't use Thunderstrike, because it can be unpredictable, but I had it ready.  I did hold back, but only because it was necessary.  I could have put everyone in danger if I used full strength.  What would have happened if I ignited the forest?  It would have been hard to make it back through a forest fire, and teleporting three ponies at a time is tricky, especially since I didn't know exactly where the shuttle was."

Berry shook her head, not convinced.  "There were fourteen fireballs, and each one had its temperature dropped three times after it was made.  They went from five thousand degrees, to two thousand, to twelve hundred.  Five Thousand is about as hot as a welding arc.  You could have used the Fireballs like that."  She shrugged.  "Granpa had a plasma torch that operated at twenty-eight- thousand.  Sure, there wasn't much mass in the plasma stream, and if the fireballs in the sensor readings hit that temperature, the oxygen in the atmosphere could ignite, and the entire planet would have gone up in flames, and, um, what was I trying to say?"  The earth pony shook her head.  "Sorry.  Sometimes, I get the feeling that I start rambling, and when I notice it, I try to stop myself, but then I forget what I was saying, and I fill in the gaps with random information, and that makes it worse, then I notice it again, and I'm so sorry, I'm doing it again, aren't I?"

Twilight put a hoof around the other mare, giving her a small hug.  "Don't make cold fireballs," she separated from her and smiled, "I got the point."

Astral frowned.  Those numbers made perfect sense.  Twelve hundred degrees Centigrade was the regulation limit for competitive fire Skeet.  It was a little irritating that she was choking herself back to an arbitrary limit he couldn't even reach.

It's probably a matter of environment, he realized.  She said it herself back on Canterlot, that she wasn't used to leaving the planet.  He knew she was strong.  The fight on the Philomena was enough evidence for him, but she just needed to gain the confidence to harness her power in any situation.  That was the sort of thing that only came through experience.

Astral shook his head, wondering if it was possible to help the process along when he noticed Radio sitting against a wall, facing it.  Starting over, Astral noticed that the colt had his face glued to a small pad.  It was, military issue,  armored and rugged, but personalized with stickers on the back, and paintings of his family's cutie marks around the rim.  A white cross, a cloud with a rainbow-colored lightning bolt, a cloud and red cross, and his own colored lightning bolt and red cross.  Fitting.

Eventually, the colt looked up, and glanced back at Astral with a grimace.

The unicorn stopped at the colt's side.  "What is it?" he asked quietly.

"I just got a message from my dad."  Radio stuffed his pad back into his new saddlebags with the medical supplies given to them by Captain Nova.  "Big guy was sent back Canterlot a few days ago."

"So, negotiations with Furia are over?"  That didn't explain the face he made.  "Did they get their orbital defense thing?"

"Funny thing is... no.  The entire chain of command is terrified right now, and me being off-planet is a big part of that right now."  Radio scratched the shoulder straps of his bags.  "Big guy was injured when they sent him back, and now they think Canterlot is ready to wipe us out of existence."

"How badly injured?"  Astral glanced back at Twilight.  She wouldn't be happy about a friend of hers being injured, even if it was her ex.  "And why would Canterlot react that badly?"

"Just a dislocated shoulder.  My dad was there when it happened, and set it almost immediately.  He'll be sore, but he'll probably be walking normally by the time we get back."  Radio shrugged.  "And I believe the exact words Jones used were, 'there's no orbital defense system in existence that can protect you,' but I might be mistaken."

With a sigh, Astral dragged a hoof down his face.  "Yeah, he did say something like that.  What's the story, how did he get hurt?"

"Well, he was being housed in the military barracks in section fourty-two.  That's where Ribbon and I went through basic training.  It's the location for all the classified and delicate stuff that goes on.  It's also the safest, most secure place on the planet.  And, well, Mac was getting along with everypony really well.  Too well, apparently.  He was eating in the mess with everypony, attending exercises, giving seminars on survival procedures, and beating the tar out of our elite soldiers at hoof-wrestling."  Radio shook his head.  "Somepony thought it would be funny to pit him against the latest version of experimental android without telling him.  Now, he's hurt, Furia's short an android, and everypony back home is demanding to know where I am."

Astral  held up a hoof to stop the colt.  "Wait, he hoof-wrestled an android, and won?"

"Uh, no?"  Radio took his wing and patted the compartment where he put his pad.  "My dad said it was a boxing match.  After  trading a few punches, big guy realized something was up.  One of the scientists spilled the wheat, and told him not to hold back.  The android was so badly damaged that the research team will be set back months repairing it."

Astral let out a snort, but managed not to laugh.  "Just tell President Jones exactly what happened.  Everything will be fine."

Radio wasn't as convinced.  "You seem awfully sure about that."

Astral gave the colt a pat on the shoulder.  "The first time I met Coriander Jones, he set off an energy blast into the sky for no reason, insulted the shampoo I used, spied on Twilight while she was sleeping, and talked about hoof-wrestling with a stallion by the name of Rock Duster."  Radio's ears perked up at the mention of his dad's name.  "He's not going to be mad.  He's going to laugh his ass off that your android lost.  And if that isn't enough to reassure you, we can contact Jones directly."

Radio nodded, looking a little relieved.  "You can really do that?"

Astral nodded to Twilight.  "She can.  At least, I'm pretty sure she can."

The indicated pony lifted her snout in Astral's general direction, suspiciously eyeing him out of the corner of her eye.  "Can what?" she asked slowly.  "What are you two whispering about over there?"

Astral shrugged.  "If we needed to, could you get in touch with President Jones?"

"Of course.  You have a pad?"  She held up a hoof in Radio's direction, gesturing for the pad.  The colt took it out of his bags, turned it on, and held it out.  Without taking it from him, Twilight started tapping the screen.  "I'll add contact info for Coriander, Jasper, Silver, Celestia, Luna, and Chrysalis.  Private lines, of course, so only contact them if it's important."

"Wait," Radio looked at the pad when she finished typing, "You know the President of the Galactic Assembly's private com-line?  And you're on a first name basis?  And who are these others?"

"Jasper is president Jones' top aide," Astral answered.  "Silver is a blind, eternally young unicorn from my home planet.  And, by the way, she was also the one who blew it up.  The last three are a group of immortal beings who secretly rule the universe."  He looked up at Twilight.  "Did I miss anything?"

Twilight rolled her eyes.  "They don't rule universe."  With a sigh she told Radio, "Celestia and Luna were the sister princesses of Equestria.  Yes, they're immortal, but they don't rule anything now.  Celestia was my mentor when I was growing up, and she serves as an advisor to any leader who is looking for advice.  Chrysalis is sort of an auditor, and weeds out corruption within the galactic assembly.  And Luna currently runs the most prestigious educational institution in the galaxy... by proxy."

"Cheapest too," Astral added.  "Former student speaking.  Hard as hell, but the whole thing was just about free."

Twilight squinted at the unicorn.  "You attended the academy?  Did you graduate?"

"Of course I did," Astral replied, looking hurt.  "Associate's of Magical Arts, in Applied Utility Magic.  Minors in ship repair and personal business finance."  He leveled a glare at Radio after the colt started snickering.  "Yes.  I know.  It's a shit degree.  I barely even made it because of my scores in applied spellcasting one through four, and everybody I graduated with is probably working in a fast food place or a dry dock right now.  Still, I probably wouldn't be able to hide my Aura without the skills I learned in those classes."

Twilight shrugged.  "As long as you gained something from it, I'm sure Luna will be happy.  She was always fond of pointing out that practical results outweigh test scores."

"Hey," radio tapped at his pad, looking up just enough to stay in the conversation, "Ribbon's taking classes at Luna Academy, and she's living on one of Canterlot's space stations, is there a chance I could take some time to visit her?  I haven't seen her in two years."

"Of course you can," Twilight answered.  "We should all at least say hi, so let's stop by Canter Delta on the way back to the towers."

"Yes!"  Radio buried his face in his pad.  "I'll call her and let her-  No, wait."  He looked up again.  "Should I tell her, or should it be a surprise?"

The airlock door opened, but the door leading to the shuttlebay.  A tall biped in a light-duty space-suit walk in with the ponies.  Captain Nova removed his helmet, blinking as the  light was no longer being filtered through the suit's computerized visor.  He let out a sigh and swiped his sweaty hair back.  "Please forgive the delay, I was overseeing the launch of our main supply shuttle, and the preparations of a permanent communications satellite to augment the one you left in orbit."

"You did more than oversee preparations sir."  Cathy walked in behind him, devoid of any safety equipment.  The only things she wore were magnetic latching mechanisms on each of her legs.

The captain squared his shoulders.  "I confess, I may have spent more time hauling crates than issuing orders, but the crew knows what they need to do.  I did what would best help our mission at the given moment."  He cleared his throat.  "I must say, however, the size of your satellite is surprisingly small, given its signal output.  Is it a custom unit?"

"Oh, no," Berry piped up, "I just fixed it before we launched it.  I wanted to be able to talk to my new grandpa even if we got far away."

"I see." Nova said quietly.  "You were the one who fixed our scanner for us, weren't you?  Thank you for that.  We ran a diagnostic on the system and everything is functioning properly, you saved my crew some time."

Cathy walked up to Fluttershy, and unhooked a large piece from the latching device on her left front leg.  It was a pad, a fairly large one, and the beetle wiped a smudge from the screen before offering it to the feral pony.  "A parting gift.  This contains a language program I developed.  If you take it at the recommended pace, it will help you completely regain the ability to speak over the course of a few months.  You will be able to converse at a basic level much sooner than that, but it will take patience."  She walked backwards to the captain's side after Fluttershy accepted the device.  "Best of luck... to all of you.  I hope we meet again."

"Indeed," Captain Nova nodded his agreement, "You are all welcome aboard the Solomon's Ring, and I will personally make sure you remain updated on our efforts on Sevus."

"Thank you," Astral spoke up, "that means a lot to us."

"The leader of the settlement, an Elder Sparrow, and her father, Tekrin, have already contacted me."  Nova tried to kneel down to gain a better eye-level with Astral but gave up when his bulky suit refused to bend the way he wanted.  "They asked me to pass along their thanks to your crew, and to let you know that things are already improving.  The threat of death no longer looms over them every day, and ponies are finally able to mourn and are starting to pull together and move forward."

"Tekrin mentioned he was sorry for how he treated all of you," Cathy added, "repeatedly at that.  And he promised he would stay in touch with his grand-daughter, no matter how far apart you may be."

"Yay!"  Berry jumped up, almost dislodging the toy goose from her head.  She started poking Twilight in the side.  "I wanna go call him from the shuttle.  Can I?  Can I?  Please?"

Twilight put up a small forcefield to absorb the constant, repeated jabs, and sighed.  "Yes, Berry, we're going to leave in a minute, then you can call anypony you want.  Be patient."

"Yay, thank you," the earth pony said with a nod.  She stood in place, bouncing up and down with excitement.  "I'm really good at being patient!"

Nova and Cathy exchanged wide-eyed glances and quickly stepped to the side, clearing the door.  "We won't delay you any further," Cathy said, sweeping one leg towards the shuttlebay.  "Good luck."

"Indeed," Nova added with a nod.  "Safe travels."

Ponies started shuffling out to the Shuttle, Twilight exiting last.  "Thanks again, Captain, Cathy.  I appreciate everything you've done for us."

Cathy stepped forward.  "Our pleasure, Miss Sparkle."

Captain Nova offered a small bow.  "Indeed, it was pleasure to have you."  Twilight walked out and the airlock door closed.  Almost immediately, an insistent knocking came from the other door.  "If only all ponies were so pleasant."

With a sigh, Cathy stole Nova's catchphrase.  "Indeed."

"Hey ya!  Anypony home?"  The knocking continued.  "How's my favorite captain?  You in there, sir?"

"Do we have to open it?" Nova whispered.

"I'm afraid so sir," Cathy whispered back.

The door slid open before either of them could move to the controls, and two pegasi stood in the doorway.  The shorter of the two, a mare with silky, bark brown fur and a long mane of autumn colors withdrew her wingtip from a nearby panel.  "I found the panel which controls it, dear," she whispered in a heavy, exotic accent as dark and silky as her coat.  The other wing was wrapped around a bell shaped basket woven with dried vines and leaves that matched her mane.  "I was supposed to do that, yes?"

"Ya did great, Autumn," the other pegasi, a stallion, answered.  "You always do, that's why I married you.  An awesome stallion needs an awesome mare by his side."  He was tall and skinny, with a pale green coat which greyed around his face where he was trying, and failing to grow a beard.  He started in with a slight limp, pointing at captain with a hoof that looked like someone tried to burn it off.  The fur was missing up to the ankle, and the exposed skin was badly scarred.  The hoof itself was poked full of small holes.  How they got there was anyone's guess, but they were old, and patched with some sort of glass-like material.  "Hey, captain, go~od to see you.  How've you been?  Thanks for letting us crash here, we really appreciate it."

Nova rolled his eyes for Cathy to see before turning around.  "Mr. Zephyr, you're early, by about 2 hours."

"Is that so?"  He strolled into the airlock, bringing with him the overpowering stench of cheap cologne.  "And call me Zeph, man, you've done enough for me to earn that.  Ever since you guys picked us up at that terrafa-whats-it station, you folks have been simply outstanding.  Hal, can I call you Hal?"

Halifax Nova shook his head.  "No."

The protest was not heard.  "Hal, your crew is simply phenomenal.  I was just in the mess hall, regaling them with the tales of my adventures through the galaxy, and they were all just so worried that I might miss the shuttle launch."

"I'm sure they were," Cathy said pleasantly.  "Did they send you down here?"

"They sure did, miss Cathy."  Zephyr put his other hoof on his heart, this one was untouched by whatever injuries had damaged the other.  "It is so touching that they care about making sure I get where I need to be.  Though, it wouldn't be right to deprive them of the ending to the story I was telling."  His hoof moved to the greasy, pompously styled mane on his head, and he pulled a small data card from it.  He tossed the chip to Nova, who immediately tossed it to Cathy, who backed up and let it clatter to the floor.  "That's a recording of some of my best stories.  No need to thank me."

"You keep that in your mane?" Cathy asked before gingerly picking it up with the mag-latch on her leg.  She made sure that no part of it actually touched her.

"Well," Nova clasped his hands, both of which were thankfully still gloved.  "Mr.Zephyr, as much as we hate to see you go-"

"No," Cathy looked up at the Captain, shaking her insectoid head, "no, sir."

Nova's eyes went wide."Right, right," he said quickly, "no, um, I mean, I wouldn't want delay you any further than we already have.  The airlock is cycling right now, since another shuttle is departing, but as soon as they leave, you will be able to board the shuttle for Canter Alpha, and I will personally make sure it leaves the moment you are on board."

The pegasus flew up to smack a hoof against the biped's shoulder.  "You're a real pal, Hal.  I like you."  When he landed, he brought his hoof to his chin.  "You know, as thanks, why don't I help you take that boring manecut of yours to the ne~ext level?"

Even the mare with him shook her head violently.

Nova's hand shot up in a clenched fist, parking his wrist next to his ear.  "What was that?" He asked he asked his forearm in a demanding tone, eyebrows furrowed in concentration.  "Understood."  He dropped  his fist and looked down at his first mate.  "K'tthia, we're needed on the bridge."  After a second, he added, "urgently."

"Understood," she answered.  "Please wait here," she told the two guests, "the doors will automatically open when it is safe to leave."  She headed out into the hallway.

Nova was out with her in seconds, turning and reaching for the door control with a hurried, "safe journeys."

Zephyr looked over at his mare with a smile, extending the tip of his wing to brush against hers.  "We'll head to Delta after that," he whispered, "you'll be safe there with my family."

The door slammed shut, and the captain released a breath he had been holding.

"Sir," Cathy heaved a sigh of her own, "that was wonderfully quick thinking, you have my appluase."

Nova leaned on the door, forehead resting on the arm of his suit as he whispered.  "You know what the worst part about this is?"  He looked down at Cathy.  "I designed that awful cologne he's wearing."


> Wake Up, Little Pony, Wake Up.
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------

She woke up to the sound of music.

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

"Um, good morning?" Ribbon spoke quietly.

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

Vinyl glanced over.

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

Vinyl smiled.

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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






She woke up to the sound of scratching.

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

She heard the scratching again.

It was nearby, inside her room.

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

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

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

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

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

Lilybelle's eyes snapped wide open.

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

She heard the scratching sound again.

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

Steeling herself, Lily looked below.

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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





She woke up to the sound of chaos.

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

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

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

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

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

Real dragons looked a whole lot nicer.

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

Annabelle's hoof froze.

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

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

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

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

"Yeah!" Another voice agreed.

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

"Yeah, maybe," the drake answered truthfully.

"Thanks for the warning," she muttered.

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

The colt glanced over.  "Hmm?"

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

Something was terribly wrong.
> The Dynamic Duet
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------

It was over in seconds.  The station shook, then went still again.  But, why?  As Mezzo laid there on the floor, emergency spotlights clicked on.  They were dim, but brighter than darkness, painting everything with stark shadows.  A siren buzzer sounded somewhere up above, followed by a voice the loudspeaker.  "Explosion in Cargo Bay Three," said a male voice Mezzo didn't recognize, "All emergency personnel report to staging area four-B, or to Medical.  All others, please remain calm and stay in quarters."

First things first.  He picked up the unconscious Annabelle and slung her over his back.  "Hey!"  Mezzo bellowed at the group gathering at the nearest store.  "Is everyone alright?"

Members of the group exchanged glances, and at least one went back into the store to check those still inside.  Before they could relay that everyone was ok, they heard a shout from a few store's down.  "Hey!  We need help over here!"

Mezzo started over, followed by two of the first shop's customers.  "The rest of you stay inside," he told the others, "communications should be ok, so start contacting everyone you can.  Individual pads and devices only, don't bog down station channels.  Don't go anywhere unless absolutely necessary, and stay in groups.  No one moves around alone.  Tell everyone this."

Everyone nodded their understanding and headed in while Mezzo's group headed down to the other store.  Looking around, Mezzo could see the shoppers and shopkeepers consolidating into groups.  They gathered under the directions of those who recovered from the shock fastest.  Not surprisingly, a few of them were ponies he recognized, fellow members of the Tankrit rebellion.  There were plenty he didn't recognize as well, and the colt was glad the growing community was still able to band together when needed.

As they approached the other store, they saw the old stallion that called them over step out of the way.  A pair of elderly gryphons covered in small cuts were being helped out of the store.  The female was cradling her right front leg, and being carried by a Curaxxan.   The male was hastily bandaged and leaning against a pony that Mezzo knew, but hadn't seen in a while.  "Pip?"

"Mez," the pinto colt acknowledged.  He wasn't free of cuts himself.  He nodded to the gryphons.  "A shelf full of glassware got dumped over, we got pinned underneath.  No other injuries."  He lifted a hoof, showing the blood dripping from multiple slices.  Head and hoof injuries bleed like hell, don't they.  "Glass.  I've mentioned how much I hate the bloody stuff, right?"

"All the time, Pip."  Mezzo looked back at the two ponies that followed him over.  "You two go door to door.  Tell everyone what I told the first group.  Emergency personnel should be arriving soon, report as much information as you can, then do what they tell you after that."

The first, an earth pony, glanced around the darkened commisary.  "Ok," he said with some hesitation.

The other, a pegasus mare, nodded a bit more forcefully.  "Got it.  We'll get going."

The earth pony nodded back the way they came.  "We'll head that way, since you're headed to medical.  We'll cover more ground this way.  And it'll put us in the residential areas afterwards."

"Yeah," Mezzo agreed.  He was worried about his family, and knew there had to be others who were.  But, his mother was watching Minuette.  She would be safe even if the rest of the galaxy went to hell.  Aunt Tavi was his main worry.  He didn't know where she was.  "If you run into a mare with my colors, do whatever she tells you."

The earth pony's only response was to raise his right hoof, touch his left leg, and stomp it back down.  Mezzo, Pipsqueak, and the male gryphon returned the gesture.  The female gryphon let out a groan.  "Sure, I'm the only one left out."

"That's really what you're going to complain about?" asked the Curaxxan carrying her.  "What was that anyway?"

"Yeah," the pegasus mirrored the sentiment, "I've seen that a few times since I moved here."

"Its the Tankrit Salute, means we all know what we need to do," Pipsqueak answered.





The medical bay was a madhouse.  The regular canvas dividers were torn down, laid on the floor as a underlayment for the triage mats.  They were mostly empty, thankfully, but the ones along the back wall held some badly injured patients.  Walking wounded did their best to stay out of the way or help those worse off.  Mostly burns, Mezzo guessed.  He could smell seared flesh the moment he stepped through the door, and the bony grey alien sitting closest to the operating room had a badly mangled arm.  All this was accompanied by an overly sweet smell.  

The operating room in the back was brightly lit, and the decontamination chamber wedged open with the pipes from the divider frames.  He could hear voices, and the sound of machinery from inside.  The bony alien glanced in every so often, an unmistakeable expression of worry on his oddly feature face.

There were no official medical personnel apparent.  Minor injuries from around the station were starting to trickle in, and the only ones around to deal with it were the ones dragging their neighbors in.

Pipsqueak helped his gryphon onto a nearby mat.  "I'm going to go grab medical supplies.  It doesn't seem like this is going to let up any time soon."

"I concur," the Curaxxan set the other gryphon on the neighboring mat as she grumbled, "I work in station logistics, we recently set up a medical stockpile in an unused space nearby.  There is also a grav-sled.  If I had help, I could bring back everything at once."

"I'll help," said a human near the door, his injuries seemed limited to an abrasion on his face.  "It's better than hanging around here."

"Great," Pipsqueak nodded, "I'll get started with what we have in here."  

"I'll help with that," Mezzo added as the other colt walked away, "we have some experience with emergency first aid."

The bipeds left, and the unicorn moved to deposit the nurse he carried on a third mat.  As he slid her off his back, he heard the voices from the operating room.  "That's it," said a triumphant male voice.  Mezzo recognized it.  Most from Tankra would, it belonged to James.  Mezzo knew him as the stone surgeon, as most called him, the call sign given him because of his dust-grey fur and ashen feathers.  "He's stable," the voice continued, "hurry, and move on now.  I'll finish up."

A pink unicorn hurried out of the operating room, eyes locking on Mezzo almost immediately.  No, on the unconscious filly he carried.  "Annabelle!"  She ran over, nearly shoving Mezzo out of the way to check for injuries.  "What happened to her?" the nurse demanded.

"Nothing," Mezzo replied, "she collapsed a few seconds before anything happened."

Not finding anything obviously wrong, the nurse looked back up at the colt who brought her cousin in.  "Are you sure?  There wasn't anything unusual?

Mezzo shook his head.  "Except for the fact that she was terrified of me, I can't really think of..."  Mezzo glanced down at the blue filly.  "Except, she was kind of acting like Ribbon."

"Lily?"  Pipsqueak came back with about a dozen medical kits hanging around his neck.  He ran over to the nurse and pulled one off for her with a hoof.  "Here."  He looked at Mezzo.  "These were all I could find.  The supply closet is almost empty."

"The medicine cabinets got rolled into the office," Lily pointed to the door across from the operating room.  "We were just getting set up when the first group of wounded came in.  The rolling cabinet with the locks on it has medications and IV equipment, grab that one first."  The earth pony dropped most of the medical kits next to her, keeping one for himself.  She touched the pinto colt's leg.  "Pip, what happened?"

"I don't know."  He gave her a helpless look.  "I was on break, so I hit the commisary.  Then the store came down on top of us."

Their eyes stayed locked for a second, until Lily looked back at Mezzo.  "You said she was acting like Ribbon.  What did you mean by that?"

Pipsqueak stood in the middle of the medical bay and addressed everyone still standing.  "If you are able to help, please, come take a medkit.  Help is on the way, but so are more injured.  Treat minor wounds, and notify us more severe ones.  No one leaves until they get scanned for internal injuries."

Mezzo sighed as he took a medkit for himself.  "You know Ribbon, right?  Have you ever seen her react to something that somepony else was feeling?"

"I have.  That means..."  Lily broke open a medkit, and dug out a scanner.  Running it over her cousin, her face reacted to the results with confusion.  "Her pain receptors are firing, but there's no cause.  She must have passed out from that.  If what you say is true, the best I can do is give her some painkillers, and hope she regains consciousness.  She might be able to tell us why this is happening."  She leaned down and gave Anna a brief nuzzle.  "We could really use her help right now."

Mezzo nodded.  "What do you want me to do?"

"Anything you can."  Annabelle pointed to the back wall.  "They came from the cargo bay, and most of them only suffered moderate burns.  One or two broken bones.  Nothing life-threatening.  Clak, the grey one on the end, waved us off whenever we tried to look at his arm.  So far, Softy was the only one critical."  Lilybelle rubbed her eyes.  "Dear Celestia, we almost lost him.  A bunch of debris was lodged in his ribcage, and a piece of it broke off in his cardial sac.  He started bleeding into his heart, and James had to cut into him with his claws to dig it out.  Then we had to seal the arteries while he was bleeding out on us."  She looked down at Annabelle.  "We're still not sure he's going to make it.  He lost a lot of blood.  He's a dragon, and there were no type matches on the station database.  We gave him as much plasma as we could, but there's no way for us to synthesize his particular blood type.  We've sent out an emergency call to the surface, but he needs to hang on until we can get him a transfusion."

Mezzo nodded, and silently headed towards the back as Lilybelle focused on her cousin.  He heard the name Softy called over the intercom a few minutes before the explosion.  He heard the name Clak as well, a friend of his?  He walked up to the grey alien and spoke in a quiet voice.  "Hey, your friend is stable, and he's got a blood transfusion on the way.  Can we look at your arm now?"

The alien answered with a clicking language that Mezzo didn't understand, and a wave of his other arms that he did.

"Suit yourself," Mezzo shrugged.  He turned to the rest of the line.  Human, pony, pony, curaxxan, pony, human, human, human, short blue biped, pony, then another human.  "Whose the next?"  Everyone pointed at the guy next to Clak, including Clack.  He was a human, leaning against the wall with his legs straight out in front of him.  Every other biped was patiently sitting cross-legged, and he was the only one whose pants were cut open.  "Let me guess."

"A crate landed on me," he said in a wavering voice.  "Both legs are broken.  The doc gave me something to keep me from going into shock, but they had to go work on Softy."  The human moved a little, shaking in pain.  "How is he?" he asked through clenched teeth.  "You said he was stable.  How bad was it?"

"I just got here," Mezzo explained, "all I know is that he's stable but still needs a blood transfusion.  Let's focus on you."  The colt peeked under the flaps that remained of the guy's pants, and quickly realized this was beyond him.  "Hold on, we'll get you an IV, and some painkillers until the doctor's ready for you."

"We wouldn't have made it out of there if it wasn't for him," the shaking pony beside the injured human added.  She brushed her mane away from the burns on her face every time she moved her head.  "He completely contained the first explosion with some sort of magic, then threw us out of the way just before the second one."

"Mezzo?"

The colt's ear twitched.  "Aunt Tavi?"  He looked over at her.  She had just come from from the operating room, bow-tie missing, and her hooves still damp from a recent scrubbing.  Blood still streaked her coat in places.  "What are you doing here?"

"I came in for a checkup."  The grey mare shook her head.  "I was done and about to leave when the station shook."

Mezzo made his way over to her, throwing a hoof around his aunt.  "Have you heard from mom?"

She returned the embrace, then stepped back.  "They're fine.  I was able to call them before patients started arriving.  Minuette fell off the table, but Vinyl assures me its just a little scratch."  With a sigh, the mare added, "Minuette asked me for a pair of sunglasses like Vinyl has... to hide the scar."

"I'm sure she was just joking," Mezzo reassured her.  "Do you know where the rest of the medical equipment is?  Most of these injuries are worse than a medkit is meant for."

Octavia nodded, taking the colt's medkit.  "It all went in the office so I could get to the triage beds in the back of the storage closets.  Leave this to me.  James just got word that Growl is on her way back with more wounded, she's going to need help bringing them in."  She wasted no time moving to the injured workers.  "I'm going to get you some anaesthetic,ok?  James will be out in a moment to set your legs.  And you, how does your throat feel?  Open your mouth."  Octavia dug a light out of her medkit and checked the back of her throat.  "Good, no burns.  You're lucky."  She dug out a foil packet of salve and handed it to the pony.  "Apply this to your face, but try to keep it out of your eyes.  We'll use nutrient gel on it later, and you shouldn't even have any scars."

Mezzo walked away as Pip joined her, pushing along a short, rolling medicine cabinet.  The lock was busted off, and the other colt was opening drawers, seeing what they had to work with.  Lilybelle was already working on civilian injuries.  The gryphon female had her leg in a fast-set foam cast, and her mat was moved closer to the male gryphon's.  His cuts were being bandaged by an already bandaged patient while the nurse was carefully extracting a kitchen knife from some poor pony's leg a few mats down.

The colt headed to the door.  Outside, he could see more patients headed towards the hospital, moving in a group.  He grabbed some medkits, and the nearest canvas, one with nopony on it and dragged it outside with him, mats and all.  He set up across the front of the medical bay, to the side of the door, using magic to space the mats evenly so that you could walk between them.

The approaching group saw him at work and headed straight to him.  He saw their approach and stood in front the tarp he laid out.  "More medkits are on the way," he called out when they got close, holding the four he grabbed up in offering.  "If you feel you can treat yourself with one, please wait out here.  Otherwise head on in."

The group started exchanging words and glances, slowly separating into two groups.  Two patients, both of whom were being carried, went straight inside.  One human girl looked down at her hand, then walked over to an outside mat to sit down.  Mezzo stopped her when he saw the bloody pencil point sticking out the back.  "How about you just head on in?"

"Mezzo!"

The colt looked over, saw a familiar green mare wave at him from the front of a procession of security personnel and cargo workers.  Makeshift stretchers, cargo sleds, and even furniture dollies were being used to help transport the injured.

He gave his medkits, three of them now, someone took one, to the nearest pony before heading over.  "Growl!"  As he got closer, he saw that she was bleeding, a small cut above her right eye.  That didn't stop her from towing a passed out dragon at least four times her size on a skid.  "What do you need me to do?"

Growl gestured to the back of the procession without stopping or slowing.  "Get that pony in the back up and running again, and get her back to the cargo bay.  There's a damaged power conduit messing with sensors, and we need to be sure we found everypony."

Mezzo was heading back before she even finished.  There was only one pony she could have been referring to, and that was, "Ribbon!"

She was being pulled on a gravsled, curled up in a fetal position, clutching her head and rocking back and forth.  He took the rope guiding the sled from the tall dark-haired human pulling it.  The human tried to say something but it ended up a quiet cough.  His hand rubbed his throat, drawing attention to a large bruise.

"Sorry," Mezzo said, wincing at how painful that looked.  He knew from experience that eating and drinking were going to be torture for him for the next few days.  "I've got her, she shouldn't go any closer to medical."  As the human nodded his understanding and walked away, Mezzo turned to the moaning filly.  "Ribbon?"

"It hurts," she mumbled, fitfully shaking her head back and forth, "it hurts so much!"

"Ribbon?  Ribbon, focus on me."  He grabbed her legs as she writhed on the platform, threatening to throw herself off by accident.  "You can do that, right?  Use me to focus?"

"No!  No more!"  She broke his grip, and buried her head under her hooves.  "There's already too much!  Make it go away!"

"I'm trying to, tell me how."  He grabbed her by the shoulders.  "Ribbon!"

She looked up, eyes focusing on the colt for the first time.  "Mezzo?  Why..."  Her eyes went unfocused as a scream echoed in the distance.

She slumped over, falling heavy into the colt's grip, and he pulled her to him.  "Ribbon!  Focus on me, please.  Use me to drown out the rest.  I know you've done it before.  I'm here, now.  Please!"  Mezzo gave the barely conscious filly a shake.  "Ribbon?"

She groaned loudly, rolling her head and trying to focus her eyes on anything as her body hung limp in his hooves.  There were too many voices, too much pain.  She needed to separate herself from them, but she couldn't tell where their senses stopped, and hers began.  Which thoughts were hers?

She wanted to scream, or was she already screaming?  Her body felt sluggish.  No, she was being restrained.  No she was injured.  No!  Those were others.  What was she feeling?  She couldn't even separate that from her surroundings.

She started to cry.  That much she knew was hers alone.  Everyone else was facing their pain bravely, or screaming in agony, or passed out already.  She alone was crying.

Somepony was shouting at her in the crowd.  For a moment, she thought she saw somepony she recognized, but she was ripped away, pulled in a hundred directions at once.  Was he shouting?  Was he even shouting at her?  He could be shouting at somepony else, and she might still hear it.  She wanted it to be her.  If he was there, he might be able to, "help me."

She didn't realize she spoke, but the response was immediate.  Her entire body felt warm, like she was wrapped in a blanket straight out of the ionic cleaner.  Everything washed away besides that warmth, leaving her drifting alone in a sea of bright electric blue.  The screaming faded, the pain disappeared, and the voices grew silent.  All replaced by a sky of pure white light.

Ribbon sighed deeply as her body relaxed.  Something was holding her up, or she would have fallen.

"Ribbon," a concerned voice echoed through the light surrounding her, the only thought in existence, "please wake up."

Slowly, she opened her eyes.  His were there to greet her.  The magic surrounding his horn faded as he pulled it away from hers.  The warmth faded, and the voices returned, only this time they were quieter, a manageable backround hum around the central focal point.  "Mezzo," she managed a weak smile, "how did you do that?"

"I, um."  The colt straightened up a little, but was limited in how much he could move by the pony still leaning limp in his embrace.  "Well, my mom mentioned that your telepathy was somehow related to magic, so I thought, maybe..."  He couldn't bring himself to finish his explanation, and looked down, blushing.

Ribbon shared the blush as she heard what he left out.  "Mezzo, that's..."

"I know."  He winced.   "I'm sorry, but it seemed like you were in a lot of pain."

"Still, I..."  Ribbon looked up at him.  "No, I'm not mad.  Mezzo, thank you.  It's just, kind of embarassing."  Then again, she noticed that she was laying in his arms, weak and unable to move.  That was just as embarassing, if not more so, than sharing magic like an intimate couple.  Plus, it had been for a perfectly valid emergency reason.  It wasn't like she and Mezzo were complete strangers.  And, it felt really, really good.  Though, she should probably keep that to herself.

Ribbon's eyes snapped wide open in surprise at where her thoughts were wandering.  She pushed away from Mezzo, trying to right herself, but settled for the colt helping her back onto the Grav-sled.

"Growl wants us to head back to the cargo bay," Mezzo said, changing the subject.  "Do you feel up to that?"

"Yeah," she nodded, "I should be on my hooves in a minute."

The colt grabbed the rope tied to the sled's handle.  "Don't worry, you can rest on the way."





A few minutes later.

"Over here!"  Ribbon shouted.

Mezzo ran over.  Ribbon had recovered enough to move on her own about halfway to the cargo bay, and they had given the gravsled to someone carrying a friend with a busted leg.  Now, both of them were on hoof and still coming across others in need of help.

Ribbon stood before the doorway to a supply closet.  It was shut, and seemingly undamaged, but there was no light on its control panel.  No power?  She knocked on it.  "Hello?  Can you hear me?"

"Yes!"  Answered a muted voice.  "I'm ok though.  I'm not hurt, and I have a portable light source.  Don't do anything drastic to save me.  I'm the one who has to replace the door if you cut through it.  I'm working on connecting an external battery to the controls now, I'll be out on my own in about two minutes."

The two would-be rescuers exchanged glances, then shrugged.  "Ok," Mezzo replied, "we'll check on you when we come back through, but that may not be for a while."

"I'll be long gone by then, but thanks."

"No problem."  Mezzo and Ribbon resumed their trek to the cargo bay, but stopped a short distance away.  They were pretty far, but the broken door was still in sight.  "What is it?" Mezzo whispered to the worried nurse next to him.  "You look worried.  You sensed something, didn't you?"

Ribbon nodded.  "I'm not sure, but, he may have locked himself in there."

"How can you not be sure?"  Mezzo moved to the wall, so he could duck out of sight if the door opened, and Ribbon moved quietly behind him.  "Am I interfering somehow?"

Ribbon looked up at him.  "It doesn't work like your thinking.  I'll try to explain later, but you're helping me focus right now, don't second guess that."  She looked back down the hallway.  "No, there's something wrong with him.  It's hard to pin it, but the closest thing I can describe is a patient who's been given a medication that affects neurotransmitters.  He isn't... thinking properly?  Thinking enough?  Ugh, I don't know.  It feels like he's farther away than he is."

"Ribbon," Mezzo let out a sigh, "you know what I'm about to ask."

"How in the Sam Hill am I supposed to know?"  The nurse shook her head.  "Look, all I know is that something is off in his brain, most likely at a chemical level, and he did not want that door opened."  She noticed the odd look he was giving her, and the accompanying confusion.  "It's something I learned when I was young.  Creative swears and euphemisms make everypony slow down and think.  Dad calls it a defense mechanism."

"Ok..."  Mezzo looked back towards the door.  "Question is, what do we do now?  Short of asking him, is there any way we can find out if he was involved?"

Ribbon brought a hoof to her head.  She was focusing, but she couldn't get a clear image.  Even if she wanted to dig deeper, there was little there that she recognized.  "Mezzo, I don't even think he's trying to get out.  And he definitely lied about having a light.  I think he's just sitting in the dark.  Waiting."

"For what?"  Mezzo shook his head.  "We have to do something.  I hope it's nothing, but you have to admit this is suspicious as hell.  We can't just leave him."

He looked over at Ribbon, and she voiced his concern for him.  "What if he's armed?"

Mezzo nodded.  "Can we contact Growl without alerting him?"

Ribbon watched Mezzo quietly.  Beneath his question, his mind was racing.  And she could tell that, if she weren't here now, he would have confronted the hidden pony.  "No," she told him in a stern voice, "if I weren't here, you never would have known."  The colt's eye's flashed angry for a second, but he couldn't deny what she said.  "I can't help it.  You were the one who thought it."  She looked away from his eyes.  She couldn't stand it.  He was frustrated that he couldn't do anything, and so was she.  Honestly, if she were alone, she would have confronted the hidden pony as well.  But, they were being forced to think about each other's safety as well.  "We can't do anything right now.  Our best bet is to contact Growl, or find some security personnel."

Mezzo pointed down the hallway.  "We're only a hundred meters away from-"

Ribbon gave the colt a smack in the side.  "We are not splitting up," she hissed.

"Why not?"  He pointed down the hallway again.  "You can stay connected to me over that distance, right?"

"And what do I do if you need help?  I don't know how teleport, so you'd be-"  She blinked, taken off-guard by how quickly Mezzo reacted with surprise.  "What?  No, not all unicorns can do that.  Well, can you?"  She felt the sharp stab of shame, and quickly apologized.  "Sorry, forget it."  Years of untreated damage to his horn limited his magical control to a child's level, and even that was an optimistic way of looking at it.  "I didn't know."

Mezzo growled in frustration and tried to push it out of his mind.  They had more important things to worry about than his shortcomings.  He started off down the hall at a creeping pace, keeping his hooffalls quiet and controlled.  "Let's just hurry."

Ribbon followed him, glancing back towards the still closed doorway.  They would speed up as they moved out of earshot.  Nothing had changed, and she still couldn't get a clear read on the mystery pony.  She wasn't even sure it was a pony.  The best case scenario right now was that it was just somepony, or other being, high on some sort of exotic drug, and riding it out in the closet so nopony would find him.  Which might be more plausible if he wasn't coherent and making up complicated excuses.

She snapped her attention to the pony ahead of her.  They were galloping, now that they were a bit farther from the closet.  "We are not letting him get away," she scolded, "we don't even know if he's involved."

Mezzo let out a snort as he ducked into an alcove.  A small security terminal, with a screen and keyboard was tucked into the wall.  Instead of touching the keyboard, he hit the large red button below the screen.  The terminal was similar to countless others scattered around the station, and served a variety of purposes.  They could provide maps of the station, directions to places, even let station workers clock on or off shift, but their most basic function was to let anypony easily contact station security.

"I am not going to argue with you," Ribbon said as she stood beside him, waiting for the screen to activate, "especially not if you aren't actually going to say anything.  What are we supposed to do?  I know!  It's bugging me just as much as it bothers you, but look, despite my past, I'm an unarmed, seventeen year old nurse in training, you are an unarmed... something, and, um, also seventeen.  Huh, I didn't know that.  Anyway, I don't even know what you do, but we aren't in any position to take on a potential terrorist right now!"

"What the hell was that about a terrorist?" Growl demanded from the screen.

Both ponies snapped to attention.  "We've encountered a suspicious pony," Mezzo reported, "He's locked himself in the supply closet near junction 4-a on this level."

"I can't get a read on him," Ribbon added, "he isn't blocking my telepathy, but there is something strange about his thoughts.  His neurotransmitter levels may be chemically modified right now."

The older mare frowned down at whatever device was connecting her to the screen.  "Mercenaries sometimes use anxiety-reducing drugs during high stress missions."  She scratched her chin.  "Shit," she whispered to herself, "we can't be sure, and we can't track him because of the damage in that section."  With a snort, she started issuing orders.  "Get out of there, and get out of there now.  I'm sending everyone I can back that way.  Get to the cargo bay and alert security there, then focus on searching for survivors."  She moved her hoof to break the connection, but hesitated a moment.  "I hope I don't have to tell you, but do not, under any circumstances, confront this pony.  You made the right choice getting out of there."

"Did we?"  Mezzo asked.

"You two are still kids, let us grownups do our jobs for once."  Growl turned to face another pony off screen.  "I know you just got here, but care to help out?  Gather five guards wearing armor, and have them take you to the armory.  I'll be right behind you."

As the screen blacked out.  Mezzo looked back at Ribbon.

"Mezzo, I know how you feel, but Growl is right."  Shaking her head, she started back down the hall, away from the closet and towards the cargo bay.  "We have our mission."
> Bleeding Sweat
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------

Annabelle woke to a dull ache in her side and a pounding in her head.  Ponies were shouting around her, and the smell of disinfectants fought to drown out the smell of sweat, burnt flesh, and some overpowering sweet stench.  Everything went out out of focus as she sat up far too quickly.  She wobbled, but stayed upright, gasping at the chaos that slowly worked its way back into focus.

The dividers that used to keep the medical organized into rooms were torn down, leaving one large space full of wounded.  Security personnel and civilian volunteers hurried around, helping those they could.  The lights were dim, except for the operating room, which was pried open, and piles of torn wrappers and discarded supplies were starting to form.

She could recognize the effect of painkillers in her own system, and checked herself for injuries.  She was surprised not to find any.  There was a clear pain in her side, but touching the spot did nothing to exacerbate it.  A broken rib, or a bruise under her coat, would have hurt to touch, even if treatment had been applied.

"Softy," she whispered.  Just before she lost consciousness in the comissary, she felt something strange.  Softy said she would feel what he did for a while.  That wave of heat, the sudden pain, was that him?

She looked around in a panic.  She didn't see him among the wounded.  What happened?  So many hurt.  Lights were at emergency levels, and the medical bay was set up for triage.  Lily was rushing from patient to patient, aided by a Curaxxan in security armor.  Others were going around as well, treating injuries as they could.

Only three of the injured were dragons, and none of them had blue scales.  Where was Softy?  Was he...  No.  He couldn't be dead.  She still felt his pain.  He was hurt, but alive.

Annabelle brought a hoof to her head.  She felt heavy, and her head was swimming.  Painkillers.  It had to be.  Somebody must have scanned her, and treated her for the pain.  She probably would have done the same thing.

But, how did she get here?  And what happened?  Annabelle closed her eyes as a loud noise nearby echoed through her head.  "Ugh, she moaned, "beat my head in with a rock instead, why don't you?"

That colt, that colt from earlier, he must have brought her here.  She wished he could remember his name, but it would be easy enough to find out.  Not many of the Tankrit refugees had white fur.

She looked around again.  It looked like most of the serious injuries were taken care of.  The security guards going around were mostly disinfecting small cuts and scrapes.  Some ponies were even leaving.  It looked like she wasn't really needed.  Not that she would be able to help in her current state.

She worked her way up, taking a break once standing to let the throbbing in her head fade.  A security guard, a young gryphon, much paler grey than James, noticed the wobbly motion and rushed over.  "Hey now, if you're not feeling right, you should lay back down."

"I'm fine," Anna groaned.  "I need to find Softy."

He grabbed a scanner from the floor beside Annabelle's mat.  "Who?"

Annabelle swatted away the scanner as the guard tried to use it.  "He's a dragon, blue scales with yellow markings."

The gryphon's expression fell.  "Oh."  He recovered quickly, and put on a stoic face.  "he, um, he's still in surgery."  The pony's head turned towards the open door to the operating room and started towards it, only to be grabbed by the gryphon.  "Wait!  You don't want to go in there."  He realized he mispoke and tried to correct it.  "I mean, please wait out here, ma'am, I'm sure they're doing all they can."

"I need to see him."  She shook off the gryphon's grip.  He reached for her again, but she stumbled and his claw only caught air.  "I need to see him!"  She was halfway to the door before he could react, drunkenly slipping through by the time he took chase.

"Ma'am!"  He dove through the door, grabbing her where she stopped inside the operating room, staring blankly inside.  "You can't-"  He looked over and fought back the urge to gag.

On the table, a young dragon laid under the the light of a sterilization field.  His open, bloodshot eyes moved about unfocused, and the oxygen mask over his snout fogged with his uneven breaths.  Behind his shoulder, held in the arms of a bloody white mechanical abomination, a large swathe of scale, skin, and fatty tissue was peeled back by four robotic limbs whose otherwise clean, white surfaces were streaked with blood.  Other arms held his broken ribs open so that the doctor working on him could use the remaining arms to work on the lung beneath.

Computer screens held on the two cleanest arms offered the older gryphon a means to input commands while also operating tools manually within dragon's chest cavity.  The machine moved as the dragon breathed, adjusting the doctor's input to follow the visible expansion and contraction of the organ.

The arms retracted from the lung, pulling along a bloody shard of shrapnel the size of a paperclip.  "That's the last of them," James said, taking it from the machine's grip with one claw, while his other remained inside the dragon.  He tossed it on the floor with the others, where, at the center of a gruesome pile made of bits of metal and flesh, was a thin, twisted support brace from a standard cargo crate.  James grabbed the nearest screen, checked the scanner readout, then directed one of the arms to seal off a vein pinched shut in his own claw.

With the immediate task accomplished, James spared a glance towards the door.  He was already back at work before he said, "let her go, boy, she's one of ours."  He grabbed a piece of bone from the table next to the dragon, and fed a small translucent wire into the marrow.  "Anna, come help me with his ribs.  The auto surgeon will apply the bonepaste, but I want you double check alignment for me."

"Anna,"Softy gasped, voice quiet and raspy beneath his mask, "Anna?"

James looked up from the bone fragment.  "Oh, hell, he's conscious."

Annabelle took a shaky step forward.  "Softy?"

"Anna?"  The dragon's eyes moved faster, darting in the pony's direction then aimlessly around.  "Anna...  Where are you?

"I'm right here, Softy."  She moved closer, focusing on his face to avoid seeing the horrors beyond.  She brought her hoof to his face, touching his cheek right behind the mask.  "I'm right here."

"I'm scared."

"It's a flash burn, your eyes will recover.  So will the rest of you."  James grabbed the screen and started furiously punching in commands.  "I don't know how long you've been awake, but you've lost a lot of blood.  We have you on IV saline, but we need to get you more blood.  We can't find a match, we can't synthesize it, and your body has already gone through two gallons of plasma.  We tried to contact your family, your previous employer, even your educational referrences, but all of your records are forged.  Who can we contact?"

What?"  Annabelle looked over at James, then quickly looked away as he started cramming bits of bone back together with the aid of the autosurgeon.  "Softy, we're trying to help you, but we don't know how.  Who can we call?"

Softy's claw opened and closed on air, and Annabelle placed her hoof in it, letting his weak grip .  "Honored ancestor," he whispered, "of my clan."

"Which clan?" James demanded.  He snapped the last bone fragment into place, and applied the bonepaste, leaving the ribcage whole again.  He then started prepping for the actual closure, though the autosurgeon would perform most of the work.  "We don't care if you're in any trouble, we just want you to survive this.  You can't make new blood fast enough to recover, and we can't keep you oxygenated artificially for more than a day or two.  What clan are you from?"

Softy closed his sightless eyes.  "No name."

James froze.  "You...  You're an elder dragon?"

The drake's head moved slightly.

"Explains why you're still alive."  He looked up at the other gryphon, the security guard who was still staring in shocked disgust at the dragon's opened torso.  "You!  Go bring me the limiters from evidence, and the largest gems you can find!  Saphires and Citrine are best, but diamonds and tourmaline will work too."

The guard tore his eyes away from the dragon, and gave the older gryphon a confused look.  "G-gems?  Yes, sir!"  He ran from the room coughing dryly.  His retching was heard a few seconds later, followed by shouted orders to fellow guards.  "You!  Head to security and get the limiters from the evidence locker.  You!  Come with me, and bring an empty medkit."

The old Gryphon sighed and turned his attention to Annabelle.  She was usually the most energetic and positive of the nurses, able to brighten everyone's day.  But seeing her holding the drake's claw as he lay cut open on the table was bringing back some bad memories for him.  He started the autosurgeon, and touched Annabelle on the shoulder with the tip of his tail, the only part of him not covered in the poor dragon's blood.  "Anna, we can save him.  But, I'm going to need your help."

"Anything," Annabelle answered quickly.  "Whatever you need, I-"

"No," Softy wheezed.

"Quiet you!  There is sacrifice involved," James continued, "but nothing too severe.  I need tell you everything before you make a decision."  With a sigh, he settled down to watch the machine put his patient's skin back together.  "Before I became a mercenary, before I left Choria, and even before I met Growl, I was a student in a monastery dedicated to the lost history of the gryphons.  Our planet had a population of dragons as well, and they had a similar monastery.  I studied there as well.  There was a legend, of a line of dragons more powerful than any other.  And, the legends say that the first of the line was born of unicorn magic..."
> Cargo Room Rumble
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------

"Everybody out!"  A human security guard waved his comrades out of the dark cargo bay, through an overhead door.  His vest marked him as a captain, and he was motioning his team down the hallway as two unarmored ponies ran up.  He didn't recognize the colt, but he did recognize the rainbow-maned filly.  "You're the telepath, right?  Hurry up and tell us if we've missed anyone.  We have another chemical leak."  He glanced back towards the cargo bay, rolling up his soaked, sticky sleeves.  "It's clear, nasty smelling, and scanners pegged it as a flammable solvent."  When the human turned back, the colt, rather large for a unicorn his age, was sniffing his ankles.  "And, uh, we can't pinpoint the source"

"Acetone," the colt mumbled.  He pulled back quickly.  "Start scanning for peroxide compounds," he demanded.  "Everyone!  Whatever you do, don't create any sparks.   Don't turn on anything without a sealed power source!"  Looking back at the human, he added.  "Growl needs help at Junction 4A, a possible suspect is locked in supply closet there, and she's on the way with another team."

The human waved to two other humans.  The taller of the two, dark-skinned and easily twice the captain's weight, was the most heavily armored person Mezzo had ever seen.  Quite a feat given his upbringing.  The black polymer armor that covered him head to toe glistened with weblike lines of energy disspating micro-conduits, and the smoky visor, swung open and away from his face at the moment, showed thermal scan data.

"Junction 4a," the captain said quietly, "recon only, suspicious person in a supply closet.  Don't make contact until backup arrives."

The second human, whose armor consisted of little more than knee and elbow pads, carried only a modified rifle of some kind and a small side arm concealed in a pouch.  The rifle was unusually long for a weapon confined to the twist and turns of a space station, with a stock made of an unusual material that Mezzo guessed was some type of wood.  He had his scanner in hand, and held it out to the unicorn.  "Trace readings of hydrogen peroxide, all pretty localized, this important?"

Mezzo shook his head.  "There isn't enough here."  He took the scanner and started performing the basic industrial safety scans while the two humans headed out.  There were a few incompatible materials, but they were all in small quantities, and well separated.  The acetone was the only thing out of the ordinary, and even that wasn't in a high enough conentration to do much of anything but stink.

He looked inside the maze of crates that made up the cargo bay.  It looked like the rest of the station right now, like somebody just grabbed it and gave the warehouse a good shake.  Light was the same too, nothing but dim emergency lighting.  Only this place had also seen a good deal of fire.  All of it radiated from a section of wall torn open and currently sealed by a forcefield.  Behind it, a blistered power conduit would arc every few seconds, only for the energy to be crackle against the shield before being wicked away by the backup conduit running alongside it.

Wooden crates were scorched, and a few metal ones were torn apart.  This large, incendiary explosion was mostly stopped behind a clearly defined line.  But, scorch marks leeched around the sides of the dividing line.  A second explosion had occurred behind that line, with a very clear source.  A singed metal crate, bulging all around was ruptured on one face.  Inside, Mezzo could see what remained of pressurized gas cylinders.

He looked in the direction indicated on the peroxide reading, and saw a crate relatively close to the door with a garishly bright label.  He headed over.  There was a small ledge to step down into the actual cargo bay, which was still an ankle deep pool of burgundy red berry juice.   He sighed and hopped down, making his way to the crate.  When he got closer, he recognized the logo from his Aunt's favorite shampoo.  He tore the shipping manifest off the side and skimmed it until he found a line listing peroxide mane bleach.  A quick peek inside the box showed that everything was properly packaged and not leaking. "Acetone shouldn't even be here," he called to the human.  "All industrial compounds have to go through cargo bay Four.  Three is for station-destination consumer goods."

"Who are you, anyway?"  The human asked.  "Growl must 'a sent you, so you get some slack, but we're gonna evac the moment the telepath says the bay is clear."

"Her name is Ribbon."  Mezzo sighed and headed back to the doorway.  "And I'm all for leaving.  I'm just trying to keep anything else from going wrong until then.  Name's Mezzo."

"Mica.  Here."  The human leaned down and held out a stained hand.  "That's stuff's slippery, no sense in getting covered."

"Thanks."  Mezzo reached to take the offered hand when ribbon jumped into the pool with him, splatering his white coat with the dark syrupy liquid.  He might need some of that peroxide treatment for his coat when this was all over.  He turned around to face Ribbon, but the look of concentration on her face stopped his question in his throat.

"A blue circle."  Ribbon raised her hoof, barely out of the water.  "About this high off the ground, the size of your hoof."

She wasn't looking at him, but Mezzo knew the statement was meant for him.  That was a charging port for grav sleds, and it would be in the far corner of bay, near the transport tube to the shuttlebay.  The two ponies started off simultaneously.

"Two survivors," Ribbon called back as they rounded a corner into the maze of shelving.  "Both unhurt.  And something else is waking up."

"Wait, what?"  Mezzo slammed his shoulder into a tall metal crate that was in their way.  It was labeled as a metal sculpture weighing two hundred kilos.   Heavy, but moveable, except for the layer of liquid around their hooves that made it hard for Mezzo to put any force behind his movements.  He braced his hooves against a larger crate nearby and used it to gain enough leverage to rock the crate.  "What's waking up?"

"I don't know."  Ribbon climbed up Mezzo's back, using him to reach a lift hook hanging from the larger crate.  "I'll need you to catch me in a second."  She pulled herself up and launched herself to the top of the crate in their way.  She perched on top of that crate and started rocking back and forth.  Once she got it going, she shouted, "kick it!"

Mezzo braced himself and bucked the crate at the peak of its arc.  Ribbon hopped off as the crate toppled, grabbing the loading hook she used to get up in the first place.  One hoof slipped, and she dangled by the other, but a solid surface appeared beneath her rear hooves.

"I've got ya."  Mezzo stood below her, reared up and bracing his hooves against the shipping container.   His legs made enough of a platform for her to lower herself safely.

"Thanks."  Once perched on his legs, she wrapped her hooves around his neck and slid herself down his back.  It was a good thing he was so big.  "We need to be careful not to slip.  We can't afford to get hurt right now."

Mezzo nodded his agreement as he climbed over the box they just dumped.  He helped Ribbon up and over.  Luckily, she was light, even for as small as she was.  He would probably be able to lift her with magic if he needed to.

"That's cause my skeletal system is the same as a pegasi's," she explained as Mezzo let himself down.  He was tall enough to keep his footing the entire time.  Even if it was a little bit of a stretch.  "Minus the wings, obviously, but the microstructures composing individual bones... aren't that important right now," she responded to his unasked question.  "And I really don't know what's waking up, there's no thoughts, just a vague consciousness.  Probably some kind of animal."

"A pet?  Smuggled on board maybe?  Should we try to locate it after the survivors?"  He looked up.  "Hey, that curve in the wall up ahead," he pointed, "that's where the lift tube is."  Mezzo braced himself against the next crate in the way and started pushing.  It was much more manageable than the last one.  "I didn't know telepathy could work on animals."  He glanced back to ask if she knew where the creature was, but she was watching something.  He followed her gaze to his flank and frowned.  Was there something there?

"What?" she asked quickly.  "No, I'm not staring at your muscles."

He stared at her for a moment, then shook his head.  That wasn't what he was going to ask.

She blushed red.  "Ok, so I'm a really bad liar and you have really nice muscles."  She pushed past him, shoving the crate out of the way with surprising ease.

Mezzo raised an eyebrow.  "Apparently, so do you."  He watched her walk away for a moment, and exacted revenge by concluding she also had a nicer flank than his.

She froze in midstep, tail snapping down with an audible slap against the water's surface.  "You walk in front of me."

Mezzo shrugged.  Sure, hog the view.

She spun to face him.  "That is not why-"

She trailed off, and Mezzo waited a second for her to finish her rebuttal.  When she didn't, he shook his head.  "Do we have time for this?"  Mezzo then noticed that she wasn't looking at him again.  Her gaze was firmly planted behind him.

She took a step.  "Is that crate sinking?"

He looked back, and there was a crate that did seem to be sinking below the surface of the juice pool.  Except for the bubbling where the foam container touched liquid.  "No," Mezzo groaned as he looked back at Ribbon, "It's melting."

Her eyes met his.  "Mezzo, more things are waking up."

"Of course they are."  Mezzo started off, sloshing through the murky pool with a new sense of urgency.  They only had to shove one more crate out of the way to get to the back, but they passed three more melting at varied rates as the acetone diffused through the swamp.  "Here's the circle."  Mezzo slapped the mark on the wall as he passed it, looking for the survivors.  "Where are they?"

"They're here.  They're watching us, at least one of them is."  Ribbon took a breath and focused on the disarrayed thoughts, listening close enough to make sense of the panicked words and images.  A young mind, struggling to understand.  She cleared her throat.  "It's ok," she said softly, forcing her voice to project a calm she didn't feel.  "We only want to help you, you aren't in trouble."

She looked behind her.  She could make out movement between two massive crates.  It was a tight squeeze, even as small as the foal was, but she was desperately crawling farther away from Ribbon.  All she wanted was to hide deep in the smallest place she could, somewhere so it wouldn't get her.

The foal looked up, and her terrified golden eyes met Ribbon's for just a second, filling her vision with teeth.  A cavernous, gaping maw spewing spittle and stench as it tried to scrape its way to a defenseless meal.  Rapid splashes broke her out of the memory, and she turned to the noise, ready to fight.  But, it was Mezzo charging at her.

He rammed into her and twisted, tossing her aside and into the wall.  The beast above the shipping containers fell on him.  The weight of the hungry creature plunging the below the surface.  His head was held underwater by a powerful limb, and he heard the muffled roar of the creature ready to reap the spoils of its hunt.  He opened his mouth and clamped down on as much of the creature's hand-like appendage as he could.

With a shriek, the limb pulled away.  Mezzo twisted, pulling his legs tight.  He kicked upwards blindly, and was rewarded with a solid impact and a pained squeal.

The monster staggered back, and Mezzo scrambled away, getting his head above water.  The creature was on him before he could do anything but breath.  The three-fingered hand wrapped around the colt's head and pulled.  Mezzo jammed his left hoof in the creature's waiting jaw as it fought to take a chunk of his head.  It gagged and tried to dislodge the hoof from the back of its throat while refusing to let up on its grip.  Mezzo's other hoof hit the beast over its bald, diseased head.  Its eyes watched him with feral rage born of hunger, and he aimed for the fragile looking eyestalks they rose from.  He couldn't quite reach, but he was close.

He braced his hind legs below him and reared up as high as he could.  The unprepared creature lost its grip on the colt's head, but quickly found a new grip on his neck.  Mezzo swung his free hoof up  and brought it crushing down on the creature's eye, bursting the jaundiced orb into sticky paste.

Mezzo fell to his back as the creature released him, staggering back and clutching at its ruined eye.  But even that victory was short lived.  The creature howled in pain, then lowered itself to all three limbs, glaring at the the colt with its remaing eye.

Before it could rush in, Ribbon jumped over the colt, landing to the creature's left.  It turned to snap at her, and she leapt close in to its right.  It swung its head back as she hopped her weight to her front legs, raising her rear hooves off the ground.  The snarling creature never completed its turn before she lashed out, striking the side of its head with both hooves.  The creature's head snapped back the other way with a sickly sounding pop.

Both ponies stared at the creature.  For a few seconds, there was no motion, but then the creature fell limp and the ponies let themselves breath.

"We need to get out of here," they said in unison.

Mezzo picked himself out of the juice.  The acetone, weak as it was, burned his eyes, and he did his best to blink it out.  Ribbon stopped him with a hoof on his shoulder.  Her horn glowed, and magic obscured his vision.  By the time it faded, the pain was gone.

"Eyewash spell," she explained, checking to make sure nothing else was wrong with his eyes, "better?"

He nodded.  "Thanks."  The colt made his way to the gap where the foal was hiding, and peered in.  "Hey.  It's ok now, we beat it.  You can come out."

The little filly shook her head.  "You didn't get the other one!"

Mezzo jerked away from the opening, and his eyes went up.  He watched the warehouse shelving and stacks of metal crates for any sign of movement.  Ribbon moved beside him, facing the opposite direction.  Together, they watched, waiting for the slightest sound.

"We can't do this forever," Mezzo whispered.

"If you have any ideas," Ribbon responded, "don't keep them to yourself."

"Hey!"  The human guard's voice echoed from from a few rows down.  "What's taking so long?  And what was all that noise?"

Ribbon gasped.  "Mezzo, he's unarmed."

"Get back!"  The colt bellowed.  "There's-"

The second creature roared in response.

Ribbon looked up.  "Mezzo, it didn't like that!  Keep yelling!"

"Oh yeah?!  You don't like me yelling?! " The colt shouted to the ceiling.  He took a deep breath "Like I care what you think!"  He paused and listened, moving towards a rattling noise up above.  "If you want me to stop," his horn started to glow with bright white light, tinged sapphire blue at the edges, "come and make me!"

Two crates, high up in the racks, were shoved aside.  A screeching creature launched itself from between them.  With a flick of his head, Mezzo let loose a bolt of raw magic.  It hit the creature in the chest with a solid sound of impact, disrupting the arc of its pounce, sending it crashing to the ground.

It was on its feet quickly, bellowing its challenge.  Mezzo roared back, advancing on the beast.  His head whipped back and forth as he launched bolt after bolt.  The unrefined energy flashed against the monsters skin with each strike, forcing it back.  Despite its struggles, the beast was pressed back against a crate, the soft metal denting with each kinetic blast.

With a shout, Mezzo aimed his last blast high.  Relieved from the constant barrage, the creature hurled one final shriek at the colt before a falling crate silenced it for good.

Mezzo let out a loud snort as tried to get his breathing under control.  He watched the twitching body carefully, until its movements ceased, then turned back to his companion.  "Get the kid, we're leaving."

"Woah," Ribbon breathed, still staring at the scene of destruction.

This prompted a confused look from the colt.  "Ribbon?  Focus."

The nurse shook her head.  "What?  Yeah, I'm focused.  Time to leave.  Right."  She turned away quickly, and made her way back to the foal.  To her surprise, she found the little filly inching her way towards the opening.  "That's it," she coaxed, "we've got you.  You're safe now."

The foal looked up, no less scared than before.  "Something touched my hooves."

Ribbon grabbed the filly with magic, yanking her out of the tight space.  Something snatched for the screaming foal, but Ribbon was faster.  This much smaller creature shot out of the water at Ribbon, and she brought her hoof around in a clean right hook.  With a clang, she caught the creature between her hoof and the corner of the shopping container.

Mangled, the creature struggled weakly before going limp.  It was smooth-skinned, and bat-like in shape, but with very few mammalian features.  It's head consisted of a suckerlike mouth with three wormy, protruding tongues, and a distinct lack of eyes.  Along each membraneous wing, was a row of short spikes, like teeth on a saw.  "Mezzo, new problem!  Skyrrellian leeches!"

Mezzo ran to the curve in the wall, the door to the transport tube.  Ribbon tossed the body and directed a wave of magic down around her, disturbing the water.  No angry response, that was good.  She kept the foal suspended in a protective bubble of swirling aurora, and made her way back to Mezzo, watching the water carefully.

"It's either jammed shut, or the safety overrides have kicked in."  Mezzo tore off an access panel to get to a readout inside.  "It still has power.  Help me with this."  Mezzo moved to one side of a larger panel, one that was well hidden on the curved door.  Ribbon moved to the other side of it, and pushed on the latch when Mezzo pushed the latch on his side.  The panel popped off, and she felt a sudden panic from the second survivor.

The panic subsided as the colt inside the lift saw the ponies who opened it.  "Shelly!"  The colt shouted when he saw the filly.  They were the same age and color, possibly twins.

"Sheldon!" the filly shouted, trying to swim towards him through Ribbon's magic.

"Twins," Mezzo muttered, "of course."

He held his hooves up to the protective bubble, and Ribbon released it while asking, "You got something against twins?"

"Twice the ponies, twice the problems."  The colt took the filly and set her down inside the lift.  "Especially foals.  Why?"

Ribbon shook her head.  "No reason.  But that kind of makes sense now, twins do get into twice the trouble at the very least..."

Unfortunately, the opening was too small for either of the older ponies to fit through.  As the two foals hugged each other, Mezzo pointed to a keypad on the far wall.  His magic wouldn't be able to manipulate something that small from this distance, but hers might.  "Ribbon, can you hold the zero down, then press the big button on the bottom?"  That would send the lift straight to the security checkpoint outside the shuttlebay.

"Sure."  She waited For Mezzo to move his hoof from the opening, then did as asked, sending the transport tube off to its destination amidst hastily shouted thanks.  Alone now, and most likely surrounded, Ribbon looked over at Mezzo.  "You shouldn't be ashamed.  Even if you don't have fine control, your magic is really strong, and really, really impressive."

"Thanks."  Both ponies turned around to face the splashing noises approaching them.  "The way you killed those creatures with your bare hooves was pretty impressive too."

"Uh, thanks," Ribbon scratched her neck, "I guess."

"Feel up to doing it again?"

"Bring it on."

A third large creature, smaller than the other two, slammed into a crate a short distance away, shoved by a screaming human.  Mica ducked the creature's swinging limb, hand going to his belt.  The other hand delivered a swift uppercut to the creature's jaw and pushed back, shutting its mouth long enough for the humans other hand swing out, swiping a knife blade through the creature's windpipe.

The human grabbed one of the gurgling beast's eyestalks and yanked it towards him.  He slammed his knife down between those eyestalks until the creature stopped moving.  He let the body fall, and gave it one last kick for good measure, slipping in the process, and landing on his butt.  "What the hell was that?" he demanded of the two ponies as he scrambled to his feet, "And where are the survivors?"

Mezzo stepped forward.  "We-"

Three of the smaller creatures leapt out of the murk, latching onto the human.  The one latched to his arm was there less than a second before he tossed his knife to his other hand and sliced its head off.  The two stuck to his vest were grabbed by the tails and slammed against the nearest hard surface a few times.

"They're safe," Mezzo said quickly, "let's get out of here!'

Mica pointed to the wall.  "The tube."

"Not an option," Ribbon said as she darted forward.  She grabbed the human's arm in magic and pulled, stretching it out against the wall of a crate.  She tore the remainder of the leech's head away and blasted the wound with searing energy.  Her own leg contorted in pain as he screamed, but she kept the heat up until the wound was completely cauterized.  "I'm sorry," she released Mica's arm, "roll your sleeves down and protect your face.  Those things can't bite through cloth or fur, but they can cut you with their wings."

The human did as she said, biting his lower lip.  His eyes watered.  "A little warning next time!"  He hissed in pain as the wet fabric clung to the wound, then started back the way he came.  "Follow me."

Mezzo and Ribbon followed behind him.  They passed the same three melting crates as last time, only much less was left of them.  They were too small to have housed the large creatures, and most likely carried the leeches.  They also saw crates that they missed the first time.  Most were empty, but one was only starting to melt.  Mica pointed it out to the unicorns.  "Either of you want to do something about that?"

Some acetone must have dripped on this crate from above, because there was a melted streak revealing an eyestalk within.  It watched the three as its prison melted, waiting for the freedom to attack.

"Sure."  Mezzo blasted the shelf above with magic, and the entire shelving unit collapsed.  If the creature wasn't dead, it was trapped at the very least.

"Thanks."  Mica lifted his foot and stomped down.  Something underwater spasmed and died.  "Damned leeches."

They climbed atop the first crate, and the entrance to the cargo bay was in sight.  A little worryingly, half a dozen of the security guards were waiting there, weapons aimed nearby.  "Captain," one of them called out, "there's something in there!"

He gestured to the crate he and the other guards were aiming at.  It rocked back and forth as the snarling beast inside fought to free itself.

Mezzo was about to yell a warning not to fire, but Ribbon touched his side with a hoof.  "Those are sonic weapons," she told him, "no chance of combustion."

"Watch out," Mica warned, "There's buggers in the water.  Seal off the section before you do anything that might-"

He was cut off by a roar, and half a dozen of the large creatures lept from their hiding places.  The moment the first one hit the water, dozens of the small flying beasts erupted from the water.  One of the security guards, a unicorn loaded down with gear, broke rank as the swarm of monsters charged.  The others opened fire on the larger beasts.

The unicorn turned and ran down the hall as the winged things flew past the line.  And, with a focused grunt, he launched a spreading wave of magical flame above him, keeping any of the flying creatures from advancing.  He ran past the wall of flame, then grabbed the largest device strapped to his armor and tossed it down in front of him.  He unfolded the device's metal wings, and pressed it to the ground with his hooves.  The flick of a switch started motors that buried screws into ground, and he started dialing in the emitter.

One of the large creatures leapt past him.  A glance back showed two more creatures charging.  The unicorn slammed his hoof down on the activator as they jumped for him.  One creature sailed past as the shield sprang to life, losing a toe to the crackling energy, but otherwise making it through.  The third slammed into the active barrier a second later, bouncing off and landing near the unicorn.

The creature snarled and swung his arm at the unicorn, but he threw up a shield of his own, magic this time, to ward it off.  Enraged, the beast pounded away at the shield, until distracted by another unicorn's shout.

Mezzo shouted as he charged his horn.  He wasn't fast enough to get the other two, but he could get this one.  He swung his head in an upward arc, focusing on turning the raw magic into kinetic energy below the beast.  It shot up, hitting the ceiling with the crunch of breaking bone, and falling back down with a similar noise.

The guard undid his shield, and pulled stringer of spikes from a pouch at his chest and tossed them into the air.  A quick hit of magic unfurled them and lined them up around the beast, and the lights on their ends turned from red to green.  The unicorn then grabbed his radio.  "Hostiles on level 3!  Two have breached containment, Corridor 1-CB, heading towards junction 1-A!"





"1-A, level 3?" Growl sighed, listening to the broadcast.  "That's us."  She tossed her spent plasma rifle down at her hooves.  It still had a little charge, but the chassis was bent beyond repair.  Trying to fire it in this condition would leave her with a melted weapon as the misaligned amplifier coils dumped energy into the surrounding metal.  "This day just gets better and better."

"Eeyup," Mac agreed as he leaned against the wall.  He was busy pulling tiny shards of glass out of his leg with his teeth.  "Ah never thought Ah'd fight more'n one android in mah life."  With a shrug, he added, "never even thought ah'd fight a first one."  The big pony pulled the last of the glass from his leg and put some weight on it.  It hurt, but he had been through worse.  "Wait, ain't we junction 4-a?"

Growl tossed her head back to indicate the hallway behind them.  "We started at 4-a.  1-a is just up ahead."  Growl walked over to the mentioned android.  It lay in a crumpled heap in the center of the hallway.  It was clad in a yellow emergency spacesuit at first, but sustained weapons fire had all but burned it away, leaving a sticky residue of melted plastic pooled around its legs.  The chained emission weapon it was armed with, in addition to being illegal as hell, backfired when faced with the energy dissipating properties of the security team's riot shields, to say nothing of Timbo's response suit.

Still, it was a tough battle.  The thing was equipped with additional weapons, and its considerable mechanical strength.  Three members of the security team had to be dragged back to medical for broken bones, and fifty meters of hallway, from junction 4-a to junction 1-a, was in shambles.  Panels and light fixtures hung by wires from the ceiling.  Walls on all sides were scorched, and parts of the carpet were still on fire.

This drone was a well-made machine, several steps above the construction drones she had last seen in one of those suits.  No amount of energy weapons seemed to do any damage, and kinetic force only tossed it around.  The drawn out battle seemed like it wasn't going to end, until Mac managed to smash a compartment that held an organic brain.

"That brain isn't from any intelligent species I've ever studied," Growl sighed as she picked up an abandoned riot shield.  "It's probably an animal brain being used as a neural interface.  How did you know?"

"Ya ever read the Power Ponies?"  Mac chuckled at the blank stare he recieved.  "Ah punched the important lookin' glowy part."

"Dumb luck then," Growl shrugged, "works for me.  Grab a shield, big guy, you don't want to get caught defenseless against a chain blaster."

Mac limped over to the nearest shield, and held it up in the direction Growl was facing.  "Was that the blue lightning thing, or the green energy spheres?"

The farm pony got another confused look.  "Uh, yeah, the lightning.  The green was an ion pulser."  Growl rolled her eyes as she turned back down the hallway.  A roar echoed from beyond sight.  "Are you a farmer?  You strike me as a farmer."

"Ah ain't been a farmer fer a long time."  Mac sighed as another roar rang out.  "Are we goin' from fightin' robots ta fightin' monsters?"

"Looks like it," Growl said with a smirk, "I used to do this all the time when I was a mercenary."

Mac shook his head.  "Yer cutie mark ain't one for fightin'."

"Who cares."  She glanced back at the mark.  The tree growing into a stylized heart was a mystery to her, had been for a long time.  "I went fourteen years without knowing what a cutie mark was, let alone that they hold any sort of meaning.  I'll leave that to other ponies, I'm perfectly happy being a gryphon."

Two monsters came running down the hallway, and both ponies braced their shields in front of them.

"Mutated prills," Growl spat, "and here I was hoping the yellow spacesuit was a coincidence."

"They venomous?" Mac asked as the beasts barreled towards them.

The nurse shook her head, eyes never leaving the approaching monsters.  "Nope, just tough and ugly."

The stallion dropped his shield and turned around, snorting and pawing at the ground.  "Well, so am Ah."

"Hey, wait a -"

Both beasts moved to attack the pony that turned around, but one was much faster than the other.  Mac snapped his legs back, a smooth, practiced motion.  The mutant prill caught a pair of massive hooves in the head, and the force of the impact caused massive internal damage.  Head and neck were jammed back into its body, and the implosion of its cranial cavity caused a short gush of blood and other matter from its nostrils.

The other prill, seeing its companion dispatched so effortlessly, screeched at the two ponies, but halted its advance.

"I could have done that," Growl chided, "now how do we get close to the other one?"

Mac recovered his shield.  "Don't ya have that fancy energy shotgun thing?"

Growl raised an eyebrow.  "You mean my plasma rifle?  It bent when I smashed it over rust bucket's head."

"If Ah bent it back, would it work?"

Growl's jaw dropped as she fixed him with an incredulous stare.

Mac scratched his forehead.  "Um, that a no?"

With a disgusted scoff, Growl brought a hoof to her mane, undoing a hidden ribbon the same color as the strands it tied.  It came away with a long hidden blade which she bit down on, unsheathed, and started advancing.  "Don't let it get behind me."

Mac followed behind, both ponies walking on three legs and holding their shields in front of them.

The creature didn't like this.  It snapped and snarled, and paced back and forth in the hallway.  It didn't know how to react to its opponent's slow steady march.  It was unnatural, and confusing, but the beast did know that they were getting too close.  It roared at the closest one.

The eagle's screech that answered the beast brought a smile to Growl's face.  The mutant prill saw what was approaching, and turned to run.  Mac turned to face what he thought was another beast, only for the grey blur to fly past him.

James slammed into Prill's back with his talons stretched in front of him, tearing into its leathery hide as he plowed it into the floor.  He snapped down on the back of the thing's neck, the curve of his beak hooking against bone.  He twisted his head as he crunched down, severing the spinal column in one clean movement.

James spit out chunks of bone as Growl walked up to him after retrieving her scabbard.  He smirked at her and took the knife, easily tying it back in place in her mane.  "What?  You know full well that I'm the only thing in this galaxy allowed to roar at you."

She smacked his feathered chest with a hoof.  "Somehow, I always have to ask first."  She grabbed a hooffull of feathers and pulled his head low enough for her to plant a kiss on the side of his bloodied snout.  "But thanks."  She started down the hall towards the cargo bay.  "Any update on that dragon kid's blood type?"

"Yeah," James followed after her, "he's an honest to goodness elder dragon.  Blood type: ancient magical mystery flavor."

Growl slowed to a stop.  "Bullshit."  She looked back at James.  "A dragon prince that young would never be allowed away from the homeworld, much less working as a cargo handler."  The mare went quiet for a moment.  "If he were an elder dragon, would there be any change to his treatment?"

James nodded.  "Annabelle volunteered to supply magic for one of the ancient rituals, she also donated a little blood for a transfusion, and the drake walked out of the operating room a few minutes later as if he was never hurt.  He was against it, but after I explained it all to Annabelle, she couldn't be talked out of it."  The gryphon shook his head.  "She'll be resting for a good long while, and based on the condition of the operating room, I don't think that drake is merely a dragon prince."

"A direct descendant of the first elder?"  Growl groaned and started back down the hall.  "We'll deal with it later!  The cargo bay is under attack right now, and I haven't killed anything all day.  And why are you even here?"

"Um, the cargo  bay is under attack?" James muttered as he followed, gesturing to a small pack almost hidden on his back.  "Attacks tend to cause injuries, and doctors, like me, tend to treat those injuries."

Mac scrambled to catch up with them after he finished puking in a nearby alcove.





Mica let out a low whistle.  "That right there is a thing of beauty."

In the cargo bay, Mezzo blasted an oversized prill in the gut with magic, doubling it over.  Ribbon catapult off the colt, landing on the prill.  A second blast of magic blew away a skyrellian leech as it dove for her.  She jammed her appropriated sonic pulse rifle against the base of creature's skull, bracing her weight against the leg-strapped weapon as she dialed it to maximum output, and pulled the trigger.  The hypersonic impact scrambled the beast's central nervous system and recoil launched the small unicorn backwards.

She twisted in mid air, kicking another leech out of the air before landing on a high warehouse shelf.  Two blasts of Mezzo's magic took out leeches seeking revenge while she dialed her weapon back to to its previous setting, and she shot down three more once that was done.

Mezzo blasted another prill away from him, and Ribbon moved to a nearby crate.  She shoved it off the shelf, and down on the stunned prill.  Mezzo used the crate as a step to get to the first shelf.  The other shelves were close enough for him to climb from one to the other on his own as Ribbon covered his ascent from the leeches with well-aimed shots.

By the time he made it up to Ribbon's level, two smaller, agile prills decided to follow him.  Ribbon nailed one in the chest with two sonic pulses, but from a distance, her weapon had little effect.  She took a better aim, and hit its delicate eyestalk.

It stopped and howled in pain, and that gave Mezzo the time he needed.  He grabbed the moving prill and launched it into the other, knocking both of them to the ground.  Four more Prills came out of hiding around their injured comrades, snarling up at the two responsible.

A leech dive-bombed Mezzo, and ribbon deflected it with a small magic shield before blowing it out of the air with a rifle pulse.  "Mezzo, kick up some water!"

He looked down at the prills in the swamp below, took a deep breath and threw the widest kinetic blast he could straight down.  It was joined by a second kinetic blast from the pony beside him, and  hit the floor of the cargo bay like a meteorite.  The water was shoved away from the center of the floor as the prills were knocked flat, joined by any leeches unfortunate enough to get caught in the wake.

With a shout, Ribbon added her magic as the water came rushing back to center, speeding it up.  Mezzo saw what she was doing, and when the water met itself, he added his own magic to the geyser she created, pushing upward with sustained energy.

Ribbon's magic joined his, completing the capture of thousands of liters of liquid.  But both unicorns were struggling.  Ribbon with the sheer amount of energy required, and Mezzo with the constantly changing forces acting against him.

Ribbon groaned with the strain.  She wouldn't be able to complete her spell like this.  The prills below were still disoriented, they had a chance to end it all in one go.  "Mezzo... I need..."

"Open fire," yelled a voice below, "buy 'em some time."

"Do it," he cut her off.  He didn't have any concentration to spare. "Whatever it is, I can't-"

She turned and grabbed the colt, pulling his head down to hers.  Their horns met, magic intertwining as they both held their spells.   It was painful at first, the sting of foreign energy, and the feedback of another's control, but they closed their eyes and focused purely on the magic.

Ribbon was the first to adjust.   She knew the feeling of his magic already, memorized its color.  She could follow the warmth, the bright white sky over a sea of electric blue.  She could understand the singular drive and purpose that gave it strength, and read the duality giving it form.  She could adapt to it.  But now, he had to do the same.  She strengthened his spell with her energy, guided it as much as she could, but spared a little magic to give to him as raw aura.

Mezzo struggled to maintain his concentration as energy washed over him.  It was muted compared to his own magic, a gentle glow, with a deep, mysterious power to it, changing, dancing, bouncing from color to color, within a containing, golden hue.  This golden aurora lingered around him, wanting, needing, seeking... lonely.

Mezzo pulled a little magic away from his spell, but didn't take it back.  He touched it to the golden aura, surrounding it without hiding it, strengthening it, finding balance with this new energy.  Giving the aurora a sky to dance in, and an ocean to shine over.

They both took a sharp breath, releasing it slowly, as each of them eased into a new arrangement of magic.  Ribbon guided energy more powerful than she could ever conjure as Mezzo allowed his mind to relax and release power he could never control on his own.  Magic flowed freely between the two, shared deeper than either knew possible.

For a moment, Mezzo thought he could hear Ribbon speak, but he couldn't make out any words.  Despite this, he knew what she had planned.  What she needed him to do was as clear to him as if he had come up with it himself.  He used as little magic as possible to hold the water high, and started gathering as much energy to him as he could.  He waited for the moment that Ribbon was ready, and dumped all the power he gathered into their link.

Fridgid air washed over the two ponies as the suspended liquid froze in midair.  The two unicorns pulled away from each other, but remained bound by magic as they turned their attention back to their surroundings.  Moving as one, they both raised their heads.  Before them spread a thick sheet of darkly colored ice.

"We're clear!" Mica shouted.  "Do it!"

Both ponies swung their heads down, pushing the frozen slab far faster than station gravity alone.  It hit the ground with a thunder-like crack as it shattered.  Any creatures caught below were either crushed, or impaled on the broken shards.

But that wasn't the end.  There were still leeches left.  Still moving as one, the two unicorns flicked their heads left and right, launching chunks of ice at their aerial targets.  Not a shot was wasted, as each unicorn knew where the other was aiming.  After launching over a dozen shots each, neither unicorn could find a new target.

Magic faded, and ice fell slowly to join the rest floating below.  The glow surrounding the two unicorns faded.  Mezzo blinked as his senses returned to normal, vision slightly blurred by golden light.  He looked over, and Ribbon stared straight ahead as a glow matching his magic faded from her eyes.

Cheers erupted from outside the cargo bay, followed by a splash as Mica jumped into the water.  He held his scanner out in front of him as he navigated the ice, weapon at the ready.  He pulled the trigger once, aiming at a twitching prill, then checked his scanner again.  "No life signs!"  He looked up at Ribbon.  "You feeling anything?"

"No,"  She answered happily,  "Nothing, we're clear!"  She looked back at Mezzo, brimming with excitement.  "We did it!"  She raised her rifle high and shouted out, "Survival is victory!  Whoo!"

With a smile, Mezzo threw his hoof in the air alongside her, "Yeah!  Sur-"

Before he could finish parroting Ribbon's victory cry, he felt her hooves grab him by the head.  She pulled him down to her again, but it wasn't horns that met this time.  Snouts smashed together with the alignment skills of a drunken budgie, and Mezzo's eyes snapped wide open.  She released him quickly, and shouted right in his face, "we did it!"  She looked back at the sea of broken ice below them.  "That was so awesome!  Can you believe we did that!"

Mezzo recovered a little from the shock, and his eyebrows pulled together in confusion.  "Ribbon?"

"I mean, I was trying for that," her hoof pulled her forelock back as she stared in awe, "but I didn't think we were going to get anywhere near so much ice.  We should should get scanner readings and see how much there is."

"Ribbon?" the colt repeated a little louder.

"Holy crow, so much power, my heart is pounding just thinking about it!  I can't believe how strong you are."  She looked back at Mezzo.  "Your magic is..."

The colt stared at her for a moment.  "Ribbon?  Are you coming down yet?"

"Oh."  Her hoof went to her chest.  Her heart was pounding.  She took a deep breath and willed it to slow down, along with her racing thoughts.  "I'm on a magical high, good catch.  Ooh, wow.  Your magic is really strong."  She took a few more deep breaths, in through the nose, out through the mouth.  "Mezzo, we should probably-"

"No."  Not sensing a stopping point in the immediate future of her rambling, the colt decided to interrupt.  "Ribbon, you just kissed me."

The nurse's mouth opened and closed a few times before managing to find the shape for the words she wanted.  It took a few more tries to find the sound to go with it.  "I... I did?"

The colt stared in disbelief.  "It just happened!"  He brought his hoof to his mouth, touching the right side of his upper lip, where she had just mashed hers a moment ago.  "oh, forget it!"

Ribbon's eyes went wide.  She saw it coming, but the split second's warning she had was barely enough to raise her hooves before his grabbed her.  He pulled her face up to look at him, hooves resting on her jawline, and she gave up on fighting, letting her hooves hook onto his for support.  He leaned down slowly, and Ribbon closed her eyes.  She could feel his breath on her, hot and slow.  And she knew he felt hers.  She could hear his thoughts, thousands of them spinning to silence, nothing coming to the surface beyond pure focus on the mare before him.

She swallowed nervously.  She felt the doubt, both her own and his.  This would change things between them.  What she did earlier could be ignored, explained away by the heat of the moment, but this couldn't.  This was a choice, one they both had to make.

She pulled on him, and he didn't resist.  Their lips met.  They pulled away quickly, both too afraid to let it linger.  In that brief moment, feeling each other's warmth, both realized that they were even more uncertain of things between them than before, but that they would figure it out, together.

Their eyes met, Mezzo nervously watching Ribbon for some sort of reaction.  Unlike her, with the benefit of her telepathy, he wouldn't know how she felt until she told him.  He didn't know if he made the right choice.  In that moment, she decided, she would always tell him.  If he was unsure about her, curious about something, or if she was dealing with something he may not be able to see, she would tell him.

But her voice didn't want to work right now, so she answered his questioning stare with a small nod.

He loosened his grip on her, blinking as it sunk in.  She offered a small smile, and he returned it.  They separated quickly as their embarassment returned.

"We should probably climb down," Mezzo said quickly.

"Good idea," Ribbon agreed just as quickly.





Growl sighed from the far side of an energy field.  "Well, I'm glad they're having fun."  She knocked her hoof against the energy field.  "Red!  Cut this thing off!"

As the unicorn on the security team noticed her, and moved to comply with the order, James pulled a small tablet from a satchel he had tied around his neck.  "By the way, you need to see this.  I needed those limiters you confiscated the other day to purify the gems for the ritual.  The guard who went after them recorded this."

Growl took the pad, but her gaze lingered on her husband a second longer.  "I'm not going to like this, am I?"
> Nothing Ever Changes, Even Names and Faces
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------

"ASTRAL PLANE," scrawled the words on the wall.  The drone that wrote the words there collapsed after it was done.

Growl slammed her head to the desk as the video entered another loop.  She must have watched the video a dozen times, looking for some clue as to just who attacked the station.

The medium used for this message?  The blood of a particular criminal being housed in stasis in the morgue, one who had been killed in demonstrable self defense by the stallion whose name now bloodied Growl's office wall.

That wall was behind her right now, and the deactivated drone was being held in a forcefield under a full security team's watchful eye.  They all knew about its weak spot, and a shaped charge was placed there to be remotely detonated if anything happened.  Nearly every scanning resource available to the station was focused on the thing in the hopes that any signal sent to it might be traceable.

Although, given that the devices ran off a gruesome organic computer, any signal sent would likely be of a neural nature.  That would make tracing it almost impossible, even with a specially trained telepath.  Ribbon just wouldn't cut it.  She was barely trained enough to live a normal life, and she had no training whatsoever in the field of psychic warfare, or even mental tracking.

James had returned to medical to oversee the discharge of the last of the minor injuries, and to setup up more complete care for those worse off.  Somehow, they made it through without casualties, but a review of cargo bay three's security camera showed that it could have been much worse.

That dragon held back the flame of an explosive charge, the electricity of a ruptured power conduit, and the shockwave of the explosion with dragonsbreath.  That is not something he should be capable of at his age or size.  He had also displayed a transformation into a much larger dragon.  Unfortunately, his heroic actions were cut short by shrapnel from a secondary explosion.

Growl groaned, and smacked her head against the desktop a few times.  Why the hell was there an elder dragon on her station?  A dragon prince!  With falsified records!  And he was injured in a freaking terrorrist attack on her watch!  After single-clawedly saving the lives of everyone around him.  This carried a very real chance of becoming a serious interplanetary incident.

And she didn't even have any leads on who was responsible!  Everyone known to be connected to the guy in the morgue was in prison or dead.  And she double checked that.  Those thought to be dead were confirmed to be dead.  Dna matches on full, recognizable bodies; no pieces recovered from a crash, trace organic residue after a shootout, burnt beyond recognition, or any crap like that.

There was only one lead, one pony to talk to now, and his name was written behind her.  Who knew where in the galaxy he was at the moment.

The beep of an incoming communication disrupted her misery, and with one last groan, Growl lifted her head from her desk.  Her hoof went to the control that would answer the call.  "Growl here," she answered, hiding her tired frustration, "what is it?"

"Ma'am," replied whoever was on the other end, "we have a shuttle requesting permission to dock."





Lilybelle opened the door and dragged herself inside.  She lost track of how long she was at work, but it had to be at least dinner time.  She clicked the panel next to the door, checking the time.  It was just about time for a late lunch.

She shook her head.  The station had gone to hell and back in the space of about five hours.  The explosion occured at oh-nine-fourteen surface time, and it was thirteen-fifty-seven now.  She had been running around nonstop for most of that, but now that the worst of the injuries were treated, James sent her back to quarters to get a few hours to rest.  She had to be back in medical by seventeen hundred.

That gave her three hours and three minutes to relax, and she wasn't planning on wasting any of it.  The first thing she was going to do was get something to eat, then she was going to wash up a bit, then nap until the last possible moment.

She flicked the light on, and her to-do list rewrote itself.  "What the hell are you doing here?" she shouted at the lump on her couch.

The dragon blinked, waking slowly, and stretching.  His scales rippled down the length of his body, catching the light in fluid, wave-like motion.  He looked over at Lilybelle, and sat up quickly, raising his claw in greeting.  "Oh, um, hi."  His fingers fidgeted for a moment, and he awkwardly lowered his claw.  "I'm Softy, we, um, met, the other day.  At the protein-pro competition?  You-"

Lily raised a hoof to stop him.  "I know who you are.  I cracked your ribcage open with a pair of bolt cutters earlier this morning."  She looked him over.  There wasn't even a mark where he was flayed open.  "How in the hell are you fine?!"

He pointed to the nearest bed, where a blue pony was curled up under the covers.  "I'll let Annabelle explain the specifics when she wakes up, but I'm going to be your roomate for a while."

"That doesn't answer my question," Lilybelle pointed out.

"Kinda does," Softy countered.  Lilybelle levelled a glare at him, and he held up a claw in defeat.  "Fine, Annabelle saved my life.  Well, so did the rest of you, and I'm really grateful for that.  You kept me alive until Annabelle could complete the ritual."

"What ritual?  If there was a dragon ritual that could instantly heal shrapnel to the heart and lungs, James would have suggested it right away."  She looked at the other couch in the small foyer and contemplated taking a seat.  This seemed like it was about to become a long conversation.  "James used to be a scholar at a gryphon monastery, and would study with the dragons at their monastery.  He's well versed in modern medical techniques, as well as ancient healing arts.  Magic rituals, potions, things like that."

Softy nodded.  "He's the one who set everything up so the ritual could take place.  He improvised, but my clan's clerics couldn't have done a better job."

"Oh.  That makes sense.  And Annabelle has a good magic for things like that.  It's strong, non-elemental, and she has great detail control."  That reminded her of something she wanted to ask the other day.  "Say, what clan are you, anyway?  You mentioned being trained in magic directly by your honored ancestor, and I was wondering if it was one of the smaller clans.  My magic has a really strong fire affinity, so I was kind of intrigued by the fact that you can do different things with your flames."

"Heh, yeah."  Softy tapped his claws against the couch nervously.  "It's a pretty small clan, I guess.  Not a whole lot of members, as far as clans go.  Doesn't really have a proper name either."

"Then it wouldn't really be a clan," Lily pointed out.  "There's only one dragon clan without a name or title."

"Um, yeah," he sighed, "that one."

"Oh."  Lilybelle climbed onto the couch.  So much for getting any rest.  "You're an elder dragon?"

"The youngest of 'em all, but yeah."  He laid his head out on his claws.  "Your next question is going to be something about why a dragon prince is on this station without an escort, bodyguard, or a procession of attendants."

Lilybelle shrugged.  "I'll tell Ribbon she has some competition."

Softy smiled, letting out a single snort.  "No thanks.  I have a telepathic cousin, and he's a paranoid wreck because of it.  Ribbon is surprisingly normal."

She shrugged.  "I don't know many telepaths, so I'll take your word for it.  So, how about telling me why a dragon prince is on this station without an escort, bodyguard, or a procession of attendants?  And also, what exactly do you mean when you say procession?"

Softy started counting on his claws.  "A procession usually consists of a cook, a money-handler, a scheduling assistant, a doctor, a general assistant for each dragon travelling with you, and a translator.  Bodyguards are usually not considered part of the procession, but if you have them, an assistant carrying their additional weaponry is added.  So, that's anywhere between eight and eleven other dragons following you around and doing stuff for you."

Lilybelle raised an eyebrow.  "You say that so casually.  So, why don't you have one of these processions?"

"Because it's pointless."  He rolled onto his back and stared at the ceiling.  "I'm a dragon prince, one of the heirs to the obsidian throne.  But gramps isn't going to die, not within any of our lifetimes.  And even if he did, he has nine children, fourty-seven grandchildren, a hundred and eighty-three great grandchildren, and two hundred and ninety-four great-great grandchildren in line before me.  Like I said, I'm the youngest, the first great-great-great grandchild."  With a groan he added, "I also hatched about five centuries late, so there's a few great-great-great-great grandchildren who may technically be ahead of me in line.  And, as far as I've been told, my mother was from an outcast clan, so there would be plenty of dragons who would never accept me as their ruler."

"Sounds... complicated."

"It is."  He folded his claws on top of his belly and sighed again.  "I don't really care about any of the power struggles, pointless politics, or the chance at becoming some mid-level bureaucrat on one of the colony planets, so I left."

Lilybelle nodded slowly.  "To work as a cargo handler on the smallest space station in the Canterlot system?"

"I wasn't exactly aiming to wind up here."  Softy shrugged.  "I was planet hopping, taking cargo vessels and shuttle services where I could, when I could.  I was heading to Canterlot, and wound up here first.  Took on some temp work in one of the cargo bays to make some spending money for down on the surface.  First day on the job, I got into a fight with one of the other temps, and got my tail handed to me.  That was Drake, you remember him, right?  Spent a week working off the damages to avoid time in the brig, and we've been working together ever since.  It'll be three years next month."

"A magic, transforming dragon that breathes fire got his tail handed to him by a human?"  The unicorn raised an eyebrow.  "And you stayed on the station after this, instead of heading down to the surface?"

"Hey," softy tilted his head back until he could see Lilybelle, "you underestimate that guy going into a fight, and he'll wipe the floor with you, magic or not.  And I did, in fact, head to the surface.  I just came back afterwards."  He quietly added, "mostly because I was broke at the time."

Lilybelle continued to nod, listening carefully.  She was starting to feel like one of those counselors she and Lilybelle used to visit while attending Luna's Academy.  All she needed was a clipboard and some vanilla scented candles.  "Why were you broke?"

"Because I ran away from home, and have no way of accessing my trust fund without being tracked.  Also because I blew what little I did have on souvenirs and food."  The dragon closed his eyes as he relived a memory.  "There's some really good restaurants down there," he moaned in a low voice.  "So, yeah, you pretty much know everything there is to know about me now.  All that's left are the boring details of my princely training, and the family dynamics involved when you're the youngest of several hundred kids.  Family reunions are corporate affairs."

He rolled back onto his belly, and propped his chin up on the arm of the couch.  "So, what's the deal with you and Anna?  She hasn't mentioned anything before the two of you joining Luna's academy.  But you guys had to have been pretty well off as kids.  As spoiled and childish as she gets sometimes, I bet your folks were rich.  I want to know how you two ended up on this little out of the way space station."

Lilybelle flexed her hoof, glad that the dragon wasn't sitting closer, otherwise she might have slapped that speculating grin off his face.  But, she had to remind herself, that it wasn't really his fault.  He didn't know.  Most citizens of the galactic assembly have a hard time even imagining the concept of slavery, much less that there are planets out there still practicing it.  And, she did have to admit, Annabelle could act pretty spoiled.

"Hey," Softy sat up, head lowered and smile fading fast, "did I say something wrong?"

Lilybelle looked up quickly.  She had been scowling at the floor without realizing it.  "No, sorry, it's not you."  She shook her head.  She couldn't blame Anna for not telling him, but he needed to know if he was going to be involved with her.  "She and I were born into slavery on a planet called Tankra.  A lot of ponies on this station were.  We were freed by a Gryphon mercenary group headed by James and Growl.  This is their station.  It was supposed to be a hospital, but they turned it into a refugee camp."

Softy's wide eyes blinked as she continued, "The war took several years.  We ended up getting out in waves.  Annabelle, and our parents, got out with the first wave.  The fabric yards and mills weren't well defended, and a sneak attack managed to free half of the slaves overnight.  I wasn't with them, and didn't get out until the second wave.  It was a quiet war, espionage and sneak attacks, brief struggles with guards.  The descendants of the goddess, as the rulers of Tankra called themselves, couldn't admit to the rest of the planet that their slaves could fight back.  We took advantage of that."

Lilybelle brought a hoof to her horn, moving her mane to expose the constricted, miscolored base.  "Any slaves who were unicorns had limiters burned onto their horns at an extremely young age.  It takes several long, painful surgeries to remove one and repair the damage left behind, then you have to try and learn magic from scratch.  Pegasi slaves had the tendons in their wings severed.  Sometimes, the damage caused by that is irreparable.  Anna's father was lucky enough to be allowed to keep his flight so he could make deliveries.  My father will never fly again."

She took a deep breath, and started on what was probably the most important part for the dragon to hear.  "The way Annabelle acts is a coping mechanism.  She doesn't get close to others, and being spoiled and aloof gives her an excuse to walk away whenever she starts to feel uncomfortable."  Lily was silent for a moment, unsure if she should continue without talking to her cousin first.  "She, um, she was assaulted when she was really young.  I don't know all of what happened, but her father saved her, and they were both publicly beaten after that.  She's afraid of hooves now, and ever since then, I haven't seen her get close to another pony who wasn't family.  Not to mention, she can barely even speak to stallions, unless somepony she knows is with her.  And even when she does, she can't look them in the eyes."

She looked up at the drake, and offered a smile.  "I was kind of happy when you two started hitting it off, because I wasn't sure Annabelle would ever be able to open up to anypony."  The pony chewed her lip for a moment.  "Well, I guess she still hasn't opened up to anypony, but you get the point, right?  I mean, I don't even know if I should have told you all this, but I just don't want to see her get hurt.  I mean, you seem nice and all, and if Anna likes you enough to go on a date with you, you can't be all that bad, but there are some things you just need to be careful about, you know?  And, again, I'm not trying to scare you away or anything, but we both have a lot of scars.  I mean, well, physically, I'm the one with a lot of scars, but you know what I mean.  She's been through a lot already, and I don't know...  I just don't know!"  She brought her hooves to her face as she caught her breath.  She was on the verge of tears, and more worked up than she could recall being in a long while.  She just told him everything.  She might have just scared off Anna's only chance at a real relationship.  Or, she might have saved her from getting hurt again.  There was no way to know.  "Softy, you're being awfully quiet."

The drake swallowed hard, and replied, "I think I'm gonna puke."






Mezzo and Ribbon found a spot to sit in a quiet alcove outside medical.  Things were finally slowing down, and they were able to take a much needed break.  Ribbon had been busy assisting James, taking over for Lilybelle, who was run ragged then sent home to recover.  Mezzo hung around as an anchor for Ribbon, to keep her from getting caught up in the pain around her.  He also brought patients water, checked bandages, and generally tried not to feel useless.

By now, almost everypony was heading back to their quarters.  Still moving in groups, and escorted by by security teams, but everypony understood the precaution.  It also made it easier to check on everypony's safety with security teams reporting statuses to a central location.  Thanks to this, Mezzo was able to make sure that Aunt Tavi made it back home well before he had time to actually call them.  Once he found time, a quick call had affirmed that, not only was everypony safe at home, but also that the small scratch on Minuette's right eyebrow would not leave a scar as the filly hoped.

Even so, the colt was still considering getting her the sunglasses she wanted.

Mezzo stole a glance at Ribbon as he opened one of his ration bars.  The young mare looked up when she felt it.  He offered a small smile, and she returned it.  They managed to clean up a little since the cargo bay, and were no longer sticky, but both their coats were very slightly tinted from the surberry concentrate.  It would hopefully go away with a good shampooing.  Looking away quickly, and trying to act like he didn't just imagine her in the shower, Mezzo held out the unwrapped ration bar.  "Here."

"Thanks."  She took it with a hoof, a slow, timid movement, trying to act like she didn't know he just imagined her in the shower.  In exchange for the food, she offered up one of two pop-top cans of purified water.  She swirled it in her magic first, chilling the contents with a smaller version of the spell she used in the cargo bay.  She opened it with magic, then held it out in her hoof.  "Here."

"Thanks."  The colt reached for the can, and when his hoof brushed hers, he glanced up, only to snatch the can and look away.  The moment he felt her fur wet with condensation under his hoof, the mental image became them in the shower, not just her.

Ribbon bit back a giggle as he pressed the can to his face, chilling his blush away before it could appear.  The mental image wasn't as embarrassing to her, surprisingly, but that could be because the brief image involved hooves in her mane and lots of shampoo suds to get the surberry out, nothing else.  It was actually kind of sweet.

She could hear the question he wanted to ask, yet tried so hard not to.  She wanted to hear it from him, but she wanted him to chose to ask it.  So, she decided to ask a question of her own, one that had been gnawing at her since she heard Octavia call her a friend.  "Mezzo, what changed?"  She cradled her own water can with both hooves, rolling it back and forth, nervously watching him out of the corner of her eye as she fidgeted.  "When we first met-  I mean, when you first found out I was a telepath, you would barely even look at me, much less talk to me.  But then you started to give me a chance.  Now, you keep looking over, and you talk to me like I'm a regular pony.  What's different about me now?"

Mezzo shrugged.  His nervousness spiked, and he downed a gulp of cold water.  A dozen or so thoughts jumped to untangle themselves into words, and Ribbon couldn't keep track of them.  The colt spoke before she could make sense of it.  "Nothing, really.  I guess you're the same as you were before, and I just know you better.  And I realized that you can do more than take."  Mezzo winced.  That wasn't how he wanted it to sound, but he didn't know how else to say it.  "When I learned you were a telepath, I was afraid at first.  I didn't want you taking my memories.  I didn't want anyone else to even know what happened, and when you started to feel the things that happened to me, I was terrified.  I didn't want you to know my pain, and more than anything, I didn't want you to feel it."

Mezzo looked up at her, and she remained silent, nodding for him to continue.

He took another sip of water and stared out at the station.  "That night you helped with my hoof, you saw the first time I was beaten by a Tankran Guard.  But, after that, I saw one of your memories.  Because of that pendant, because of whatever connection it forced on us, I saw your mother hurt and frozen in stasis."  The colt sighed.  "I started to see that I had made a lot of assumptions about you, and that some of them, no, a lot of them, were wrong."  He took another sip.  "When I woke up before you, I ignored the pain and got out of there.  I needed time to think, and I wanted to spend that time alone.  So, I went to that empty storefront and sat against one of the columns.  That's where Growl found me."

He scratched his neck.  "Yeah, she chewed me out pretty good over what happened.  But, for some reason, in the middle of her listing off every crime I could be charged with, I asked her if you had any friends."  He shook his head.  "None of my business, I know.  But, I still asked, and she got real quiet.  All she would tell me is that most ponies avoid you."  He looked over when he heard her can open.  "I couldn't understand why.  Even though I started off doing the same exact thing, I couldn't give one good reason why I treated you the way I did."

"So, I decided that I wouldn't avoid you.  Even though, I still wanted to.  You had your own pain to deal with, why would you want mine dumped on top of that?"  He set down his drink before he could take another sip.  He didn't want to empty it before he ate his ration bar.  "But, I was a little... curious.  At least, that's what I thought it was, Curiosity.  Everything that happened strengthened that feeling.  But it was weird, not like any curiosity I ever felt before.  Then, in the cargo bay, that thing with our magic, I realized I was wrong.  It wasn't a desire to know about you, it was just, a, um," he didn't want to say the word again, "de- desire to just know you."  He started unwrapping his ration bar.  "So, yeah, you aren't any different, I am.  I don't see you as, 'that telepath,' anymore.  You're just Ribbon, a young mare that happens to be a telepath."

She blushed in silence and slammed her ration bar into her mouth as an excuse not to respond immediately.  She chewed on it for a while, along with her words.  She wasn't really used to talking about her own feelings, but now that Mezzo shared his, he was silently waiting for a reaction, a response.  But how do you respond to that?  He got hung up on the word desire, because it was the best word to describe what he felt, even though he couldn't fully describe it to himself.  He was interested in her, and trying to express that.

"I'm interested in you, too."  She winced and looked the other way.  She was trying to agree, trying to say something that made it clear that she understood, but she left some words out.  Though, the statement wasn't exactly false.

The effect on Mezzo was immediate.  In the space of a single breath, he went through three distinct moods.  With a sharp inhalation, he swelled with relief and exhilaration.  His conflicted thoughts were vindicated by the confession that they were shared.  He held the breath at it's peak, stunned into a sudden pause by new conflicts arising.  Confusion about what to do, how this would change things going forward, even confusion about what to say next.  Then as the breath leaft him as a miserable sigh, he realized that she had been drawn to him first.  What did she see?  He was an angry, messed up colt.  He had nothing to offer.

"Beyond the fact that you have the most gorgeous white fur I've ever seen, and a warhorse build straight out of ancient mythology?  I mean, I can't imagine what you'll look like when you fill out as a mature stallion, but I bet that... I... should probably get to the point."  She cleared her throat.  "You have a lot to offer.  You can cook, fight, play music, keep your cool in the face of a mutated monster that's trying to eat you, and you can keep me telepathically grounded.  And really, if you think about it, you're no more messed up than I am.  I mean, I should really be asking myself what I have to offer you in a relationship."

Mezzo looked down at her, mind blanked by that last word.  "A relationship?"

She brought her water to lips, can shaking as she fought to maintain composure.  In hindsight, that was a mistake.  He watched as she took a sip, spilling some of it.  He stared as the clear liquid clung to her fur, dripping from her chin.  He couldn't pull his eyes away as she wiped her mouth dry with a hoof, and a scene involving a little more water than that popped up in the corner of his mind.  She was more aware of anypony of the influence that hormones could have on the thought processes, and could usually ignore idle thoughts, but his were harder to dismiss.  Mostly, she admitted to herself, because she had been thinking a few of her own.  "Y-you're staring," she stammered out, wishing she could take another drink without him watching.  Her mouth was dryer than it was before, but she wasn't about to tell him to look away.  She could hear Mezzo's question return, and she knew he still hadn't looked away.  "Say it."

"Ribbon?"  He moved closer, scooting over so they were sitting side by side.  She looked up, and he looked down.  Her mind went to that moment in the cargo bay, just before she closed her eyes.  But this time, he didn't raise his hooves to her cheeks.  He stared into her eyes, working up the courage to speak as she gave him all the time he needed.  "What are we?"

She swallowed dryly.  Hearing the question, and hearing it said out loud were two very different things.  Any answer she might have had prepared slipped away from her, and she said the only thing that came to her mind.  "I don't know."  She broke eye contact.  "I mean, I'm not sure.  I want to say that we're friends, at the very least, but we aren't, not quite.  Whatever this is, it's different than that.  But, I don't want to say it and be wrong, and Mezzo, I know you don't want to either.  We're barely even letting ourselves think it."  She lifted a hoof and touched Mezzo's leg.  "Are we close enough to be lovers?"

Mezzo raised a hoof of his own, taking the one resting against him and holding it tight.  "Do you want to be?"  Her hoof gripped his tightly, and he brought his other hoof to her shoulder.  She was tense, but quiet, and he understood that.  He just asked a question with profound implications for both of them, one that was waiting to be asked since the cargo bay.  "I've never felt like this before, and I'm kind of scared of it.  I don't completely know what this is, I don't think I know how to be a coltfriend, and I don't want you to feel weird or pressured by any of this, but I do want to know more about you.  I want to touch you, kiss you, talk to you, share magic, anything, as long as it's with you.   You are a strong mare, with beautiful colors, and talents that I'll never possess.  The more I learn about you as a pony, the more I want to learn, and the more I just... want.  If you want the same, I would be willing to try."

Ribbon couldn't bring herself to look up.  She knew this was coming, but that didn't mean she was prepared.  "I wouldn't know how to be a marefriend, either."  She didn't feel pressured by him at all.  Any pressure she felt was purely the result of her own mind.  She wanted him to know more about her.  She wanted someone who could understand her.  She wanted someone who could feel safe around her, despite her abilities.  She wanted somebody she could touch, and kiss, and talk to, and not worry about scaring off just because she heard something she wasn't supposed to.  She wanted all of that so badly.  She wanted to stop being alone.  But did she want him just as much?  "Mezzo, will you let me think about this?"

He nodded.  "Of course.  Take as long as you need to."

Ribbon recoiled at the... disappointment?  No, that wasn't it.  Regret?  Maybe.  Whatever it was Mezzo felt, it was turned inward.  He was worried that he said too much, or not enough, or the wrong thing, or the right thing in the wrong order.  "No, Mezzo," she would at least try to lessen his worries, "I really do want to take you up on your offer.  You're a kinder stallion than most I know.  Your  magic is amazing, powerful and gentle at the same time, even if you can't control it.  More powerful than mine for sure.  And most of all, I... I feel like I can trust you.  Because of that, I want you to feel like you can trust me.  I want to take things slow, and do this right."

She forced herself to look up, and he was smiling at her.  It wasn't just from the ego boosting compliments either.  The relief he felt knowing she felt the same in some way made up his mind for him.

Ribbon blinked.  "Wait, what?"  Before she could recover from her confusion, he leaned in, planting his snout against her cheek.  Ribbon leaned into it, committing the softness of his lips against her fur, the spreading warmth of his nervous breath, and the taut lines of his neck muscles as he leaned over, all to memory.  She suppressed a selfish whine as he pulled away.  "Mezzo?"

"I'm sorry," he shrugged, trying to hide his emotions before he spoke again, "It's kind of been on my mind since you kissed me in the cargo bay.  But that's it," he promised, "I'll back off, and give you as much space as you need to figure things out."  He looked down at the hooves he still held, and set them back on the ground.  He looked back at her with determination in his eyes as they stood separately.  He still had his worries, but like she said, he wanted to do this right.  "You know where to find me.  Next time we see each other, we can decide what we want to do."

"Mezzo, that's great, but..."  She bit her lip as she stared up at him.  He was so serious and solemn now, like a character in a holodrama, that she hated to ruin the moment.  "We still have another two hours before Lilybelle comes back to take over for us."  His eyes searched hers for a moment, in the faint hope that she was making a joke.  "No, Mezzo, we really do."

"Yeah," Mezzo muttered, stiffly turning away from her as his determined expression turned to a cringe, "so, after we're done helping James, you'll know where to find me."

She bit back a giggle as he ate his ration bar in quiet shame, reflecting on the fact that he didn't know the right way to do any of this.  "Well neither do I," Ribbon said with a good deal of certainty.  She downed the rest of her water, and leaned up to plant a cold, wet payback kiss on his cheek.  He jumped, but his spirits were immediately lifted, exactly the reaction she hoped for.  "Mezzo, I'm not thinking about if.  I knew the answer to that in the cargo bay, even if I doubted myself for a little bit.  I like you, and I want to be with you, I just need some time to think about how.  With, you know, the way I am, we need to be careful about things."

She marched back to medical after that, forcing herself not to look back.  She knew that he was watching, and would be along shortly.

Mezzo quietly watched as she walked away, heading back to medical with the empty can trailing behind her in a golden rainbow bubble.  His eyes fixed on the aura surrounding the stark, barely labeled, aluminum can, letting himself gaze into the play of colors on the reflective surface as his thoughts drifted to a few hours ago.

Her magic was just as beautiful as the rest of her.  Sharing in it was an amazing experience, and he would remember it for the rest of his life.  He knew of sharing magic before they had done it, what unicorn didn't?  But actually going through it was a far removed experience from what he imagined.

It was pretty much part of the talk you give foals when they ask where babies come from.  Magic was such a fundamental part of a pony's makeup that, under certain circumstances, exchanging aura with another was an intimate act bordering on carnal.  Using a spell on somepony was different, the magic was refined, focused to perform a specific task.  Unless the other pony was trying to counteract the spell, or highly compatible with you, any interaction was limited to the effects of the spell.  Raw magic had no such focus.  You were quite literally offering up a raw portion of your very being.  How it would act on the other pony depended as much on them as it did on the pony supplying the magic.  State of mind, compatibility of auras, even the presence of distractions could affect what each pony would experience.  Even knowing that much, he wasn't prepared for what he felt.

That first time, he just channeled a little bit of magic to her, to pull her back from the overload of pain she was feeling.  It was a desparate attempt to block out what must have been hundreds of voices screaming.  He hoped his thoughts and magic would be loud enough to focus her, in the way they did before.  He felt very little at the time, but Ribbon must have felt something more, because it worked.  She woke up.

The second time, in the cargo bay, was that what Ribbon felt from him?  He remembered every detail, but wasn't sure he could fully describe it.  Light, colors that washed over him, carrying the very essence of the other unicorn, similar to his own, yet different in every way.  That soft caress, sparking across his skin with vibrant energy, tugging at him, making its lonely needs known as his magic surrounded it.  Even thinking about it made him want to follow that pull.

Was that a true reflection of the mare named Ribbon?  The caring nature?  The energy behind it?  The loneliness?  It made sense to him.  But what of his own magic?  What did Ribbon feel from him?  He was able to brace her magic with his own.  He was able to strengthen it without taking it over, and without being taken over.  She was able to guide him without controlling or being controlled.

Would they be able to do the same outside of their magic?  Could they figure out a way to work together, strengthen each other, guide each other?  Mezzo found himself hoping so.  He had never felt this before, never even knew it was possible.  He wanted to experience more, to know what could happen next.  Even if he was unsure of how to go about it.

This it what it is to like somepony?  She said it.  She liked him.  Mezzo only wished he had thought to say it back.  He knew she had to have come to the conclusion already by his thoughts, but he still wanted to say it.  He wanted to tell her himself.  No hestiation, no prodding, no outside intervention, just him, her... and the shower?

He hung his head.  That scene in his mind made a sudden reappearance and wasn't going away.  But was it really that big of a deal?  They were lovers now, or rather, would be, once they figured out how to go about it.  It was happening, and thoughts like these would be expected, right?  Surely Ribbon had some thoughts of her own.  What was she said earlier?  Something about staring at his muscles?

He lifted his hoof, and contemplated the leg attached to it.  If you ignored the scars, you could kind of make out the muscle lines.  They hid pretty well in the white fur, and you really had to look for them.  His eyes followed back to his left side, the one without the large scar most ponies seemed to recognized him by.  The lines there and down his stomach were better defined, if only by a little.

Maybe it wasn't that he was well muscled, but just that he was skinny?  Well, maybe not skinny, that didn't describe him at all.  Despite it taking two years after escaping to break him of eating until he puked, he never put on any excess weight.  Then again, that was a good thing.  The king was a fat bastard from what Mezzo remembered, and he wouldn't want to be anything like that.  There were only three white ponies on Tankra who mattered to him.  His mother, his grandfather, and the goddess.  He didn't care to be similar to any of the others.

Eventually, Mezzo shrugged and gave up.  Maybe he should ask Ribbon to explain?  That would be part of this, right?  Asking how she feels about things, and listening to her thoughts and concerns?Things would be different from now on, in ways he probably couldn't imagine.  And he was looking forward to it more than he would have expected.

With a sigh, he downed the last of his water, and started his own walk back to medical, trailing an empty can and two ration bar wrappers along with with him.  On the way, he gave his own aura an appraising stare.  Cold white, like his fur, tinged with electric blue, and way too easy to imagine mingled with golden aurora.

Ribbon stopped the colt just outside the door, holding out a wing to block the entrance.  Mezzo's eyebrows furrowed deep as his mind snapped out of daydreaming and focused on the pegasus that obviously wasn't Ribbon.

He sure looked like her.  Heights were close.  Colors were nearly identical.  Maybe the fur was half a shade darker on this colt, but the manes were perfectly matched.  No, his was just a little shorter and messier.  His lips were pressed together in what would have been a sneer if the expression wasn't also forced comically high and accompanied by comically exaggerated squinted eyes.  It was easy to see why she was so defensive of twins earlier.  "Uh, hi, I'm Mezzo," the unicorn offered.

"Name's Radio," the colt said, not taking his eyes off Mezzo's, "and I saw you staring at Ribbon earlier.  She had to have known, but she didn't say anything, change the way she was walking, or even look back.  On top of that, it looked like she was smiling.  That leaves me with one question.  Are you dating my sister?"

"Um, no?"  Mezzo took half a step back.  "Well, not yet, but I'm going to be.  I think.  It's kind of up to her right now."

"Cool."  With a shrug, the other colt's expression went from suspicious to laid back and smiling.  He also turned to look inside the door.  "Wait out here a second.  I don't want her to see me coming."
> Unfriendly Conversation
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------

The door to the security office slid open, and two gryphons in security uniforms, but not armor, ushered a grey unicorn through.  Growl, who had picked her head up at the sound, straightened up in her chair, rubbing the flat spot out of her forehead fur.  "Mr. Plane, Welcome back to Canter Delta."

The unicorn didn't look at her and instead glared at the guards accompanying him.  "What's with the armed escort?"  Astral adjusted his jacket before turning to face Growl.  "Still don't... uh..." he trailed off as his eyes fell on the wall behind her.

The older mare raised an eyebrow.  "I've redecorated, like it?"

"Subject matter aside, I have my doubts regarding the medium."  Astral pressed his lips together and took a deep breath after delivering his witty remark.  "Please tell me you didn't do that," he muttered quietly.

"Please," the mare rolled her eyes, "I can be much more creative.  But, lately, I've been too busy.  And wouldn't you know it, your name just keeps popping up.  I didn't mind the apples.  Fresh fruit works wonders at improving station morale, and we've been selling them hoof over hoof, after scanning each and every one for radiation, of course.  I didn't mind parking your radioactive rust-bucket in the upper docking bay, even if it is split open like a tin can and ready to be scrapped.  The bounty on that criminal you brought in will pay for renting that space for another few months, even after counting in decontamination fees."  Growl pushed herself away from the desk and walked over  to a large display screen, activating a playback of security camera footage of recent events.  "What I do mind is having my station attacked by an unknown enemy, and finding your name scrawled in blood on my office wall."

Astral watched the footage in confusion, eyes widening at the sight of mutated prills, or yellow spacesuits.  Audio was lowered, but present.  He recognized the whining crackle and violent lightning arcs of a chain blaster when the drone used it against its armored attackers.

The unicorn looked over at Growl.  "You don't think I had anything to do with this, do you?"

She just gestured to the screen.  "Keep watching."

That event kicked off a slow moving firefight that was ended when a pony behind a scorched riot shield managed to get behind the drone and deliver a swift front-hoof punch to the back of the thing's neck.  The drone dropped, and the pony let his shield fall with it.  His leg full of green shards that were quickly starting to bleed.

"Mac?"  Astral leaned in.  "Is he ok?  Why is he on your security team?"

"The big fella couldn't stand not doing anything, so he's been helping out around the station."  Growl shrugged.  "he's a bit of an idiot, but we all like him.  Here comes the good part."

The video playback jumped from body-cam footage of two ponies destroying a horde of monsters, to a dark, almost empty room.  In the center of the room, spaced so you could walk between them, were four glowing, coffin-sized boxes.  A drone entered the frame, in an undamaged yellow spacesuit, and walked over to the only box whose lid was closed.

Astral watched as the lid was torn from the box, and a brown earth pony's body was revealed.  The camera's angle didn't catch the head, but Astral knew what it would have shown, the pony who greeted him at the apple farm and helped him load the Philomena.  Only, he would have a hole below his ears that Astral put there.

The unicorn rubbed his temples.  It was hard to believe that it could have been the same pony.  Loading those apples had taken a good three hours with the beat up equipment available.  They talked almost the whole time, even shared a quick lunch when the work was over.  At what point did that guy decide he would try to kill him and reclaim the cargo?  Given that the cargo containers were radiation shielded, it was before they ever met.

"This."  Growl pointed at the screen, sitting suddenly and crossing her hooves.  "This right here is probably the most important thing we've recorded."

The drone stared at the body, leaning in slowly, and lifting its artificial hoof with a hesitant, organic movement.  It reached in, and lifted the body, hugging it close.  It flung its head back, like you would expect of a pony releasing a terrible scream.  No such sound issued from the speakers.

Growl paused the playback.  "From here, the drone made its way to this office, wrote that," she pointed to the back wall, "and deactivated.  And before you ask, we keep active scanners in the morgue, and logs showed that it was truly a drone in that suit.  We also have an unbroken chain of security footage of the thing making the trip."

Hooves still pressed to the sides of his head, Astral fixed his eyes on the earth pony.  "And what do you want from me?"

Deactivating the screen, she sighed, "Honestly?  I need help."  She walked back to her desk and slid a pad towards him.  "I'm not trying to pin this on you, but you are the only lead I have.  Anything you can tell me, no matter how insignicant, would be appreciated."

Astral looked down at the pad, expecting a blank screen for him to start typing on.  He picked it up and found a massive file tree, nearly a thousand files, organized chronologically.  "What's all this then?"

"Everything we have.  On you, on the initial attack on your ship, and this recent attack.  Reports, footage, scan data, you name it."  Growl looked down at the floor in a quiet manner that Astral didn't think the older mare was capable of.  "I make no excuses for my treatment of you last time you were aboard, but we are on the same mountaintop now.  Whoever attacked us is after you.  We may very well need to work together to survive."

Astral looked down at the pad.  He opened the first folder.  From the dates  and filenames, it seemed to be reports from his rescue and subsequent medical treatment, including one titled, "Threat Assessment."

He opened that file, and it was what he expected, a threat assessment of him, detailing his weaponry, the capabilities of the other equipment he possessed, and thorough tactical musings on the various battle sites on board the Philomena.

He looked up at the other pony, staring at her carefully.  She must be extremely worried if she was sharing this level of information with him.  "I honestly don't think I know anything that could help."  He brought a hoof to his forehead.  "But, I'll tell you what I can, and put you in touch with somepony that might know more."

"That's all I ask," Growl replied with a grateful nod.  She sat behind her desk and pulled up a blank witness interview form on her computer.  "At this point, we don't know what's important."





Mezzo cracked the tiny tube open after giving it a good shake, then waved it under Radio's nose.

The unconscious pegasus reacted immediately, eyes snapping open as his body gave a jolt.  He twisted away from the awful smell and groaned loudly as he brought a hoof to his aching chin.  "She's gotten faster," he muttered, "or I've gotten slower."

Mezzo watched in silence as the colt picked himself up off the triage mat to stand on wobbly legs, wings spreading a little to help him balance.  The unicorn only looked away to recoil at the scent wafting from the tube he still held.  Shaking his head in disgust, he jammed the smelling salts back in the medkit, and sealed the lid.

"That stuff stinks, doesn't it?"  Radio sat facing the colt.  "I keep Stim-spray in my kits instead."

"Stim-spray?"  Mezzo glanced up at the colt.  "We used that during the war, but I haven't seen it since."

"War?" Radio asked, clearly caught off guard.

Mezzo went silent.  This was Ribbon's brother, he reminded himself.  He was most likely a telepath as well, and he didn't want to repeat the pain he had inflicted on her.

The pegasus stared at the unicorn for a moment.  "Dude, I'm not a telepath."

Oh, that was a relief.  Wait...

"No, really, I'm not."

Then how did he know...

Radio shrugged.  "I don't know, I'm just guessing."

That's exactly what a telepath would say if...

"Yeah," the pegasus put a hoof to his chin, "it is, isn't it?"

Ribbon's hoof swatted down, stamping her disapproval across the back of Radio's head.  "Cut it out.  Mezzo's different from the others, so I don't need him scared off."  She looked over at the unicorn.  "I'm sorry, my brother has been practicing that act for a while, so he can be really convincing, but he isn't a telepath."

Radio let out a sharp snort.  "We haven't seen each other in two years, and you hit me twice?"

Ribbon took a sudden breath, almost a gasp, except her mouth was clamped tightly shut.  The muscles controlling whether she smiled or frowned couldn't decide which ones were in charge, and the end result was a quivering motion as she shut her eyes.  "But, we can see each other any time now."

Radio smiled wide, and he let out a single laugh.  "Yeah."  He laughed a few more times, but by the third, it was quiet sobs.  "Any time we want."  Ribbon turned around, and Radio threw his hooves and wings around her.  The twins cried into each other's neck as they held tight, touching for the first time in far too long.

"Two years!"  Ribbon sniffed loudly.  "I've missed everypony so much.  Does this mean we can go home too?"

"Yep!"  Radio wiped his eyes with a wing.  "Furia's allying with Canterlot, and maybe even joining the Galactic Assembly.  We're all free to come and go as we please, even dad.  And he still has mom."

Mezzo's gut twisted at the mention of their mother, and Ribbon looked over at him.  The sympathy and understanding she felt from him tilted her expression firmly towards a smile.

She pulled back from Radio, but kept hold of a hoof as she gestured to the unicorn with the other.  "Radio, this is Mezzo.  He treats me like a pony, and his family has been really nice to me.  We like each other, and we're even going to try being special someponies."

"That's great Ribbon," Radio playfully knocked on Ribbon's head like it was a door, ignoring her attempts to ward it off and smiling.  "If he passed the ol' truth test, he must be a good guy."

The filly looked back at the other Unicorn.  "Mezzo, this is my brother, Radio."

The big colt nodded.  "Your twin brother."

Both twins answered with nods of their own, then Ribbon's face lit up and she looked back at her brother.  "That reminds me, Radio, we met a pair of twins earlier today.  A colt and a filly, they were the same yellow as Mr.Wheatwind."

The pegasus glanced up for a second, placing the name in memory.  "Oh!  He retired last year.  His nephew runs the bakery now, and his daughter opened up a noodle shop right next to it.  The food's pretty good."

"And I'll actually get to try it!"  Ribbon pulled her brother into another hug.  "Dad really made it happen.  It took years, but we made it."

"We survived," Radio agreed.

"Survival is victory," Ribbon reminded him as she pulled away again.

The brother crossed his hooves and smirked.  "Well, victory is freedom."

The sister blinked a few times.  "I think I like that better."

Radio's smirk became a proud smile.  "Of course.  Thought of it my-"  Something caught his eye behind Ribbon, and he focused on it.  "Dude!  Where are going with your arm like that?"

Headed past them, for the door, was Clak.  His lower right arm as mangled beyond the elbow, almost severed, with the exception of a few strands of sinew caked in a black crust of dried blood.  He looked up in surprise, eyes settling on the brightly colored colt.  He glanced down at his arm, clicked once, then looked back up.

"Uh..."  Radio looked over at Ribbon.  "Keep him here.  That James dude is still the main doctor, right?  I'm going to go find him, get permission to start helping out."

He was off before Ribbon could stop him, and the telepath sighed miserably.  "He was trying to tell you it will grow back on its own," she muttered after her brother.

The tall alien raised his other right arm to point in the direction Radio had run off.  This was accompanied by a series of inquisitive clicks.

"Yes, we're twins, and no, he isn't a telepath."  Ribbon shook her head.  "He's kind of the opposite, really, pshychically immune.  He didn't understand what you were saying."

Mezzo tapped her on the shoulder, and quietly asked, "But you do?"

The filly paused for a moment, blinking as she looked over.  "Huh?"

"You can understand him?" Mezzo repeated.  He looked between the two.  "I might be misunderstanding something here, but if neither of you speak the same language, aren't you going to think in different languages?"

Ribbon looked up at Clak with dawning realization on her face as the corner of his thin mouth lifted into a smirk.  He sat down cross-legged, lacing the fingers of his upper hands and resting his minimal chin against them.  His eyes moved from one unicorn to the other.

"He's doing it on purpose," Ribbon said slowly, eyebrows furrowing as she tried to comprehend the situation, "he's not thinking in any language."

The bony plates that served as Clak's eyebrows rose slightly.  She would have to describe it better if she wanted the colt next to her to understand.

"I don't know how to describe it," the telepath continued.  "He's not using words or images.  It's more... concepts?  I'm not sure.  But it's really easy to understand."

Clak nodded slowly, smiling at the compliment.

"Oh, um, you're welcome?"  Ribbon squinted at Mezzo.  "I don't know what he's doing, but it's letting us communicate.  Does it really matter?"

The colt scratched his neck.  "Not really, but I'm just trying to understand this.  Think about it.  He knows how to overcome a language barrier, but only via telepathic communication.  Is that even a thing?  That is just so specific, I didn't even know it was possible until a few seconds ago."

Clak held up the hand not currently folded in front of him.

Ribbon's eyes followed the motion.  "He knows how to do it because he's a teacher," she said quietly, translating for Mezzo's sake, "for telepaths."

Clak flattened the hand and gave it a wobbly little shake, telling the nurse she was only partially correct without the need to use her abilities.  He held up one long finger, and traced it in front of her in a criss-cross motion, one big, 'X,' across her chest.  Then after a moment's pause, he pointed that same finger at Mezzo.

Ribbon leaned towards the colt without taking her eyes off the alien.  "I'll admit, I didn't understand any of that."

Mezzo met Clak's gaze and nodded slowly.  "But I did."





Twilight sighed as she sat and watched the security guard across the shuttlebay.  "Please wait here," she said mockingly, putting her hooves on the belt of her new jacket, "we're in an emergency lockdown.  I'm not authorized to disclose anything further."  She held her hoof out towards the guard, even though he couldn't hear her, and wasn't even looking in her general direction.  "Then why do Astral and Radio get to leave?!"

With a disgusted grunt, she smacked her hoof against the shuttle's door frame.  Her magic focused on the dark green handkerchief sticking out his back pocket, and within seconds, it was a dark green pair of extremely frilly panties.  With a satisfied grunt, she added a price tag, because she wasn't completely evil, and headed back inside the shuttle.  "Not authorized," she muttered.  "Ha!  He probably doesn't know and won't admit it."

In the back, Berry and Fluttershy were playing some of the pronunciation games on the pad Cathy had given them.  Fluttershy was winning somehow.

"I'm not that bad at talking, am I?" The earth pony asked her half pegasus, half vampony opponent.

Fluttershy shook her head, then thought carefully about how she could explain that the game was penalizing the pink mare for adding extra syllables to her answers.  Before she could think of anything, a new word popped up on her side of the screen.  "Yesss..." she said, dragging the end out with a snake-like hiss.  The game played a funny spring-like sound, and awarded her partial points.  Fluttershy groaned and brought a hoof to her face.

"You're doing a lot better," Twilight encouraged.  "I'm surprised how far you've come with just hours of practice."

"Ooh," Berry exclaimed, "fire!"  After hearing the spring, she threw her hooves in the air.  "How do I get partial points for that?  I said fire as clear as the snout on my face."

Fluttershy smiled and carefully placed the the tip of her tongue between her fangs.  "Th-thanksss, Twi."

The alicorn smiled back.  No matter how different she looked, she was still the same old Fluttershy.  Quiet as ever, polite as ever, and she even had her old hairstyle back, draping it over one eye.  The red one, obviously.  "You're welcome."

Fluttershy glanced down at her next word before looking back at Twilight.  Her smile disappeared, replaced by a look of surprise.  "Mac."

After hearing the familiar springy noise, Twilight stole a glance at the screen.  "Actually, that's a map."

"Sign!"  Berry shouted in frustration, sighing happily when she heard the bell chime that had been eluding her.  "Finally, full points."

"Mac."  Fluttershy repeated, only for the game to buzz at her.

Twilight glanced down at the game in confusion.  It was showing a picture this time, instead of a word.  "That's clearly a dog." 

The earth pony that just entered the shuttle, and the pegasus watching him, tore their eyes away from each other to look down at Twilight.  "What?"  They asked in unison.

"Huh?"  Twilight looked up from the game.  "Wow, your voice sounded really deep there, maybe it's time to take a little bit of a break."

Mac reached forward and tugged on the hem of Twililight's new jacket.  "Behind ya."

Twilight looked back.  "Oh, hey Mac."  After the second or two it took to register who she was talking to, her eyes lit up, and she spun around.  She grabbed the stallion by the armored vest he wore, and pointed to her yellow friend.  "Mac!  Look, we found Fluttershy!"

The two mentioned ponies exchanged glances, then Mac looked down at the mare pulling on his armor.  "Ah can see that."

"Oh, heh, right."  Twilight sheepishly released the big pony, wincing as she realized something important.  "Crap!  Fluttershy, I forgot to tell you that we found Mac."

"Awkard!"  Berry shouted, pumping her hoof when answered by the bell.  "Now I get it.  You can only say the word on the screen."  She looked up when she felt the three sets of stares directed her way.  "What?" She said with a shrug, "it's got a single player mode."

"Pinkie?"  Mac asked cautiously.  This pony didn't seem quite like the Pinkie he remembered, too calm.  "That you?"

"Nope, Berry," the earth pony responded.  When the buzzer sounded, she shoved her face in the pad's camera.  "I wasn't even talking to you!"  With a huff, she looked back at Mac.  "Is everypony in the galaxy going to be bigger than I am?"

Mac looked down at himself.  "Bad example," he said simply.  He leaned down to Twilight and whispered behind his hoof.  "Who's the angsty teen that looks like Pinkie?"

"Pinkie's twenty-something year old granddaughter," Twilight whispered back.

Mac straightened up and shrugged.  "Oh."

"You don't seem very surprised."

The stallion let loose a heavy chuckle.  "Ah've been ta two different planets and a space station in the last week," he said with the pride of the adventurers of old, "fightin' robots and alien monsters, and negotiatin' for galactic peace.  Ain't nothin' gonna surprise me anymore."

Fluttershy made a concerned noise at the mention of monsters, and Mac turned his attention back to her.  She looked him over for injuries, but he grabbed her by the shoulders to stop her.  "Ah'm fine, Sugarcube.  All Ah've got is a sore shoulder from punchin' too many metal ponies.  A few cuts n' scrapes too, but nothin' ya need to worry yer..."  She straightened up, and Mac looked down at her hooves, then back up.  She was sitting before him, and they were almost eye to eye.  "Ah guess Ah lied.  Ah'm surprised right now."

"Mac," Fluttershy looked down quickly, bringing a hoof to her face as she remembered her appearance, "I'm sssorry."

The big pony shook his head.  He could feel her shivering in his hooves.  He also realized that he didn't feel the thin, fragile pegasus he remembered.  Under the yellow fur, which was longer and softer than the short silky coat he remembered, there lay a lean and powerful frame.  "No, Sugarcube, what have ya got to be sorry about?"

She kept her head down.  She didn't want to say it, didn't want him to see, but he would find out eventually.  She just didn't want it to be by seeing her face.  The brief moment earlier, she had gotten lucky.  Her mane covered her demon eye, and her mouth was closed over her fangs.  But, any more, and he would see what she had become.  She didn't want to see his reaction, she didn't want to watch his face twist in fear, or distrust.  She didn't think she could handle it.

Not from him.

Eyes locked on the floor, she spread her wings behind her.  One was normal, if not larger than the earth pony remembered, but the other was more like a dragon's wing.  It was little more than a thin membrane stretched between the fingers of a bony limb.

"Ah hell, Shy," Mac whispered, "Ya didn't just get woken up from stasis, did ya?"

She shook her head, still staring at the ground.

Mac continued to shake his head, looking from the top of her head to her outstretched wings.  He remembered at least two occasions where she had transformed into a bat pony, but both times, Twilight changed her back with ease.  If she wasn't changed back by now...  "Is it permanent?"

She nodded, still refusing to look up.

Mac knew she had to be close to tears.  She always looked down when she didn't want him to see.  "Look at me."  He brought his hoof to her chin, but she twisted away.  He felt the scrape of something sharp travel over his fur.  "Shy, please?  Let me see yer face."

Her hoof moved to her mane, and she pulled it back, revealing her ruby red eye for the first time.  The slitted pupil narrowed in the cabin lights, and tears pooled at the corners of both eyes.  "I..." her mouth hung open for a moment, baring the long fangs within, "I'm not te... the.. pony you loved."

She moved to walk past the slightly larger earth pony, but he tightened his grip on her, pulling her back to face him.  His eyes locked on hers for a moment, then slowly traced over her greatly changed features.  He saw now, the tufts of fur on her ears, the extreme length of her mane and tail, the scars on her forelegs.  So many things had changed, but he couldn't see a single one worth caring about.  "The buck you aren't."

The farm pony surged forward, pushing the pegasus back against the wall.  Her legs flailed about as her hooves were yanked out from under her, struggling meeting an abrupt end at the locking of his lips with hers.  Her eyes went wide for a moment, confusion giving to joy when she remembered the feeling.  She closed her tear-filled eyes and let herself relax into the embrace.

"Oh, wow," Twilight muttered to herself, "whatever works, I guess."

Fluttershy brought her hooves to Mac's head, brushing them against his cheeks before pulling him deeper.  How many nights had she dreamt of this?  All she ever wanted on those cold, dark nights in the jungle was to stop being alone.  But, this wasn't a dream.  This was real, and she didn't want it to end.

Twilight scratched her cheek as she tried to stare politely at the floor.  Berry did not partake in such bashfulness, she stared in open amazement instead.  And really, it wasn't like either them really cared what was going on around them.

Mac's hoof reached up and grabbed hers, to reassure him that she was really there.  He gave it a squeeze, relishing the warmth and soft fur.  How many times had we walked by her stasis pod on watch and touched his hoof to the cold hard metal?  Night after eternal night, in that dark void, waking for one day every decade to check the scanners for a planet that could one day be called home.  Their home.

Fluttershy twisted her hoof to grab his.  She remembered how much he liked to hold her hoof when they sat by the lake, or under the trees in the orchard.  Even though she always preferred leaning up against him as they sat, she would always relent when he wanted to lay down and take her hoof.

Mac ran his other hoof through her mane, brushing it out of her face.  She would always blush when he did that.  Even if they were alone, and especially if he was in front of her, watching carefully.  So many things, little details came to mind so easily.  The way she would surprise him after work with homemade meals, the walks they would take through the abandoned stripmines that could no longer provide material for the space program, even the taste of cider on her lips during their last night together.

She stretched a wing out, sweeping the feathers over his ribcage with a delicate touch.  Her reward was a deep, rumbling moan that echoed through her.  He always did like it when she would do that as they walked side by side.  She wrapped both wings around him, pulling them closer together.

"That's it," Twilight grabbed Berry in her magic, yanking the earth pony from her chair like a kitten, "we're leaving."

"But, they're not done yet," she protested, grabbing for the gamepad before being pulled too far from the table.  She didn't get hold of it in time.  "Aww."

Twilight dragged berry out, shutting the door behind them.  As Fluttershy squeeked in surprise, Twilight picked up the pace until she exited the shuttle.  She sat on the steps with a loud harumph, and dropped Strawberry beside her.  "He never kissed me like that."

The earth pony sat next to her rather tightly, hooves pressed together in front of her.  "I'm not sure what I feel about seeing that."

"I know how you feel."  Twilight rolled her eyes.  "I'm happy they're back together, but that doesn't mean I want a front row seat to my best friend sticking her tongue down my ex's throat."

Berry's eyes grew a size as she stared at Twilight.  "There's tongues involved?"

No sooner than twilight could open her mouth to respond, Astral entered the cargo with a green mare in tow.  As she waved the security guard out of the shuttlebay, Twilight recognized her from their first call to Canter Delta, Growl, the Security Administrator and partial owner of the station.  As they grew closer, Twilight let out a gasp.  "Holy crap!"  She stuck her head inside the shuttle.  "Fluttershy!  Get out here!  You've got to see this!"

Shuffling noises were followed by the swoosh of the door to back compartment opening to let a glossy eyed Fluttershy stumble out with a tipsy wobble to her gait.  "Huh?" The pegasus blinked a few times, eyes refusing to focus as she smacked her lips.  The faint glow of a smile graced her daydreaming face, and her feathers were rather ruffled.

Twilight pressed her lips together, twisting the corners of her mouth to keep from frowning as Mac stumbled out beside Fluttershy.  A dopey grin was plastered on his face, and he was bleeding impressively from a cut on his lower lip.  Also, instead of the the far off look Fluttershy had, his eyes were clearly focused... right down her backside.

"I'm so sorry for interrupting," Twilight deadpanned.  "Why don't you two come see who Astral found?"

Mac was the first to recover, shaking his head and clearing his throat.  He wiped his bloody mouth with a hoof, then bit down on his lip to apply pressure.  "Worth it," he muttered to himself with half a shrug before strolling to the door.  He looked past Twilight, head panning left and right to see who it was that the other unicorn had found.  The only pony he saw was the green mare next to him.  " S'just Growl," he said out of the side of his mouth, keeping up the pressure so he wouldn't start bleeding again, "she's in charge a' stuff 'round here."

Twilight rolled her eyes and pushed past the earth pony.  "Shy?"

Fluttershy snapped out of her daze with a shudder and more smacking of lips.  She looked over at Twilight blinking her eyes back into focus.  "Huh?"

The unicorn pointed to the door.  "I need you to double check something, and make sure I'm not imagining things."

Fluttershy glanced at the open doorway, then looked back at Twilight with a determined nod.  "Kay."

The pegasus started walking past, but Twilight sighed and tilted her head to the side.  She bumped up against Fluttershy's side, horn lightly poking the soft spot before the point of her hip.  Her horn glowed for a moment, then she straightened up.  "It'll last for a week," she said quietly.

Fluttershy stared at the alicorn for a moment, smiling when she finally understood, and turned around to nuzzle into her friend's neck.  "Thanks, Twi."

"Yeah," Twilight sighed, returning the motion, "don't mention it.  I mean, really, please, don't mention it.  It's between you and him now, I'm fine being out of the loop.  Now, let's go."

Fluttershy nodded quickly, breaking the embrace with an affirmative grunt, and the two friends headed to the door.

Once they were out, Twilight knew she hadn't been mistaken.  Fluttershy saw the pony walking with Astral and took off, bounding happily towards her like a puppy to its master.  "Tee...  Tre... Tehu..."  She tried to call out, but she was still having trouble making certain sounds, and stringing them together as multiple syllables.  "Tre...hu..." Fluttershy stopped, worked her mouth to get the right shape, but couldn't quite tell when she had it.  With a snort, she gave up on skill and relied on volume.  "GRR!"

"Yes?"  Growl looked up from her conversation with the grey unicorn.  Her head tilted slightly at the sight of the pony who called her.  "Do I know you," she asked as they got closer, "miss...dragonpony?"

"This is Fluttershy," Astral explained, "She's a friend of Twilight's, and has recently been rescued from the deserted jungle-planet Picus IV."

Growl nodded at the explanation.  "I see."  She looked back up at Fluttershy.  "They must have told you who I am, but I am GR of the Ohlen Highlands.  Most ponies call me Growl.  Welcome to Canter Delta.  I wish it was under better circumstances."

The pegasus shook her head.  "No," she whispered.

Growl stopped halfway through the motion of extending a hoof.  "No?"  The earth pony repeated, glancing at Astral.  "What does she mean, no?"

"Uh," Astral shared her confusion, and showed it with a shrug.  "Well, she isn't a dragonpony, so maybe that.  Our medical officer can explain better, but she is a pegasus who was exposed to a retrovirus that contributed to her current appearance."

"No!"  Fluttershy barked.  "Fren..."  The pegasus scrunched her nose in displeasure.  Some words were coming back so easy, but others kept eluding her.  "Frien-duh.  We.  Are.  Friendsss."

Twilight made it over before Growl or Astral could respond, and she moved in to give the earth pony a hug.  She was stopped by a hoof before she got very close.  "Oh," the alicorn mumbled as she backed off, "I guess you're upset that I didn't recognize you."

"What are you talking about?"  She looked back at Astral.  "Do you know what is going on here?"

"Don't ask me," Astral held up a hoof defensively, "I'm also in the dark here."  He looked over at Twilight.  "Care to explain what you two are on about?"

The alicorn spared the captain a half second's glance, but focused on Growl right after.  "Don't you recognize us?  You're what?  In your late fourties?  That means it's been about twenty years since you've seen us, but-"

"No!"  Growl stepped forward, all calm gone from her body, and all kindness was gone from her expression.  Something flipped a switch in her, and she was ready to take a switch to the pony in front of her.  She jabbed her hoof into Twilight's chest, making sure the other pony appreciated the cushion that her jacket provided.  "You don't know anything about me, I'll tell you that right now.  If you did, you would know better than to bring up anything that happened to me twenty years ago."

Growl gave the alicorn a hard shove back before turning away.  She then looked over at Fluttershy, scowl softening slightly.  "I'm sorry," the security chief told the shocked pegasus, "I may look like somepony you knew, but twenty years ago, I was found in a snow drift on an uninhabited mountain, hurt, starved, half-frozen, and left to die.  My mane was so matted, the gryphons who found me had to cut it off to get at all my injuries.  And it was days after they found me before they could offer me any sort of food that I could digest.  And what little they could offer was just enough for me to spend the next several months slowly starving.  So, I dearly hope none of you were involved with what happened to me back then."

"And before that?"  Twilight asked.

"Does it matter?" Growl spat.

"You don't remember, do you?"  Undeterred, Twilight took a step closer to the mare.  "Treehugger, let me explain."

Growl looked back slowly.  "What the hell did you just call me?"

"Treehugger."  Twilight stood firm as the other mare walked back to face her, though, she did brace herself to get poked in the chest again.  "That's your name," the alicorn explained as she tried to ignore the snarling face centimeters away, "You were a friend of ours long ago, a good friend of Fluttershy's.  Member of the, uh, society for the preservation of magic...al creatures?"  Twilight glanced over at Fluttershy for confirmation, and received it in the form of a nod.  "You were the only pony to ever throw discord off his game, contributed to totally trashing the grand galloping gala, and when the time came to evacuate Equestria, you were instrumental in helping us figure out how to transport enough of our planet's wild creatures that they wouldn't go extinct."

"I never did any of that."  Growl shook her head.  "There have only been three planet scale evacuations recorded in my lifetime, and none of them was named Equestria.  And even if there was, how did I end up on Choria, alone, the only pony on a planet of gryphon mercenaries, and dragon priests?"

"We left equestria long before that."  Twilight sighed, Growl kept glancing away.  The aggression in her pose was slipping away with every small shuffle she took back.  She was considering it at the very least.  That was proof enough for Twilight that something was indeed missing from the mare's memory.  "We survived in stasis pods fueled by our own magic.  Any living being inside one could survive indefinitely, as if no time had ever passed.  Most of the pods were opened long ago, but a number of them were lost.  We don't know how, or why, but they are being opened across the galaxy."

"That..."  Growl was staring at the floor as if she was trying to read a passage of proof to the contrary.  Her hoof moved to her forehead.  "No..."

"A good friend of mine was woken on the planet Furia nearly thirty years ago.  They thought the stasis chamber was an ancient weapon, until their scientists figured out how to open it.  Another good friend was woken by a band of pirates, then abandoned on a farming planet 50 years ago."  Twilight stepped forward, raising a hoof in Fluttershy's direction.  "I don't know who opened Fluttershy's pod, but they left her on an abandoned world of monsters for nearly eight years.  Isn't it possible the same thing happened to you?"

"No," Growl shook her head, "Choria is home to some of the most feared mercenary groups in the galaxy, and some of the deadliest plants and creatures known to exist.  No one would risk going there just to dump their mistake.  What you're saying is impossible."

"What's impossible is always balanced by what is possible.  What is false, must be balanced by something true."  Twilight offered Growl her hoof, and a warm smile.  "The answer lies in balance.  You told me that."

The back of Growl's hoof cracked across that smile, dropping Twilight to the shuttlebay floor.  "I tell everybody that!" the old mare screamed.  "It's on the damn flyer we give out to buckin' tourists!  Don't you dare think that's enough for me to suddenly believe everything you say."

With a grunt, Growl kicked the dazed alicorn away from her.  Three ponies moved to to protect their fallen friend, but Fluttershy was the fastest.  She was in front of Twilight, facing down the smaller Growl with wings flared and fangs bared before the earth pony could take another step.

Growl snorted at the display, lowering her head to match the other pony's threatening posture.  "I've fought plenty of monsters in my life, honey, don't think I'm scared of you."

"Hey!"  Astral slowly inserted himself between the two mares, keeping his focus on Growl since he was reasonably sure Fluttershy wouldn't attack him.  "Let's everypony calm down here."

Growl spat, the glob landing at Astral's hooves.  "Whatever you want from me," she growled, "you aren't going to get it."

"I don't want anything," he countered.  "And Twilight just wanted to talk, then you haul off and belt her for no reason?"

"It was a mistake trusting you!"  Growl paced back and forth in front of the unicorn, chest heaving with agitated breath as she glared at him.

Astral shook his head.  He knew the look of desperation when he saw it.  Whatever issues where at play here, they were deeper seated than could be dealt with on the fly.  "What the buck is going through your head right now?"

"Do you know how many times someone has tried to take advantage of me?  You don't know what it's like, not knowing.  What it's like to trust someone who claims to know you, only to have them betray you."

"No," Astral admitted.  He had to drag her out of the past, back to now.  "But that doesn't excuse an assault on one of my crew.  You asked for my cooperation, and I gave it."  Astral shoved his hoof at her.  "You're the one who betrayed me!"  He drove his point home by slapping his hoof to his chest.

This seemed to snap Growl out of her anger, at least enough for her to notice the mare groaning on the floor.  She retreated slowly, shaking her head.  "I'll give you one chance," she muttered, before taking a breath and raising her voice.  "One chance to avoid being thrown in the brig.  The Tankrit were awoken from pods, if you can convince one of them, just one, that your story isn't rat piss, then I won't arrest the lot of you."  She spoke her next words barely a whisper, they were for Astral's ears only.  "Fail, and I will gift wrap you for whoever it is out there that wants you so badly."
> Live by the Gun, Die by the Hoof
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------

Twilight leaned against Astral as they walked down the hall.  The bright station lights made her feel like she was walking through a fog.  She kept her eyes closed as much as possible, relying on the stallion next to her for guidance.

She was talking to Treehugger, or Growl, as she went by now, and the next thing she knew, she was being helped to her hooves by Astral.  The look on his face at that moment was stuck in her head, and would be for a while.  A complex expression, practically requiring an in-depth analysis, showing a slightly deeper glimpse into the pony she still didn't fully understand.

He was angry.  The tension in his jaw, muscles coiled tight like a spring as he bit back his words, told her that much.  The sideways glances as he kept an eye on Growl, told her the target of that anger.  There was confusion there as well, eyebrows pulled down in concentration as he tried to reason through something.  And, he kept his body facing her, even when he had to turn his head.  He was wary of her.

But, when he turned away from the older mare, his gaze lost its edge.  "You ok?" he asked.  "Don't try to move, take a moment."  It took her a moment, not to move, but to realize that he was talking to her.  His eyes were wide with concern, and his mouth was slightly open, corners pulled - not into a smile, nor a frown - into something in between.

"I'm alright," she answered that look of worry, even though it was a lie.  Her head hurt.  Also, her chin, as well as most of her mouth, was numb.

The relief that she saw flood Astral's face made the lie worth it.  His jaw relaxed, and a sigh escaped his lips.  His eyes closed, and he shook his head slowly, lips pulling back again, this time into a small, pleasant smile.  "Phenomenal magic power, and a glass jaw... your stats aren't balanced in the slightest."

If she hadn't been wearing her jacket, she would have smacked him with a wing, but she settled for smacking his leg with her hoof as she laid there.

"Sorry," he said in an unusually somber tone, concern returning to his face even though it was only a shadow of his previous expression, "let me help you up."

And he did.  And she let him.  And now, here they were, walking through the halls of the space station under the watchful eye of several armed guards while the rest of the crew stayed with the shuttle.  But, for some reason, all she could think about was how concerned he looked standing over her.  And how terrified he looked when was facing Tekrin for the first time on Sevus.  How broken he looked when she discovered his injuries on Picus.    How soft those expressions were compared to what he wore the rest of the time.

For a moment, she even pictured the pure hatred on his face the first time they stood face to face.  She never wanted to see that face again.  At least, not directed at her.  But it never would be, would it?  They had come too far for that.  They were friends now, right?  Friends didn't look at each other like that.

And for some reason, that reassuring thought was all she needed to feel safe, even though they were being dragged somewhere by a bunch of aliens in combat armor, led by a former hippie who lost her memory at some point.  Yep.  Totally safe.  "Astral," she groaned, "I think I have a concussion."

"You hit the floor pretty hard," Astral agreed, giving her a reassuring nudge, "but you were only out of it for a few seconds.  We'll have Radio check you out soon."

Twilight stayed silent, only offering a short nod as a reply.  She was too surprised by his simple action to form a coherent thought.  It was quick, and he probably didn't put much thought into it, but that short press of his snout into her neck - not a nuzzle, just a quick bump - was enough to dissolve any remaining worry.  She may not know exactly what he thought of her now, but he didn't think of her as an enemy.

That was enough for her.

"Pip!"  Growl shouted out, "Over here a moment!"

Astral stopped, and Twilight stopped with him.  Her head hurt a bit less, and the light wasn't as blinding, so she opened her eyes.  The sight that greeted her took a moment to understand.  The first thing she saw looked like red wine with ice floating in it, but a pool of it stretching the entire floor of a large warehouse.  There was no light that didn't come from a portable source.  Every panel or light fixture on the wall was dead.  Only small fixtures set up on tripods cast their harsh glow. Beyond that...

"This is cargo bay three," their earth pony guide explained, "What's left of it anyway."

She gestured to the torn left wall, where a crew in white suits crowded around the damaged wall like maggots in a rotten wound. The wall itself was being disassembled in places, twisted and scorched sheet metal was being removed to make room for replacement paneling.  Power conduits and other wiring, the veins of Canter station Delta, carrying its electrical lifeblood, were being carefully severed at precise points before and after damaged sections.

The only being not focused on the repair efforts was a single pony that stopped inspecting wall panels when Growl had called out earlier.  He was making his way over, white suit and boots protecting his fur from the puddles of staining liquid he had to walk through.

As he neared the entryway, he passed an emergency light, confirming that the pony was indeed a he, but also that he was an earth pony pinto.  White, with brown markings, if the pattern on his face was indicative of the rest of him.  A rare color scheme for a pony, despite how tame it might seem against the vibrant or pastel colors most ponies had.

He climbed up out of the cargo bay, and Astral noticed that he was fairly young, maybe early twenties.  He also looked a little mopey, like something wasn't going his way today.  Given what had happened here, that wasn't surprising.

"G'day, ma'am," he greeted Growl with a cheerful accent, "what brings ye callin'?"  He unzipped his clean suit a little, letting cool air in, and exposing the red bandanna tied at his neck.

Twilight gasped, stepping away from Astral for the first time since leaving the shuttlebay.  "Pipsqueak?"

Growl and the young stallion both looked over in surprise, but only the stallion let out a gasp of his own.  "Miss Sparkle?"  He stood up straight.  "I, uh, I mean-"  He bowed low.  "Princess!"  He straightened up again, then turned to Growl.  "This is her," he said excitedly, "she's one a' the ones we told you about.  She lived in my hometown when I was young, worked as a librarian before she was a princess, even taught me ta weld, back when it meant hookin' electrodes to magically charged crystals."  

"You-"  Growl's eyes were wide in shock at the colt's reaction.  Her head moved slowly, back and forth with her refusal to believe it.  "Are you sure?"

"Princess?"  Astral asked quietly.

"Long story," Twilight shushed.

"A'course I'm sure."  Pipsqueak nodded to the alicorn.  "She's the reason anypony's alive today.  Ask any o' the others, they'll say the same thing.  Every pony from Equestria knows her."

Growl didn't respond.  She was too busy staring at the floor.  Her breathing was shallow and rapid, and if it continued like this, she would hyperventilate in moments.  With a grunt, she turned away from everypony, tail whipping against a nearby light.

Pipsqueak wrapped his hooves around the flimsy tripod before it could tip over.  His surprise at Growl's reaction showed on his face as he stabilized the light.  "Ma'am?  Are you alright?"

"I'm fine, Pip," she forced out between clenched teeth.  With a snort, she raised her head, and without looking back, she stated, "I'm not convinced, but you two are free to leave whenever you wish."  She started away, muttering to herself, "the sooner, the better."

Twilight pointed after the mare, and leaned towards Astral.  "She hit me, didn't she?"

Her unicorn companion raised an eyebrow.  "You're just figuring that out?"

Pip watched until Growl rounded a corner out of sight before looking back at the two jacketed ponies.  "Miss Sparkle?  What happened?  I've never seen Mrs. Growl that upset."

With a sigh, Twilight answered, "she's a friend, from ponyville.  She just doesn't remember it."





Pipsqueak smiled the entire trip.  It was a charming smile, and he had the energy and voice to match.  Every store they passed, and nearly everypony as well, he would point and say a few words.  Sometimes it was just the name.  Others, it was a brief description.  But, for most, it was a story.

Twilight walked close to Astral, just in case her dizziness should return.  Radio's scans showed that she didn't have a concussion, but that didn't mean she wasn't feeling the effects of getting knocked out cold.

Honestly, the dizzyness might be from revelation that, after all the time she spent searching for the lost ponies of Cryo-seven, hundreds of them were living in orbit, almost directly above her.  Dozens more lived on the surface of Canterlot, and many were even students at Luna's Academy.  And still more had gone off to find their way in the galaxy after... something.

Pip never actually said what.  In fact, it seemed like every time he caught himself before saying it, he quickly dismissed it as unimportant.  She could tell though, everypony was rebuilding their lives after a shared event of some significance.  Business were being started, skills were being learned, and not one of the stories that Pip told occured more than seven years ago.

Their pods had to have been opened earlier than that.  Pip was at least twenty-three now, and he was just shy of twelve when he was put in stasis.  So, at least four years were missing from his stories, possibly more.

By the time they made it across the commissary, Twilight was drained.  She wanted to fall on the floor and lay there until whatever passed for morning on a space station came and went.  She should feel happy right now.  She should be overjoyed that there were so many ponies safe and sound.  But for some reason, she felt dread.

Twilight looked back as their group followed Pipsqueak out of the commissary and into a large lift tube obviously meant for cargo or heavy machinery.  The others didn't seem to share her worry.  In fact, they seemed to have enjoyed the tour.  Berry had bounced from window to window, taking in the sights, Mac and Fluttershy spoke between themselves, pointing things out to each other every so often, and Radio spent a good deal of the time walking backwards, turned around to watch some sight as long as ponily possible.  And Astral...

Twilight jumped back.  Astral had been looking straight at her when her eyes finally drifted in his direction.  "Now what's wrong?"  He asked quietly, the lights flying past them flashing in those steel-blue eyes.  "You're awfully somber for somepony who just had a major breakthrough in their life's work."

"Am I?"  Twilight shook her head.  "I think I'm still a little out of it from getting hit earlier."

"That was an hour ago," Astral reminded her, moving closer so their conversation remained their own.  "I thought we were done with all this lying to each other, and not being honest, and... stuff."

Twilight rolled her eyes.  "Lying and not being honest?"

"The difference is subtle, but it is there."  The unicorn shrugged after a short pause.  "Ok, I was trying to sound deep and failed.  Are you going to tell me what's wrong, or not?"

"Fine," Twilight sighed, "I just...  I feel like we aren't getting the whole picture here, you know?"  She tilted her head to where their Pinto guide had gotten trapped in a conversation with Berry.  "Treehugger didn't react very well to being told she's from Equestria, but she is loved and respected by a large group of ponies who know full well that they are from Equestria.  Not only that, but almost all of them live on a space station that she seems to... own?"

Astral raised his hoof to point out, "you forgot that she is also a nurse, a psychotic former mercenary, has a small army at her command, and is married to a rather large Gryphon, who is also head of medicine for said station.  Maybe you shouldn't try too hard to understand her all at once."

"Wait, when was she a mercenary?"  Twilight flinched.  "I mean, she's not psychotic, just... defensive?  And when did she say anything about being a mercenary?"

"She said she was from Choria."  The unicorn shrugged.  "I went there once on cargo run.  It's a Gryphon planet with a small dragon population, where you're either a monk, a mercenary, or supporting them.  And, mercenaries are the only ones who ever leave."  With a small shiver, he added, "planet's cold as hell, too.  Unless you're in the equatorial jungles, then things get plain miserable."

"That doesn't make me feel any better."  Twilight shook her head.  "It just feels like there is something big here that we aren't seeing, and I don't know how to find out what it is."

"I might," Astral said with a shrug.  He turned his head to their tour guide, and, before Twilight could even think of stopping him, shouted, "Yo, Pipsqueak!  What are you hiding?"

Twilight wrapped her hooves around Astral's snout, and pulled him around to face her.  "What are you doing?" she hissed.  "I can't even begin to put into words how rude that was, and that's not to mention that you are accusing one of my subjects, a bright young stallion that I tutored as a colt, of lying to me.  In Equestria, that's kind of a big deal."

Astral's eyes narrowed.  "Subjects?" he asked out of the corner of his mouth.  "You... had subjects?  Like, for real, subjects?  Like, the princess thing was actually a position of power- and not some rich family with history sort of thing- sort of subjects?"

She released her grip on his snout with a weary sigh.  "I can't take you anywhere," she muttered.  "Pip, tell him you're not hiding anything."  She looked over at the pinto, but he looked away, chewing his lip in silent guilt.  "Pip?"  Twilight lowered her voice, quietly, and a bit unsure, she asked, "you aren't hiding anything, are you?"

"I never have been a good liar, have I ma'am?"  He looked up, meeting her eyes for a second, then quickly looked away pain showing for just a moment.  "I...  I don't think it's my place to say, but I'm sure nopony blames you.  E... even if they do...  I don't."  He let out a soft breath that may have been a sigh.  "For what it's worth."

Twilight watched in silence as the colt's hooves reached up to his bandana.  Her breath caught when he pulled it away and held his mane back.  There was a single line of ugly scarred skin across the back of his neck, hard to see when his mane was down, and completely hidden with the addition of the red ascot.

He was silent for a moment before speaking.  "We didn't wake up on the friendliest planet.  There was a strict caste system, and since we weren't even from that planet, we ended up bottom of the ladder."  He let his mane fall, and started tying his bandana back on.  "We were... forced labor, for a time, up until Growl came along.  She was hired by the king to track down escapees, but when she realized what was going on, she went to war to free everypony."  The young stallion shrugged.  "I was hoping you and Growl would get to meet, Princess, but I was hoping it could be as friends.  'Cause the lot of us owe both of you our lives."

"I...  I..."  Twilight floundered for words.  "Forced?  You mean, you were slaves?"

"When was the last pony freed?" Astral asked quickly.  "Are there any that were left behind?  And is there anything that could have been done in the last three years to improve the situation?"

"Uh..."  Pip was thrown for a loop by the sudden questions, but he answered them.  "The last ponies freed were from the foundry, and they were freed five or six years ago.  They came home with the last of the fighters.  Everypony was... accounted for.  And the last three years have been some of the best in our lives.  Building this station up to be our home has occupied all my time, and the same is true for everypony else.  We're safe here, surrounded by friends, other folks are joining the community we built from nothing, businesses are growing, and shoot, I've even got a marefriend."  He scratched his mane and quietly added, "Though, that kinda happened recently."

"Do you guys kiss?" Berry piped up from the back of the crowd, triggering a blush from the pinto and two specific larger members of the group.

"Inappropriate question, Berry," Astral said, cutting off any possible answer.

"Astral," Twilght questioned, "what are you doing?"

"Telling Berry off for asking inappropriate questions," the Stallion replied.  "Why?  What's it look like I'm doing?"

Twilight shook her head.  "Astral, you don't have to try and shield me from this.  This was my fault, and I-"

"No, no it's not."  With a sigh, Astral rubbed his forehead.  "Twilight, everything that happened to them happened before you woke from stasis.  They even resolved the situation without you.  Nothing you did before leaving Equestria, or since waking up, would have made any meaningful difference in their lives."

She shook her head, not yet convinced.  "Astral, why are you doing this?"

"If you haven't noticed, I'm getting a little tired of you bottling up your feelings about things like this.  Mostly because you tend to take everything out on me all at once.  But, maybe this time, this one time, we look at the fact that you couldn't possibly do anything about it, and focus on what you can do moving forward?"  Astral glanced over at Pipsqueak, and quietly asked, "She's really a princess?"

The colt nodded.

"See?" Astral sat and raised both hooves towards their guide, "I was not expecting that."  He stood back up, and pointed at Twilight.  "You are full of surprises, so surprise me this time, and don't get depressed over something you had no part in.

"Uh, yeah," Pip agreed, moving next to the unicorn, showing his support by standing by him as he stood by his argument, "You should focus on helping the others."

The entire shuttle crew turned to face Pipsqueak, and he shrank a little under the sudden attention.  "What others?" asked several of them all at once.

"Uh," the young stallion extricated himself from the center of the group, and looked over at Twilight, "the Tankrans didn't find Cryo-7.  They bought the stasis pods on the black market, thinking they were some kind of weapon, and got one a' the mercenary groups to open 'em.  Growl has more information.  She's made it her mission ta keep tankra from ever getting its hooves on more pods.  If you smooth things over, maybe you could work together."

It didn't take Twilight any more than two seconds to decide on a course of action.  "Astral?  Let's go pay pay that crazy mare a visit."

It took Big Mac less than two seconds to point out the flaw in her plan.  "What if she hits ya again?"

And it took Berry less than a second to distract everypony.  "Oops."  All eyes turned towards the pink earth pony as she fumbled a piece of circuitry in her hooves.  An access panel was open, and the lift was slowing to a halt.  "Um," she held the device in her hooves back up to the opening she pried it from and tilted her head to one side, "I don't think this is supposed to be here."

"Not supposed to go there?" Radio demanded, crossing his hooves as the lift doors opened behind him.  "Then why'd the lift suddenly stop?  Huh?"

Berry sheepishly pointed past the colt, out into a cavernous bay where unused machinery lay scattered, but only near the lift.  "Because it was stopping anyway."

"Oh," the colt glanced back before offering a quiet, "sorry."  He took a better look out the doors, and into the bay beyond.  It was easily as large, if not larger, than the shuttlebay on the solomon's ring, with a vaulted ceiling several stories above them.  A ship was parked in the center of the bay, away from everything else and surrounded by a holographic ring of the word caution, repeated over and over in orange letters.

It was fairly large ship, at least 8 full decks top to bottom, but it didn't look like a freighter.  It was too sleek for that.  But it didn't look military, its design was too friendly.  At one time, serious thought was put into making this thing look elegant.  It's configuration was slightly unusual as well, all the parts you would expect- shield emitters, thrust vents, gravity ports- they were all there, but not in their usual places.  Also, time was not kind to it.  What may have been white paint was almost gone, and there was the separate matter of it looking like someone took a can opener to it; a terrible gash was torn across one side, and several smaller injuries marked where explosions or plasma blasts had occured inside the hull.

"Where are we?" the colt asked.  "A junkyard?"

"Oh my gosh!"  Berry bounded past him and into the bay, heading in a straight line for the ship.  "Look at the integrated crystalline components on those emitters!  They're degraded, but that looks like the technology Granpa used to study!"

Twilight tore her eyes away from the Philomena's sorry state, and focused on Berry.  "Your grandfather studied Equestrian technology?"

"I guess!" she answered with a shrug.  "He didn't call it that though, and there was older stuff too, but he was most interested in the stuff that integrated magic crystal and computer circuitry.  Especially anything that could be considered a crossover between binary and base magical computing."

Twilight brought her hoof to her chin.  "If he was interested in crossover circuits, Philomena's processor core would have been his holy grail.  It's probably the most advanced piece of technology we had.  Even our-"  Her head jerked up.  "Wait, did you say older?"

Berry nodded.  "He told me he once owned a computer that was like twenty thousand years old, but that's not important right now."

The alicorn's mouth hung open.  "How is that not important?!  That could potentially rewrite the entire history of the galaxy!"

"Um," Pipsqueak nervously inserted himself back into the conversation, "so could everypony here, and at least half the station's population."

"Oh!" Berry looked at the pinto stallion with fresh surprise.  "You work here, don't you?"  She held her piece of equipment under his snout and gave it a little shake, whipping his nose with the broken hookup wires.  "Why was there a low-powered sensor module in the lift's control panel?"

The young welder pulled his nose away from the onslaught, pushing the device away with a hoof as he fought back a sneeze from the tickle of tiny wires.  "A what?"  He gave the device a cursory glance.  "That doesn't look like any sort of sensor module we use."  He gently traced his hoof along two black wires coming from the devices casing.  They terminated in small black bulbs taped to the side of the case.  "Is this a transmitter?"

"It could be," Berry shrugged, "it also had a secondary power source, but I disconnected when I removed it from the panel, so it wouldn't activate."

"Bloody hell!"  Pip ran to a communications panel beside the lift, furiously punching commands into a keypad mounted below a small screen.  "Nothing's going right today!"

The screen came alive, showing a dozen armed and armored beings, a mix of bipeds and quadrapeds, running full tilt down a hall.  Black armor and energy weapons were not the sort of thing you wanted to see moving in that much of a hurry.  The camera bobbed and ran with them, most likely connected to one of the runners.  Growl's angry voice blared from the speakers.  "What is it?!  This had better be important, that thing woke up!"  The platoon took cover where the hallway was about to turn a corner, and a green hoof appeared on screen.  It closed in on the view, and the camera was pulled off her chest and repositioned with a dizzying amount of movement.  When it stopped, growl was facing directly into it wearing substantially less armor than those around her, only a vest and helmet with a clear visor.  Her voice quieted as everyone around her continued to advance.  "We traced it's signal to the shuttlebay.  If there's a firefight in there, it could mean hull damage.  Pip, I need you to suit up and be on standby for exterior repairs.  Get your equipment, and anypony you need to help you and wait at maintenance airlock five."

He nodded quickly.  "Yes, ma'am."  He glanced back at Berry and her device.  "You should know, ma'am, we found something that may be related.  One of Miss Sparkle's crew found a remote sensor hooked to a transmitter hidden in the main cargo lift."

"It's a medical scanner," Radio piped up.  "An old one, but easy to reprogram."

Pip looked back at the device.  "It looks like the ones we used to identify..."  He cast a quiet glance at the ponies behind him.  "Um, it looks like the kind we ran DNA tests with."

Astral moved to Pip's side, quietly asking the younger stallion, "does this lift connect to the shuttlebay?"

At the nodded response, Growl and Astral locked eyes.  Astral was the first to speak.  "Whoever it is, they're after me."

"And that sensor may have been their way of finding you."  Growl looked down, contemplating something.  "Don't worry.  No matter how I feel about you or your crew right now, I'll be damned if I make it easy on them."

"Let us help," Astral asked in his best bargain voice, "there must be something we can-"  A wave of motion interrupted him.  The deck beneath them pitched slightly before returning to normal, like a boat cresting a small, but unexpected wave.

Onscreen, it was a different story.  Growl was thrown to the floor by an unseen force, mane and tail whipping about as the roar of rushing wind overloaded the speakers on the comm-panel.  Barely a second passed before everything fell silent.  Growl was able to pick herself up, and the look of terror on her face as she realized what happened made Astral's stomach twist.  "No..." the mare whispered to herself.  She ran out of view of the camera, leaving it discarded where it landed.  "No!"

"Decompression?" Pip stared at the screen in disbelief.  "I-  I have to go!"  He ran into the lift and hit the controls.  "Wait here," he said as the door slid closed, "I'll send somebody!"

Twilight sat down and yanked her jacket over her head, tossing it on the ground.  "Astral!"  The unicorn looked back at her.  "I'm going to go help."

He nodded once.  She was the only one who could right now.  His eyes locked on something behind her as her horn started to glow.  "We'll be right behind you."

Twilight's face showed a brief look of confusion before she disappeared in a flash of magic.  As soon as she was gone, Astral broke into a run.  He headed for the Philomena, and everypony else followed.

Radio flew ahead of the group, breaking through the caution holograms and landing at the ramp of an open boarding hatch.  "So," he called back as everypony else caught up, "I assume this thing flies?"

"Surprisingly well," Astral answered as he passed the colt, "we'll just have to reboot some of the emergency systems."

Mac was the last one in, and he closed the door behind him.  "Philomena!" he bellowed, "Initiate liftoff procedures and prepare for rescue operations!"

There was no response.

"Philomena?" The earth pony repeated in a quieter voice.  "Please?"

"You know the ship," Astral observed.  "I'm pretty sure the main computer was damaged.  We'll have to do everything manually."

"Nnope."  Mac looked over at Fluttershy.  "Take Radio to the auxillary bridge, I'll call ya in a minute."  He looked at Astral and Berry.  "I need y'all ta help me with somethin', we can bypass Philomena, and route everythin' to one place."  He headed down the hall shaking his head.  "Ah hope she's alright."

"Twilight will be fine."  Astral watched the corridor that led to engineering come and go as he followed Mac deeper into the ship.  "I've seen what she can do in open space."

"Ah know," Mac agreed, turning down a small hallway, "Ah'm more worried about Philomena."  He turned down one last, even smaller hallway, and stopped in front of a pair of glass double doors.  "Good," he said, voice a low rumble, "none a' this has changed."

"This is coolant systems access," Astral pointed out as he followed Mac in, "I thought were going to bypass the computer."

"It's complicated," Mac offered in explanation.  There were tanks and pipes along the far wall of the room, and pumps operating beneath the floor, visible through small regularly spaced windows.  There were two doors in the room, left wall, and right.  He opened the door to the right, and stood in the entry to a small alcove packed tight with control podiums, cabling, and bins of spare parts and cables.  "And some a' this has changed."  The farmer poked his hoof in the nearest bin of parts, rummaging around for a few seconds before correcting himself, "a lot a' this has changed."

Astral edged past the other stallion, and peeked in the box before heading to one of the podiums.  It was a twin to the one he used to disable life support and gravity when he was attacked by Eckrt.  "The salesman called this was a janitorial closet when he gave me the tour, but this looks like a control hub.  We could run half the ship's systems from in here."

"Everythin' important, anyway."  Mac pointed at two of the other podiums.  "If they kept the order when they changed the consoles, that should be engines and sensors.  "Yer standin' at life support," he told Astral.  "We should be able to disconnect these from the main computer system, and run everything through manual controls on the auxillary bridge.  It ain't gonna be easy ta fly like that, but we ain't goin' far."

"Sounds like a plan," Astral said with a nod.  "Where do we start?"

Mac pointed to the podiums.  "Disconnect everythin' from main computer?"

Astral nodded again.  "And how do we do that?"

Mac gave the unicorn a blank look.  "Why ya askin' me?"

"Okaaay," Astral said quietly, "on our own for this then."  He grabbed a bin full of data bypass cables and leaned over the top of his podium, careful not to hit any of the controls.  He unlatched the back panel and moved it out of the way.  "Berry, think you can crawl behind there and tell me how it's connected?"

"Yes, sir, Captain Uncle Astral, Sir!"  She answered happily as climbed up and over the engine panel, hopping behind the podiums and landing with a thump.  "Oof.  Wish I had brought my tools," she said as she made her way to the panel Astral had opened for her, "I wasn't expecting a damaged ship on a space station."  She went quiet for a moment, staring into the guts of the console.  "Whoever made these panels used parts from four different sources.  Looks like they were designed to be cheap, and there is very little automation ability.  It looks like that was relegated to the main core.  I can see the data hookup down here."

Astral held out a bypass cable.  Berry identified the parts much faster than he would have.  She was running the show from here on out.  "Think you can work with it?"

"Oh, yes," Berry answered quickly, "this is in a whole lot better shape than anything I ever had back home."  She grabbed the cable and bit off one end, spitting out the plastic connector.  "But whoever installed it was super-duper sloppy about it."

Mac hit a control on the wall while berry stripped wires with her teeth.  "Shy," the red pony said into a small microphone, "ya hear me?"

"Yesss..." came the answer, and Mac wasn't sure if there was static on the line or not.

"We're workin' on overridin' the computer now," the earth pony explained, "let me know if ya start gettin' control up there."

"Will do," answered Radio.  "Everything's dark right now except for Communications.  We've already contacted station operations and they've cleared us for egress the moment we're fired up.  Airlock's waiting on our signal."

"That was... fast," Mac observed.  "What'd ya say ta convince 'em so quick?"

"The truth," the colt answered.  "That there was an explosive decompression on the station, and we don't have time discuss this."

Before Mac could say anything, Astral looked over.  "How's it looking?" Astral asked Radio through the intercom.

"A bunch of panel lights just came on," came the answer, "but nothing is actually being displayed."

Astral groaned and handed another set of bypass cables to Berry as she crawled around behind the console.  His horn was already starting to hurt from acting as a living soldering gun, because Berry was yanking out a component every few seconds and pointing something out for him to modify.  The sweat dripping from his face, clinging to his coat, made the cramped alcove that much more opressive, and made him realize that there wasn't even any airflow.  "Focus on life support, get it active, but don't worry about bypassing the controls, we won't be adjusting it at all.  Then try the navigational systems, as long as we can reroute sensors and get viewscreens going on the bridge, somepony can control the engines from down here."  He wiped black grime from his face after peering into a crack in a floor panel.  "Mac, help me with this."

The red pony squeezed into the alcove and grabbed the panel once the unicorn pried it up far enough with his sputtering magic.  Once he had it, Astral moved around to the other side and worked his hooves under as well.  They lifted at the same time to keep the panel from wedging, and leaned it up to the side.

"What the hell is that?" Asked Astral, getting his first good look at the device he glimpsed through the crack in the floor.  It was a large crystalline formation, roughly torroidal, but with jagged protrusions pointed at metal plates with an almost holographic coating.  The thing glowed with a violently swirling lavender light, and what looked like magic aura seeped and faded from an ugly grey crack.  The unicorn stared for a moment, lost in the strange familiar feeling, then held a hoof out towards it, like feeling for heat from a fireplace.  "And why does it feel-"

Mac held his hoof out to keep the unicorn from moving any closer.  "That's one a' them crossover circuits Twi was talkin' 'bout.  Unicorns shouldn't touch 'em."  Mac edged closer, lowering himself halfway into the recess in the floor.  "Ain't damaged too bad."  He examined the crystal for a moment, then checked the reflective plates.  "Miss?  Could ya help me right quick?"

Berry's head popped up from behind the console, the brown streaks in her mane accented by streaks of dark grime.  "You talk funny," she pointed out as she worked her way out into the alcove with the the two of them.  "But everypony seems to talk a little differently, but you can still understand them, and...  ooh, pretty."  She stopped talking when she saw the crystalline device hidden below.   Her eyes followed lines of circuitry, and slowly started moving to get a better look at where different cables disappeared beneath the floor.  "This is what was blocking data flow.  The other three are all right, but those handle secondary data processing, and this one is responsible for routing that back to the bridge.  That crack must be disrupting the energy and corrupting the data.  It's too bad the main computer is still running self-diagnostics.  It might have been able to repair this."

Mac nodded.  He wasn't about to ask how she knew how many crossover circuits were installed on the ship after being on board all of five minutes.  Or how she knew these systems were capable of self-repair.  He could chalk it up to Berry being descended from Pinkie.  "Miss Pie, ya ever grown any plants?"

"What?"  Astral shook his head in confusion.  "How does that help us?"

Berry ignored the absurdity of of the question, if she even noticed it, and gave the workhorse an honest answer.  "Lots and lots of 'em.  Grandma and Granpa taught me to grow my own food, cause if we didn't, we wouldn't have enough to eat.  And Grandma used to make me talk to the plants a little everyday, because it helped them grow."

"Eeyup.  If ya ain't used ta usin' yer magic, talkin' helps focus it."  Mac placed his hooves on the crystal, and the movement of light changed a little.  It slowed, calming down ever so slightly.  "Ah need ya to put yer hooves on the other side there, and talk to the crystal like yer talkin' ta one a' yer plants."

Even Berry showed some confusion at this.  "Um, it's a crystal in a computer system, not a plant."

"It's a magical crystal in a computer that's older'n dirt," Mac corrected, "and us earth ponies need to stabilize the magic before Astral can fix it."

"Ok!"  Berry accepted the explanation and quickly hopped into the recess, shimmying in between the crossover and a coolant pipe.

"And how am I supposed to fix it?"  Astral shook his head.  "I've never even seen one of these before."

"Just touch it with yer magic," Mac replied, "that oughtta be enough."

Astral shook his head.  "You just said unicorns aren't supposed to touch it."

The farmer shrugged.  "Unless its bein' stabilized," he ammended.

Berry gently placed her hooves on the crystal, avoiding the jagged parts.  She was a little disappointed that the thing didn't react to her touch the way it had to Mac's.  "Ok little crystal,"  The flow of energy shifted, and Berry's eyes lit up, "we want-"

Mac nodded to Astral, and the unicorn reached out with his magic.

"Hello."

Astral blinked.  "Twilight?"  He stared at the purple pony in front of him.  "What are you doing here?"

"Who?" She asked.

Astral moved to step forward, jerking his hoof back, startled by the lack of floor.  It wasn't just floor, he quickly realized.  There were no walls or ceiling either.  No ground.  No sky.  Just black.  And two ponies standing in the midst of it, perfectly well lit despite the lack of visible light.

Not just two ponies, Astral noticed, but two unicorns.  This Twilight had no wings.  And seemingly, no memory of him.  Her expression was devoid of recognition as she studied him in silence.

A silence that she broke with a question, "What is your name?"

"Astral Plane," the stallion answered.  "And yours?"

She contemplated the question for a moment.  "I'm not sure.  It's been so long... I think.  Or has it?  I'm not sure.  The clock says it has been Six thousand and fifty-four years, five months and eleven days, three hours, twenty-two minutes, and nine seconds since this circuit was activated.  I don't think that's right.  I don't feel like I've been here that long."  She looked up at him.  "Astral Plane, I am the one who built the crossover circuit you've touched.  The fact that we are speaking now means that you are following proper repair procedures and have two earth ponies stabilizing the artificial ley lines within the crystals."

Astral waited for more explanation, but none followed.  "Um, sure.  What do we do next?"

"Next?"  She shook her head, and gave him a smile.  "The crystal will repair itself, using the magic you've provided."  White energy swirled around her for a moment.  "This is what you've given.  It isn't much."

Astral rolled his eyes.  "Well, sorry, not everypony can be as powerful as you."

The unicorn Twilight blanched at the rebuke.  "Oh, sorry, I didn't mean it like that."  She scratched her neck.  "I just meant that the repairs won't take much and that you don't need to worry about exhaustion, or anything like that."

"Forget it," Astral waved off the apology with a hoof, "don't get flustered over it.  I just have to give you a hard time about how overpowered your magic is."  Astral shrugged, and joked, "hey, if we ever formalize our crew arrangement, I'm going to get it put in the contract."

Twilight smiled and sat down.  "Do you... know me?"

The stallion blinked, and sat down across from her.  "Right, you're a magic echo, aren't you?"

"I suppose," she answered, suddenly sitting next to him.  She looked down at her hooves.  "But, I don't really feel like an after-image.  I'm more likely an imprint, a partial copy.  The crossover circuit is basically a computer, one meant to bridge the gap between the magical and the electronic.  It is entirely possible that I am a copy of my original's mental state at the time of the circuit's activation, written in a preserved sample of her own magic."  She looked up at him.  "If you know me, what's my name?  As an imprint, I only know what the original was thinking about at the time.  Unfortunately, that didn't include many personal details."

He looked at her for a moment.  It made sense that most ponies wouldn't go around thinking about their names all the time.  But certain magic spells required you to visualize yourself as a starting point, was that what was imprinted?  Then, was this Twilight, Twilight as she saw herself? She was a little bit shorter than the alicorn he knew, but still average height for a unicorn mare.  Her mane was a tiny bit shorter as well.  Both of those details surprised Astral, if only for the fact that he noticed them.  "Your name is Twilight Sparkle.  Princess, professor, or first mate, the title is your choice."

"I've been busy," she mused.  "Miss or Misses?"

"Miss," Astral answered.  "Odd thing for you to be concerned about when you're trapped in a crystal."

She shrugged.  "I think I knew there was a risk of this happening, an acceptable risk, given that the fate of the world hung in the balance.  So, I'm not all that bothered by it.  Besides, concern for the future is deeply ingrained in my personality, including concern for my personal life.  Though, to a lesser degree than the well-being of Equestria as a whole."

"That sounds like you."  Astral nodded slowly.  "Will the same thing happen to me?  Am I going to be leaving a copy behind once the crystal is repaired?"

"I might like that," she giggled, "a little company would be welcome."  With a sigh, her ears drooped.  "Sadly, your magic is well suited to this task, and you hold no risk of imprinting your personality to the crossover circuit."

"That has to be the first time my magic has been well suited for anything," Astral replied with some surprise.  "Why would it be any better than yours?  You have so much more than I do, and I've seen what you can do with it.  You have control, quantity, quality, everything a unicorn could ever want from their magic.  And, me, well, when I was younger, doctors thought I was sick because of how little magic I produced."

She shook her head.  "Call it too much of a good thing then.  My original has so much power that it gets left behind sometimes.  It's good magic, so it doesn't cause any harm, but it leaves energy behind like a residue, and that's what I am."  She looked up at him.  "You need every drop you have, so you learn to conserve.  The energy you touched the circuit with, I doubt it was even visible."

Astrall blinked in surprise, looking down to meet her eyes.  "It wasn't," he said slowly," but, how could you know that?"

"I can feel it," she answered, "when you touched the crystal, I shared that magic for a moment before it was pulled into separate leylines.  By the way, that's why it takes two earth ponies to perform the stabilization, each one is separating out one unicorn's magic, so repairs can be made without interference."  She smiled at her explanation, pride written on her expression.  "Designed the system for that myself, or rather, my original did.  Anyway, your magic was so pure and concentrated, like a drop of the clearest water you've ever seen.  There was no waste, no excess energy, and I can't imagine magic like that having a visible aura."

"Well, geez," Astral scratched his mane, "that's gotta be the nicest thing anypony's ever said about my magic."  Echo or not, this Twilight was being nicer to him than the real one.  Is this the pony he would have known if they had met differently?  "Most ponies call the lack of aura a parlour trick, a few have called it a dark skill."

"I know a few dark skills," she said dismissively, "that's not one.  Anypony who thinks otherwise doesn't know what they're talking about."  With a sigh, her voice softened.  "Long ago, you might have been a focuser, possibly even mine.  Your element is right for it, and with the proper training, you would be capable of things beyond your imagination."

"What element?" Astral asked cautiously, as far as he knew, he didn't have one.  At least, that's what the doctors and all his magic proffessors told him.  "And what could I possibly be capable of when I can carry more on my back than in telekinesis?"

"You'll find out," she said, voice suddenly sounding breathless, "soon enough."  It was odd, such a sudden change.  She almost sounded scared.  She raised a hoof, and looked down at it.

Astral leaned down to keep her face in view.  Was she crying?  No, not yet, but he could her eyes starting to water.  "What's wrong?"

"Astral," she held her hoof out to him, trying to keep tears back, "can I hold your hoof?"

He stared for a moment, but quickly took her hoof.  This was definitely a copy of the Twilight he knew, and she retained whatever trait it was that kept her from telling everypony else what was wrong the first time they ask.  "Twi?"

"The repairs are almost complete."  She held his hoof tight.  "The next step will be a reset, that places your magic in control of the crossover.  Any previous magic will be purged to prevent cross-contamination."

"Purged?"  Astral's eyes went wide and he looked back down at the hoof he held.  Imprint or not, this was real.  She was real.  Trapped as pure magic, but distinct and alive.  "Then... what happens to you?

"If what you told me was the truth, and my original is alive, there is a chance I will return to her."  She looked down at the other hoof as it started to lose form, drifting away like sand under a desert wind.  "If it was a lie, and I have long since passed, then thank you, Astral Plane," she looked up with a smile on her face, and tears in her eyes, "thank you, for sharing these final moments with me."

Astral pulled her to him, reaching to grab her before she disappeared completely.

"No!"

Mac looked up, and Berry jerked her hooves away from the crystal. She looked back and forth between Astral and the crystal that now shone slivery white.  "What?  What is it?"  She asked quickly.  "I was only going to say, 'we want to see you fixed."  She looked down.  "I didn't even get to finish saying it, and now the colors are all different."  She looked up at Mac and whispered, "Is that bad?"

"Nnope," the earth pony said, raising his eyebrows as he appraised the circuit's new color.  "It's all good."  He removed his hooves and pointed to where the crack used to sit.  Freshly grown crystal protruded from the spot.  "We can grind and polish it later."

"Hey, guys!"  Mac looked up towards the intercom as Radio's excited voice came through.  "I don't know what you did, but the displays are working.  It looks like we have shield control, navigational sensors, life support, and weapons."

"Good job," Fluttershy added.

"Hey guys," Radio called out again, "I've gotta cut off the intercom real quick, I'll call back in a minute."

Mac smiled and looked over at Astral.  His smile fell when he saw the unicorn quietly pressing his hooves to his face.  His breath came in heaves, and his shoulders shook with each breath.  "Astral," he prodded softly, "you ok?'

"Yeah," the unicorn answered in a cracking voice that didn't convince the earth pony.  "How long was I in there?"

"In?"  Mac looked down at the crystal.  He was always told that magic could be a strange thing for a unicorn, and that you didn't always know how it would manifest when you tried to mix magic from two or more ponies.  Whatever happened when this unicorn touched the crystal, it took a toll on him.  "Yer magic fixed everythin', took less than a second.  Berry didn't even get ta finish talkin'."

Berry nodded with slow, somber movement.  "Uncle Astral, um, you look, like, really sad, almost like Granpa when Grandma died.  Are you ok?"

Mac stared at the other earth pony as the unicorn answered.  "Yeah," Astral repeated, getting his breathing under control, "I'm ok.  We have more important things to worry about right now."

"Pinkie's gone?"  The red stallion's quiet voice went unnoticed, until he cleared his throat.  "Berry and Ah can finish up here, Mr. Plane.  One pony can fly this thing without Philomena's help, but it's a lot easier with two."

"Right," the unicorn replied, taking one last steadying breath before heading for the door.  "I need to drop by the bridge first, then I'll head to the auxillary."

"Watch out," Mac cautioned, "if we take off 'fore we check the stabilizers 'n damping systems, things'r liable ta get a might bumpy."

"You talk really funny," Berry said, looking up at the other earth pony with a slow nod, "I kind of like it."  She trotted back behind the podiums, squeezing between two of them.  "Toss me another cable, and see if you can find some pliers, or a soldering gun."

Astral left without another word, only stopping when he put a few doors between himself and the computer hub.  Closing his eyes, he leaned against the wall, pressing his face to the cold metal.  He couldn't allow himself long to...  What was he doing anyway?  Greiving?  No, there was nothing to greive.  Nopony died.  A little bit of magic slipped into the aether.  It happens all the time.

It shouldn't hurt this much.

With an angry grunt, he shoved himself away from the wall.  Wasn't there something he could have done?  Couldn't he have done something to save her?  He shook his head.  There was no her, he tried to remind himself.  There was a remnant of her, an echo of her personality playing like a simulation in a little bit of magic.  Nothing alive.

Right?

It sure didn't feel that way.  Astral sighed as he came to the door to the bridge.  There wasn't much left of it.  It was cut open in a quick and messy way, most likely to get at him when the ship was discovered floating dead.  He stepped over the charred edge.  It was plasma cut, by somepony fairly skilled, maybe that pinto who gave them the tour.  But it was definitely done by hoof in a hurry.

For a moment, he could imagine that colt sitting there, hood on and rushing to cut the door through.  Behind him, sheilding their eyes from the bright light of the torch was the medical team.  Growl probably, and at least one of the nurses he met earlier.

He realized then, how lucky he was.  Stepping onto the damaged bridge of the Philomena, forcefield spanning the gashed hull in front of him, Astral stepped into the understanding that his luck was not his own, but made up of the ponies around him.  The medical team, his family - both here and gone, every single pony who gave him a chance as a freelancer back when he was just a colt, even the echo in the crystal.

They all pushed him to where he is now.  He owed so many ponies so much, and he finally found a way to give back.  He could become their luck this time around.  And it was all thanks to one more pony.  The Twilight he knew, whose mission he shared.

Through the tear in the bulkhead, Astral could see the far wall of the storage bay split in two.  A thin seam of black appeared, rimmed by the faint glow of an energy field.  As the seam grew, the unicorn turned around, heading to the storage lockers.  He went straight to the end, where the last locker held a spacesuit identical to the one he wore when the Philomena was attacked.

On the top shelf of the locker, there sat two small boxes.  Each matched the suits colors, except for several blue circles scattered across all but a single face.  Thrust emitters.  These were maneuvering packs for the spacesuit.

Astral latched the packs to each side of the suit and started dressing himself in the hi-tech armor.  His magic set to sorting through everything that was dumped out of the other lockers.  He pulled a box closer, a sealed medkit.  Undoing the latches, he broke the hermetic seal with a loud pop.

The first thing he did was check the underside of the lid, among the indicators, he was most worried about one; radiation exposure.  The decontamination was over, or so he was told, so the Philomena was safe now.  But that didn't mean the ship's contents weren't damaged.  Luckily, this particular item showed safe, on the high side of it, but still safe.  

The Philomena surged, and gravity shifted, turning his stomach as the ship's artificial gravity started to compete with the station's.  The doors opened wide, a toothless black maw, stars beyond hidden by forcefield light.  The damaged ship rose slowly, swaying slightly as it crept towards the black.

"We're moving!"  Radio shouted over ship-wide intercom.  "We don't have anti-gravs, so station control is pushing us out.  We do have thrusters, life support, sensors, and most importantly, tractor-repulsor fields!  More systems keep coming on line, but we have everything we need to get out and help.   Let's go ponies!"

Astral got his helmet on, using his magic to stick an adhesive patch of circuitry to his cheek, trailing a small sensor on a springy wire that he could bite down on if neccessary.  "Radio," he said, calmly, "can you hear me?"

"Loud and clear, captain!"  The voice didn't issue from the intercom this time.  Or, maybe it did, but Astral only heard it through his suit's comm system.  "What's the plan?"

"I'm suited up for controlled E.V.A. right now," Astral responded, "and I have a full Hyper-Ox medkit in my hooves.  Anything medical I need to know to make this go better?"

"Yeah, let me think."  Tapping hooves clicked into the microphone.  Radio was most likely sitting in the captain's chair, tapping the arm as he mumbled to himself.  "Where are you now?  As soon as we're out, we can use the repulsors to gather any victims close to your location.  Once we do, you head out with the meds.  It's been over two minutes, so you'll need to apply the shock injection to each victim's neck, followed by the neural stimulator patch to the forehead and temples.  Because it's been so long, we can't give anyone the oxygen tab or the temperature regulator until we get them out of open space.  With the current timeframe, brain damage won't be an issue, but you need to be fast about this.  And we don't know what other injuries were sustained."

"Understood."  Astral faced the gash in the bulkhead as the Philomena pushed through the forcefield into open space.  Her wounded hull creaked under the change in pressure, but held firm.  And, with only one forcefield between him and void, Astral could once again see stars.  Last time he saw stars through this opening, he was watching Twilight leap into space.  This time, he was preparing to make the same leap, to join her.  "I'm on the main bridge.  There is a large hull breach on the port side of the command deck, I will egress from there."

"Engaging thrusters, hold on."

The Philomena tilted, bringing the outside of the station into view.  It was bright.  The light of Canterlot's sun lit the station brighter than any planet's noon, and the spacesuit's visor darkened in response. Astral could see the jagged remains of the shuttlebay doors several decks below them, the only damage across the untouched hull stretched below them.

"Captain?"  Radio's voice was quiet, lacking its earlier enthusiasm and energy.  "There's nothing out here."

Astral responded in kind.  "No life signs?"  The unicorn shook his head.  That couldn't be right.  It's only been a few minutes, less than five for sure.  Decompression was survivable within that time frame.  "Try a thermal scan."

"It's not that."  Astral heard beeping over the com.  "There's nothing out here.  No lifesigns, no bodies, no organic material in any appreciable quantity...  I've got the scan radius narrowed as far as it can go.  There isn't even any debris."

"Berry?  Are you hearing this?"

"Yessir, Captain Uncle Astral, sir!"  Big Mac grunted in the background, amid a clatter of falling parts.  "Oops, sorry.  Anyway, I just checked and double checked, but I could go back and triple check, and the sensors are about the only system that doesn't have massive amounts of barely repairable damage!"

It was Fluttershy who voiced an explanation.  "Twilight."

Astral chuckled, knowing that she was probably right.  "Radio contact the station.  It looks like Twilight did all the work for us this time, but double check that everything and everyone is-"

"Captain," Radio interrupted, "they're contacting us.  I'm going to patch it through the intercom."  Astral listened quietly, but after a few seconds, Radio's voice was the one to break the silence.  "At least, I'll try to."

"Oh, wait," Berry shouted, "let me try, I think I've got-"

A burst of static made everyone wince, but it was quickly cut by a welcome voice.  "Guys?" Twilight asked, not for the first time, judging by her tone.  "Can you hear me?"

"Now we can!" Berry answered happily.

Astral smiled and unhooked the helmet of his spacesuit.  "Great job, Twi!  You get everyone?"

"I did."  Cheers answered her statement, and she chuckled lightly, backed by a faint scratching noise.  Astral could just imagine her blushing at the compliments being hurled by her crewmates.  "It was easier to just do a mass teleport than try and grab everypony one at a time, so I kind of got all the debris too."

"We noticed that,"Radio responded, "threw us for a bit of a loop."

"Well, anyway, um, Growl wants to say something too."

"Yes."  The nurse took a deep breath.  "Thank you.  All of you.  Even after my actions earlier, you risked your lives to save the lives of my security team.  I...  I'm..."  She cleared her throat.  "I am grateful.  But, this isn't over."

"So close," Astral muttered as the Philomena pitched away from the station.  Radio must be returning the ship to port.  He donned his helmet once more and walked over to the forcefield, looking out at the station as they passed over the damaged shuttlebay.  He didn't know what it was, but the sight made him uneasy.  Perhaps it was the the fact that they still didn't know who was responsible for all this?  "Would an apology kill you?"

"There was a drone among the wreckage transported in," Growl continued, ignoring him.  "Twilight's quick thinking and application of magic has disabled it, but it was not damaged until she got hold of it, and the weapon it had was not capable of causing a hull breach of this magnitude.  From what I can see through the stupidly tiny windows on the emergency bulkhead, the damage was extremely limited.  There's minimal scorching, no blast damage.  It's almost as if-"

"Somebody cut their way out with a powerful laser?"  Astral asked, realizing why he was uneasy.  The shuttlebay was empty.  "Radio, please tell me we have weapons of some kind."  He knew it was a long shot.  He didn't have the funds to purchase an offensive package when he picked up the Philomena at the junkyard, but maybe there was something hidden away that Berry's probing would uncover. 

"Let me check."

Astral scanned open space until he spotted a star moving differently than the rest.  "Radio, expand the scan radius, we've got a ship almost straight ahead of us.  Berry get the shields up!"

"We have weapons, captain, holy crap do we have weapons.  Lasers, plasma cannons, rail guns, and things I can't even identify.  I thought you said this thing was a freighter."  There was a slight pause. "And, I can see the ship.  It's our shuttle, and it appears to be drifting."

"Shields up!" Berry shouted.

"Not drifting anymore!"  Radio shouted.  "It's turning towards us and accelerating!"

Astral saw a flash, or maybe a glint of light off the shuttle's hull.  It was too far away to see clearly.  It was also too far away for lasers to-  "Crap.  Radio!  Fire lasers, defensive spread!  And keep firing!"

"Ok!"  Radio shouted back, accompanied by the flash of a thousand beams of searing green light lashing out at random points ahead of them.  Twice a second, the beams fired, altering their spread slightly each time.  "Why am I doing this?"  

Astral didn't answer him immediately.  "Berry, tighten up the shields, configure for energy and radiation.  I hope I'm wrong, but we might have a nuke incoming."

"There!"  The lasers stopped firing.  "I see it on sensors, targeting railguns!"

The deckplates rumbled with rythmic timing as five glowing pulses shot forward from somewhere on the underbelly of the ship.  Astral turned and ran from the bridge, bracing himself against the cut up door, pressed to the side away from the opening.

"Target hit, we have detonation.  Brace for shockwave!  Impact in three, two, one."

The blinding light thrown through the door beside him told Astral that Radio's shot hit their mark.  His helmet's visor went nearly black trying to block it all, and then the ship shook.  He heard the muffled crash of something on the other side of the wall, and the sizzling sound of the last of his personal belongings burning in nuclear fire.  "Stay ready," he cautioned, "there might be more.  Check radiation levels.  Is the shuttle within firing range?"

"No, it's staying outside railgun range, and we don't have any missiles of our own.  Radiation... minimal within the hull.  There are medical scans that cause worse exposure than this."

"Good, cause I think we just lost the last of our medical supplies.  Track the shuttle, we'll have to chase it, and fire the second it's in range.  If I remember right, there are eleven more nukes on board.  Don't let it get off a second shot!  Berry, how are shields?"

"They're good!  We didn't get hit, so everything's fine."

Astral blinked as the visor started to lighten.  Next to him, the shadow of the door was baked into the smoldering carpet.  His suit was rated to protect from high levels of energy like that, but he sure didn't want to test it.  "Berry, it takes-"

"Hey!  What gives?  The shields just dropped!"

"It takes a few seconds to cycle out the energy from that much radiation exposure," Astral explained.  "The shields may weaken, but it was a conventional nuke, and not a ion bomb, so we should be able to flush the shield and get back to full power."

"Well, duh," Berry countered, "everypony knows that.  I mean the shields just turned off.  Like  totally down, dead, kaput, kaplooey!  Rear shields are up, but it looks like the main power conduit for the forward shields is damaged somewhere around level three.  I'm trying to reactivate the secondary conduits, but a lot of those are damaged too."

Astral nodded.  "Ok, I'm headed for level three.  Radio, you heard that, right?  Flip us around, and keep us between the shuttle and the station."

"Understood.  We have rear facing railguns, so we should be ok, even if they launch another-"  A buzzing noise sounded through the intercom.  "Captain, the shuttle is hailing us, audio only."

Astral started off for level three at a full gallop.  "Answer it, and buy us some time."

"Wait, it's Twilight!"  Radio laughed triumphantly.  "Routing her through the intercom."

"Twilight?" Astral asked in confusion.

"Yes," she answered sheepishly.  "Sorry it took so long.  I should have realized that the shuttle was missing when I was in the shuttlebay.  Good job taking out that missile."

"That was Radio's doing," Astral chuckled, "our resident hotshot's a damn good shot."

"Of course I am," the pegasus replied smugly, "I've only been doing this since I was born."

Twilight laughed.  "Well, now that that's over, do you guys think you can tow me back to the station?  That robot thing had itself wired to the controls, and when I tore it free, most of the console came with it."

"Negative," Growl's voice interrupted.  "We still don't know who's behind this, or where they're hiding.  Until we have more information, having a combat capable ship at the ready is in our best interest."

"Understandable," Twilight agreed, "I'll freeze the shuttle in a temporal bubble, just in case any systems are still compromised, and teleport over to the Philomena in the meantime."

"Bring our stuff when you do."  Astral resumed his trek to level three at a much calmer pace.  "If we're going to be here a while, we may as well make the most of it."

"Ooh, goody," Berry said with a clap.  "I need some tools if I'm going to keep, uh..."

"What ya see?"  Mac asked quietly.

"The controls for the engines just went dead," she answered.





"Repeat that?" Astral ordered through the intercom.

Berry looked up from the back of the propulsion kiosk.  Not that there was anything to see there anyway.  All the lights were dead.  Diagnostic indicators, power confirmation leds, the faintly glowing fiber optics... all dead.  "The engine controls just stopped doing their thing."  She sighed as the big earth pony tried to get a look at things.  He was never going to fit back here, so she was kind of on her own here.  "Well, this stinks," she told him.  "I just got that working!"  Even the faint hum of certain circuits had ended.  "And I can't see anything wrong here.  Did something happen to the engines?"

Mac shrugged, offering her a noncommital grunt before speaking into the intercom.  "Bridge, anything change up there?"  He stared into the intercom with grim intensity, like it was bread, and he was waiting for it to rise.  His voice was soft, yet firm, low, but not overly so.  He didn't need to force others to listen, his voice and accent naturally drew the attention. and he kept his words simple, to the point.  

Berry craned her neck to watch him wait, studying the red pony with a critical eye.  She glanced back at her panel every so often, but it remained lifeless, so she focused on him.  He was an earth pony, like her, but he was much larger.  Then again, most ponies were larger than her.  And he was much larger than most ponies.  He was definitely the largest pony she had ever seen, stealing the title from Fluttershy.

"No," oh, it was Fluttershy who answered, "ssstill have all screensss."  Yeah, Fluttershy was definitely larger than most ponies too.  She was also different in other ways.  She was the only pegasus Berry knew of that had fangs, or different colored eyes, or super soft fur.  Not that she ever felt more than maybe seven or eight ponies' fur in her lifetime, and most of those were from the last few days.  But the weird wing was kind of cool, and the growling, and the really pretty voice despite not knowing all her words quite right.  Plus, it was fun, playing that game with her earlier.  That was the first time she played a video game with anypony since Granpa died.

"Not anymore," corrected Radio, "half of them just went dead."  The other pegasus.  He was annoying.  But also, he was really nice.  He was always energetic, and cracking jokes.  Too bad a bunch of them were at her expense.  And he kept teasing her!  One of these days she would get him back.  He was really a lot of fun, sort of like she imagined having a brother might be.

"Radio?"  Captain Uncle Astral's voice.  He sounded concerned.  He had a nice voice too.  It wasn't as pretty as Fluttershy's, but it was nice in it's own way.  It had a lot of expression, you could tell how he felt from hearing him say something.  But, only if he wanted you to.  He could hide it.  She didn't like his voice when he did that.  When he was talking to other grandpa, Tekrin, which she probably shouldn't have listened to, he had a terrible voice.  It was cold, scary and distant.  She didn't want to hear that again. 

"Several displays are showing errors, but the engine controls are the only ones not responding to input."  That was Radio again.  He was confused about something.  "Interface error.  E-22138786871.  Handling error.  E-2214-"

"Wait a minute," Berry interrupted.  "Those aren't the right codes."

Mac looked over.  His expression stoic, like usual, but Berry could see one eyebrow lift a millimeter higher than the other.  No, maybe one half of a millimeter?  Six tenths of one at most.  "How d'ya mean?"

"Well," Berry scratched her forehead, "That, 'E,' stands for, 'error,' but that means it's a human, or pony, or curaxxan or gryphon component returning the error message.  But there's eleven digits.  If it was a curaxxan component, the number of digits would be some power of 2.  If it was a human component, it would be a hexadecimal, or would start with, '343,' not, '221.'  The Global Earth Spaceship Standards Organization guidelines designate the standard prefix for a shield component as, '343.'  But, '221,' is a weapons system.  And it probably wouldn't be eleven digits long anyway.  A pony component would mix more letters and numbers, or contain pictographic, or arcane glyph symbols.  Maybe also reference a manufacturer, and say which instruction manual can be used to interpret the code."

"What about a gryphon part?" Radio asked.

"The error code would be instructions for fixing the problem," Berry replied.

Radio's dejected, "oh," was drowned out by the clatter of parts outside the small computer room.  Both earth ponies looked out the glass door.  A tray, similar to the ones scattered about in the room they occupied, had fallen from a coolant pipe.

Berry took a step closer to the door, getting a better look at the new-formed mess.  It was mostly tools.  Pliers, wrenches, power meters, and even a laser based wire welder.  "Well, that would have made everything a lot easier."

Mac held his hoof up, and the pink mare bumped into it before she could go retrieve the tools.  "Ah don't like this," he mumbled.  "Why didn't that fall when everythin' was shakin' earlier?"

Berry looked up at the other earth pony.  He stared into the the other room, unblinking, eyes scanning the shadows.  His face was set in stone, jaw tense, eyebrows pulled into a stern scowl.  It was an expression that would have been a little scary if it was directed at her, but was kind of comforting here.

There was another sound, faint, a click.  It could have been something settling, but with the current tension, it made Berry jump.  Was it always that dark out there?  She hit a control near the door, locking it in place.  "This place is kinda creepy."

"Eeyup," Mac voiced his agreement.  He glanced over, and his eyes fixed behind the mare.  "Uhh... yer tail..."

Berry glanced back.  Her tail was twitching.  She was so focused on watching the other room that she didn't feel it.  She grabbed it, stilling the errant motions.  This was the power that made her an outcast on Sevus, she didn't want others to know about it.  "Something else is going to fall," she murmured.

Mac nodded and looked back into the other room.  "Just like Pinkie."

"Oh."  Berry joined him in watching for movement in the dark.  It made sense that if he knew her grandmother, he would have known about the twitchy tail.  There were other things too.  Pinkie sense, Grandma called it.  Granpa called it Telesthesia.  She wasn't sure how it worked, only that sometimes she would get a vague feeling about something, or that she would get a twitch, or that she would get the overwhelming urge to do something unexplainable.

Right now, it was just the twitch.  Twitching tail meant something was about to fall.  But what?  Berry couldn't see anything out there, so with a long sigh, she closed her eyes.  Once her breath was out, she held it for a moment, letting herself listen to her surroundings.  The hum of electronics, white noise for everypony else, resolved itself into a greater picture for her.

Relays clicked behind her, as commands came from the bridge.  Interface circuits beeped as they communicated with each other.   And underneath it all, the deep hum of the crossover continued at a steady pace.  Beside her, the breathing of the other pony paused.  Did he notice what she was doing?  He was more observant than he seemed.

The ship continued to breath though.  The ventilation fans that activated with the rest of the life support systems continued to turn.  Except for one.  It was slowing down.  The motor directly above them was off, and the fan was coasting on its bearings.

She looked up.  She could hear a servo motor.  There shouldn't be any of those in the ventilation system.  She saw yellow behind the grating, and slammed herself into Mac's side.  

Still focused on holding his breath, the sudden impact threw him off balance.  As small as Berry was, she was still an earth pony, and stronger than she looked.  They fell out of the way as the ceiling erupted in sparks.  The vent fan and grating crashed down, leaving a smoldering pile of debris where they stood.

Mac shoved Berry out of the way as a yellow-clad form jumped down from the hole in the ceiling, landing with the clang of metal on metal.  It was smaller than the last one, and armed with a weapon that looked a lot like Growl's plasma rifle.

Mac lunged forward, catching the barrel of the weapon below his hooves, bending it with a satisfying squeal.  The drone pulled the trigger, and was answered with a sputtering sound as Mac drew back his hoof.  He punched the drone across the face, feeling sheet metal bend beneath his hooves.  It was a different sensation than when he hit that drone on the station, and much more satisfying.

The drone dropped its weapon and lashed out in retaliation.  It got in a single strike, hoof cracking across his cheek.  The earth pony spit out blood from where the inside of his cheek split against his teeth, and bounced back from it with a headbutt before shoving the machine back.  This small drone was drastically weaker than the last one.

He slammed it against the wall and pinned it with one hoof, and started raining down blows with the other.  He targeted the back of the neck first, but this drone didn't seem to share that weakness, so he pummeled it with indiscriminate strikes, causing as much widespread damage as he could.

"Mac!"

He glanced back as another drone jumped through the hole.  He planted his front hooves and bucked it out of the air before it could land.  It crashed against an open panel, destroying the electronics in a shower of blue light.  The front leg, grasping another long energy weapon, lay snapped off in front of the earth pony.

He grabbed it, and shook the metal hoof off before taking aim at the drone lodged in the wall.  He pulled the trigger, and a blast of yellow light and heat shot back behind him, plasma blast obliterating the first drone and leaving Mac with a mild scorch mark across his cutie mark.

He froze for a moment, then quickly flipped the weapon around.  But before he could take aim a second time, Berry jammed the stripped end of a wire against the drone's exposed frame.  She dove away from it and  smashed her hoof against a nearby switch hard enough to snap it off the wall.

The sound of electricity crackling accompanied the smell of melting plastic as the lights dimmed and the drone twitched and shuddered.  Sparks danced across its body, and small fires broke out as o-rings melted and oil leaked from its joints.

Mac sat down, shouldering his weapon as the drone cooked.  "Good thinkin', miss Pie," he complemented.  A flash of blue in his peripheral vision caught his attention, and he started to turn his head.  "What was-"

The door exploded inward, catching the farmer in a shockwave of shattered glass and throwing him away from the frame.  Berry's hooves flew up to protect her face, reaching her snout a second after several stinging shards.  All sound was replaced by the ringing in her ears.

When she looked back up, another drone entered the room through the broken door.  It watched the small earth pony, ignoring the larger one laying prone and bloodied atop the crystal circuit below the floor.  When it cleared the door, it raised its weapon, a small silver blaster, bound to the hoof, like the one Berry wore when she first confronted Astral.

Berry stared back at the black visor, seeing only herself in that dark mirror.  She had to fight her own body just to breath.  Why hadn't it fired yet?  She was helpless, it could kill her, and there was nothing she could do to stop it.  Her mouth was dry as she opened it to speak.  "Why are you doing this?"

There was no answer, except the blaster being lifted a little higher.

Berry stiffened as the drone stepped closer.  No, she realized as it forced her back to the wall, this one was moving differently.  The ringing in her ears was fading, but she couldn't hear any servos.  This one was a pony.

She was shaking as the blaster traced along her cheek.  Still, she didn't take her eyes off the visor.  Somehow, knowing it was a pony, and not some unfeeling automaton changed the fear.  Deep inside her, something fought with her fear.  The blaster pressed to her neck, and she realized what it was.

Anger.

Yellow plasma shot past them, missing wildly and blowing a hole in what remained of the doorframe.  It was enough of a distraction for Berry to act.  She rammed into the other pony, shoving her back until they hit they slammed into one of the control kiosks.  She turned her head and bit down on the flailing hoof that was pressed to her neck just seconds ago.

The suited pony struck at her with the free hoof, squirming as the small earth pony kept their bodies pressed against the kiosk.  Berry's hooves hooves wrapped around the hoof she had in her mouth, fighting the pain of getting hit in the side as her hooves worked over the blaster.

With a soft click, the power supply popped free of the blaster, and Berry kicked it down into the hole in the floor, where Mac was starting to pull himself off the now damaged crossover circuit.  His left side bled from countless small cuts, and his right from one long gash bearing shards of glowing grey crystal.  He still held his plasma rifle, and attempted to aim, but his pained expression and constant blinking told Berry he wouldn't be able to fire for fear of hitting her.

"Run!" She shouted, before being dropped by a piece of debris smacking her in the head.  She recovered quick enough to dodge a second piece, launched at her by a peach colored aura.

It was a unicorn in that suit!  She dodged another piece of debris, only to get hit in the flank by a cloud of shattered glass launched in its shadow.  She fell with a shout, and grabbed a piece of debris of her own, a discarded length of rigid conduit.  Granpa always said, you deal with a unicorn by knocking out their magic.  She swung it in an upward arc that the unicorn dodged by stepping back, but Berry was ready for that.

She leapt forward as she brought the pipe down, scoring a glancing blow to something hard inside the soft suit's helmet.  Horn or not, it worked.  The unicorn staggered back, clutching at its head, and Berry pressed the attack.  She spun, and like she had seen Mac do earlier, planted her front hooves and lashed out with the back.  She was rewarded with a cracking sound as the unicorn hit the side of another kiosk.

She ran back to Mac, half helping, half dragging him up out of the crossover pit and towards the hallway.  She could hear servos again.  More drones were on the way through the airvents, and if they were all armed the same, she and Mac wouldn't stand a chance.

Mac limped to the door under her guidance, and she opened it, putting them face to face with another drone.  It saw them and raised its blaster, a larger version of the one the unicorn wore.  Mac fired first, but in his disoriented state, he only managed to hit it in the shoulder.  The drone fell forward, leg blown off and weapon discharging into the floor, sending lines of lightning out in radiating circles away from its body.  Two more blasts of plasma destroyed the drone and shut down its weapon before the lightning could reach its intended victims.

The two earth ponies out into the ship's corridors.  A second, much larger drone approached from the left, and Mac fired three shots before he followed Berry off to the right.  The only blast to hit the drone burned off a good portion of its suit, revealing the armored carcass below, but left no other damage.

"This...  is bad," Mac panted as Berry took the plasma rifle from him.  He was running on a waning supply of adrenaline, and he was starting to feel the pain in his right side.  "That type don't get hurt easy."

If the mare replied, he didn't hear it.  Come to think of it, he couldn't hear anything.  Muffled sounds that he couldn't make out, mixed with the bell tone of tinitus, were all he heard.  But, his vision was clearing up at least.  He didn't want to know how badly he was injured.  He vaguely remembered an explosion, and that meant it was probably very bad.

By the time they reached an actual room, a cavernous chamber rimmed by doors and spaced by columns, he was gasping in pain with each breath.  He made it as far as one of the columns in the center of the room before giving out completely.  He let himself fall into the column and slide down to the floor.

"No, no, no!" Berry rushed back to him.  "Get up!  You can't stop here."

Mac looked up at her.  At least his hearing was returning, if only on the right side.  "Give me... the gun," he said, propping himself up with a grunt.  He couldn't keep going, but she could.  "Down the next hall, there's a hatch with a ladder.  Climb it, and you'll reach Shy and Radio."

Berry shook her head, clutching the rifle close.  "Please stop talking like that.  We just have to keep going a little more.  If I can find another control hub-"

Mac grabbed the rifle, though he lacked the strength to wrest it away from her.  "Tell Shy, I'm glad I got to see her again."

A door behind them opened, and Berry spun around, raising the rifle.

"Whoa, it's me!"  Astral raised his hoof, seeing the weapon pointed at him.  Berry lowered the rifle, and he saw the blood running down her face.  There was a decent cut on her forehead, and smaller cuts on her snout and flank.  "What the hell happened?"

Another door opened, at the far end of the room, and Astral turned to see an all too familiar figure, a pony clad in a yellow hazard suit.  He dove behind the nearest column as it raised its hoof.  Berry raised the rifle and fired several shots.  Each shot hit the drone, or came very close, blasting away its suit with each impact, and cratering the walls with each miss.

She ducked behind the column with Mac when she realized that the drone didn't even flinch.  Blue lightning streaked out from the drone's outstretched hoof, arcing out in front of it.   It jumped randomly, sometimes tearing across the floor and ceiling, and sometimes streaking far ahead through the air.  Sparks flew with a terrible squeal wherever the lightning hit metal, and lights shattered when it grew to close.  It had a short range, but the drone was slowly moving forward, and with it moved the field of destruction.

"Shit!  That's a chain blaster!"  Astral looked back at Berry and Mac.  Berry wasn't too badly hurt.  The cut on her face was superficial, and she had some small scratches on her side, but she was still moving.  The farmer was a different matter.  It looked like someone threw him headfirst through a window.  The left side of his face, no, his entire left side, was messed up and bleeding from countless small cuts.  He was burned along his right flank, and he had a glowing blade of crystal sticking out of his side a bit forward of the scorch mark.  The silver-grey light marked it as the crossover they only recently repaired.  "Berry, you run through that door I came through, use the frame as cover and start shooting.  If you can blind that thing, I can try to drag Mac out."

"Better idea!"  Berry shouted over the crackling energy, "Toss me that jet pack, the thing on your face, and one of your boots!"

"What?"   Astral shook his head.  Whatever, no time to argue.  He detached one of his magnetic boots from the rest of the suit, and used the free hoof to peel the control circuit from his cheek.  He tossed them over, and set to work removing the thrust pack.  By the time he had it undone, berry had ripped out the fabric lining of the boot and was prying at something inside it using the battery cover from the plasma rifle.  "I hope you know what you're doing!"

"Don't worry!"  A large chrome-colored puck broke free suddenly, and Berry jumped to catch it before it hit the floor.  It remained tethered to the rest of the boot by a bundle of colored wires, and the pink pony started biting through some of them.  "Granpa taught me how to make and use all sorts of weapons."

Astral slid the thruster over.  What sort of weapon could she be making out a battery powered thruster and a magnetic boot?  Both of those items were designed to be safe, nonvolatile, and highly energy and or explosion resistant.

Berry tied the puck to the thruster with the cloth boot lining and discarded wire, then jammed the battery cover into the port used to connect the thruster to a spacesuit.  She dug around a little, then drew the piece of metal back before jamming it in like a shiv.  "Point it at the thing,"she directed, "but use magic, don't hold it!"

Astral did as he was told, grabbing the cobbled together device and peeking out from cover.  Lightning was starting to creep around the next column over, and his would be next, followed by the one sheltering the earth ponies.  Astral shouted in pain as an errant bolt impacted the ceiling above him, showering him in sparks that stung like welding slag.  He gritted his teeth and lined up Berry's weapon, shouting back to her when it was done.  "Whatever you're gonna do, do it now!"

Berry shoved the bite sensor and and main circuit from the suit controls in her mouth and clamped down.  Then, with a grunt, she used her hoof to bend the main circuit in two, shorting out some component with a tiny spark.

The thruster rumbled to life, shooting forward like the rocket it was at heart.  Astral did what he could to guide it's flight path, but as it neared the drone, Berry spit out the bite sensor.

"ZWHUMP!!"

The magnetic puck activated with more force than it was ever meant to as the thruster shot straight up.  The drone was pulled into the puck and slammed into the ceiling, its head caught between reinforced decking and a runaway rocket.

Berry leapt from hiding as the drone fought to free itself.  The chain blaster stopped firing while it shifted its aim to the rocket.  The earth pony aimed her plasma rifle at thing, and pulled the trigger.

Nothing happened.  Astral looked over, and Berry stood statue still, holding the trigger down and keeping her aim focused on the drone.  The side of the plasma rifle was pried open, and parts of it were dangling out.

"Oh..."  Astral winced as she realized she had done.  She had removed the charge limit safety from the main capacitors.  "Berry..."

"I know..."  She shared the wince as an audible whine started to issue from the weapon.  "This is gonna hurt."

The drone fired its blaster into the thruster, shorting both it and the electromagnet.  It fell to the ground, and Berry release the trigger.  The rifle's barrel erupted in one huge blast of bright neon plasma.  Astral shielded his eyes from the sudden light, and felt the heat wash over him as Berry was launched back by the recoil.  When he looked back up, only the drone's extremities remained where it once stood.  Two columns were missing sides where the energy blast had grazed them.  And the wall behind the drone, and the wall behind that, and the wall behind that, were melted straight through.  The wall behind those was seriously misshapen.

Berry lay on the floor, groaning.  She still clutched the handle of the plasma rifle, even though the barrel was completely missing.  "Whoo!"  She pumped the hoof holding the decimated weapon in the air.  "Score one for reverse bite pressure on those control dealies."

"My favorite setting," Astral agreed as he made his way over to make sure she was alright, "it's just so handy."

Berry nodded an affirmation as he helped her up, then they both headed over to Mac.  He was unconscious, but still breathing.  Astral checked him over.  The cuts to his face were mostly superficial, but there was bruising below them, and his ear was badly damaged.  The burn was light, probably just a graze.  His fur was damaged worse than his skin.  These were injuries from an explosion.  The worst of it was the crystal lodged in his side.  He didn't seem to be losing much blood, but there was no way to tell if there was internal damage.  Astral couldn't tell how deep it went, and he wasn't about to try and move it.

"What do we do?" Berry asked him, in a shaky voice.  "There's more of those things, and we don't have anymore weapons."  She paused and looked at Astral's spacesuit.  "Unless, um, do you have the disassembly tool for that thing on you?"

Astral shook his head.  "It's on the bridge, and probably got incinerated."  He glanced back the way he came.  "I was headed to you after communications cut out.  The intercom went dead after you told Radio that the error codes were wrong."  With a sigh, he added, "our best bet is to try and make it to the auxillary bridge, Radio might be able to help Mac, and we might be able to mount some sort of-"

Three doors around the room opened up, revealing smaller drones in each one.

"-defense."  Astral groaned and hung his head.

"I really hate these things," Berry moaned.

Astral spun around with a battlecry, pouring as much magic as he could into tearing the nearest drone's weapon away.  He succeeded, but before he could do anything else, a small fireball, roughly the size of and color of a pear, impacted the thing right in the visor.  It seared through the suit, and melted through the drones head in less than a second, leaving a clean hole rimmed by molten metal.  half a dozen more fireballs, hit the drone in a staggered volley, effortlessy cutting through its body, neck and limbs.

The drone's freshly ventilated body was immediately wrapped in violet aura, and the molten bits of metal around the holes were pulled from the frame.  Thousands of glowing droplets looped through the air at high speed, cooling into long spikes that were then launched at the closest drone.

The magically assisted projectiles chewed through the drone, leaving a perforated shell to crumple in their wake.  Its weapon, some critical component damaged, caught fire with a searing blue-white baze that melted through the drone's frame, and the floor below a few seconds later.

Astral looked back, tracing the origin of the fireballs.  Wings pumping, and horn glowing, Twilight charged through the corridor Berry burned through the walls.  She shot into the room, and looped around, slapping her hoof against the last drone's head before hooking back into a tighter loop meant to bring her skidding to a stop near Astral.

She misjudged the distance and slammed into the unicorn.  The two ponies tumbled across the floor, coming to a stop against a column.  Astral, upside down beneath the alicorn breathed a sigh.  "Thanks for the rescue."

As they untangled themselves, the drone reached for the glowing blue orb attached to its head.  Once touched, the gravity mine popped, instantly condensing the front half of the drone into a chunk of metal the size of a grape, which fell to the ground with a clear, bell toned impact as its back legs twitched.

No sooner than Twilight managed to stand up, she was tackled by a crying pink pony.  "Thank you, thank you, thank you!"  Berry whimpered into the purple mane, as they sprawled on the floor.  "That was so scary!  I never want to go through that again!  How did you find us?"

Twilight pointed to the recently added tunnel through the ship.  "I followed the explosion."

Berry's ears folded back, and she sheepishly pulled away from the alicorn.  "Sorry, I'll try to fix it later."

Twilight chuckled as Astral helped both mares back to their hooves.  "Mac's hurt," he interrupted.  "Twi, can you get us to the auxillary bridge?  And please tell me you brought Radio's medical gear."

"What?  Yeah, it's all in the hall."  She nodded back the way she came.  "That way, off to the left.  I dropped it when I saw the explosion.  What happened?  Everypony was talking about error messages, then communications cut off.  And now there's robots everywhere?"  She made her way to the injured earth pony, and her eyes went wide.  "Mac!"  She looked back at Astral.  "You said hurt, not almost dead!"

"Focus!"  Astral countered.  "Get us to the auxillary bridge!"

The unicorn's shout snapped her out of her anger.  Her eyes went unfocused for a second, as her thoughts turned.  "Right!"  She shut her eyes, and disappeared in a flash.  She reappeared a second later with Radio's bags, Berry's toolkit, and various other pieces of equipment.  There was another flash, and all four of them, plus the gear, were deposited on the floor of the Auxillary bridge.

Radio jumped at the sudden commotion behind him, yelping as his head hit the underside of the console he was working on.  "What's going on?"  He asked as he rubbed his head.  "Communications went dead and-"  He looked back and saw the condition of his crewmates.  "Oh, jeez!"  He ran to the pile of gear and grabbed his bag.  He was next to Mac, bag unzipped and hooves digging through it before he spoke again.  "What happened?"

"We were attacked by construction drones in the control hub."  Berry explained.  "Mac was fighting them off, and even took the weapon away from one.  But then, the pony controlling them blew up the door, and Mac got hurt, and then that guy tried to kill me, but Mac distracted him, and I was able to bite him, and take the battery out of his weapon, but then he used magic, and hit me in the head, and threw broken glass at me, so I hit him in the head with a pipe, and kicked him as hard as I could, and then we ran, and then we ran into Astral, and then-"

"We're under attack by the main force of the drones that attacked the station," Astral shortened.  "The pony pulling the strings is on the ship.  And we can't rule out mutated prills being used to attack us either."

"Radio..."  Twilight looked around the bridge, realizing that something very important was missing.  "Where's Fluttershy?"

The colt gasped, and looked up from the scanner he pulled from his bag.  "She left for the control hub when communications went down."

Twilight and Astral looked at each other.  "We have to go find her," she said, horn glowing.  A single item rose from the pile of gear.

Astral looked over at it, and took his new pistol from twilight's magic.  "Berry, see if you can get sensors back."  He started rummaging through the equipment, digging out their Furian-issued communicators and tossing one to each pony.  He found Berry's toolkit, and floated it over to her.  She took it without a word and dove under a nearby console.  Astral kept digging though.   "Twi, where's the other one?  That revolver I got on Furia?"

She shook her head.  "I didn't see it.  Where was it?"

"I had it right with to this one."  Astral found the box for the new pistol and looked inside.  The ammo was all there for both pistols, including the clips of semi-incendiary and tannerac rounds that he added, but the weapon was not.  "Twi, that thing still has tannerac rounds in it."

"You don't think they have it, do you?"

"If they do or not, it doesn't make much difference, does it?"  Astral looked at Radio as he took two extra magazines and stuffed them in the collar of his spacesuit.  "Do you still have that weapon from Sevus?"

The colt nodded without looking up from his scanner.  "It's in my bag."

"Guys," Berry called from the consoles, "It looks like they've been disconnected back at the control hub.  I can access a bunch of local services though, and one of them is a defensive system for this room."

"Ok."  Astral ran his hoof over his mane.  He also floated the plasma rifle he nabbed from the last drone over to Berry.  "Berry, can you activate the defense system, but delay it long enough so we can leave?  Radio, you stay here with Mac, and keep your weapon on you at all times.  It's a phase pistol, so it should work on those drones despite their armor.  Twilight, you're the only one who can really wander about safely, so you take Berry to the control hub to get sensors working.  I'll come with you, and hopefully we'll find Fluttershy along the way."

"And if you don't?" Radio asked.  "She was telling me about the ship earlier, and there are four control hubs.  Well, three, and the main computer.  She didn't say which one she was heading to."

"Then we wait for sensors," Astral answered.  "There will be two ponies wandering around, and Twilight and I will each head for one of them.  One will be Fluttershy, and the other wants me dead.  Any questions?"

"Ooh!"  Berry crawled out from under the console, trailing loose pieces of wire in her mane.  "Looks like we don't have to wait for sensors!"  She activated a screen and started manipulating controls.  A hologram shimmered to life above, a representation of the Philomena, limited in color and low resolution compared to most modern holograms.  "There was a whole separate sensor network," Berry explained excitedly.  "A really complex one.  There are also cameras, holographic projectors, and another intercom system."

Twilight headed over to the panel.  "Philomena..."

Astral joined them.  "The A.I?"

Twilight glanced over.  "Well, she's not really...  You know what?  Not important. Berry, can you pull up life signs?"

"Working on it."  The earth pony bit her lip as she manipulated the screen.  "It doesn't look like this was ever meant to be manually...  There!"  She looked up as the hologram populated with red and yellow dots.  "Found Fluttershy!"

Berry zoomed in on the highest concentration of yellow.  They resolved themselves into amorphous blobs moving in approximations of the sensor data.  One yellow blob zigzagged through the corridor while the others tried to converge on it.  Many that got close faded from the display, and others where pushed back.  One blob even split in two as the first blob impacted it, then shot away.

A red dot in the crowd marched towards the fray, and the fast blob grabbed the nearest other blob and launched towards it.  The blob that was dragged along faded before the other yellow blob impacted the red dot.  They rolled, then the red dot was tossed.  Yellow was on top of it immediately, lifting and slamming the red dot to the floor over and over.

"This feels kind of familiar," Berry mused as Twilight and Astral joined her by the hologram.

Twilight shook her head as she watched the commotion.  "Berry, what's going on?  What are these different colors?"

"The red ones are the power sources in the construction drones," she answered, "yellow ones are lifesigns."

"Well," Astral said with a shrug as the red dot faded out, "looks like she's got a handle on things.  Berry, can you see if there are any other isolated lifesigns?"

The earth pony glanced down at the console.  "I'm not sure how to do that, but I think I know where to look."  She shifted the view to a small room where a single yellow blob sat among several red ones.  "Still in the control hub," she growled.

A red dot walked up to the yellow one and faded out.  It faded back in a moment later, and the yellow blob ran from the room.

Berry's head tilted to the side as she tried to reason out the odd behavior.  When she, did, she voiced her opinion on it.  "Uh oh."  The red dot grew in intensity, becoming brighter in the holographic representation.  "It's a bomb!  Everypony hold on!"

Berry braced herself against the console, and so did the ponies beside her.  Radio pulled his hooves away from Mac's injuries, and spread his wings to protect the earth pony's side from any impacts.

It was a hard and fast jolt, a hammer's strike from below.  Their belongings clattered, and the hologram above them died, along with most of the lights.  Mac groaned, starting to regain consciousness from the impact, but Radio knocked him back out with an injection of sedative.  "Sorry, dude, you don't want to be awake for what I'm about to do."

Berry jumped back underneath the console.  "I don't think we're getting that back," she said in a panic, "everything that we rerouted is gone!  Engines, weapons... uh-oh, even life support.  Somehow, the atmospheric shields are still up, but only at about fourty percent, and they're the only thing left.  Well, aside from artificial gravity, there's no computer controls on that, so it wasn't affected."

"Meaning?" Twilight inquired.

"Meaning," Astral answered, "whatever air and heat is left on the ship, that's all we get, and we're leaking.  Temperatures are about to drop, and the air will start to get thin."  He looked back at Mac and Radio, then over at Berry.  "Twi, can you get them to the station?"

She nodded.  "What about you?"

"I'm going after Fluttershy."  He checked his pistol, Twilight had already loaded it for him.  "She was down on level three, two sections fore of the cargo bay, and headed away from it.  I should be able to follow her wake once I get there."

Twilight nodded quickly.  "I'll come back as soon as I can.  I enchanted your bullets for you, they'll emit an ion pulse whenever they hit something.  It should be enough to take down those drones, but I can't be sure."

"Better than nothing," Astral said with a shrug as he headed for an access hatch across the bridge.  There was a flash behind him as everypony else disappeared.  He was now alone on the Philomena, searching for one pony, while being hunted by another.  "I'm really starting to hate this ship."

He took off his three remaining magnetic boots before crawling through the hatch.  He wished he could keep them, in case something happened to the gravity, but it was awkward to move around in only three.  He needed to keep his mobility if he was going to face more drones and Prills.  There was a ladder in the shaft beyond the hatch, and Astral was able to grab hold of it easily.  At least he still had his armored suit.

He started down the ladder.  The auxillary bridge was on the top of the Philomena, towards the back of the ship, while the main bridge was on the middle level, four, at the front.  Level three was just above the bridge, and contained utility rooms, access to the cargo bay, and a lot of specialty rooms that puzzled both Astral and the salesman who gave him his initial tour.  There were hallways full of glass, lockdown mechanisms on doors, and a confusing ventilation system, most of which had been cannibalized long ago.

Astral opened a hatch to let himself out on the second level.  He remembered from his previous walkthroughs that the level three hatch was welded shut.  There was another access point he could use.

Level two was quarters, enough for a crew of several dozen to have large private rooms.  Not all of the rooms were private though.  Most were, nestled off the sides of hallways that were downright spacious by spaceship standards, but others were common areas, basically wider sections of hallway, filled with bunks or seating   Most of the furniture was gone, but there were still scattered beds and caches of personal belongings.

In one of these common areas, Astral saw a construction drone among the bunks.  He hid back in the hallway, and it was facing away from him, but there was no way forward without backtracking half the level.

Gritting his teeth, Astral moved forward, weapon at the ready.  Time to see if Twilight's enchantment worked as advertised.

The drone, one of the smaller model started walking towards a door at the far end of the area.  When it reached the door, it glanced back at the unicorn who was carefully aiming for the back of its head.  "Fire, and I kill her."

Astral froze in place, but didn't lower his weapon.  The voice was digitally distorted.

"In case it isn't clear, this is merely one of my drones.  I've seen what would happen to me if we spoke face to face."

"What do you want?" Astral asked quietly, staying still.  He wasn't about to provoke this pony, but he wasn't about to let his guard down.

"I want Eckrt back, but that isn't going to happen.  I will settle for causing you as much pain as I can before you die."

"You want me, right?"  Astral glanced back to make sure he wasn't being snuck up on.  "Then why attack the station?  Why involve innocent ponies and make an enemy of the entire Canterlot system?"

"To see him one last time.  To gain access to this ship.  I will kill you here, where you killed him.  I've stunned the deformed pegasus, and will keep her alive until you reach me.  If you die before then, I will execute her and ram this ship into the station.  So, fight well."

Astral tensed up as the drone lifted a hoof to the door.  It pulled it open and was bowled over by a charging Prill.  Four more followed on its heels.  Astral started shooting at the lead.  Unlike last time, he put two rounds in its chest, knowing full well they wouldn't penetrate the hide.  When it roared, he charged forward, grabbing sheets from nearby bunks.

He threw the sheets out in front, obscuring himself as he ducked in between the prills, and blew the eyestalks off the one he shot in the chest.  Striking blindly, the lead prill attacked one of the others before they could free themsleves from the bedsheets.  Two of them leapt on the blinded one, and only the smallest remained focused on Astral.

Beyond them now, Astral started retreating through the door they came through.  He held his fire until the small prill leapt for him, and his first two shots buried themselves deep in the beasts head, dropping it immediately.  Somehow, the ones fighting each other weren't distracted by the dispatching of their comrade.

Astral turned an ran.  It was good to know that some of the prills were vulnerable to gunshots.  Would it always be the smaller ones?  Or is a bulletproof hide a random mutation that only some have?

Astral didn't have to wait long to test it.  After ducking through two more empty common areas, a construction drone stood at the access point for level three.  He was flanked by three more prills.  All larger than any of the first batch, and apparently trained.  They saw Astral approach, but waited until the drone raised his hoof before rushing forward.

Astral's first shot downed one of them, a clean strike in the head.  His second shot ricocheted off the skull of his second target, not even slowing it.

Astral dodged sideways as the second creature leapt.  He aimed for the third, who was advancing more cautiously, but Astral was still moving, and couldn't take the time to aim a properly.  He let loose, aiming for center mass.  Shots hit, and others missed.  But by the time Astral stopped firing, he had one bullet left, and the prill collapsed, clawing at its punctured chest.

Astral ducked out of the way as the bulletproof prill leapt for him again.  Large as it was, its lumbering movements didn't match the speed it pounced with.  If he got caught by one of those leaps, he would be crushed.  Luckily, it took the monster a moment to recover between them.

Astral turned his attention to the construction drone and charged.  It was a larger drone, carrying aplasma rifle, but it hadn't joined the fray.  It stood on top of the hatch that led to a ventilator maintenance space.  That space also opened onto level three.  He had one shot at getting rid of both obstacles, and he had to do it before the drone started fighting.

He whipped the gun back, flipping it upside down and ejected the magazine.  The spring loaded cartridge shot up and out of the weapon, and Astral shoved the replacement into place.  Having left a round chambered for the switch, he didn't have to cock the weapon.  Instead he raised it and shot the spent magazine.

Catching the magazine in his magic, Astral dragged the now-jagged metal across the back of of the yellow plastic suit the drone wore.  It sliced through the cheap material, revealing the metal below.  As the drone turned to face him, Astral kept slashing, running a wide circle around the drone as it tracked him.  Each slice showed more and more metal, until a cut made higher up revealed green, glowing glass.

There it was!  The weakness Growl told him about.  Astral stopped avoiding, and charged straight for the drone.  It raised its weapon, and Astral's gun, floating behind the drone in the unicorn's magic unloaded round after round directly into the brain tank at point-blank range.

The effect was immediate.  The drone didn't collapse, but it did stop tracking Astral's movements.  And it seemed to settle on its joints.  Astral reached the drone and grabbed its rifle.  He turned around, dropping to the ground to aim as the prill readied another leap.

The monstrous beasts legs coiled and Astral's hoof found the trigger.  There was a bright flash, and the next thing Astral saw was the beast's smoking headless corpse sailing over him to crash, uncontrolled, on the opposite side of the room.

Astral sat there panting for a moment.  That was the first time he had used an energy weapon since...  He shook his head.  That wasn't important right now.  He had to make it to Fluttershy, and save her.  But, whoever it was playing this sick game knew the route he was taking.  They knew the layout of the Philomena.

Astral headed back the way he came, and took a turn in the hallway that led away from the access hatch.  He was still heading towards the front of the ship, but he had to get to level three in a way that his opponent couldn't anticipate.

He found that way in one of the common areas.  He remembered the area from the tour.  It was an exercise lounge, supposedly, but the floor was a little lower here than in other areas, and the ceiling higher.  There was less room for crawl spaces under the floor here, and just as important, two water coolers along the far wall.  Each one was topped decorative tank, full of water.

The unicorn found a spot away from the walls in the center of a floor panel.  There were no seams or installed hardware that might indicate reinforcement.  Astral held the plasma rifle in his magic above the point he had chosen and retreated to the far side of the room.

He fired into the floor, each blast heating the air in the room as it melted the floor beneath.  This plasma rifle was locked in at a lower setting than he would have expected, but it only took a few shots before there was a hole in the floor.

Astral dropped the rifle to the side, and made his way to the water tanks.  He carefully tipped them over, and shoved each one towards the hole.  The exertion, combined with the heat cooking off the floor, left the unicorn drenched with sweat.  Once the coolers were dangling over the opening, Astral grabbed an exercise weight, and smashed the glass globes.  Several liters of water poured out of each one, steaming as it washed over the molten floor.

He climbed up on the frame of the water cooler to avoid the molten rim of the hole as he looked down through it.  The water did its job, and cooled whatever slag actually made it to the floor below.  Luckily, most had been vaporized by repeated plasma blasts.

Astral swept what remained to the side along with the broken glass.  He couldn't be sure he got all of it, but that was a risk he would have to take.  He grabbed his pistol and borrowed plasma rifle and jumped through the hole, careful not to touch the sides.

It was a hard landing with the extra weight of his suit, but the one maneuvering thruster he still had kicked in automatically to try and slow his descent.  It only succeeded in rolling him, but it still lessened the impacted.  Also, he didn't burn or cut himself, and wasn't surrounded by prills or drones, so his plan was successful so far.

He started forward only to find that the doors in this section were different.  If he remembered right, he was nearing the sections with the glass walls and unique ventilation.  The door to leave this section of hallway was a reinforced airlock.  He never noticed it before, most of the doors where locked open when he toured this section.  These rooms must have been laboratories.

He wouldn't be able to pry this one open.  Astral walked up and peeked through the small, circular window on the door, making sure there was nothing to surprise him on the other side.  Satisfied that there wasn't, he retreated several steps.  Aiming the plasma rifle, Astral blasted the airlock.  It deformed, but held.  Another blast blew it open, but only partway.  A third shot...  didn't happen.

Astral looked down at the rifle, and pulled the trigger again.  It made noise, but it was the beeping of a battery indicator.  He dropped the charge pack and inspected it.  Empty, but rated for nearly fifty shots like most energy weapons were.  He didn't fire it anywhere near that many times.  It wasn't fully charged in the first place.

Was that intentional?  To prevent him from gaining another weapon?  Astral dropped the rifle and faced the door.  He should have checked the weapon's capacity.  He had assumed that there would be plenty of uses left, since the drone hadn't fired it.  If he had taken the straight path, and used the plasma rifle in combat, it could have cost him his life.

The door wasn't open wide enough.  The edges were glowing, fading quickly, but Astral knew they would remain hot enough to cause horrible burns for a while.  He didn't have time to wait.

He ran back down the hall, to where he first jumped through the ceiling.  The dumbell he used to break the water jugs was there among the broken glass.  He grabbed the five kilo weight and ran back to the door.

He threw it at the door, hard, using it like a sledge hammer without a handle.  It was tiring, but it was moving the door.  After a few hits, the door was open wide enough for Astral to fit his head through.  His shoulders, with the added bulk of his suit got stuck.  Astral tossed his gun through, braced himself for an unpleasant ride, and brought his hoof to his chest.  He hit a control, firing up his thruster pack for forward motion.

Metal squealed as his suit pushed against the mangled door.  Astral could still feel heat baking off the metal.  He relaxed the hooves not on the controls, so he wouldn't break them in the tumble he knew was coming.

He cranked up the power, approaching twenty percent thruster output.  It didn't seem like much, but these packs were made for movement in space, for navigating around the outside of a ship.  There were probably warnings about not using them in cramped corridors like this.

After a few seconds more of not going anywhere, Astral pushed the thruster to twenty-five percent.  It worked.  He shot forward, free of the door.  The thruster, sticking out from his side caught on the door, twisting him sideways before it was torn free of his suit, and he was launched out into the next hallway.

He hit the deck hard, but the impact was taken on the shoulder of his suit, a layer of armor an padding protecting him.  He rolled to a stop, just shy of a bend in the hall.  He looked back and retrieved his pistol before peeking around the corner.

He jerked his head back immediately.

He found them.  He was deep in the heart of the lab area.  The walls up ahead were floor to ceiling glass, and he could see the unicorn up ahead holding Flutershy hostage.  It was perfectly framed by the wall section, like a picture.  She was unconscious, and leaned up against the only opaque wall in the section, and her captor was facing the other direction, where two of the larger drones flanked a door off to the side, waiting to ambush whoever came through.

From here, he had a straight shot to the room where Fluttershy was.  There was no visual cover, and a long hallway.  Past this corner, there was no way he wouldn't be seen.  But, the drones would have to go through two sets of walls to reach him.  Astral only had to go through one.

He checked his gun.  Four rounds in the magazine, and he had lost his spare somewhere along the way.  It wasn't in these last two hallways, either.  He had to assume he lost it immediately after gaining the plasma rifle.  Counting the round in the chamber, he only had five shots.  He had to end this quickly.

Slamming the magazine back in place, he ran around the corner.  Dead run.  He knew the drones would see him, and so would their master.  He needed to act before they could.

He put three rounds into the glass separating him and the other ponies.  It was one hell of an introduction.  The unicorn in the yellow spacesuit ducked in surprise.  As Astral galloped down the hall, Fluttershy's captor looked up.  Their eyes met through the cracked visor.  One brown eye fixed on the grey unicorn in anger, the other was hidden by part of the black glass plate.

The pony in the yellow suit looked over at a nearby table.  Astral saw his magic engulf something, but couldn't quite see what.  But then, it was  lifted.  The revolver!  Astral reached out with magic as the unicorn tried to turn the weapon on Fluttershy.  He pulled the trigger, and the high caliber firearm put a tannerac round into the nearest wall.

The unicorn suddenly stumbled.  Papers kicked up, Fluttershy fell over, and the cracks from astral's shots into the glass widened.  That solid wall was the hull!  Astral was seconds away from reaching the glass.  He had to get in, get Fluttershy out, and get her somewhere where the atmospheric shields still worked.  He tried to take deep breaths to saturate with oxygen, but at his current sprint, it was a futile gesture.

Her captor went for the revolver again, and Astral gave it a sudden yank.  The unexpected pull managed to point the barrel towards the bottom of the glass panel.  Astral pulled the trigger as he leapt for the glass, putting his shoulder into it and shielding his head with his leg.

The glass exploded inward, compromised by the fourfold stresses.  Astral's original shots, the tannerac round that punched straight through it, Astral's weight behind his suit's armor, and the rapidly changing atmospheric pressures finally overcame the strength of the transparent wall.

Astral crashed to the ground amid a whirlwind of air and debris.  He couldn't hear anything but roaring wind, and he was being pelted with glas.  The other unicorn was in the same boat though, bracing against the wall as he tried to concentrate his magic.

The revolver rose from the ground near Astral.  He saw it, and swatted it with his hoof, pushing it away as it tried to aim for his head.  It fired.  It's deafening sound muted by lack of air as it punched a hole in the deck.  Astral had pushed it sideways enough to save himself, but as close as he was, the powder flash washed over his face, a burning wave of heat and flame.

Astral fired back with his pistol, his aim compromised by his stinging eyes.  He hit a light fixture, showering the other pony with glass.  Everything was blurry, and he tried to blink it away, but it felt like he was running sandpaper over his eyes instead.  And, he had one shot left.

Revolver forgotten, the yellow-suited unicorn picked a shard of broken glass and lunged at Astral.  Astral barely got his hooves up in time to grab the other pony's leg, keeping the makeshift dagger away from his face.  As they struggled, Astral could feel himself giving out.  The air was almost gone now, and each gasping breath was giving him less oxygen than the last.  He had to... do something...

Astral suddenly pulled the glass dagger towards him, catching the other unicorn off guard.  He also deflected the improvised weapon enough to shatter it against his suit.  Hooves free, now that he wasn't holding a bloody death at bay, he punched the other unicorn in the face, twisting his entire body to throw his attacker off of him.

It worked.  The other unicorn hit the ground, suit tearing on impact with some of the larger shards of glass.  He started scrambling for the revolver, but Astral was able to get his magic around his pistol first.  He couldn't trust his eyes.  The lack of oxygen was getting to him, and he couldn't blink the double image away.  But, as the unicorn in the yellow space suit stood up, finally gaining hold of the revolver, Astral was already moving his pistol towards him.

Tearing the rest of the busted faceplate off his helmet, the unicorn turned to face Astral.  His chest bumped into the muzzle of the pistol, and Astral pulled the trigger.  Astral couldn't hear the shot over the sound of his own blood rushing in his ears, but he saw the flash, barely.  His pistol fell to the ground right after.  He didn't have the strength to hold it up anymore, and besides, there were no more shots.

The other unicorn didn't fall.  Astral tried to breath, gasping harder, faster, for air that wasn't there.  He didn't go down!  The other unicorn was still standing, a look of shock in his eyes as he brought his hoof to his chest, and it came away bloody.

He looked back at Astral, and took a step towards him.

In panic, Astral reached out with the last of his magic, pulling the trigger on the revolver.  It wasn't pointed at him yet, and discharged into the floor.  He pulled the trigger again, before the other unicorn could aim, putting another hole in the floor.  One more trigger pull, and the revolver clicked on an empty chamber, having spent all five rounds.

The revolver fell to the floor as the other unicorn stumbled forward in desperation.  He fell on his gasping opponent with his hooves outstretched.

Astral lost consciousness as those hooves wrapped around his throat.
> Fangs for the Memories
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------

"Yagh!"  Astral's hooves jumped to his snout as he was abruptly woken by something touching his face.  They bumped into something on the way, and he latched onto it on instinct.

"Um, Astral?"

The unicorn opened his eyes.  The dull throb of an oxygen deprivation headache greeted him with the dim light as he stared into Twilight's eyes.  A tint of blush was barely visible on her face.  "Uh..."  He glanced down at the hoof he held, it's purple color bright against his dull grey.  He stared at it for a moment, brain waking slower than his body had.  "What's... um..."  He brought his hoof to his neck, letting go of hers.  The movement was effortless, alerting him to the absence of his spacesuit.  "What's going on?"

"I was hoping you knew."  Twilight worked her way up, then stretched out with a groan, ending up with her hooves on her horn.  She looked around after that, noting that they were in what seemed to be a storage closet.  The lights were pretty dim, and the previous contents were shoved towards the back wall to make room for the mats that she and Astral occupied.  Plus, one empty one.  Cans of water sat next to the mats for them.  "I think I used too much magic."

"Fluttershy," Astral said suddenly, memory slowly coming back to him, "what happened to her?  Is she ok?"

"Relax," Twilight reassured him, letting her hooves fall to her sides, "you saved her.  I teleported you both back to the station.  I just wish I remembered what happened after that."  With another groan, she rolled over and started pushing herself up.  "I'm exhausted.  One more teleport shouldn't have knocked me out like that."

Astral started to sit up as well, having considerably more difficulty with it than she did.  He propped himself up on one hoof and took a breather before trying to complete the motion.  Twilight moved to his side to help him.  "I shot the guy," Astral commented, "but he was still moving when I blacked out.  Last thing I remember, he was trying to strangle me."

"Oh."  Twilight looked down, wincing at the memory of what she saw.  "Oh, no."  She looked back up at Astral.  "Please tell me you shot him in the neck with the big gun."

Astral shook his head with a slow, compact movement to avoid causing himself undue pain.  "I hit him in the chest with the last round I had for my pistol.  He had the revolver."

She nodded stiffly.  "We need to find Fluttershy, now."

"Um, OK," Astral hesitantly agreed, following her to the door on shaky hooves after ripping an oxy patch off the side of his neck.

Twilight hit the panel next to the door, flicking the lights off.

"Oops."  Twilight tapped the panel again, bringing the lights back, but at full power this time.  "That's better.  I must have hit the wrong-"  She glanced over at Astral, and the horrified expression on his face stopped her words cold.  "Astral, what's wrong?"

He wrapped his hooves around her, holding her tight as he let out a shaky breath.  "Don't do that," he whispered, "please, don't that again."

"Um, OK?"  The alicorn brought her hoof up to the shoulder her head was pressed to, resting it in his fur with a sigh.  This was the third time she leaned against him like this.  She chewed her lip as she debated telling him that she was starting to get used to it.  "Astral-"

"Sorry!"  He jumped back, clearing his throat as his hooves fell back to the floor.  He fidgeted his hooves in embarrassment.  "Sorry, it's just, um...  I'm sorry."

"No, Astral, it's not..  I just..."  Twilight tried to smile as he opened the door and he all but ran past her.  She failed miserably and settled  for holding back tears as she stepped out into the medical bay.  "Thank you for holding her hoof," she whispered after him.

Medical was strangely empty as the two ponies left the closet.  Only a few seriously injured patients slept on scattered mats, watched by two bipedal volunteers.  Aside from them, the only two creatures standing were at the entrance to the surgical bay.  One was a young tawny gryphon in armor, and the other was a yellow pegasus that towered intimidatingly over him as she sat before the door, unmoving.

"M-ma'am," the poor guard stammered, "could you, um, please return to your mat?  Your crewmate is in good claws.  James is an excellent doctor, and your own medical officer is helping him."

Fluttershy didn't respond.

As Twilight got closer, she realized that Fluttershy wasn't as unmoving as she appeared.  She rocked back and forth with every breath, and her mouth moved as she repeated something to herself over and over so that only she could hear it.

Twilight inched up beside her friend, carefully watching.  "Fluttershy?"

For a moment, her movement stopped, and so did her breath.  "He hurt me," the pegasus said in a soft, dispassionate voice.  Her tone was cold, even, no emotion, no pain.  "That light... it hurt."  She started rocking again.  "Over, and over, and over."

"Fluttershy, it's over."  Twilight watched for a moment, saw the tears running down her face.  She reached a hoof out.

The moment it touched fur, Fluttershy snapped.  With a vicious snarl, she snapped her wing and hoof out, shoving Twilight away.  The gryphon guard grabbed her other hoof, and was rewarded by being thrown headfirst into the nearest wall.  Astral ran forward, but thought better of it when she spun to face him.

"He hurt me," she growled, slowly advancing on him as he backed away.  "Hurt Mac.  Hurt you."  She turned away just as violently as she had turned on him in the first place.  "Hurt everypony!"  She paced back and forth, slinking and growling like an angered jungle cat.  "Kill.  Tried to kill.  Wanted to.  Kill me.  Kill you.  Kill everypony.  Wanted to!  I didn't.  Didn't want to.  Had to."   She let out a loud snort.  "Had to.  Didn't want to.  Had to.  Didn't want to."

The next time Fluttershy turned around, she walked right into a pair of outstretched purple hooves.  Twilight wrapped her in a hug, fully expecting to be tossed away again.  Instead, the pegasus stopped.  She cried.  The tears ran down her face in unbroken rivers of grief and remorse as she stood perfectly still.

Then, she screamed.








"He's waking up,"  Said a quiet, feminine voice.

"That's good," whispered back another.  "Why are you crying?"

Mac opened his eyes to blinding white light.  Before him, the fuzzy outlines of two young mares looked down at him.  All his pain was gone, and he could feel a warm, gentle wind ripple through his fur.  He closed his eyes again.  "Aw crap, Ah died."

The two mares looked at each other.  "Uh..."

Radio switched off the hair dryer he was using to warm the nutrient gel on the stallion's left side.  "Say that when the painkillers wear off."  The colt looked over the farmer's back at James.  "I think this is as good as it's going to get over here.  A lot of this glass was molten when it hit him, so he'll probably need a couple weeks for it to work its way out."

"Not unexpected."  The gryphon looked up from his screen and rubbed at his eyes.  "It seems my attempt to repair his kidney was only minimally successful.  Kidney function is severely compromised.  It's no longer in danger of telluric necrosis, but function is still at less than ten percent."

"May as well not even have it," Radio sighed, holding the hair dryer out to his sister's coworker, Lilybelle, if he remembered right.  "Do you have facilities for prepping a donor organ?"

The older nurse nodded.  Odd to think she was a few years older than him, and he was telling her what to do.  And, she was about two centimeters taller him.  "It's in storage, but we have a regeneration tank sufficient for individual organs."

"The problem with that becomes stem cells," James pointed out.  "Growing a kidney from what's left of his will take at least seven micrograms, preferably fourteen.  We have precisely three micrograms left in cold storage from Minuette's umbilical cord.  It will take weeks to requisition more from the surface.  It might be faster to just transfer him to another hospital."

"That's not a problem," Ribbon interrupted.  Her eyebrows furrowed, and she looked down at their oversized patient.  "And you aren't dead, stop moping.  She's outside waiting for you.  You can tell her yourself as soon as we finish up here."  Ribbon tried to ignore the tortured wailing that only she heard, and added, "Be strong for her, she's going to need you."  She shook her head and looked back up.  "What was I saying?"

"Stem cells aren't a problem," Mezzo reminded her from the corner of the room, where he was staying out of the way.

"Right," she flashed a smile in his direction, "thanks!"  She cleared her throat.  "Radio and I can donate some."

James chuckled.  "Ribbon, Adult stem cells aren't the same as those harvested from the umbilical cord.  While still useful, as a pony ages, they become less flexible in terms of-"

Radio held his hoof up to stop him.  "Look, dude, can I call you dude?  There's no point in lecturing either of us on regenerative medicine.  No offense, but she knows what she's talking about this time."

"This time?" Ribbon demanded.  "And don't be so rude."

Radio looked over with a shrug.  "What?"

James smirked as he crossed his claws.  "Of course..."  He stared down at Radio.  "Rock Duster's been holding out on me."

Radio answered the smile with one of his own.  "Score one for the genetically modified freaks, eh?"

"Maybe," the gryphon mused.  He raised an eyebrow at the colt as his grin turned evil.  "Bone marrow?"

Radio's smile fell flat.  "Dammit."
> Baby, it's Cold Inside
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------

By the time Astral left the medical bay, led by the gryphon from earlier, Fluttershy had passed out in Twilight's embrace, aided by a simple sleeping spell.  Even so, the alicorn refused to let go of her, insisting on getting her friend tucked in bed herself, then staying by her side.

The last thing Twilight said to Astral was that it was all her fault.  Fluttershy's transformation, not finding them sooner, not waking up before Fluttershy so she could have been there for her, she blamed herself for all of it.  Astral sighed as the gryphon, mostly recovered from his date with the wall, tried to guide him away.  No matter how Fluttershy felt about giving in to her feral side, she saved his life after he had passed out.  No matter how Twilight felt about it, she saved both of them from certain death by asphyxiation.

Out in the hallway, the armored gryphon rolled his wing joints, sighing heavily as they made unpleasant popping sounds.  "Your friend was pretty upset back there.  What was that all about?"  He turned his neck his neck side to side, repeated the painful sounding noises.  "When you guys were first brought in, she was covered in blood.  I mean, completely drenched, face, wings.  Like a rabid wolf that just visited a petting zoo.  What is she?  I saw the fangs when they were cleaning her up, and with how hard I hit the wall, I'm guessing dragon-pony of some kind."

Astral shook his head.  "It's kind of complicated," he answered, brushing off the questions.  "How long have we been out?  And why were we in the closet?"

"About four hours," the gryphon answered with a shrug.  "And the closet had a door, so it kept away the crowds."

"Crowds?"

The gryphon nodded.  "Yeah, whole crowd of ponies, all Tankrit, murmuring something about the princess coming for them."  He headed off down the hall with a sigh, forcing Astral to follow.  "Nobody cared to explain what that meant, and Boss hasn't told me anything either.  I've been in medical for who knows how long, trying to keep some kind of order.  Then, they bring you, bloody dragon-pony, and a celestial in like it's no big deal. The planet below could have gone up in a fireball for all anybody keeps me informed.  All I know is that Growl asked to see you."

"Fluttershy and Twilight," Astral corrected, "not a dragon pony, just a victim of a retrovirus.  And, not a celestial, just a princess."  That was going to take some getting used to he mused.  In the meantime, He would be get answers he could from Growl.  She owed them that much at least.  "So, where-"

"Here we are."  The gryphon stopped at a plain, utilitarian door.  The color matched the wall where it sat, and the only visible hardware was a keypad lock which was torn off, dangling from the wires beneath.  He pulled on the lip of the door, and it creaked slightly open before tilting on the hinges.  "She's in there," he pointed.

"Uh, thanks."  Astral gave the damaged door a quick once over.  It wasn't as simple of a door as the outside suggested.  The thickness alone proved that.  He squeezed between the door and the frame, entering a tiny room with bright green lights and equipment lockers.  Another door, already open, sat opposite the one he entered.  He could feel the chill emanating from it.

A sharp, almost electric smell accompanied the cold.  A sterilization field?  Astral walked up to the other door, a small red indicator turning green as he approached.  At a touch, the door slid open.

Cold air blasted by him, and he shivered, realizing he wasn't wearing his jacket.  His breath steamed in front of him with the sudden temperature drop, and he steeled himself to step forward.

This was the morgue.  He recognized it from the video Growl showed him earlier.  Two active cold storage chambers in the center of the room provided most of the light, and the green mare stood next to one of them, her face illuminated from below by the chamber and a data pad.

He took a step towards her.  He breathed in, making a sharp hiss as his hoof touched the nearly frozen deck.  "Damn, that's cold," he whispered, pulling his hoof back.  He decided to call out instead.  "You wanted to see me?"

Growl looked up from her pad, then motioned the unicorn over.

With a groan, he started over, wishing he had gotten used to wearing shoes when he was younger.  The cold stung.  It bit at him, especially up through the frog of his hoof.  "Those equipment lockers in the other room have cold weather gear in them, don't they?"

She stood beside the second container, seemingly oblivious to the cold.  She sighed a great cloud of steam.  "Obviously."  She pushed her pad away.  "But we won't be long."

Astral nodded his agreement.  "How long have you been in here?"

"A few minutes," she shrugged.  She quickly narrowed her eyes in doubt at her own statement, then slid her pad back over, consulting it with a quick glance.  "Forty-five," she amended.  "The cold reminds me of home, and I lose track of time."

Astral shifted on his hooves, trying to minimize the time spent in contact with the floor.  "Why did you call me down here?"

In answer, she opened the container.

A mare in her early thirties, a pale, tan unicorn with a short golden mane, lay there with her throat torn open.  Her eyes were open and glazed over.  Blood, so much of it, matted the area around her wounds.  It looked like there was an attempt to clean her up somewhat, but the amount of blood made it difficult.  There were four main injuries that Astral could see; the neck, one small entrance wound from the shot to her chest, a small split in the skin around some sort of metal implant near her horn, and a bite mark on her right hoof.

"Official cause of death is the wound on her neck.  But the shot to the chest would have done the job after a few more seconds."  She gestured to a single robotic arm mounted on a sliding track on the ceiling.  "Scans show that the bullet hit a rib and shattered.  Fragments of bone and metal punctured both lung and heart, and the shockwave ruptured her aorta.  She was bleeding out.  Even if she was shot on the operating table, she wouldn't have survived without a complete respiratory system replacement."

"I know her."  Astral sighed, putting up with the discomfort to stay still as he brushed his mane back with a hoof.  "She was the waitress at the restaurant, the one that guy," he pointed to the other container, "took me to after we loaded twenty-something crates of apples on my ship."

Growl nodded solemnly.  "It seems that was his M.O.  I've been gathering intel on Eckrt from other systems, and I've pieced together that he had a standard plan for moving contraband.  First, he would hire an unsuspecting cargo carrier for a mundane job, or get his client to hire one.  Then, to gain the cargo carrier's trust, he would help with the load up, striking up conversations, and many times he even took entire crews out to dinner.  He, or an accomplice would then place a tracking device and construction drones on the ship.  The actual attack would take place somewhere en route to the destination, to make it seem like a random act."  She fiddled with her pad for a moment.  "It seems the only restaurant near that Apple farm in your original report is closed for renovations, will be for an entire month.  And, get this, the company doing the work had a computer error recently give all their workers a day off.  Made the local news."

"They orchestrated the whole thing."  The unicorn shook his head.  "So, who is she?"

"Her given name was Noon Wind, but she went by the name Visor in her criminal career."  Growl tapped her forehead.  "Probably because of that thing near her horn.  From what I found, she was a commercial transport pilot in training, and suffered brain damage during a crash on her first flight.  Equipment error, nothing she could have done.  After spending several months functioning about the level of a toddler, she broke out of the hospital in the middle of the night, disabling computers and surveillance systems, dispatching several guards, and stealing millions of bits worth of rare medicines and equipment.  Hot wired a medical transport to get away."

"I have the feeling you aren't done yet."

"Not by a long shot," Growl smirked.  "Her suspected deeds span the galaxy.  Information crimes mostly.  Industrial espionage.  Sabotage.  Occasionally a theft made possible by disabling a state of the art security system.  Everything she did was meticulously planned, and made possible by the computer implanted in her head."

"Who makes implants like that?" Astral asked.  "I haven't heard of anything that small integrating that well with neural tissue.  She was controlling what?  A dozen drones?  Eckrt had like five."

"His computer wasn't implanted," Growl pointed out.  "He had a transmitter implant, but it only sent commands to an external interface.  No one makes neural implants like hers, the technology just isn't that advanced yet.  I have a few more resources to check with, but at the moment, it's a mystery.  I'll keep investigating, but at the moment, the station is safe."

Astral rolled his eyes.  "And we haven't gotten so much as a thank you."

Growl looked away, unexpectedly cowed by the offhoof remark.  "Well, you have it, my thanks, I mean.  And my apologies.  I'll repeat them as you wish, make them official, hell, I'll broadcast an official statement across the Assembly if you want."  She looked back up at the unicorn.  "Your crew saved mine.  I can never repay that.  If your celestial hadn't been here-"

"She's not a celestial," Astral interjected.

Growl paused for a moment, raising an eyebrow at the angry tone.  "You called her that yourself, back when we first met."

Astral stepped back, making the mistake of sitting down.  He jumped right back up with a yelp.  "I was wrong," he admitted, "I know that now.  The celestials were monsters.  Savage beasts of hatred and flame.  She... isn't like that."

Growl sat down with a smirk, taking pride in her tolerance for the cold.  The smirk faded, and her head tilted.  "Then, what is she like?  She saved my security team from space, teleported a drone into a wall, then flew out an airlock with no gear whatsoever.  Then, after she teleported all of you back here, she goes out and destroys the ship Visor set on a collision course with us, shielding the entire station from a reactor breach."  Growl shook her head.  "These aren't the actions of a pony, they're the actions of a goddess."

Astral stared at the green mare for a moment.  "Back up, ship on a collision course?"

"You were unconscious," Growl explained, nodding.  "There was a ship on a collision course with us, most likely a suicide protocol enacted upon Visor's death.  I'm not exactly sure if Ms. Sparkle actually destroyed it, or it self-destructed, but that doesn't change the fact that she saved every living being on this station from being vaporized."

Astral blinked.  "I- I see," he stammered.  How big was this station again?  It was the smallest one in the system, but it wall still a freaking space station.  Hell, the Philomena was seven stories tall, and it fit in one of several cargo bays.  How massive would a shield have to be to protect such a structure?  "Explains the magical exhaustion."

Growl nodded.  "She teleported back on board, and promptly passed out.  It didn't take long for a crowd to form around medical.  Everypony wanted to come see the hero, or the celestial, and the Tankrit were talking about the princess returning.  Whatever she is, she's popular right now."

Astral shrugged.  "Does that mean you won't try to punch her in the face again?"

Growl winced.  "I'll admit, that may have been an overreaction on my part."

It was Astral's turn to raise an eyebrow.  "May have been?"

"Yes," Growl sighed, "it was definitely an overreaction.  But of those who claimed to know me, one killed a friend of mine, and used me as tool to perpetrate the enslavement of thousands, one tried to steal thousands of bits from station payroll, one attempted to kill me in my sleep, and one banished me and my husband from our home.  Not in that order, of course."

"Oh."  Astral chuckled sheepishly.  "I think she'll probably forgive you then."

"Why?"  Growl asked.  "There is no reason for her to.  For everything she's done, I owe her a debt I can never pay back.  Why do you think she even cares to forgive me?  She owes me nothing."

Astral smiled.  "She said you were a friend of hers, or something like that, right?  She tends to take that pretty seriously."

Growl contemplated that for a moment, then stood up.  "In that case, I'll apologize directly.  I'm still not sure I believe her, but I will listen this time."

"I'm sure that's enough for her.  Now," Astral pointed back towards the door, "can we please get out of here?"  Growl nodded and started towards the door, with Astral beating her out.  He watched her slow walk with an unbelieving eye, shivering as he chaffed his hooves together himself up in the antechamber.  "And before I forget, how sure are you that the station is safe?  I can probably pull some favors and get a ship out here for defense."

"There are already two Galactic Assembly Light Cruisers parked alongside us.  A small research vessel, and a recon swoop are docked, scanning the surrounding space, and several fighters are on standby in the shuttle bay."  Growl closed the door behind her.  "It's kind of hard not to notice when a fusion reactor goes nova in an inhabited system, especially an important one like Canterlot."

Astral peeked in the nearest locker, confirming his suspicions that they held boots and parkas.  "But how can you be sure it's only Eckrt and Visor involved with this?  You can't be certain they don't have associates who would want to finish the job."

"Yes, I can."  Growl looked down again.  "This attack was revenge, for Eckrt.  It was that mare's personal vendetta to make everyone involved pay for what happened to him.  There was no reward, no monetary value to the job, and no criminal would take on a space station in GA territory without a fleet to back them up."

"She did," Astral pointed out.

Growl nodded.  "And she was fourteen weeks pregnant with Eckrt's child.  Take that how you will."  She took a step towards the door, then turned around.  "Damn, I forgot my pad."

"Whoops," came a familiar voice from outside, "excuse me, coming through!"

"Whoa!" exclaimed the gryphon guard.  "Hey!  You can't just-"

Ribbon slid through the opening, and shot past Astral and Growl.  "Good to see you up," she said to Astral as she ran by.  "James was looking for you, surgery's over," she said to Growl.

Both of them exchanged glances as she ran into the morgue.  And they followed her back in when they heard the sound of a storage container opening.

They found Ribbon standing above Noon Wind's corpse, breathing in shaky, out of control, breaths.  She trembled.  And not from the cold.  Her face bore a look of sadness as she looked down on the body.  "It won't work," she said quietly.

Astral's heart nearly stopped when the dead mare moved, head turning slightly.  But that was all.  There was no other motion.  Her glassy eyes now pointed in Ribbon's direction, but they didn't focus.

Ribbon shook her head.  "This is an old station.  The systems you're trying to access aren't powerful enough.  It's over.  Please, stop this."  The rainbow filly went silent for a moment, then slowly nodded her head.  "Yes, I'll listen."

Growl, who had been watching intently, suddenly heaved a sigh and walked out into the antechamber, motioning for Astral to follow.  She sat down with her back against the lockers.  She closed her eyes.  With another sigh, she tilted her head back until it clanged against a locker door.

Astral quietly sat down opposite her.  "The implant?" he asked.

Growl nodded.  "There was a low-level power source, but when I performed the scans, there was no neural activity."  She shrugged.  "Well, that's why Ribbon's here, to catch the things our scanners miss."

Astral watched her carefully.  "If you don't mind me saying, you seem more upset by this than I would have expected."

She lifted her head to level her gaze at the stallion.  "I've listened to individual's dying words before.  What that girl is about to do will carry with her the rest of her life.  As much as we would like our enemies to be faceless minions of evil, the truth is usually much more complex.  I mentioned that someone tried to kill me in my sleep?  His son is standing outside the door."

Astral glanced back at the door, catching a glimpse of the the security guard stretching and yawning.  "That gryphon kid?  And he works for you?"

"Yes." She answered plainly.  "I'm also hung up on the thing with the foal," Growl continued.  "It was too late to do anything by the time we found out."  She shifted, sitting straight and staring at the floor, deep in thought.  "As Ms. Sparkle pointed out when we spoke several days ago, I am in heat.  I don't know exactly how old I am, so I never know if a heat may be my last, and it's next to impossible for a gryphon and a pony to naturally conceive outside of one."

Astral crossed his hooves.  With the door between antechamber and morgue left open, the temperature was starting to drop.  "And why are you telling me any of this?"

She shrugged.  "Who knows.  Maybe I'm actually starting to trust you.  Anyway, you never answered my question."

"Which one?"

"What is she like?"

"Twi?" Astral asked

"Pet names," Growl mused, "so, I was right, she really is your mare?"

"What?  No!"  Astral scoffed.  "As if.  No, we're just...  We're just not, OK?"

She smiled and waved it off.  "Alright then, just crewmates.  Don't have an aneurysm.  You two remind me of me and James, so I assumed..."

"Well, you assumed wrong."  Astral scratched his neck, awkwardly looking away from the mare.  "Can we change the subject?"

She shrugged his question off.  "You're pretty defensive about this, aren't you?  So adamant that nothing exists between you two.  Have you told her?"

Astral raised a hoof in front of him in a questioning gesture.  Why wouldn't she just drop it?  And what did she even mean by that?  "Tell her what?" Astral demanded.  "There's nothing between us!  I don't even know if I want there to be."

Growl crossed her hooves in smug satisfaction.  "Then, it is something you might want?  Something you've thought about?"

Astral's eyes rolled back as he shoved his face into his hooves.  "Fine, yes," he mumbled, "I have thought about it, you damn interrogator.  More than I probably should.  We're working together right now, and our relationship should stay purely professional."

"And you want to keep it that way?  Strictly business?"

Astral lowered his hooves in defeat.  With a sigh, he admitted, "No."  He didn't look up as he continued.  "I'm trying to keep it simple, but it doesn't feel like it's staying that way.  I'm not sure how we stopped fighting, but any bickering we do anymore isn't serious.  I don't want to call it flirting, because I may be horribly wrong, but it sure feels like we have some chemistry there."

"What makes you think you're wrong?"

"For starters, I tried to kill her when we first met."  With a sheepish chuckle, he added, "to be fair, my ship was under attack, and I jumped to the conclusion that she was a celestial.  I'm also pretty sure she's too focused on her mission to even consider her own personal life right now.  And more than that, she's... beyond me.  From what I understand, she was once a powerful ruler, loved by her people, and even now, she's a professor at the university I almost dropped out of.  She's on a first name basis with the president, extremely skilled with magic, dangerously so, now that she isn't holding herself back, and part of the most powerful auditing organization in the galaxy."  He pointed a hoof at himself.  "I'm a homeless freighter pilot, who lucked into her presence by almost dying.  I don't even have a ship anymore.  Even if the Philomena can be repaired, I don't have the funds to do it.  It will happen at her command, by her power, not mine."

Growl nodded in agreement.  "Sounds about right.  The only thing you have going for you is the will to kick and bite and spit in the galaxy's face."  She straightened up a little.  "Nothing you just said really matters though.  Wanna know how James and I met?"

"Sure," Astral eagerly took the opportunity to pull the spotlight off of himself, "why not?  You already mentioned something about breaking his leg, so I bet it's a good story."

This produced unexpected laughter from the green mare.  "It is now.  It was the day my life, as I know it, truly began.  At the time?  I thought it would be my last."

Astral listened quietly as she continued.  "I was found unconscious by a hunting party in a remote mountain range.  Luckily, one of the group had been off planet before, and he recognized that I was a pony.  I've been told the other two were arguing about how to cook me when he came along."

"They dragged me home alongside the carcass of a froe deer.  I regained consciousness along the way.  My first memory was two trails of blood in the snow.  My second memory was waking up to the sharp poke of talons, and seeing children stare at me."  She chuckled, shaking her head.  "They had stuck me in the orphanage, with five cubs that had never seen a pony before."  She managed a small smile for their memory, but none for the one that followed.  "My mane and most of my tail had been chopped off, and left sitting at the foot of the bed.  They were a tangled, bloody mess, and it was easier for them to get at my wounds that way.  Some property of the ore in the mountains prevented any signals from making it out, so they couldn't send for help.  They also tried to feed me."

She leaned forward, wrapping her hooves around her midsection.  "I've felt a lot of terrible things in my life.  I've been poisoned, stabbed, shot, stabbed with poisoned weapons, and thrown off a cliff or two, but the hunger I felt that winter outweighs any other pain I've felt."  She shook her head.  "A gryphon colony in winter is not a good place to search for vegetables.  I was given two ration bars after being rescued, and like a fool, I ate them both that day.  They were the last in the village.  All I ate for the next three days were bulbs of garlic and a koll root.  After that, I chewed the bark off firewood, rejoicing when I found a bit of moss to add some flavor.  The villagers would sometimes bring me bundles of dried herbs that they found forgotten in a pantry.  A few times, they tried to force feed me fish, or meat stew, or roasted bird, but it only made me violently ill.  After two weeks, a traveler came through, and was convinced to take pity on me and part with a sack of flour, and half a jar of pickled beets.

I made those beets last a week, and the flour lasted two more.  No one in the camp knew how to use flour for anything other than preparing meat or thickening stew, and I quickly learned that I was not a baker.  I ate one burned, lumpy biscuit for breakfast every day until the flour ran out.

After that, I was desperate.  I had gone a month on what most ponies would eat in a few days.  Water was never an issue, but I was wasting away.

After another two painfully long weeks, a wandering monk came into town, on a martial journey.  James, he called himself, of the Stone Feather Hall.  He set up camp on the outskirts of town, and laid out an offering for any who would give him the honor of a battle.

No one would even approach his camp.  So, mostly, he was quiet.  He would stroll through the village every so often.  Any questions the villagers asked him were politely answered, and he helped hunt and gather firewood.

One day, the hunting party brought back some sort of root for me.  I ate it whole.  It was bitter, and soggy, and tasted like a moldy potato, but I would have gouged my eye out for another.  They told me that the monk was the one who found it, told them where to dig.

I ran out before the hunter was done speaking.  I headed straight to the monk's camp.  He sat in the middle of a ring scratched into the dirt.  All the snow had been cleared away, and laid out on a rug behind him were his battle offerings.  Smoked meats, jewellery and trinkets, jars of oils, perfumes, and magic crystals.  Nothing I cared about at the time, but, there on the end of the rug, were three whole jars of pickled beets, and a bundle of turnips.  Turnips!

I stepped into that ring out of desperation.  By that time, I was shaking when I walked, and you could see my ribs under my coat.  He had food, something I could eat, and I wasn't thinking straight.

He tried to introduce himself, and I remember shouting at him, demanding to know, 'if I fight you, I get to take anything I want, right?'  He looked so confused, but he nodded.  I just shouted again, 'fight me!'

He lunged forward from his seated position, claws out in front of him.  I charged to meet him.  I don't know what I was planning to do, but I tripped before I could do it.  It was probably the only thing that saved me, because I managed to get under his claws, earning this as he passed me."  She pulled at her mane, showing Astral two thin scar lines near her ear.  "I kicked out blindly behind me, hitting his leg.  It made a terrible noise, and I scurried away like a rat.

Standing on opposite sides of the ring, our eyes met for the first time.  Then, without taking his eyes off me, he grabbed the ground with his injured claw, and twisted his upper body, snapping his shoulder back into place.  Then, he put his weight back on it, stomping the ground to test it.

That was the moment I realized I had no chance.  He walked towards me with a slow pace, a regal creature, eyes burning with with the pain I inflicted, and the determination to ignore it.  Looking into those eyes, I surrendered.  Before he could raise his claw against me again, I fell before him.

I don't remember if I managed to say anything, but I was dragged back to the orphanage pretty quickly by the village elders, blacking out somewhere along the way.  I woke up alone in bed.  The only sound was the crackle of the fireplace.  I didn't hear the cubs, and when I looked around, I saw that the other beds were empty.

I limped out into the main room, and the only one there was the monk, seated at the table.  I sat across from him, eyes locked on his.  He stared at me a moment, and I could see his concern as his eyes wander over my body.  I was a mess.  I was bleeding from our short fight, covered in dirt from collapsing, and didn't have enough muscle control to keep myself from swaying as I sat.

'Don't worry,' he told me.  'Whatever the others may say, you were the only one to accept my challenge.  I don't care that you didn't fully adhere to the traditional etiquette.  I am still grateful.'

He lifted his claw from behind the table, holding out the bundle of turnips.  I don't remember if I thanked him or not, but I nearly jumped over the table for them.  I attacked the turnips with tears streaming down my face. While he still held them, I downed at least two, only stopping when I doubled over in pain.  My stomach had been empty for so long, that it was painful to actually have enough to eat.

I blacked out again, and woke up in a tent, covered in blankets.  The monk sat there beside me.  He spoon fed me turnip stew and warm tea for the next three days, until I was able to move again.  He promised he would do what he could to make sure I had enough to eat while we journeyed out of the mountains.

The journey took four months.  It was originally supposed to take five weeks, on a planned route through villages so we could stop and trade.  All while maintaining the straightest path towards civilization.  But in the second village, we got lucky and secured two cases of ration bars.  Two hundred and eighty-eight meals, and I could carry them all.  I was so happy that when the trade was over, I kissed him.

Things changed after that.  I was no longer in danger of starving, and my weight was slowly returning.  We traded trinkets for more vegetables whenever we came across them, but James was careful not to let me eat myself sick.  Also, since I was finally getting somewhat proper nutrition, my mane and tail started growing back for real.  And he paid very close attention to not letting either get tangled or dirty.  He even stopped putting the oil and perfumes out as a prize.   We were no longer focused on getting out of the mountains, but on enjoying the trip.

As my strength returned, I joined him in his training.  We continued his martial journey, and by the end of it, I had partaken in as many fights as he had.  Possibly more.  I was less intimidating than him, and was challenged by a wider range of fighters.  Sometimes because I was more in their weight class, sometimes out of pure curiosity.  How can she fight?  She doesn't have wings, a beak, or talons.  James and I would also spar nightly when we had no challengers, and help each other apply ointment before retiring to our beds.  Then, one night, instead of resting, he wandered off to stare at the sky.

I followed him.  When I sat next to him, he put his wing around me.  He explained that we would be beyond the jamming effects of the mountains by next nightfall.  He could call for a shuttle to come find us, and take us to the spaceport.  And from there, I could make it back to a pony planet, and maybe find out where I came from.  He asked if that was what I wanted.

I told him, since I accompanied him on his journey, he should accompany me on one as well.  He smiled, and agreed follow me to the ends of the universe, but he gave one condition.  By completing the martial journey with him, I was an honorary member of his aery.  He wanted me to become a true member.

We made love for the first time that night, on the mountainside, solid rock under my back.  The glow of a nearly full moon lining everything with silver light.  Afterwards, as he lay there, stroking me cheek before falling asleep, he gave me my name.  We married three days later.  A warrior's wedding, it was called, two champions of the martial journey joining their fortunes.  And his Aery welcomed me with open claws.  Best of all, there was a hydroponic farm a short walk from his monastery.  I never went hungry again."

She sighed softly.  "He kept his word.  I accepted his condition, and he accompanied me on every journey without complaint."

Astral blinked.  He waited for her to continue, but she didn't.  "That was quite the story," he finally said.

She nodded, taking a little bow.  "Thank you.  Life has been... interesting since I met James.  We've been together twenty-one Chorian years, and each one has been a string of stories that refuse to end."

"Maybe you should write a novel."

"Maybe I will."

Astral held up a hoof.  "Just one thing I don't understand."  He brought that hoof to his forehead.  "What was the point of telling me any of that?"

"He was a monk on a remote planet, completing a string of challenges so he could one day take his place as head of an influential monastery.  He was a respected leader in his community, and his family held a great deal of power on the planet.  I was a starving, crazed pony that attacked him for food.  Now we own a space station together."  She shrugged.  "At least you and her are the same species."

" Ugh," Astral shook his head, "no, this isn't-"

"I'm just saying it's possible," Growl interrupted.  "And one way or the other, you might want to settle things soon.  Either she'll reject the idea, and you can move on, or she'll accept it, and getting bored on long flights won't be an issue anymore."

Astral buried his face in his hooves.  "Why does everypony jump straight to that?"

"Straight to what?"  Twilight asked as she pressed past the outer door, shuffling her wings to keep from pinching them to her side.  "Did I miss something?"

"Nothing!"  Astral shouted quickly.

Twilight stared at him.

He cleared his throat and gestured over at Growl, who had visibly stiffened since the alicorn had entered the room.  "She was telling me about how she met James, back on Choria."

"In the entryway to the morgue?"  Twilight shuffled her wings again.  "Couldn't you do that somewhere warmer, or more appropriate?"

Growl shook her head, pointing to the other door.  "Ribbon's talking to our corpse right now.  I want to be here when she's done."

"Speaking of," Astral stood up, "how are Mac and Fluttershy doing?"

"Fluttershy's calmed down a little" she answered, "and Mac's in and out of it, but he's out of surgery.  He'll need a few more to fully recover, and constant monitoring, but he's out of danger.  Fluttershy woke up, and is watching over him in temporary quarters that James arranged.  That might actually be the best thing for her right now.  She's calmed down, but when I tried to talk to her, she ignored everything I had to say."  Her eyes narrowed slightly as she processed the conversation up to that point on a slight delay.  "Wait, did you say, 'talking,' to the corpse?"

"He can fill you in," she replied tersely, pointing back at Astral.  "Preferably somewhere else."

Twilight frowned.  "You still don't like me, do you?  What's it going to take to convince you that I'm not trying to lie to you?"

"Nothing!"  Growl looked away.  "There's nothing you can do do," she said much quieter.  "There's nothing you have to do.  I know... but I still need some time to think about it."

"Oh."  Twilight lowered her head.  "Sorry, um, take as much time as you need."  She leaned over towards Astral.  "Um, also, Silver tried to contact the shuttle, but Berry said the communications system is too damaged to maintain a call."

"Use the com in my office."  Growl still refused to look at Twilight, but she at least took her eyes of the floor.  "Your crew has been granted full security clearance and access to this station.  You may come and go as you please, and make use of station resources as necessary."  Her ears twitched, and she stood up.  "Looks like it's over.  Do me a favor, and have the guard send Mezzo down here."

Astral opened his mouth to ask why, but shut it when Ribbon stepped into the doorway.  She walked slowly.  Small steps.  Her expression was one of shock, unblinking, gaze unfocused.

"Ribbon?" Growl's voice was soft to match the younger nurse, gentler than Astral could recall ever hearing it.  "Are you alright?"

The small unicorn jerked her head towards the voice, as if surprised by the presence of other ponies.  "They..."  She swallowed hard, dry, painful, then blurted out, "they were going to name him Fresh Start."  Growl threw her hoof around the young mare as she started to cry, letting her bury her face in green fur.  "They were going to stop!  Why didn't they?  They didn't have to do this!  They hurt everypony!  Why?  They were going to stop!  Why didn't they?"

"I don't know, Ribbon."  Growl mouthed the word, 'go,' to Astral and Twilight, then pat her junior on the back as she mumbled the same words over and over.  "It was their choices that caused all this.  Not yours.  You can't change things now.  You don't even have to understand them.  You have to accept it happened, and try to move on."

Astral and Twilight exchanged glances, then left, squeezing through the damaged outer door one by one.  Twilight went first, relaying Growl's request to the guard, who quickly ran off, then quickly smoothing out her feathers while Astral made his own way out.  "What was that?" She whispered to him.  "What's going on?  I thought that guy was dead, how can he talk?"

Astral shook his head.  "She had some sort of neural implant, it kept her mind around a little longer."

Twilight raised an eyebrow.  "Kind of like a magic imprint.  Did she happen to mention why she was trying to kill everypony?"

Astral looked at her for a moment, distracted by mention of of the magic imprint.  "This was all revenge for me killing Eckrt," he explained when his mind managed to move past it.  "They were lovers."  Astral pointed down the hallway.  "Growl's office is this way."

Twilight nodded and started walking along, keeping the wall close to her left.  "Astral, could you stay on my right?  My jacket wasn't in medical, and I'd rather not show off my wings more than I have to."

"Sure."  Astral moved beside her, and rhey walked along like that.  "Your jacket is probably still on the floor in the cargo bay.  I'll go get it after we call Silver."

The unicorn felt something soft brush against his side, and looked back, not quite trusting his first assumption as to cause.  Twilight's wing was folding back up after nudging him in the side.  She just nudged him with her wing?  He could still feel the ghost of the touch on his fur.  So soft!  

Twilight stared at him as he stared at her wings.  She cleared her throat, and repeated herself, words the other pony missed due to his preoccupation with her feathered limbs.  "I said, thanks, I knew I could count on you."

Astral looked up.  "Huh?"

Twilight shook her head.  "Never mind.  Why are you staring at my wings?"

"Nothing," the unicorn tried to play it off with a shrug.  "I was just thinking the feathers looked soft."  Astral clamped his mouth shut, realizing he just blurted out the truth without thinking.

Twilight stopped and looked back at her wings, as though she had never considered that quirk of her anatomy.  She unfolded her right wing part way, and brought her hoof to meet it.  "I guess they kind of are."  She ran her hoof back and forth once or twice before extending her wing to Astral.  "What do you think?"

The stallion couldn't decide if he should look at her eyes, or the offered appendage, so his stare bounced between them.  "I thought you didn't want me to touch your wings."

"Oh."  Twilight pressed her lips together as she pulled her wing back slightly. "Well, things were kind of different then.  I trust you not pull out any feathers this time."  Astral's eyes stayed locked on hers as she extended the wing to him again.  "Just don't make it weird, or anything."

A wordless nod was the only answer as his eyes drifted down.  He visually traced the lines of large primary, and smaller secondary feathers.  He raised his hoof slowly, noting the angle of the feathers before he gently ran the back of his hoof along them.

They weren't exactly soft.  He ran his hoof along them again.  No, they were stiff, but pleasantly smooth, perfect for catching the wind during flight.  His eyes were drawn to the leading edge of the wing, from the first joint to her back, where downy feathers ran along until they transitioned to fur.

That looked much softer.

He ran his hoof over the mingled fur and feathers there, and she reacted by pulling her wing back with a yelp.  "Ok!  That's making it weird."  She gave her wings a flap or two before folding them tight, face reddening.  She started walking again.  Her pace was much faster this time.  Astral had to rush to keep up.  "S-so," she stammered, eyes locked firmly ahead of her, "was it as soft as you thought?"

Astral stole another glance at the spot where her wings joined the curve of her back.  "Softer," he admitted.

Her ears perked up, and Astral's eyes fixed on the movement, until she glanced back, and they made eye contact.  "Good," she said with pride, "preening is so time consuming.  I should have taken you up on your offer to help."  She offered a brief smile, still expressing her pride in her grooming, before looking back down the hallway.  "How much farther to the office?"

Astral looked around the hallway, more as an excuse not to look at her, than for the sake of answering her question.  His mind was racing as he considered the ramifications of what she just said.  Didn't she say that preening was an intimate act?  Then again, he told her wasn't that big of a deal on Serus, and she might be considering it from his perspective.  He eventually settled on looking back.  "I think we passed it."

"Oh."  Twilight turned around, and Astral followed suit.  "Are my wings that distracting?" she joked.

The stallion shrugged.  They were, for some reason.  But, so was the rest of her, now more than ever.  Even her words, her actions.  He was paying more attention, or perhaps closer attention, to little things.  Things that he wouldn't have noticed before, were now things to think on, to ponder.  Things like being taller than her echo, or the average mare, but still a little shorter than him.  Things like being there, looking straight at him when he woke up earlier. "Twi, just before I woke up in medical, what were you doing?"

It was her turn to shrug.  "Waiting for you to wake up.  I woke up a bit before you."

"There's the office."  Astral pointed to a nearby door.  "Did you try to wake me up at all?"

She bit her lip.  The jig was up, no sense in hiding it anymore.  "I wasn't trying to..."  Stopping outside the door, Twilight paused, letting out a distressed sigh.  "Astral, how important do you think first impressions are?  And what if it were possible to have a second first impression of somepony?  Should it change how you see them?"

"Is this about Growl?" Astral asked with some confusion.  "Is she that different from what you remember?"  No, the unicorn realized quickly, there was another possibility.  "Or, is this about the imprint in the crossover circuit?"

Twilight nodded slowly.  "You held her hoof when she was scared," she said quietly, "and that memory is mine now.  And, it's disorienting, but there's more than just that."

Astral moved closer, lowering his voice to match hers.  "What sort of more?"

"More," came the noncommittal answer.  "Impressions, feelings, random thoughts.  She was born of a single facet of my personality, my concern for the future, and was separated from me long enough to fill in other parts.  She was a completely unique entity.  Now that she's part of me again, I'm forced to look at things from her point of view as well."

She opened the door before Astral could ask anything else.  He had so many questions, but they would have to wait.  For now, he felt relieved that the friendly unicorn Twilight he met hadn't simply disappeared.  Though, that relief came with worry for the effects this may have on the real one.

He followed her into the office, and they found a human sitting on Growl's desk.  He faced away from them, arms crossed, and wearing a filthy security uniform.  The outline of previously worn chest armor was painted on his back in clean cloth surrounded by cloth marred with dust, splatter, and dull red discoloration.  The armored vest itself lay on the floor beside the desk, two long gashes torn into the ballistic fabric.

He looked up at a large screen, talking to a double size video of the blind pony on the other side of the subspace call.  "So, how exactly did you narrow it down to three pilots?  Surely more than that would have responded to such an easy job."

Silver nodded.  "Correct, Mica.  Fourteen responded total, still fewer than expected.  Narrowing it down to three was a simple matter of reading the responses.  Any pilot flying under a questionable company or organization was removed from consideration, as were any that were less than professional with their application.  That left the three.  It was rather astounding how many freighter captains felt comfortable calling me, 'honey,' while asking me for work."

Astral suppressed a snort, earning a glare from Twilight.  

Silver tilted her head.  "Has someone else entered the room?"

Mica glanced back at the door.  "Oh, hey!  You're finally up.  Your friend was just telling me how this all started."

Astral stepped forward, putting on a scowl befitting a much older and grizzled pilot, possibly one with a beard.  "Now listen here, honey," he drawled in a terrible Hoofton accent, "here's why ya oughtta hire me, 'stead a' one a' them other fellers that want this here job."

Silver closed her eyes, looking down as she smiled and tried not to laugh.  "Mister Plane," she said shaking her head, "you might not believe me, but that was, word for word, one of the responses I received."

"Oh, I know it is."  The unicorn chuckled.  "I was two seats over while the guy was dictating it into his pad.  I'm pretty sure he was drunk enough that he doesn't remember giving me your contact info."

Mica turned back to the screen.  "Is it bad that I want to visit this place now?"

"Nah," Astral said with a shrug.  "Hoofton's great.  It's a cargo trade hub, cheap used gear, widespread availability of parts and repair equipment, and decent security."  The stallion looked up at Silver's image.  "So, how did you end up picking me out of the last three?"

Twilight violently shook her head, trying to signal to the other mare that she shouldn't answer that.  She only succeeded in making herself feel like a fool.

"Twilight made the final decision," Silver answered.  "I'm not sure if she had a specific selection method or criteria in mind though."

The alicorn heaved a sigh, relieved that the blind mare had not gone into more detail.

Silver shrugged.  "I showed her the info I gathered, which included pictures, and she said, 'number three's kind of cute, let's go with him.'  She also liked that his mane was blue," Silver added with a smirk, "because it reminded her of her brother, father, first boyfriend, and all the big, strong royal guards in her home town."

Twilight wanted to curl up in a hole and die.  As Astral turned to face her, she pointed a hoof at him.  "You wipe that shit-eating grin off your face right this second, or I will do it for you."

"What, and mess up this pretty face?"  Astral failed to choke back a chuckle.  His laughter died quickly though, cut short by a weary sigh.  This didn't help things any.  Neither did his short talk with the alicorn on the way over.

For her part, Twilight couldn't find the energy to stay mad at him.  He didn't press the issue, and the tired look on his face was draining her just by looking at it.  She should have kept her mouth shut about the imprint.  She didn't want things to be weird between them.

She was happy being friends, knowing that they could rely on each other.  But, she didn't see it that way.  Worry for the future, her future, made her echo appraise the stallion she met in the nether under a different light.  The resulting analysis was unexpected.

What was it she called herself?  A residue?  Twilight sighed.  That residue was part of her again, but it had changed.  Like pouring the last of your chocolate milk into a glass of strawberry milk, she was a little different because of it.  Not by much, but the change was there.  

"Twilight?" Silver prodded from her seat on screen.  "Did you, by any chance, forget that I can't see you shake your head, again?"

Astral looked up quickly.  "Again?"

"Yes," the alicorn ground out, like she was forcing her words through a cheese grater.  "Again.  Can we move on to the important part?  Please?"

"Of course."  Silver nodded.  "You mean the part where you spent several minutes fantasizing, comparing him to the old captain of the night guard, and wondering if he could be convinced to try on the armor?"

Astral looked back at Twilight and raised an eyebrow.

Her face went red.  She waited for him to say something so she could shoot it down and redirect the conversation.  When no words came, she looked over at him.  He was watching her quietly, eyebrows raised in interest.  She could deal with a quip or needling, but this quiet curiosity was not was she was expecting.

"I always had a fascination with the night guard," she explained honestly, blush deepening.  "But there weren't many unicorns in it."

"Well," Silver shrugged and relaxed back into what Astral realized was Celestia's chair at the top of the tower, "I was expecting more of a reaction.  Perhaps a fight.  Did something happen between you two?  Cause nopony ever tells me anything.  The reports you sent me were very bland."  In a cold voice, she continued, "leaving the planet of horrible illness, headed to monster world now, thanks, bye."  The blind mare let out a snort, and bit down on her lip to keep herself from pouting.  "Then, I have to find out from a coded transmission, from some deputy director of system something or other, that somepony tried to kill you?  Damn it, Twilight!  We've worked together for three years now.  We're friends, and I was worried sick!  Would it kill you to take two minutes out of your day and let me know you haven't been horribly murdered?"

Astral raised a hoof, like a student looking for the teacher's attention.  A useless gesture, he quickly remembered.  "In our defense, we have been unconscious since-"

Twilight put a hoof on Astral's shoulder, stopping him.  "No," she said softly, "she's right."  She looked up at the screen.  "I'm sorry, Silver.  I treated my messages to you like a chore, a business formality, something to check off the to-do list.  You're more important than that, and I won't let it happen again."

Silver nodded.  "You better not.  And put more detail into your reports."

Twilight returned the nod.  "I will."

Silver smiled.  "Little things, like whether or not there was wind, did the jungle smell, how did the food on the Solomon's Ring taste.  I can't be there, so include things like that."

Twilight nodded again.  "Yes."

"And even if you have nothing to report, maybe just let me know that you're safe?"

And she nodded again.

"Oh, one more thing."  Silver crossed her hooves.  "I can't buckin' see you, so quit nodding your head."

Twilight slapped a hoof to her face.  Before she could mutter an apology, Astral shouted out, "She just nodded again!"

"Hey," Twilight scolded.

"Twilight?"  Silver sighed.

"I did not!"  The alicorn responded.  "And I'll try not to anymore.  It's just... it's kind of hard to remember that you're blind.  When we first met, I couldn't even tell."

Silver jabbed her hoof in the general direction of the screen.  "Flattery will not get you out of this."  She pulled her hoof back and pointed it at a slightly different spot.  "And you quit trying to get her in trouble."  Her hoof made one last stab, obscuring most of the video feed.  "I'm guessing, in case it isn't obvious."  She lowered the limb.  "Anyway, I have a lead on another Cryo-chamber."

"What?!"  Twilight's demeanor changed immediately.  Her eyes went wide, and she ran forward, jumping up, and supporting her front hooves on the desk, getting herself closer to the screen.  "Where is it?  What do we need to do?"

"We need to take a second, breath, and calm down," Silver said in a soothing voice.  "You're benched for this one, Astral and Mac can-"

"Mac just got stabbed in the kidney," Astral interrupted.  "He'll be fine though... eventually."

"Shit."  Silver cleared her throat.  "Anyway, Astral, and I can probably handle this.  I was -"

"Why am I benched?" Twilight demanded.

"I was contacted by one of the other bidders on Mac's chamber," the blind mare continued, ignoring Twilight.  "He demanded to know what we planned for the occupant."

Twilight squinted at her.  "He knew it was a Cryo-chamber?"

"Indeed."  She held up a pad.  On it were sales listings of best-selling audio books.  "He claims to have opened one before.  And also claims to be tracking down the chambers for noble reasons."  Her hoof shifted, running over a small notch filed in the side of the pad's casing.  She slammed it down, and swapped it for another pad, with two notches in the case, showing a picture of a well dressed unicorn, surrounded mostly by other unicorns.  "You might understand my skepticism."

"Chairman Steel Catch of Tirassa," Twilight read off the bottom of the picture.  She studied the pony shown.  He was a deep crimson color, thin, a little ragged looking, and had a few early grey hairs in his wine-red mane, but those things tend to come with the stress of taking a political office seriously.  The most notable thing about him were his eyes.  They were a striking silver color, sharp, like the edge of a blade.  She examined each of the other ponies in the picture.  She didn't recognize any of them, but she didn't like the look of the pony on the Chairman's left.  He was an earth pony, heavyset, with a light grey mane, green coat, and a look of disgust as he watched the ragged unicorn.  Then again, that look of anger could be the side effect of an ill-timed shutter.  "I'm not sure what I'm supposed to be seeing."

Silver shrugged.  "Then, I'm sure Mr. Plane could tell you."

"Ok, yeah," the unicorn reluctantly agreed.  "I've been there before.  Once.  And I had planned on never going back."

"That bad?" Mica asked, breaking his silence for the first time in a while.

"Tirassa, the planet of clouds, is outside the Galactic Assembly.  They're a little behind in terms of technology, lagging a little behind in some ways, but nothing major.  The main problem is societal."  He looked back at Twilight.  "Ponies with wings have no rights."

"What?" Twilight asked in horror, hoping she had misheard.

"It's a planet of clouds," Astral continued, "Pegasi more or less ruled the planet for most of its history.  There was an established monarchy, and peaceful coexistence for millenia, but the line of Kings started to grow cruel as the Galactic Assembly started to grow in power, and the idea of elected governments started to circulate.  They were especially cruel to those who lived beneath the clouds, eventually stirring up eternal storms to lock the ground bound unicorns and earth ponies away from the sun.  Two hundred years ago, there was a bloody war, and the pegasus king was overthrown.  Now, unicorns and earth ponies live on the surface, the mountains, and in massive flying cities, with laws, rights, and a political structure similar to our own.  Pegasi live in small cloud settlements, or segregated districts of the major cities, and have a different, much less fair set laws.  Murder, rape, and theft are about the only crimes against them that can actually be prosecuted.  They can be banned from anywhere for any reason.  Taxes are unfair.  And they are forbidden from lots of types of work."  Astral shook his head.  "I already told you my grandmother had wings, well so did my dad.  It's just dumb luck that I don't have them too.  That planet was disgusting, and I wouldn't trust anyone from there, especially not their leader."

Silver nodded.  "Thank you, Mr. Plane.  Now that you understand my hesitation, allow me to give a counterpoint."  She swiped the the pad screen, and several news articles appeared.  "I've been researching our good chairman, and it seems that he has a rather mixed popularity rating.  He is a direct descendant of the unicorn who killed the last Pegasus King, and is highly regarded as the planet's strongest mage.  However, he has made some controversial changes.  Among these are a minimum wage for pegasi, and taking away the right of hospitals to turn them away.  His most recent proposal is to add protections against harassment and fraud in the laws concerning pegasi."

Mica uncrossed his arms and used them to support himself as he leaned back.  "So, you're saying he may be as noble as he claims to be?"

"I do not know, but he was adamant about wishing to speak face to face.  He declined to say what about, and wouldn't divulge the identity of the pony from the cryo chamber.  Although, he did let slip that it's a she, and the impression that I get is that she is rather important to him."

Twilight nodded slowly.  "So, you wanted to send Mac and Astral to investigate.  Radio and I would be at risk."

"Guys?" Silver leaned towards the screen, the pale blue irises of her otherwise white eyes filling the screen with color.  "Did she just nod again?  She did, didn't she, I'm pretty sure I heard it."

"Oh, come on," Twilight scoffed, "I was nodding to myself, OK?  And even if you heard me, how could you tell I was nodding and not shaking my head?  Hmm?"

"You shake your head faster than that little slow nod you do when you repeat things."  Silver pulled her face away from the screen.  "And who's Radio?  Is he, 'we picked up a new crew member and two leads, heading to Sevus now?'  Did you even get any of the messages I sent you?  There must have been at least a dozen."

"Um," Twilight scratched her neck, "no?  At least, I don't think so.  I haven't checked.  And the shuttle's main panel got a little beat up, so I can't go back and look now."

Silver sighed.  "What's it going to take to get you to check your messages?  You can access them from almost any computer, just get a pad or something.  I have more than a few, and would be happy to give you one.  Or, you could, I don't know, just drop by literally any store in the galaxy and buy one?"  She felt around her desk with a hoof.  "Anyway, we're getting off topic.  I was told about the damage to both the Philomena and the shuttle, so I managed to arrange transport.  It's for two ponies only, on a cargo ship making the run to Tirassa anyway.  They leave in about three hours, and I arranged for them to do a flyby of the station."

Twilight groaned, arching her weary back at the thought of another teleport.  "That's barely going to be enough time to rest.  Can't you convince them to wait?" she whined, "I just shielded an entire space station from a fusion reactor going nova."

"Yes," Silver shrugged, "good thing you aren't going then.  Also, apparently, the explosion was visible from here, because everypony on the news was talking about how brilliant it was to use a tiny shield really close to the explosion to cast a shadow that covered the entire space station.  Speculation has been spreading across the planet.  Was it some experimental military technology?  A powerful alien?  Did the president decide to hold another training day?"  Her ears perked up.  "Oh, and perhaps you could clear something up.  There are bits riding on this, so answer truthfully."

"Not another bet," Twilight mumbled.

"Chrysalis says the shield was a few meters wide.  I say it was smaller, pony sized, like you stuck yourself in a shield bubble and braved the storm that way.  Who won?"

The alicorn chuckled nervously, letting herself off the desk.  "Neither.  The shield was only about as wide as a dinner plate.  I just put it extremely close to the epicenter of the explosion.  And, out of curiosity, how often do you guys place bets on things I do?"

"Every time you leave the towers."  The blind mare answered with a dismissive wave of her hoof.  "I'm not sure why we bother.  Celestia wins every single bet, of course."

"Is that so?"  Twilight's ears drooped slightly.  "Say, Silver, do you think you could tell her that I want to talk to her when I get back from Tirassa?"

Silver picked up another pad.  "I thought I just said that wasn't happening."  She ran her hoof across the surface of the device.  Instead of a screen, thousands of small round dots rose and fell on actuators, responding to her touch.  "I'll clear my schedule and accompany Astral.  If I hurry, I can make it to the spaceport in time.  You can come take care of desk work for a change.  Also, you haven't finished grading last semester's finals, Luna wanted me to remind you."

"No," Twilight protested.  "Another pod has been opened, I have to go.  And I graded everything.  I just haven't entered the numbers into the system.  They're on my desk, in my room."

"Wait, wait," Astral stepped in between Twilight and the screen, "no.  Neither of you are going.  Aside from from the planet wide hang up with wings, there is also a cultural disdain for disabilities or weakness."

Silver raised an eyebrow.  "So, I should probably find somepony else to accompany me?"

Astral sighed.

The blind mare shrugged.  "I guess I'll wear my old military uniform as well."

"No!" Astral shouted.  "Neither of you are going!  Why can't this guy just come meet us here?"

Silver shrugged, unphased by the other unicorn's outburst.  "I do not know his reasons, but it isn't like you have a say in any of this.  You are just the driver."

Astral's head cocked to the side.  "Really?" he asked in disbelief.

"That was a little harsh," Twilight chided, "he's been a great help so far.  You should give him a little more consideration."

"Only a little?" Mica asked.

Astral glanced back at the human.  "Thanks."

Mica answered with a shrug, "you're welcome."

"If you do go," Silver cautioned, "you have to make sure your wings stay hidden.  No walking around like you are now."

"Not a problem.  I only took my jacket off because I had to teleport into space.  It's not like we'll be fighting robots or dealing with nukes this time," the alicorn looked over at her pilot, "right?"

"Why are you asking me?  If I had my way, we'd never have to deal with nukes."

"Wait," Silver's eyebrows furrowed in confusion, "what jacket?  I helped you pack, and the only clothes you own are your academy robes, the ones I can hear from down the hall."

"Astral got it for me," the alicorn stated proudly, earning a surprised look from Astral.  "It's a really nice one."

"How?"  The blind mare ran her hoof over the tactile display of her pad again.  "He didn't charge it to the expense account I gave him access to."

Astral's mouth fell open in disbelief.  "First of all, I'm right here.  Second, I'm not completely broke.  Do you have some sort of problem with me?"

"If I did," came the curt reply, "you would know it."

Before Astral could respond again, he felt something brush against his side.  He knew what it was before turning around, but seeing Twilight's wing folding up confirmed it.  She shook her head to stop him from saying anything else.  "Silver, I promise I'll be careful.  And Astral will be with me the entire time."

Silver folded her hooves on the desk in front of her.  "On one condition," she lifted a pad in her magic, "you go get yourself one of these, and get it set up for messages before you leave."

Twilight nodded.  "I will."

"Then go!"  Silver shoved her hoof at the screen, prompting the alicorn to run from the room.  "And stop nodding!  You have one hour before I send rendezvous information, you better reply promptly."

Astral groaned and followed Twilight, pausing only to stick his tongue out at the mare on the viewscreen.  Once they were both gone, and the door had shut, Silver let out a weary sigh.  "Did he make some rude gesture as he left?"

Mica shrugged.  "I wasn't watching."

Outside the door, Twilight paced back and forth.  Astral stood there watching her.  She muttered to herself.  "Pad, pad, pad.  Earth tech has better touchscreens, Curaxxan tech has better durability.  But pony tech might have a magic interface, that could be useful."

"Why did you stop me back there?" Astral interrupted.

Twilight looked up, saw him staring at her, and nonchalantly looked away with a shrug.  "Silver has an odd sense of humor, insulting and self-depreciating at the same time.  That thing about the expense account was probably a joke."

He wasn't convinced.  "Probably?"

She glanced back, saw that he was still looking at her, and turned away quickly.  "Y-yeah."  Wait, why was she getting so flustered over just that?  She shuffled her wings nervously, the small movement letting cool, refreshing air under them.  Astral was always very direct, so holding eye contact wasn't an odd thing for him to do.  "She only jokes with ponies she likes though, and that's a very short list.  You should hear some of the things she says to me."  She glanced back over, and found him staring at her wings again.  "Um, Astral?"

"Huh?"  He tore his eyes away, meeting her gaze for a second, then walking off.  "Yeah, OK, probably a joke then.  You need a pad, right?  Let's go see if we can find one somewhere.  Pip mentioned there was a department store in the Commissary, we can start there."

"After we get my jacket," Twilight reminded him as she started following, watching him closely.

She wasn't sure if she imagined it, but when she caught him staring at her wings, there was a slight blush on his cheeks.  It was gone now, replaced by a stone face of concentration.  Every few seconds though, the mask faltered, and he moved his head to look back.  He never followed through though.  Each time, he looked forward again, placing that silent look of focus back on his face.

Twilight saw it, and considered saying something, ultimately deciding against it.  Things were already weird between them, and she didn't want to make it worse.  No, she corrected herself, not weird, just different?  Still, she didn't want to bring it up until she was sure.

Instead, she watched him in silence, thinking and contemplating.  As Silver said, she picked him because he was kind of cute in his ID photo.  The listed experience given by all three pilot's was fairly comparable, and the cover letters were similar.  Astral merely caught her eye.  What a stupid reason.  But, it turned out to be the right choice.

No, wait, there was one other reason, one she had kept from Silver at the time.  And one that she would keep secret from Astral as well.  His message was the only one with proper grammar throughout, and was devoid of repeated spelling errors.

Still, it turned out to be the right choice.

He provided the experience and instinct she lacked.  She could supply the book smarts and raw power.  They were learning to work well together, and they were even compatible for magic resonance.  She suspected it on the Philomena, but proved it during atmospheric entry on Picus.

Her echo said it, didn't she?  That Astral possibly held the qualities of a focuser?  If it was true, and they could use the resonance link on top of that, there was no limit to what they could accomplish.  She had to tell him.

She stopped.  "Astral, before we go..."

He stopped, looking back slowly.  "What is it?"

"I-"  Meeting his eyes, she remembered something else about focusers.  She rolled her hoof on the ground, considering her words carefully.  "I haven't had chocolate milk in a very long time."  She bit her lip, silently cursing herself, both for chickening out, and for not remembering an important detail sooner.  "And, um, I'm kind of hungry."

The stallion scratched his neck.  "Yeah, we haven't eaten in a while, have we?  After we get your jacket, we can grab something while we look for the pad."

"Thanks," she responded quietly.  He looked unsure for a moment, and she was almost sure he was about to continue the conversation, but he turned away and kept walking instead.  She followed along, purposely hanging back a couple steps, instead of walking side by side.

As she walked, she remembered another caster-focuser pair.  They were rare, even in Equestria.  Resonance links were seen as an ancient custom, more of an oddity than a necessary magic boost.  And focusers were much the same, a curiosity.  Few existed, and though there was some prestige in being one of a focused pair, it had little real impact beyond bragging rights.

In fact, the biggest impact either held was personal.  It was like that for the focused pair she remembered.  One was a studious mare with strong magic, and the other a dark colored stallion, grounded and confident.  They were inseparable, weathering everything life in Equestria could throw at them with an unshakable bond.

Her parents always walked side by side.
> Time Takes Healing
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------

Mac opened his eyes to a dim light, warm and soft.  A candle, he would have guessed, if not for the lack of flicker.  Also warm and soft, was the thin blanket draped over him, and the face resting on his outstretched hoof.

"Shy?"  His foggy mind recalled things said to him.  He was told to keep going.  They were almost there.  That he survived.  That he had to be strong.  None of it made sense.

They were in what seemed like an apartment.  There was carpet and furniture, a kitchen, and doors to other rooms.  He wasn't sure why.  But, she was there, the rest didn't matter.  He lifted his other hoof, finding his body as slow and numb as his thoughts.  It was enough though.  He could still move.  He could still run his heavy hoof through her hair.

And he did just that.  She stirred, looking up with a tear stained face.  "Mac?"

"Somethin' wrong, Sugarcube?"  Mac tried to smile, but it came out as little more than a twitch.

She shook her head, mane falling over her red eye.

He brushed it back, away from her face.  "Don't ya dare," he had to take a break from the exertion, letting his hoof fall to the mattress, "don't ya dare cover them pretty eyes.  Either of 'em."  He shifted slightly, groaning at the unpleasant sensations his body returned, aching, pulling, stiffness, but no real pain.  He could only assume the medicine dulling his head was doing the same thing to his nerve endings.  "What happened?  Ah feel like Ah've been run over by a train."

"You... hurt."  She stared at the floor for a moment.  "Sssafe, now."

Mac watched her, memories coming back to him.  "Then why aren't ya'll happier?  Somepony tried ta shoot me, and Ah'm still around.  Can't ya smile none fer that?"

She gasped, pulling back from the bed, horrified at the request.  How could he want her to smile?  She didn't deserve to be happy after what she did, whether she was forced into it or not.  With a sigh, she shook her head, reminding herself that he didn't know.

If he did, he wouldn't want her to smile.  He wouldn't want her in the same room with him.  Who would?

Mac propped himself up, a far more painful and tiring experience than he was expecting.  "Shy, what happened?"

She breathed in, straightening up as she steeled herself for whatever may come from her words.  "I... killed him."  She turned around, not wanting to see his face.  He may have been able to overlook that she looked like a monster, but nopony could ignore that she had truly become one.

"Shy?"  Mac didn't trust his ears at first.  But then she started for the door.  "Shy!"  He tried to follow her, but his legs refused to hold his weight.  As soon as his body left the bed, it crashed to the floor, refusing his commands.

Fluttershy stopped at the door, glancing back.  Her desire to leave didn't fight her desire to help for long.  She ran back to him, quietly saying, "no, no, back in bed.  Don't... care about me.  I-"

Mac reached up when she got close, lunging for her with what little strength he had left.  He hooked his hoof around her and his weight brought them both crashing down.

She tried to squirm free without pushing against him.  She tried not to touch him at all, lest she hurt him further.  But he was on top of her, and not loosening his grip.  His hoof was around her, and his head was pressed into the side of her neck and he... was whispering something?

"I love ya, Shy, ya know that, right?"

"No!"  She squirmed harder than ever.  "Mac, I'm a-"

He shifted his body, catching a hoof to the face and jamming his own leg into her mouth as a gag.  She bit down by reflex, burying her fangs into flesh and fur.  Mac winced in pain, and shifted his weight one last time, pinning her there.  "Shy," he said in a weary voice, "the next word outta that mouth better not be, 'monster.'  Ya ain't one!  If ya killed somepony, it was 'cause ya had no choice, Ah know ya that much at least."  She stopped struggling, and he relaxed slightly.  "He tried ta kill me, Shy.  And Ah tried ta kill him.  He had a gun up ta Berry's neck, and Ah tried ta shoot him."  Mac was out of breath already, and he rested his head against her.  "He tried ta kill all of us.  You, me, our friends, our futures."  With a groan, he lifted himself back up.  "Ya remember the promise we made?"

She tried to nod, and Mac hissed in pain.  They shared a glance, then slowly worked together to unimpale Mac's leg.  The stallion let himself fall on his side, clutching his bleeding leg.

Fluttershy got up, and pulled the sheets off the bed, tearing a strip off one of them.  "Remember," she told him, nodding as she wrapped his leg.  "Dreamed of it.  Alwaysss hoped... to sssee you again.  Keep our promissse."  Using the the rest of the sheet, she wiped his blood off her face.  She looked down at the rag in disgust and anger before shoving the putrid thing at him, showing him the blood, and making sure he saw there was still more on her face.  "You want foalsss with thiss?!"  She threw the rag across the room with a snarl.  "I don't," she said simply.

Mac laid on the ground, too exhausted to chase her as she started for the door again.  Whatever he was given was wearing off, and he was starting to feel small, random pains all over his body.  "Then, he really did kill them?"

Fluttershy paused at the door.  "Who?" she asked without looking back.

"Our foals," Mac answered.

"No."  Fluttershy shook her head as she opened the door, wincing at the bright light in the corridor beyond.  "I did."

She slipped out before Mac could say anything else.





Only to be bowled over by a pink cannonball that had been galloping down the hallway at full speed.

"You're up!" Berry shouted happily, hugging the dazed pegasus as they lay sprawled on their backs in the middle of the hall.  "I was so worried," the earth pony continued, making no attempt to move from her spot on the floor.  "You were all unconscious for so long, and there was nothing I could do to help, so I went ahead and checked out the shuttle, and it's going to be down for a while, so I went to check on the big ship, and it's still full of monsters, so I went to check on you again, and you weren't in medical, so I asked Radio, and he said you were keeping an eye on Mac, so I came here!"  She let go of Fluttershy, then thought better of it, giving her another hug.  "Did I mention, I'm glad you're ok?"

There was a loud, annoyed sigh from down the hall.  "Berry?" Radio limped over, favoring his left rear leg.  "I thought I told you to take it easy?  That they would be resting?"

The pink pony rolled to her hooves with ease.  "But she was up walking around, and I got excited."

"That's not a good reason!"  The colt sat down, leaning on his right side.  "Dang, this hurts.  What if it had been the big guy, huh?  He just got out of surgery, and a hit like that could have put him right back in."

"But it wasn't him," Berry pointed out.

Fluttershy picked herself up off the ground, seemingly unnoticed.  But once she was standing, Berry spun around and trapped her in another hug.  "By the way, thanks for killing the big, mean, meanypants before he could kill everyone I care about."

Radio dragged his hoof down his face.  "I told you not to bring that up!"

The earth pony frowned at him.  "You tell me not to do a lot of things."

He threw his hooves up.  "And, yet, you still do them!"

"Because I lose track of them all!"  Berry sat down and crossed her hooves.  "And about not biting wires, how else am I supposed to get the insulation off, huh?  Did you even think about that?"

Radio shrugged.  "Wire strippers?"

Berry's face fell into awestruck silence.  "They make those?"

"Of course they do.  I'll go find a pair when I've recovered from getting stabbed in the flank."  With a sigh, he looked past Berry, at the crying vampony wiping at her face.  "So, Ms. Fluttershy, I know we haven't talked much, but Ribbon told me about what happened outside of the operating room.  She said you were pretty upset about what happened."  He didn't know what to say, so he asked himself how Astral would handle this.  He took a deep breath and let it out as a snort.  "Good."

Fluttershy was too surprised to react.  He was the first pony that didn't try to brush away what she did.  The first who didn't try to explain it away.

"You just killed somepony," the colt continued.  "I don't care how you justify that, it's still a horrible thing.  It has to be eating at you.  I can't imagine doing what you did, and not wanting to vomit every time I remembered what happened."

"Radio?"  Berry asked in shock.  "What are you saying?"

"Shut up!"  The colt stood up with a pained grunt.  "She knows what she did.  She made her choice.  And now she has to live with the consequences.  There's only one thing she could have done that could possibly be worse than what she did."  Radio marched towards the shell-shocked pegasus, limping the entire way.  "If you did nothing," he shouted, "and passed out while the enemy was still alive, he would have taken that gun of his and blown your brains out.  Astral would have been next.  Then, maybe Twilight, caught off-guard, after finding the mutilated corpses of two of her friends." Radio pointed of into the distance.  "Then, when that ship comes crashing towards the station, no one is there to stop it," he moved his hoof to his chest, "and me, my sister, Berry, Mac, James, Growl, that pinto dude, and everypony on this station are vaporized.  All because you didn't have the guts to be called a monster!"  They stood nose to nose at this point, Radio glaring, and Fluttershy snarling.  "Well guess what, you are, and we're alive, so, thank you, from the bottom of our hearts, thank you, and get used to it!"

Radio stared up into those feral eyes, and couldn't help but feel like he made a terrible mistake.  Still, he pressed forward.  "When I was young, I hit a rough patch in my life.  While all the other foals were worried about going through puberty, a lot of the modifications to my genetic structure were just starting to take hold.  School was hell.  I was different, and I knew it.  Everypony else who knew it made sure I wouldn't forget it.  I was in constant pain, physical, emotional, social.  I started acting out.  I stole.  I vandalized.  I started so many fights.  My dad didn't know what to do."

Fluttershy's snarling slowly faded as the colt's words grew quieter.

"One day, after a really bad fight, I went to my dad.  I was worried.  I put an older colt in the hospital, and it felt good.  He hit me so many times before, that being able to hit him back made me so happy.  Standing over him, watching the blood bubble from lips as he tried to surrender, I laughed.  And it terrified me.  How could I take that much pleasure in another pony's suffering?  How could I do something so terrible, and not feel bad about it?  I told dad what happened, and the only advice he could give me was, 'son, if you're worried you might be a sociopath, you aren't one.'"  Radio nodded slowly.  "Then he had me professionally evaluated by the best shrinks on Furia.  That decision was kinda out of his hooves though.  Everything was from that point forward.  I was taken out of school, put under constant surveillance, tutored safely away from other kids, given routine physical and psychological exams, and my training regimen went into overdrive.  If I was going to be an aggressive monster, the military decided I was going to be a productive one.  My dad did what he could to help me, but he had Ribbon to worry about as well.  I never went back to school.  I was given the best tutors around, and access to everything I asked for, everything except friends, or freedom.  I was a monster, something to keep in a cage.  And for years, I accepted that.  Because I believed it.  And, I don't know, maybe I still believe it, but I don't like it, and I want to change it, and, I, um...  I don't..."

Radio was out of breath by the time he stopped talking.  He shrank back as he realized just how much he said.  That wasn't the grand speech he wanted, that was a shame-fueled confession.  "So, yeah," he muttered, glancing back and forth between Berry and Fluttershy, unable to read the expressions on either face, "that's the real me.  Violent, nasty, and I try to help ponies to make up for it, like life is some great transaction and I can wipe out my sins like I'm paying my bills."  He looked back at Fluttershy.  She didn't look angry anymore.  Radio couldn't tell what emotion she was trying to express, but she was thinking again.  "The point is, us monsters, maybe we aren't supposed to be happy, but we can do a damn good job of protecting those who are."

Her hoof moved faster than any Radio had ever seen.  She slapped him across the face with a speed even Ribbon couldn't match.  "Don't say that," she demanded.  "Berry told me... told me... you ssaved Sssevuss."  She took a moment to collect herself before speaking again.  "You... Rainbow's son..."  Fluttershy hugged him.  "Not monsster.  Never monsster."

She released him, and grabbed Berry before she could react.  "Both you... glad you are ssafe."  She marched back to the door, and let out a sad sigh.  "All that mattersss."

Radio rubbed his jaw as she slipped through and the door slid shut behind her.  "Man, she doesn't pull her punches."

Berry shrugged.  "At least she's talking a lot.  Cathy said that would help."

Radio looked over.  "How are you so damn positive all the time?"

"But she's all better now!"

"No she isn't.  Pulling a page out of the Astral playbook helped, I think, but... Ooh, think about the big guy, he came out of surgery alright, right?"  Radio gestured to his flank.  "Well, we wouldn't have had to stab me in the cutie mark for bone marrow if he was all better now, would we?  They've both taken the first steps towards getting better, but the rest is going to take time."

Berry chewed it over a little.  "Granpa said the same thing, that healing takes time."

"See," the colt smiled proudly, "I'm right then."

The pink mare looked down.  "Then he never woke up."

Radio shut his mouth so fast his teeth clicked together.  "Sorry," he muttered quietly, "I have a talent for saying the worst things at the worst time."

Berry shrugged.  "I don't know," she said quietly, "what you said to Fluttershy wasn't too bad."  She started to walk away from the door, down the hall towards the rest of the temporary quarters assigned to the crew of the Philomena.  "But, you could have been nicer."

Radio watched her walk away, her previous energy sapped away by a few thoughtless words.  She slipped through the third door down the hall, leaving the colt sitting alone in the hall.  "Augh!"  He furiously tore at his mane with both front hooves.  "Why the hell is it so hard to just talk to ponies?!"

A security guard poked his head around the corner.  "Is everything alright over-  Oh."  He shrugged and turned around.  "It's just you."

Radio stared in confusion as the guard left.  "What?"







Fluttershy stood there, eyes clenched shut, in the darkness just inside the door.  Mac watched her from where he had fallen on the floor.  What little light the dim wall sconces provided caught the tears building in her eyes.  The fake candle light gave the first tear to fall a flaming citrine gleam until it soaked into the carpet below.

He wanted to move to her side, but he didn't have the strength to turn that desire into action.  He settled for stretching one hoof out across the floor, getting just a little closer.  "Yer back," he said quietly.

"I..."  She made no move to leave the doorway.  She didn't even try to look up at the pony talking to her.  She sat there, eyes closed tight to stem the tide of tears threatening to escape.  "I don't know...  I don't underssstand...  Easssier when wass alone."

"Ya ain't alone anymore, Shy."  Mac noticed the change in her speech.  She wasn't focusing on her words as much, and it made her voice sound so much more like he remembered.  The patterns were still off, some of the sounds a tiny bit wrong as she held her mouth too open to accommodate her fangs and slightly forked tongue.  He would be used to it in no time.  "That ain't gonna change."  With a sigh, he continued, "When Ah was still on the ship, Ah would wake up from stasis every ten years.  Didn't ever seem all that long had passed ta me.  All Ah felt was like wakin' up in the mornin', just without any dreams ta remember.  Must'a spent two years doin' that, realizin' that every few weeks, centuries had gone by."  He held out his hoof, motioning her, but she barely moved.  "It was easy," he continued.  "Ah'd wake up, check the scanners, check the maintenance logs, check the computers, check the connection to the other ships, walk around and visit everypony, then freeze myself back up."

"One day, ah woke up, and there was no computer ta greet me.  There was a small room, some furniture, and sunlight comin' through the window."  Mac took a deep breath.  "Ah cried when Ah saw that.  It was a sunset, first one Ah seen in two years.  Maybe more.  Since that evenin' Twilight woke me up, everythin' has been different.  Ah've been thrown into a world where everythin' around me is more believable if Ah close mah eyes and just call it magic.  Ah don't know what anythin' is.  Ah don't know what anythin' does.  Ah couldn't even open a door without help.  Ah feel like a buckin' cave pony, and Ah don't like it."

The stallion shook his head as it rested on the floor.  "And the worst of it is that everythin' seems ta wanna kill me.  That nurse bops me on the head with a wrench.  Ah almost have a heart attack when that unicorn Twi's blackmailin' stepped off into thin air and it was really a forcefield.  Ah'm taken hostage durin' a political negotiation.  Ah'm tricked into fightin' a robot.  Ah'm released as a hostage, only ta fight another robot.  Then there were monsters, big, ugly things twice as tall as either a' us."

"And Ah'd do it all again."  Mac fought to get his hooves under him.  He succeeded only in making enough noise to make Fluttershy glance down in concern.  "Cause Ah got ta see you after all that."  Mac gave up on righting himself, and took a few breaths to recover from the exertion.  "Ah'd even go through everythin' that happened on the Philomena, gettin' stabbed, shot, everythin', all over again, 'cause Ah still get ta see ya.  And one day, Ah'll get ta see everypony.  Mah family, mah friends, everypony from Ponyville.  And so'll you."

Fluttershy shook her head.  "Not ready.  Can't... throw myssself into thisss.  Not like you."  She looked down at her body, the uneven fur more noticeable than ever in the dim light.  "Never had to sssee.  Think about change.  Thought I ssstill sssame.  And told to not worry.  By ev...ever-pony.  By you."

"And Ah thought Ah was doin' the right thing."  Now that her eyes were open, Mac reached to her again, but her reaction was the opposite of what he wanted.  She backed away from him.  "Ah'm sorry, Shy.  Ah know ya care about how ya look, but Ah don't.  Ah know ya care how much ya changed, but Ah don't.  Ah know ya care that ya had ta kill that fella that shot me, but Ah don't.  All Ah care is that yer alive, and safe."

"How can you... sssay that?"  Fluttershy started pacing in front of the door.  "Nopony caresss?  I killed!  Killed sssomepony."

"No, Shy.  We care about you.  It's affecting ya pretty bad, and we care about that, but we ain't about ta hate ya fer what you did."

"I do!"  She cried.  "You don't know!  Don't know... what itss like!"

"What if Ah did?" Mac demanded.  "Would ya listen ta me?  Would ya stop pacin' and sit next ta me?  Would ya stop feelin' bad about somethin' ya can't change and try ta think about what yer gonna do from now on?"

She stopped pacing, full attention on the stallion on the floor.  "Mac?"

"It was before we left Equestria," he said quietly, "back before Twi 'n me broke up.  Folks were still gettin' used to the idea a' leavin', and some didn't know how ta take it.  Ah was helpin' Twi with an inspection on Cryo-4, tryin' ta find out what was goin' on with some a' the lights.  We found this unicorn in the upper levels, messin' with the conduits."  Mac shook his head slowly.  "He was probably a bit younger'n me at the time.  The guard that was with us tried ta pull him out of the access tube, but it turned into a fight.  The unicorn got hold a' the guard's spear, and he charged at Twilight.  Ah stepped in, and he tried ta get past me, but Ah slammed into him, and he hit the railing."

Mac felt something drape itself across his shoulder, and he realized that he had closed his eyes.  When he opened them, and looked up, Fluttershy was standing behind him, leaning over, wing stretched out.  "We were on level thirty-eight, and the rail gave way.  Twi tried to catch him with magic, and so did some mechanics below us, but he was usin' some sort a' artifact to hide his magic, and it kept the spells from workin'."  The stallion sighed.  "Ah remember him screamin', and then it just stopped.  We went ta look fer him, but he wasn't at the the bottom.  At first, we thought he managed ta teleport himself away, but the guards found him a few levels up.  Took two hours, but they found him.  Must 'a hit somethin' on the way down, Ah guess."

Mac felt a weight settle behind him.  The wing wrapped him like a blanket, and he felt the chin come to rest on his neck.  The stallion closed his eyes again.  "So, ya see, Shy, Ah know what ya did.  Ah know how hard it is.  No pony should ever be able ta kill another, and not hurt 'cause of it.  But ya gotta think about the reason ya did it, or it's gonna eat ya up like a worm in a rotten apple.  Ah protected, Twilight, and you protected Astral.  That's what ya gotta focus on."

Fluttershy made a small noise, one that Mac took to be an agreement of sorts.  At the very least, he hoped it was.  He was worn out.  He could feel the fog of impending sleep settling on him, payback for his recent bursts of activity in this weakened state.

He sighed as he tried to focus on the pony behind him, as he tried to stave off slumber for a little while longer.  "Are ya better now?"

He felt the movement of her reply before she added a voicing, "no."

As his eyes closed, Mac amended his question.  "Are ya gonna be?"

The wing was joined by a hoof, draping over the stallion's chest.  "Maybe."
> Breaks Fast
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------

Twilight eased herself into the back corner booth, sliding across the brightly colored vinyl seat with her jacket back in its proper place.  "This wasn't here last time, was it?"

"I don't think it was here a few hours ago."  Astral joined her, on the same seat, still bare of his own jacket.  He didn't hold much hope of ever seeing it again.  It was on the bridge when the nuke exploded, and he couldn't remember if he had sealed it in a locker before leaving.  "The signs do say grand opening."

"And they do seem a little rushed," she agreed, referring to the hoof-scribbled nature of the one over the door.  Roughly half the signage was professionally printed or on holographic displays.  The rest was clearly a do-it-yourself endeavor.  She pulled the menu off the gloss black tabletop and fidgeted with it.  "Um, Astral?" She asked quietly, "Why did you sit on this side?"

"Hmm?"  He looked over, then down at the four centimeters of open cushion between them.  "Oh!"  He stiffened up.  "Sorry, I'll move, force of habit, you know, or, I guess you don't, but I always try to face the exit."

He moved to slide out of the booth, and she grabbed his hoof, stopping him cold as a waiter came by.  The cheerful human tipped his colorful, white and orange, flat-topped cap, and pulled a small pad from his shirt pocket.  "Thank you for visiting your local Donut Joe's, serving breakfast for millenia.  Today marks the grand opening of our first branch on a Canterlot Space Station," he shrugged, "such as it is."  After clearing his throat, he continued his memorized monologue.  "In light of recent events, we are offering free coffee and donuts to all station personnel, and everything else on the menu has been drastically reduced.  Are either of you signed up for our rewards program?"

"Plane, Astral," the unicorn answered, "planet Serus."

The human tapped it in with a stylus pulled from the brim of his cap.  "Serus," he repeated back, making little humming noises.  "Hm, closest I see is Aster Plane from Sydonia.  Here's A. Plane from Saturn orbital platform, but no Serus.  That is Serus with an, 's,' right?  Not a, 'c,' like Cygnus?"

"Yes," Astral answered with some confusion, "S-e-r-u-s, I should have about four thousand points."

"Enough for two free meals," the waiter said with an approving nod.  "That's quite a lot, could it be under a ship or company name?"

The unicorn shook his head.  "No, it's-"

Twilight gasped and grabbed Astral's leg.  "Sorry," she said sheepishly, offering a forced and distracting smile.  "We'll use mine for now.  Twilight Sparkle?  No planet."

"Everypony has a planet," he explained politely as he entered the name.  "It's part of the sign up..."  He squinted at his pad.  "...process."  He tapped at the screen, and his eyes went wide.  "Oh!  Um...  Um."  He composed himself, and held his stylus ready.  "What would you like, ma'am?"

"I'm not sure," Twilight replied.  "Could you give us a moment?"

"Certainly."  He pointed his stylus at the wall and double-clicked a small button on the side.  "Refreshments while you decide."

As he walked off, to busy himself with another patron, a gurgling sound issued from the wall.  A panel slid open, and two glasses of ice water slid out onto the table.

"What was that?" Astral asked as he reached for his drink.  "He sure got flustered all of a sudden."

"I used to frequent the original Donut Joe's before he left Equestria on Cryo-One."  With a sly smile, she reached for her own water.  "It was quite a surprise to find out he put me in the system back when he founded the chain."

Astral raised an eyebrow.  "Thousands of years ago?"

She nodded.  "M-hmm."  She grabbed a menu and held it open so Astral could see it.  "Free food, any time, no questions asked.  It's been quite convenient.  I'm thinking pancakes."

"Of course it is.  And why didn't my points come up?"  Astral skimmed the menu.  "No fruit, I guess I'll have hashbrowns.  Look, they've got your chocolate milk.  Strawberry too."

Twilight shrugged absent-mindedly as she leaned over to see the section of the menu Astral indicated.  "It probably has something to do with Silver erasing your official history from Canterlot Records.  Which one should I get?"

"Wait, what?"  Astral leaned back, realizing he was suddenly quite close to the wall of dark purple that made up Twilight's mane, and also realizing for the first time that there was a second stripe of color along the pink.

Twilight looked back at her menu, granting Astral his personal space back, then looked up.  "Chocolate or Strawberry, which one?"

"Why ask me?  You're the one who wanted it."  Astral shook his head.  Ever since meeting that other Twilight, he was having trouble concentrating.  "What did you mean, Silver erased my history?"

"It was Chrysalis' idea.  She thought it would be better for you to be as much of a blank slate as possible.  I guess wiping the slate clean included your Donut Joe's membership."

"Of course it did," Astral sighed.  "Why bother?  Why touch my history at all?" He glanced around.  He didn't want to stare at her like he was accusing her of something.  "That was before any of you even knew I was going to help out, and I almost didn't."  His eyes settled on something nearby, and he folded his hooves on the table.  Hanging his head in defeat, he dragged the item over, a magazine from a courtesy rack.  "Well," he said as he dropped it on the table, "looks like Ribbon came through."

Twilight looked down.  There on the cover was a familiar photo, her and Astral in a situation that looked much worse than it really was.  Only glossier than last time.  It was rimmed with a bright purple box, drawing attention to it, and the letters below it, "Holo-Editing!  Are you at risk?"

She went to open the magazine, but instead of finding paper, the thin, flexible film of the cover gave way beneath her hoof.  It shifted off its backdrop, distorting the image on the cover.  When peeled open, it revealed another image altogether.

Her and Astral.  Same pose.  Same expressions.  She still wore that horrible wrapping of shop towels.  Only this time, against a backdrop of medical equipment.  Astral's jacket lay at the foot of his hospital bed.  An IV line ran to his shoulder, and random scuffs and scratches covered most of his visible fur.  And, most importantly, she was very clearly sitting just to the side of him.

"Well," she flipped the translucent film with the image mods back and forth a few times, "isn't that clever?  She's better with Holoshop than I expected."

Then her eyes focused on the second image's text.  Below the picture it said, "The real picture."  Then, in smaller letters, "Luna Academy professor, Twilight Sparkle, visits her dear friend and companion, Astral Plane, after his ship is attacked by raiders.  The Heroic stallion was the only crew member aboard his vessel, as well as the only survivor of the clash.  His survival is truly a victory for all freighter captains against the shameless actions of Raiders everywhere."

Twilight nodded.  "Ribbon wrote this, I know she did."

Astral responded with a shrug.  "Well, if you don't like it, dear friend and companion, maybe we can change it again?"

"What's that supposed to mean?"  Twilight was confused by his tone.  That snide comment was something she would have expected before they left Canterlot, not now.  "Astral, is something bothering you?  Something I did?"

"No," the unicorn sighed, "not you... it's just..."

He looked over at Twilight, and for a moment, he had to remind himself what she was.  Everyday, she was becoming more normal to him.  She was drifting farther from that terrifying presence he faced on the Philomena.  But, she was still a powerful one.  Her alicorn abilities were nothing short of supernatural, from what he heard.  And, he had no idea if she was still hiding more.

What would have happened if she had been the one to go after Fluttershy?  The prills wouldn't have stood a chance, she could have ignored the risk of ambush and marched right in.  And, the moment the pegasus was in sight, Twilight could probably have just teleported her back to the station.  Astral had to fight his way to her.  He was good at it, he knew that.  He spent most of his life fighting for his life after Serus was destroyed.  But he still had to sneak around the trap Visor had laid out, and he still very nearly got himself and Fluttershy killed.

Fluttershy saved him.  Then Twilight saved them both, then saved the station from visor's ship's suicide protocol.  She wouldn't have had to fight to get to Fluttershy.  Her only weakness was that there wasn't two of her.  And she was only a false alicorn?  What about the others?

He looked down.  "What is the COC?  What do they do?  I know the official story, the stuff about periodically auditing government actions and programs, and giving advice on delicate matters.  But you can't tell me there isn't more to it anymore.  Who are Celestia, and Luna, and that creepy bug thing?  What do they want?"

Twilight nodded.  "I don't think I can give you an answer you'll be happy with.  They don't really want anything.  They're just trying to do their part to help the galaxy."

"With no expectation of reward?" he muttered weakly.  "I'm just not sure how I'm supposed to feel about all this.  I want to help you, and help find everypony from your ship, but I feel like there's something I'm not seeing.  I feel like I shouldn't be necessary to that mission.  The COC is a known and powerful organization, and I'm starting to feel it fringes on some sort of shadow agency, and nothing I've seen so far has told me I'm wrong.  I mean, just look how easily we tampered with a planet-wide publication, manipulating public perception of events that never even happened.  Celestia was nice and all, but she's probably done that hundreds, if not thousands of times, if she's as old as you say she is.  Look how much clout the COC's name had on Furia.  They aren't even part of the Assembly, and they deferred to to you because of that alone.  And that's just events I've been present for.  Not to mention the fact that she never really told me anything.  Aside from her cracking jokes, everything just got pushed back onto the fact I was helping you find your friends.  And she showed off a little, which did give me a little perspective on the power gap between us."

"No," Twilight shook her head with a very compact motion, "it didn't.  Trust me on that one."  She shifted in her seat, entering list mode.  "I have personally seen her raise the sun, raise the moon, reverse an earthquake, stop a landslide in time, cast an illusion spell on an entire city just so they wouldn't know she stepped out to the restroom during a parade, desalinate a landlocked sea, wrestle a dragon on the slopes of an active volcano, and tear an errant neutron star in two, then shove the pieces into a black hole, which she then dissolved from the space-time continuum.  And don't forget, she shielded me from the detonation of a nuclear reactor, with her body alone.  There isn't a power gap between her and the rest of us, Astral.  Saying something like that presumes we would even be able to measure her power in the first place.  There's a good reason some ponies worshipped her as a deity back on Equestria."

Astral threw his his hooves up.  "And that's supposed to make me feel better?!"

"Um, well," Twilight stammered, holding her hooves out in a reassuring gesture, "just because she can take over the galaxy, it doesn't mean she's going to.  I mean, she's probably enjoying a break from all the paperwork that came with ruling all of Equestria for over a millenia.  And I've known her most of my life, she never encouraged the worshipping.  If anything, she actively discouraged it."

Astral started pushing her hooves away.  "Still not helping your case."

"Well, wait."  She broke her hooves free, fighting Astral in a whimsical struggle for his personal bubble.  "What about-"

"Just stop!"  He grabbed her hooves, and pulled them tight so she couldn't move them.  "All I want is for you to understand that she terrifies me on a very rational level, and you have three more like her.  And, if you'll forgive me saying it, Luna and Chrysalis give off a bit more shadowy of a vibe than..."

"...than I do," Twilight finished for him.  Astral felt her hooves grip his, and her eyes drifted down to them.  "You're counting me as the third, aren't you?  Do I really scare you that much?"

Astral didn't let go, but he didn't answer either.  He honestly wasn't sure at this point.  Rationally, yes, he knew she could erase him from existence without really trying.  She wasn't near the level of the others, but she could probably still erase him from history if she felt like putting in some sort of effort.  But, emotionally...  "Twi, what were you doing before I woke up in medical?"

She looked up at him.  His eyes were the same as in the shuttle bay, concerned, for her.  The thought of him ever being scared of her was painful, now more than ever.  She pulled one hoof away from his, letting him hold on to the other, and holding on herself so he couldn't slip away.  Her free hoof lifted slowly.  Softly, it traced the fur on his cheek, smoothing it down.  Then, she brushed an errant lock of mane away from his face, tucking it behind his ear like she tried to do before he woke up earlier.

Astral grabbed her hoof, trapping it as it fell down across his cheek once more.  He closed his eyes as he pressed his face into the soft fur of her fetlock.  "I just don't understand.  You, your powers, the COC, my feelings, any of this."  His eyes opened slowly as he released all hold on her.  Hers were still focused on him.  "I'm not scared of you, just uncertain."

"In what way?"

"I don't even know that.  I'm not even sure what you are."  He sighed.  "I know I was terrible to you when we first met, oh, what was it, last week?  Week before?  Sheesh, it seems so long ago now.  You, who you are, how you treat those around you, all the burdens you place on yourself...  It's changing how I see you.  I regret ever comparing you to the celestials, but I still don't understand you."

She nodded slowly.  "I can understand that.  It took me years to come to terms with myself after I became an alicorn.  But, I'll do what I can to to help you understand.  We're partners in this, if you're still comfortable with that.  Anytime you have a question, or a worry, let me know, and I'll try my best to answer it."  She turned away from him, facing her drink on the table in front of her.  "By the way, would you permit me a question of my own?"

Astral shrugged as he mirrored her movements, facing his own drink and cradling the cold glass in hooves.  The condensation seeped through his fur, biting cold as he stared into the ice water.  "Sure, why not?"

Twilight fidgeted with her drink, sliding it back and forth, leaving a wet trail on the clean counter.  "What sort of feelings do you have that you don't understand?"

The stallion took a long drink from his glass, halving the liquid before setting it back down.  "All of them, I guess.  Interested in anything specific?"

She shook her head.  "Not really," she lied.  There was something very specific she wanted to ask about, but she wasn't sure if she should be the first to bring it up.  "Just wondering if there was anything you wanted to talk about."

Astral took another drink, and the glass didn't leave his lips until it was drained.  "Want to?  Yes, there is.  Should?  I'm still figuring that out."

Twilight nodded silently, but kept her gaze squarely on the table in front of her.  Less than an hour ago, she was sure she was reading too much into things.  She was convinced that her echo's influence was making her look for signals that simply weren't there.  Was that truly the case?  Or was a little selfish worry merely what she needed to see what was right in front of her?

A quick raise of her hoof at the right moment brought the waiter marching over, and orders were placed.  She went with toast, feeling that her stomach was twisting a little much for anything more substantial, and he went with his original idea of hashbrowns, after confirming that there wasn't any fruit available.

As the waiter left again, Twilight took a small drink, feeling her throat tighten around the fridgid liquid.  She set her glass down, and swallowed again, surprised at how quickly her mouth felt dry again.  "She liked you, you know."

Astral's attention quickly shifted, from inspecting the floor tiles beside their booth, to the pony staring into her water.  "Who?"

"The other me."  Twilight swirled her water around, listening to the clink of the ice cubes as an excuse not to look over.  "You managed to make a good impression.  She thought we would be a good match."

Astral frowned, bracing himself for an explantion to the contrary as he applied a mild heat spell to the ice cubes left in his glass, slowly melting them.  "And what about you?"

"I'm not yet sure where her opinion on that ends, and mine begins."  She pointed across the restaurant, where their waiter was emerging from the back room with their food.  "But, I agree with her."

Astral's eyes went wide, and he lost control of the heat spell.  The temperature only spiked by a few degrees, but the sudden change was enough to crack the glass.  He panicked.  In a rush to stop supplying magic to the thermal spell, he accidentally ceased his telekinesis as well.  The glass fell and shattered against the table, and both ponies jumped away - Astral out into the aisle, and Twilight deeper into the booth.  

"Is everything all right?"  The waiter picked up his pace, eyeing the damage, and checking the customers for injuries.  "Was there a problem with the glass?"

"No, no," Astral reassured him with an awkward smile, "um, this was my fault, I can be a klutz sometimes."  With a dry chuckle, he glanced over at Twilight, and the smile disappeared.  He looked back at the waiter.  "I'll pay for the damages, can we get our food to go?"









Radio climbed up onto the bed in his temporary quarters.  It was a relatively painful affair, but he knew it would be over after a good night's rest.  The small hole they drilled in his pelvic bone would likely be closed within the hour, and the tenderness from getting jabbed by various needles would fade pretty quickly as well.

All in all, it was a small price to pay.  From his calculations based on the size of the marrow sample they extracted, James would be able to harvest one hundred and ninety-two micrograms of stem cells.  From experience, Radio knew that they would be just as pure, and far easier to refine, than trying to grow more from the left-over embryonic cells found in umbilical cord blood.  And it was all thanks to his tampered-with physiology.

As the colt laid there, staring at the ceiling in the dark, he mentally ran through the events of the last few days.  He could hardly believe everything that had happened.  Leaving Furian controlled space for the first time, helping save a settlement from a mysterious illness, traveling from planet to planet, meeting new ponies out in the galaxy he was now free to explore.

It felt like he was a character out of one of his mother's old adventure novels, but with one big difference.  He took one of the bed's two pillows and held it tight, tucking it to him like a foal holding on to the comfort of their favorite plush.  Did the characters in those novels always feel like this?

It was fine at first.  He was so happy to be off planet.  Excited to see what the galaxy had in store, to help ponies, to show off his smarts and medical prowess.  Then, Twilight grabbed the scalpel when he was trimming the scar tissue on her ear.  He barely managed to switch it off before she tracked it all the way across her ear.

He rolled over onto his side, still holding the pillow.  That was probably the first time since the hydra that he felt truly scared.  He had hurt somepony that had helped him, somepony who cared about him.  And how did he handle it?  He yelled at her.  And he never even apologized.

Astral was right to yell at him after that.  In all honesty, he probably deserved worse.  But, then he had to go and show him that article.  Kikurage, the twisted plague, a deadly reminder that space was still full of unknown pathogens, just waiting for somepony to mess up, and unleash them on unsuspecting ponies.

Then they landed on a planet dying of a mysterious disease.  Looking back, he had been incredibly stupid.  Any mistake he might have made along the way could have resulted in somepony dying.  He was the only doctor around.  There was no back up, no second opinions, no specialists for him to call for assistance like on Furia.  Everything could have gone so much worse.

And it almost did.  Sparrow almost killed herself.  It was pure dumb luck that she didn't, that the phase pistol was locked in stun mode.  And it would have been his fault.  Just like what happened with his mother and the hydra.

The hydra!  He squeezed the pillow tighter.  He was secretly happy when it turned out that Berry couldn't leave the shuttle on Picus.  It meant that they wouldn't have to go outside.  It meant that they would stay safely away from those monsters.

So why did Astral and Twilight transport out?  How could they do that, when they knew what was out there?  He knew it was to find Fluttershy, but couldn't they have searched from the shuttle?  Maybe take low passes over the jungle while scanning below?

It all worked out though, the colt reminded himself.  They made it safely off Picus and to the Solomon's Ring, where they finally had a chance to rest in safety.

Before getting thrown back into the fire.

Somepony tried to kill them!  Legitimately attempted to murder every single one of them, and came close to succeeding.  And he still didn't know why.  Nopony told him.

As much as he had longed for freedom, a  bigger part of him than he wanted to admit wanted to go get Ribbon, and book passage for them on the first ship back to Furia.  Though, the way things were going, it would probably be hijacked before they made it out of the system.

There was a loud slam, and Radio screamed.  He tossed the pillow and jumped up, using his wings to right himself as he took a defensive stance.  The noise repeated, and Radio realized it wasn't something slamming, it was a clap.  He collapsed to the bed, breathing heavily as the sound repeated a third time.

It was the message notification sound from his tablet, in his bag of medical supplies across the room.

He buried his face in his hooves, soaking his fur with tears.  "Why?!"  He shouted at nothing, sobbing and desperately trying not to.  "I'm supposed to be ready for this.  I'm supposed to be strong.  I was designed for this!  Trained for this! Engineered to be a weapon!"

He scrambled out of bed and ran to the kitchen, barely making it to the sink before puking.  The stench made him feel even more sick, and he fought the spasming of his gut to turn the water on.  Cold running water washed the vomit away, and the smell thankfully declined to linger.

Radio hung onto the edge of the sink for a moment before plunging his head under the faucet.  And with the sound of water drowning out everything else, he whimpered, "I'm not supposed to be afraid."

Another clap startled the colt, and he jerked his head up.  Straight into the faucet.  He cursed in pain and proceeded to slip, slamming his face against the edge of the sink on the way down.  Laying on the ground, he could feel a stinging pain in his lower lip.  It was busted, he knew it was.  Split and bleeding like he just lost a fight.

There was another clap, and Radio considered ignoring it.  He felt like laying where he was, soaking wet and bleeding until he caught a cold and died.  Though, he knew that wasn't possible.  His immune system wasn't that weak.  Without some external, and probably concentrated, source of infection, he probably couldn't get sick anymore.

There was another clap, and Radio pushed himself up, carefully, so that he wouldn't slip again.  "Why don't you just shut up, huh?!"

He was answered by another clap.

"Gah!"  He stomped over to his bag.  It was the only one Twilight had teleported back to the station, and that was only because he was using the equipment inside to keep Mac from bleeding to death.  "I couldn't have picked a less annoying ringtone?"

He dug out his tablet, and switched on the screen.  The light was blinding for a second, but his eyes quickly adjusted.  Just as quickly, he realized that his sopping wet mane was plastered to his face.  He propped the tablet up on his bag, and sat down in front of it.  He navigated to his unread messages with one hoof, while the other dragged his mane out of his face.  "What the hell?"

The first several messages were data files.  Large ones.  He checked the file format.  They were multimedia textbooks, and the file descriptions included titles.  They were medical texts.  He recognized one or two of them from when he had gone through medical school on Furia a few years ago.  But these were much newer versions.  "Who, on what world, is sending me medical textbooks in the middle of the night?"

There was no sender code, which shouldn't be possible, and he didn't recognize the name.  "P. Celestia," the colt read out loud.  Some Private from Furia maybe?  Sending updated medical texts out to all military medical personnel?  He shrugged.  This was a little weird, but it was the least threatening thing to happen to him since leaving home.

He kept checking through the messages, checking the file info and descriptions.  He wasn't going to open the attachments on this pad until he confirmed the source.  Maybe he could pick up a cheap throwaway pad in the commissary in the morning, just in case the data files were a front for a virus.  Though, his tablet did have military-grade security software on it.

While he was debating the risk, another message came in, playing the familiar clap.  Radio immediately silenced the pad's speakers.  He then switched over to the new message.  This one had a small data file attached, but unlike the others, actually had some text in the body of the message.

And, it was from the same sender, P. Celestia.



"Good evening, my little pony,

I hope I haven't disturbed you, and apologize if I have."



Radio rubbed the back of his head, where a small bump remained as testament to his sink struggle.  "Nah, not at all," he said sarcastically as he continued reading.



I am a friend of Twilight's, and she has told me a little about what has happened to you, Radio.  For a pony your age to go through so much, I am certain you must be struggling.  Without going into to much detail, allow me to say that I am in a unique position to understand your dilemma.

My student has described you as a brilliant colt for your age.  Intelligent, earnest, and helpful were some of the words she used in her letter.  However, brash, reckless, and overly confident were also used.

I could be wrong.  In fact, I hope I am, and that you took after your mother, inheriting Rainbow Dash's indomitable drive and spirit.  But, I believe Twilight is merely unable to recognize that your brash facade for what it is.  An attempt to hide your insecurities from those around you.

If I am wrong, please feel free to delete these messages.  I won't attempt to contact you again.

However, I would welcome the chance to talk further.

Sincerely,

P. Celestia

P.S.  My sister is looking forward to meeting you as well.  Please fill out the attached forms at your earliest convenience.



"Attached forms?" Radio asked out loud, as if he expected an explanation.  He hesitated for a moment, then opened the data file.  It was probably stupid, but he remembered something that his mother used to say.

"Celestia knows..."

It was a simple expression, but the first time he heard it, he was three or four, and didn't understand the concept of figures of speech.  So, he had predictably asked who Celestia was, like any young child would.  His mother's answer was that she was someone important that she knew a long time ago.

But how would she know so much about him?  How could she read between the lines of Twilight's description, and arrive at the conclusion she did without ever meeting him?  And why would she want to talk to him?

Radio's confusion only grew as the data file popped up on screen.  It was an application for Luna's Academy.  Medical program, practical certification for licensed practitioners of Non-assembly planets.  Also included was a time and place for an admissions interview.  It was in four days, on the the surface of Canterlot, in a gymnasium at the main campus.

He went back to the message, and read it again.  He didn't know what he was looking for, but he read it over, and over, searching for an answer.

The fifth time through, he broke down and sent a reply, asking the question he needed an answer to.



"Who are you?"



Within seconds, there was a reply.



"A friend."










Growl stood at the door to her quarters with a scowl.  She wasn't sure if James was home yet.  She had just come from putting Ribbon to bed, and was in no mood to be greeted with a smile.  The poor filly had cried herself to sleep.  All she and Mezzo were able to do for her was guide her back to her quarters and sit with her while she cried.

Also, Canterlot security forces were en route to pick up the bodies day after tomorrow, something they put off indefinitely back when there was just one.  And she was going to have to deal with a buttload of paperwork when they arrived.

With a snarl, she punched the door control.  If James was going to smile at her, she would deal with it when it happened.  She could be very persuasive when it came wiping smiles off other's faces.

She didn't see him.  Maybe he wasn't home yet?  She walked in, glancing around the dimly lit quarters.  The decorations were minimal, a few plants, pictures here and there, a Gryphon tapestry, gifted from the old monastery, hanging near the door, and a few ceremonial weapons on wooden displays.  The most striking thing about the place was the walls.  They were plain grey in color, like the rest of the station, but James had them carefully textured.  It was a recent addition, and it always caught her off guard.  The surface was similar to weathered stone, and walking into the main room was like walking into a cave.

Growl found herself relaxing despite her best efforts.  It was hard not to, the smell of mountain herbs filling the place made it hard to hold on to her agitation.  "James?"  She walked through the main room, past the kitchen, and into the bedroom.  The smell was coming from here.  On the floor opposite the low mattress, was a meditation area ringed by lit candles.  The circular patterns on the floor were inscribed with ancient characters that few knew how to read.

Some sections of the design described methods of cleansing the soul.  Other sections told legends of great heroes, or dedicated monks.  One section was recipes for incense.  Most of the sections were basic platitudes and advice for day to day life.  One in particular spoke to her right now, and she read it aloud.  "Let go your worries, but do not forget them."

"Growl?" Asked a muffled voice from the neighboring bathroom, "That you?"

"Yeah, James," she answered, running her hoof over the platitude she read before sitting down in the center of the rings, "you left the candles on."

"I know, I started meditating, but I still had some blood on me.  I'm washing up now, and left the candles lit to kill the smell."  After a moment, he appeared at the door, towel in his beak, and sat down.  He started drying his claws as he watched his wife stare at a candle flame.  "That isn't your usual meditation stance."

"I'm not sure I should be emptying my mind right now," she told him without looking away from the candle.  "I'm not sure what would happen."

He dropped the towel where he stood and walked over, staying just outside the ring.  "What's wrong?"

She looked up at her husband, the Gryphon she spent the last twenty years of her life with.  Though, to her, that was almost her entire life.  Before she met him, there was pain and starvation in that small mountain village.  Before that, there was nothing.  Until now, she thought she was ok with that.  "Two members of Mr. Plane's crew claim to know me."

The gryphon shrugged.  "Is that unusual?  You are well know on this station."  James knew there was more to it.  His wife was never this quiet unless something was truly bothering her.  He also knew that asking direct questions would get him nowhere.  It was times like this that he envied Ribbon's ability to get at the truth.  "Perhaps you met them here, and simply forgot?"

She shook her head.  "No, not here."  She looked back at the candle.  "They said they knew me before..."

"Before you lost your memory?"  James stepped into the meditation circle with her.  "Do you believe them?"

Growl frowned.  She hated when he did this to her.  The way he asked questions, cold logical, like he didn't care about the answer.  What made it so infuriating was that he only asked questions like that when he cared the most.  Any other time it would be with his normal jovial flippancy, or proffessionally trained tone of concern.  "I don't know," she answered truthfully.

He sat down before her, obstructing her view of the candle.  With a flick of his tail, he put it out.  "Do you want to?"

"I don't know," she answered again, still truthfully.  "They said I'm from Equestria, the planet that the first generation Tankrit came from.  But, if that's true, how did I end up on Choria?  Was I just lucky?  Did I escape from Tankra?  Did I run, leaving everyone else behind to suffer?"

James rested a claw on her shoulder.  "There were Equestrians who didn't end up on Tankra.  Ribbon's brother was telling me about it."  He nudged her back so they could sit centered on the circle.  "Their mother was woken from a stasis pod by a team of scientists that thought they were studying an ancient weapon.  Mac, that large, cheerful fellow who's been helping out?  He was woken from stasis recently.  His pod was hidden in Mr. Plane's cargo when he was attacked."

"Then where was my pod?  Who woke me up?"  She shook her head, becoming more agitated with every question she asked.  "Why would they dump me in a snowdrift on the side of a mountain?"

"You were found in a blizzard," James reminded her.  "There's no telling how far you traveled to reach the spot where you were found."

She turned her back to him, pulling her shoulder away from his touch.  "No matter how far I travelled, I was still abandoned.  A stasis pod can't be opened from the inside."

The gryphon frowned.  	That was true.  There had to be at least one other involved, and they either left her to a frozen fate, or perished on that mountainside.  "True, but there was never a proper search done of the area.  Modern scanners may provide answers we couldn't see at the time."

"And how do you propose we search the area?  We were banished for taking sides in the war."

"Then how fortunate are we to know two ponies who were not banished from Choria?  And who happen to have a shuttle, and hold a keen interest in anything related to stasis pods?"

Growl shrugged.  "Even if they are allowed to visit the planet, how would they gain access to the valley for a scan?  Most visitors are confined to the port cities."

"They are resourceful.  They will find a way."  James shrugged.  "Speaking of resourceful ponies, I think Ribbon's role in our medical bay needs to be re-evaluated."

"In a good or bad way?"  She asked with some concern.  "She just held a conversation with somepony I thought was dead.  Scanners eventually registered the uptick in neural activity, but she sensed it first, and who knows from how far away?"

James nodded.  "She also upgraded our organ cloning chamber.  It's the most recent model available in the galactic assembly, and I thought it was pretty state-of-the-art.  Ribbon and her brother proved me wrong.  A nurse, and a trauma surgeon, they call themselves.  That alone would be impressive at their ages, but they are experts in regenerative medicine, and both are intimately familiar with operation of the autosurgeon."

Growl nodded, she was not surprised.  "When I first met Ribbon, I asked her why she chose to become a nurse.  There are so many things she could be doing, because of her telepathic abilities, that would have her rich for almost no effort.  Why choose medicine?"

"And?" James prodded.  "What did she say?"

"I didn't choose medicine."  Growl shook her head, failing to hold back tears.  "I didn't have a choice.  I can't let anypony else lose what I've lost.  I have to try to help."

"She's a good kid," James nodded slowly.  He brought his claw to his wife's cheek as she moved to turn away from him.  "Turning away hides your tears from others" he told her, gently wiping away the drops on her fur.  "It shows them to me."

"Why does this bother me so much?  I've buried members of our aerie without crying.  I've gone years accepting that my past is gone.  Why am I so bothered by the chance that I may regain some piece of what I've lost?"

"You are a practical mare.  To you, crying is useless.  It doesn't accomplish any goals, it doesn't help a bad situation, and it can't raise the dead.  But emotions cannot be stopped.  They will happen, whether you show them or not.  And if you can't show me your tears, who can you show them to?"  James pulled her to him, sighing as he rested his head against hers.  "I know you used to feel that your past was better forgotten.  I know it bothers you now because you are seeing for the first time that your memories may be happy ones."

She buried her face in his feathers.  "James, what should I do?"

"I can't answer that for you."  He closed his eyes listening to her try to control her breathing.  "Only you know what you truly want."

"What if I don't know what that is?"

"Then, I will tell you what I want," he whispered to her.  "You cried with me when we buried my brother.  You cried when Greybeak's daughter was stillborn.  You cried terribly when she took her life the next day.  That day, you became my only family.  Two years later, when we declared such before the Aerie, you cried beneath your veil.  When Needle's body was thrown at your hooves, you cried after returning to the ship.  You cried when the last transport left our staging area on Tankra's moon.  When Roamclaw turned his back on you before the Circle of elders, and they did the same, I alone saw you cry."

She wiped her hoof against her face, then pressed it to his chest.  "You were the only one that didn't turn away."  

"And that, is why I am here beside you."  He wrapped his claws around her, engulfing her in a warm coat of feathers.  "I want you to have happy memories."

"You gave up your Aery, but you didn't abandon me."

"And I never will."

She sniffed loudly.  "James, I want to hear it."

He smiled faintly, keeping his eyes closed.  "Hear what?"

Growl started pushing him away.  "You know full well, what."

"oh, ok."  He resisted the mare's shoving.  "Forgive an old beast his teasing."  His resistance lasted only a moment.  He soon gave in, leaning back far enough to look down, putting him face to face with his wife.  "Growl, I love you."

She blinked away tears as the muscles in her face fought to form a smile.  "Say it again?"

James helped the smile along by leaning in, rubbing the curve of his beak against the fur of her snout.  "Ask nicely?"

"Say it again," she said, mustering a small amount of playfulness as she rubbed her nose back and forth against his beak, "or I'll stuff your hide with your own feathers."

"There must be something in my ear."  He made a dramatic showing of checking for earwax, but he was just glad to see a smile amid her tears.  "Did you just tell me to go finish up my triage reports so you can get to sleep?"

Growl pulled out her secret weapon, something that no one besides James had ever seen.  Something that no one besides James would ever see.  She batted her eyes at him.  "Please?"

He sighed.  It was over.  He should have known it would come to this.  It was such the rare occasion that she resorted to puppy-dog eyes, but he had to admit, he fell for it every time.  "I love you."  He nudged her back, guiding her down to her back, and looked down into her eyes as he placed his claw on her chest.  "GR, of the Ohlen Highlands."  He could feel her rapid heartbeat, the rise and fall of shallow breaths.  But it was not from fear.  She was the only creature in this galaxy that could lay beneath his claws and not feel fear.  Similarly, he was the only creature in this galaxy that could stand over her without having their ribcage rearranged.  "I love you, my Green-Red pony."

She reached up, placing her hoof over his heart.  Normally calm, normally tranquil, his heart was racing.  She felt this before, many times in the last twenty years.  But, every time, she remembered the first.  She remembered looking up into his eyes that night in the mountains, his grey feathers silver in the moonlight, and the stars behind him.  She still remembered the words she said in that moment, and she would say them every time she felt this.   "I love you, James of the Stonefeather Storycave."

His contented smile was joined by a soft sigh.  "Notice that I don't pester you to repeat it?"

She responded with a smirk.  "Oh yeah?"  She grabbed him about the head, ready to throw him to the ground and swap their positions.

"No, you don't!"  James grabbed the hooves grasping his feathers, and pinned them back above her head.  He lost a few, and had fallen on top of her during the brief struggle, but it all worked out.  His weight settled comfortably over her sturdy earth pony frame.  "You had your fun the other day.  Tonight, we do things my way."

"Oh?" She challenged, even though she was trembling.  Not from fear, not from nerves, but excitement.  "And what is your way?"

One claw traced its way from her hoof down her leg, up her shoulder, down barrel and body, talons gently raking the fur down her side before coming to rest on her flank.    "Nice..."  James grabbed her by the cutie mark, and pulled her hips slightly up into a better angle.  His face lowered as his wings raised, and he brushed his beak across the side of her face as other parts brushed dangerously as close.  "And slow," he whispered in her ear.

Suddenly he folded his wings, the small shift of his body making her squirm against him as it gave her a preview of the rest of the night.  Growl brought her free hoof to his cheek, holding the face beside hers in place long enough to gently kiss the side of his beak.  "I think I can live with that."
> Greasy Hair, Dirty Coats, and Shaky Hearts
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------

Shuffling around, nestled under a warm, grey wing, Growl yawned.  "We should be doing this more often."

James pulled his wife closer to him, taking a deep breath through her mane.  "Sounds good to me," he muttered sleepily.

She leaned her head back, nestling it against his neck.  "I'm serious.  If we really want to try for a foal, we can't waste time during my heat.

"What makes you think I wasn't being serious?"  He stretched out with a mighty yawn.  When he was done with that, he grabbed Growl around the waist, and rolled over onto his back.  This left her mildly disoriented at first, but lying on a soft pile of fur and feathers and wrapped in his wings, so she got over it quickly.  "Also, have you decided what to do about your possible old friends?"

"No," she said with a sigh.  She let herself sprawl out, making herself comfortable.  "I don't remember any of them, and I feel like admitting it makes me... soft."

"But you are soft," James pointed out, gently grabbing her face, smushing her cheeks as he craned his neck to rub his beak against her nose, "you are a soft and sensitive pony who cares for everyone."  With a grunt, let his head fall back to the floor.  He was mildly surprised that his actions weren't greeted with protest or retaliation.  "And, it is precisely that softness that gives you strength, and makes you the militant hard-ass that everyone on this station knows and loves."

Growl propped herself up, staring down at James, looking her husband in the eyes.  "Your choice, should I thank you or strangle you for that little comment?"

"Whichever one makes you happy."  James shrugged, knocking her off of him and to the floor.  "I'm beyond caring at this point."  He stood up, and the roles were quickly reversed.  He was looking down at his wife.  "I'll still love you, whichever you choose."  He leaned in, running his beak through her mane.  "But... as much as you are known and loved on this station, there are others who love you every bit the same, and merely do not know you as you are in this moment."

She closed her eyes and leaned into the caress.  His beak, hard and sharp enough to cut flesh and break bone, was soft and gentle against her skin.  There was always a thrill feeling it so close.  But she also felt safe.  As dangerous as he could be, she trusted him more than anypony else in the galaxy, and knew that he would be there for her no matter what happened.  "Just as I do not know them.  James, it feels wrong to try and get to know them now.  I'm not the pony they remember.  I would be an imposter taking over for somepony who died a long time ago."

"Why don't you let them decide that?"  He nudged her towards the bed, away from the mess they made of the meditation circle and its candles.  One candle had dumped over.  There was no carpet to burn, but the candle itself remained lit for a while, and the wax would have to be scraped off the floor.  There was enough to reshape into another candle at least.  "You don't know who you were before, so what makes you assume you were any different?

"Good point."  Growl yawned again as she allowed herself to be guided by his little nudges.  "I guess I should at least try."

"Yes," James agreed as they reached the bed.  "But first, we sleep.  I'm tired, and I'm going to need all the energy I can get in the morning.  "

She climbed up first, turning around to face him before flopping down.  "What's happening in the morning?"

He gave a mischevious smile, and leaned in close.  He couldn't kiss her the way she could him, but he ran his coarse tongue over her cheek in a slow motion.  He could taste the sweat, salty-sweet, and he wanted more.  "You want to keep trying for that foal, don't you?"









Twilight slowly chewed another mouthful of hashbrowns as she and Astral sat in the rows of chairs near docking ring two.  Her toast, having been packaged in the same box as the steaming potatoes, was soggy beyond stomaching.

She noticed that Astral didn't say anything when she started eating his food.  It didn't look like he even noticed, despite sitting across from her and stealing little glances at her.  Ever since they left Donut Joe's, he had been completely silent.  And she was starting to get a little tired of it.

It wasn't even like she said anything that profound.  If she had come out with a confession of love, or something like that, she would have understood the stunned silence.  But, all she said was that they might make a good match.  Might, not would, not should, but might.

With a sigh, Twilight decided she had enough awkward silence.  "Astral?"

"When we get back from Tirassa," Astral suddenly blurted out, "um..."  He took a second to gather his wits before finishing, "we should go somewhere, or do something..."

Twilight blinked, slowly closing the takeout box.  This was an unexpected development.  "You mean like a-"

Astral nodded quickly.  "A date, yes.  But nothing big, or serious, just to see if you really agree with what the other Twilight thought, or not."

She stared at him, and set the box in the empty seat next to her.  "Astral, is that-"

"Appropriate?" He responded way too quickly.  "Hell if I know.  If I had any actual authority over you as Captain, I'd say no, definitely not appropriate.  But, our circumstances are a little different, so really, it's entirely up to you."

She crossed her hooves, a look of quiet contemplation on her face. "Ok, sure," she said after a moment.

"I understand," Astral said, shaking his head, "it was just a thought, I didn't mean to creep you out or... anything... like..."  The stallion blinked at the smirking mare across from him, and took a second to breath.  "What?"

The smirk faded, and she offered a small smile in its place.  "You can't honestly expect me to turn down the first stallion to ask me out in over five thousand years."

"But..."  He lifted a hoof to rub his face, but changed his mind halfway, leaving the hoof waving awkwardly in front of him.  "Are you seriously OK with it?  You aren't just saying yes out of pity?"

"Of course not," she protested.  With a scoff, she turned away from the stallion, only for a stray thought to turn her back around.  "Wait, aren't you asking out of pity?"

"No!"  Half way out of his chair after the sudden exclamation, Astral shrunk back down.

"I didn't mean pity, so much," Twilight ammended, surprised by the reaction.  "Some sort of obligation to the other me in the crossover?"

The stallion sheepishly shook his head.

"Then, you really are asking me out?  You and me, getting to know each other better, and stuff like that, that kind of date?"

Astral nodded.

"Why?"

He shrugged.

Her head cocked to the side, and her smirk returned.  "Good answer."

With a groan, Astral rubbed the bridge of his snout.  "Fine!  I think I'm developing feelings for you.  Happy?  I don't love you, or even really like you yet, and our relationship level only reached tolerate recently, but I do kinda like you, and you're an attractive mare, and I feel like there's something there between us.  Call it a seed, if you want put a metaphor on it.  We're starting to get along now, and even though you said we were friends, it doesn't feel like that's what's going on.  And it's been eating at me because I can't tell if you feel the same, or if I am just a friend, or if we're having some sort of miscommunication because of cultural differences, and I'm enough of a habitual loner that I will worry myself sick over something like that without seeking any help or advice, because I don't really know how to express these things."

Twilight pressed her lips together in embarrassment.  She wasn't expecting a full-fledged confession, such as it was.  "I'd say you expressed yourself pretty thoroughly."

"Yeah," Astral agreed, meekly running a hoof through his mane.  "I wasn't planning on saying anything, but Growl was saying I should, and then you basically said I had a chance back at the booth.  I didn't just make things weird for us, did I?"

"No more than usual," she shrugged, "actually, I'm kind of relieved.  We've been dancing around saying it for the last few hours.  To be honest, I think I've been starting to like you since Luna teleported us across Canterlot."

Astral raised an eyebrow.  "We fought in a mud pit, then bickered the entire way back."

Twilight winced.  "Well, yeah.  But you took care of me when I passed out, when you could have just left me behind.  I know the way we met wasn't ideal.  And, it's kind of twisted, but you were the first stallion to challenge me, truly challenge me, as a pony, as an equal, since I became an alicorn."  She sighed.  "Have to admit, it made me happy.  I've had plenty of enemies, one or two rivals, but never anything quite like this.  And the bickering was actually kind of fun."

"You kept me on my hooves," Astral agreed, "that's for sure.  But, by the time we reached the Solomon's Ring, I couldn't tell if we were arguing or flirting half the time."  He shrugged.  "Maybe we're both the same kind of messed up."

"No pony's as messed up as you," interrupted a loud voice, with a gravelly tone likely born of a love of whiskey.  Astral's eyes went wide for a moment, then narrowed in angry recognition as it spoke again.  "That blind girl didn't tell me I was pickin' up an old acquaintance and his filly."

"Excuse me?" Twilight snorted as she and Astral jumped out of their chairs, facing the jacketed pony walking their way.

"Damn," a whistle escaped parched lips, "she's out a' your league boy." The unicorn, dark sandstone in color and mottled with rusty markings, gave Twilight a disconcerting wink with an eye surrounded by scars.  His mane was a little darker than the spots in his dirty fur, but it was hard to tell if that was the natural color, or a result of the grease holding it in place.  "Let me introduce myself-"

Astral didn't give him a chance.  Putting himself between Twilight and the newcomer, he let out an angry snort.  "Why the hell are you here, Patch?"

The dirty stallion rolled his eyes.  "Sure, Astral, shit all over my introduction."  He tugged the collar of his jacket, clinking together dented metal plates sewn to the outside.  "Did I ever do that to you, Beastmaster of Tana'ahklan?"

Twilight stepped out from behind Astral, casting him a confused glance.  "Beastmaster?" She inquired.

Astral shook his head.  "It was a long time ago, but that was one of my nicknames back when I was a bounty hunter."  He glared at Patch.  "There's no point bringing that up."

"No point?!"  The dirty stallion busted out with raucous laughter.  "I bet you ain't told her squat!"  He tried to walk around Astral, to get closer to Twilight, but the grey unicorn grabbed the large metal plate on his back, arresting his progress.  Patch pointed at Astral.  "This grump and me used to be the best o' pals."

"And I," Astral corrected, "and what have you been smoking to be able to say that with a straight face?"

"Aw, that hurts, Plane, old boy."  Patch laid his hoof on Astral's shoulder, leaving a black streak in his otherwise clean fur.  "Why would ya say somethin' so mean?"

Astral scoffed, shooting Twilight a glance that told her his current level of frustration.  Then, he turned back and shouted in Patch's face, "You shot me!"

"With a stunner," the messy stallion offered in defense, patting Astral's shoulder, and leaving two more streaks.

"I was a hundred meters up on a hover bike," Astral reminded him.

Patch shrugged.  "We caught ya, didn't we?"

"No, Coolie caught me.  You and Gutcheck were too busy shooting Fahl Bats to notice that you almost killed me."

"Ah, relax," the dirty stallion admonished, "we all knew that girl wasn't gonna let no harm come to you.  Asides, what ever happened to her?  I would a' thought you'd a' knocked her up by now, given that she was the only thing you took with you when you left Tana."

"I'm not you," Astral growled.  "I know how to back off when a mare says no."

"You're damn right, you ain't me."  Patch snarled back.  "I wouldn't let a little thing like killin' a bounty scare me into runnin' away from my friends!"

"I was banished, Patch!  And you only kept Coolie and me around because we were better trackers and fighters than anypony else you could get your hooves on."

"That's cruel boy, real cruel."  Patch shook his head.  "You two were closer to me than anypony.  Except maybe Gutcheck, but she's a special case.  You know, we went and had a kid."

Astral stepped back suddenly, eyes wide.  "Who did?"

"Me and Gutsy did," Patch answered happily, "who else would I shack up with?"

"Patch," Astral's voice got real quiet, his face twisted into a look of severe social discomfort.  "I, um... I honestly don't know what to say."

"You could try being happy for me," the other unicorn said sadly.  "I mean, really?  An old friend tells you he had a kid, and you look at him like he grew a sixth leg."

"Don't you mean fifth?" Twilight quipped.

Patch gave her a smirk and another wink.  "You're a virgin, ain't ya girl?"

"Patch," Astral warned, "you leave her alone."

"Oh, look who gets all offended for his filly, but acts all disgusted when I talk about mine."

"Patch, she's your cousin!"

Patch poked a hoof at Astral.  "Legally, maybe.  But her ma was cheatin' on my uncle, and he was sterile from his first wife kickin' him in the jewels when she left him for knocking up a couple a' shopkeepers anyway, so technically she ain't."

"I'm gonna go wait over there while you two talk."  Twilight quickly pointed over her shoulder and started walking away.

Astral jumped to stop her.  "Wait!  Don't turn a-"

It was too late.  She had turned her back on them, and Patch's horn lit up with rust-red aura.  A matching wave of energy slapped the alicorn across the flank, earning a yelp as she jumped away from the sudden shock.

Twilight looked back, a pleasant, yet insincere smile on her face.  "Patch, was it?  I don't think we've been formally introduced."

Astral scrambled away from the other unicorn as Twilight's horn lit up, and a wave of violet energy several times larger than Patch's spell tore through the air, tossing him across the room, upending chairs as he crashed through the rows.  People and ponies all around took notice of the disturbance.

With a groan, Patch started pulling himself out of the pile of plastic and metal seats.  Twilight calmly trotted over.  She stood over him, and pulled a chair off of him to get a clear look at his face.  "I am Twilight Sparkle, Princess of Equestria," she said in a calm, formal tone, "I am also a high ranking professor of Luna's Academy, and a class zero mage in all major disciplines.  I am nopony's filly, and I do not tolerate invasions of my personal space.  Do what you just did one more time, and you will spend the rest of your natural lifespan as an earth pony, and a gelding."  She leaned in close to him.  "Do I make myself clear?"

"Crystal," the unicorn whimpered.

"Good."  Twilight marched away from the fallen unicorn.  "Now, from the way you greeted Astral, I take it you are the transportation that Silver hired to bring Astral and me to Tirassa?"

"And I," Patched growled defiantly.

Twilight raised an eyebrow.  "Not in this case.  If I was alone, you would take me to Tirassa, therefore you will be taking Astral and me there."

"Ugh."  He dropped his head in defeat, smacking his horn against a chair and wincing.  "Damn boy, where'd you find this one?"

"She found me," Astral smirked, "and quit calling me boy, you're only two years older than I am."

"Fine!"  Patch groaned.  " Whatever!  I got crew out purchasin' supplies, so we'll leave soon as they're back."  He dragged himself up and started towards the docking tube.  "There's quarters prepped.  Let me make a call, then I'll show you to 'em."

Twilight started following, and Astral trotted up beside her, leaning in to whisper, "I'm starting to rub off on you."

Twilight smiled, keeping her eyes on their guide, making sure he behaved himself.  "You say that like it's a bad thing."





Berry set her pad down on the bed, placing it back among the careful arrangement of two dozen others.  It had been difficult linking them all together and loading them with scan data of the Philomena.  More difficult, had been reprogramming the holographic display engines to run electronics simulations.  Even more difficult than that, had been figuring out the concept of modern currency.

She grasped the numbers just fine, and she understood the basic idea of trading things of equal value.  But why only accept a stand-in for goods and services in trade for goods and services?  What if you don't have any of the stand-in?  It makes barter impossible!

Berry looked over her web of pads.  Luckily, the pony that contacted them from the surface had called again, and she had enough of the shuttle's comm system repaired to maintain an audio connection.  Silver sounded like a nice pony, and once Berry explained who she was, and what she was trying to do, had given her a string of numbers that she could punch in at stores instead of paying.

She used those numbers to purchase these pads, and spent the last hour or so linking and reprogramming them.  Once she was done, she would be able to plan and coordinate the repairs to both the shuttle and the Philomena.

She regarded the pad she just set down.  That one was her favorite.  It was the largest of the bunch, bright pink, waterproof, and had a rubberized, armored casing, meant for heavy use and abuse.  She found it in a section of the store filled with similarly colored clothes for short aliens and smaller ponies than her.  The internal components were crap though.

So, she swapped all the important parts with the best from the other pads.  The antenna, storage, and processors from one, battery and speakers from another, and a dedicated holo-processor and high resolution, full-color projector from a third.  Her last addition was a thermal charging circuit that would allow the pad to charge itself from changes in ambient temperature.  Battery running low?  Just hold it close, and charge it via body heat!

Now she just had to figure out how to fix the coffee maker she scrounged the last parts from.  It wasn't something she had purchased, but an appliance in her temporary quarters.  She probably should have found another source for the thermistor and resistive wire.

Her pad started beeping, and she reached over to tap the screen.  It showed an incoming video call, and Berry excitedly routed it to the holo-projector.  Time for a field test!

A unicorn mare materialized above the bed.  Her dark fur was highlighted by the desk lamp beside her in an otherwise dark room, and showed up in beautiful, crisp detail.  Her hair showed up wonderfully, no artifacting or compression patterning.  And her eyes...  "Oh my gosh, you have such pretty eyes!"

Silver blinked at the comment.  "E-excuse me?"

"Your eyes," Berry repeated, "they're so bright and white.  They're really pretty."

The unicorn chuckled.  Shaking her head slowly.  "Thank you, Berry, I think that's the first time anypony's ever said that to me."  She looked down.  "No, it's the third, but it's still a rare comment.  I bet your eyes are pretty as well.  Could you describe them for me?"

Berry's head tilted to the side.  "Can't you see me?"

"No," Silver answered flatly.

Berry checked her pad, bringing up what was normally buried technical data with a few taps of her hoof.  It showed that the camera was working, and her pad was properly transmitting that data.  "Is your monitor broken?"

The unicorn folded her hooves on the desk in front of her.  "No, Berry.  My eyes are."

The pink pony gasped.  "Really?"

Silver nodded.  "That's why they look the way they do.  I can't see anything."

"Oh," Berry mumbled, quietly looking down, "they're still pretty."

"Thank you, Berry."

Berry suddenly glanced up at the rows of pads and grabbed the nearest one.  With it still off, she held it up in front of her face, angling the screen to get the best light for her reflection.  "My eyes are pink, kind of like the rest of me, but a bit darker, like my mane, instead of like my fur, maybe a little closer to red though.  I think they're a little small, but all of me is, kinda.  My eyelashes aren't very long, but they're really curly.  There's a small scar on my left eyelid from where a spring I was trying to remove from something sprung out and hit me because I slipped with the pliers.  You can barely see it, unless you're really paying attention, but it is there."

Silver smiled again.  "Thank you, Berry.  Not many ponies are comfortable giving that much detail about their appearance to a stranger."

Berry's eyes went wide as she realized something.  "Actually, that reminds me, who are you?"

The unicorn's smile disappeared.  "It's me, Silver.  Don't you recognize my voice?"

"Oh, hi, Silver," Berry responded happily.  "The speakers on the shuttle must have been damaged, because your voice was much more, uh, metallic.  I didn't recognize it, because your real voice is much nicer.  Oh!  And thank you for those numbers earlier, they were really useful."

"You're welcome, Berry, but that's actually the reason I contacted you.  Or, rather, the reason I contacted this pad.  You see, I was contacted by the bank, and I was trying to confirm a purchase.  Did you, by any chance, purchase twenty-five data pads in the last few hours?"

"Nope."  Berry shook her head quickly.  "That's ridiculous.  I only bought twenty-four."

Silver blinked.  She scratched her chin, and for a moment, that was the only movement she made.  When she spoke, it was little more than a mutter.  "She finally bought a pad."  With a smile, Silver spoke a little louder to Berry.  "I'm in a good mood, so I'll assume you have a good reason for needing that many pads."

"Oh, I do," Berry answered quickly.

Silver waited for her to expand on her answer, but when the earth pony remained silent, she slowly sighed, "Good, I guess."  She nodded.  "Just, call me before you purchase anything else.  I gave you Twilight's personal account number because I was paying her bills and had it nearby at the time.  She might not be happy if you go on too much of a spending spree."











With a loud, miserable groan, Twilight collapsed on the lower bunk the moment Astral closed the door to their new quarters.  Luckily, the bedding was clean.  Extremely clean, in fact, the fresh scent of light detergent, and possibly a fabric softener emanated from the sheets.  Actually, the entire room was clean, much cleaner than the common areas of the ship.  Twilight wasn't sure if that should worry her.

The stallion nodded his understanding as he glanced around the small room.  Bunk bed against one wall, table and a filing cabinet against the opposite, and a computer terminal on the third.  Enough room to take two, maybe three steps in any direction. "You OK?"

"Ugh," Twilight threw a hoof in the air, "I thought he was never going to leave.  Thanks to that jerk, I ended up using magic and setting back my recovery time.  And what is up with expecting you to work in the cargo bay?"

Astral sighed and sat on the floor next to the bed.  "Yeah, Patch is a jerk for sure," he muttered in sympathy, "and magical exhaustion can be rough sometimes.  I went through a lot of it back when I took spellcasting classes at the academy.  Too bad there isn't a good remedy for it other than sleeping it off."

Twilight turned and twisted on the mattress until she was able to look at the stallion without having to lift her head.  "Actually, there is..."

"First I've heard of it," Astral responded, looking over.  To his surprise, Twilight had flipped around, and was facing him.  So, he turned around and folded his hooves on the mattresses,letting out a sigh as he rested his head on them.  "So," he deadpanned, "why haven't you written a how to book on it and gotten rich yet?"

Twilight studied the stallion, now that he was closer.  He looked almost as tired as she was, maybe worn down by his interaction with Patch?  Though, come to think of it, not counting their nap in the medical closet, it has been roughly twenty hours since they last slept.  "If it was easy, I probably would have.  There are specific conditions in place that make the process difficult."

"Yeah," Astral yawned, "I should have guessed.  So, what are these conditions?"

Twilight frowned.  He just looked really cute when he yawned.  That was one of the things that got to her when she was with Mac.  Why did she have to find something so simple and common as yawning so irresistibly adorable?  "First, how about you tell me more about Patch?  If we're going to be stuck with him for the next few days, I want to know what we're in for."

Astral shrugged.  "Not mutch to tell, he's a narcissistic asshole, and we were part of the same bounty hunting guild almost a decade ago.  The only things he cares about are money, family, and harassing mares."

"I see," Twilight muttered, "so he's exactly what he seems."

"To a fault," Astral agreed, "he has a weird sense of pride, and as long as I've known him, he's never outright lied to anypony."  Astral frowned suddenly.  "Though, he forgets to say things at convenient times."

The alicorn propped herself up on her forelegs.  "In that case, what did he mean when he said you didn't tell me anything?"

With a groan, Astral pushed himself away from the bed and paced around the small room.  "He's just trying to start something.  My stay on Tana ended badly, and he knows it.  He also knows me well enough to know I don't like to talk about my past."

Twilight nodded.  "I can understand that."  She had so many questions for him, based on things both unicorns said during their conversation.  But if it made him uncomfortable, they could wait.  "I won't press the issue."

"No," Astral sighed, giving his mane a good scratching, "if anypony, you're probably the one who should know, especially if we're gonna be stuck with each other."

She raised an eyebrow.  "That's awfully presumptive."

The stallion's eyes narrowed.  "Huh?"

"Oh, right," Twilight chuckled sheepishly, "stuck with each other for the mission.  Got it."

"Yeah, what did you think I-"  Astral trailed off as he put the pieces together.  "Oh, you thought I meant, um..."

"Sorry," Twilight quickly waved it off, "my mistake.  Please don't worry about it.  But just so you know, I'm only twenty-five, I've got plenty of time before I'm stuck with anything."

Astral frowned at the comment.  "Yeah, and I bet you have an age reversal spell worked out, just in case."

"Says the stallion pushing thirty," Twilight countered, smirking.  "Twenty-eight, you said?  Plus change, that means less than two years until the big three-zero."

"Oh yeah?" Astral demanded, hopping up on the bed with a smile as Twilight sat up.  "Well-" His well thought retort died in his throat as something came to mind.  His gaze drifted off, and he brought his hoof to his mouth as he concentrated.  "Wait..."

Twilight's head tilted to the side.  She was already working out the next insult, why'd he stop?  "What is it?"

Astral looked up.  "What planet's year are you using?"

"Canterlot, now," came the immediate reply, "but the year is only fourty-six hours short of an Equestrian year, so there isn't much of a difference in the grand scheme of things.  Why?  which one did you use?"

"Uh," the stallion's snout scrunched up as he tried to recall, "a bunch?"

"Huh?"  Twilight blinked.  " What is that supposed to mean?"

Astral chewed his lip for a second.  "You have your new pad, right?"

"Yeah, hold on."  Twilight unzipped her jacket so she could access an inside pocket.

Astral raised an eyebrow, smirking.  "You could at least buy me dinner first."

Twilight stopped, hoof just about to reach in the jacket, expression souring as she processed the comment.  She leveled a glare at the stallion, and removed her jacket completely.  "I want you to know, what I'm about to do, I do out of principle."

His smirk disappeared.  "Uh-oh."

Twilight lunged forward, launching a slap at Astral's snout.  He batted it away, noticing something odd.  It wasn't fast enough, and she wasn't putting any real force into it.  With a laugh, he batted away the next slap.  Twilight shared in the laughter, and launched one last playful slap.

Astral didn't bat this one away.  Instead, he caught it.  And Twilight turned sideways, taking advantage of his occupied hooves by flicking him in the the snout with a wing tip.

Astral let go of her hooves and grabbed his snout.  "Alright," he groaned, "you win this round."

Twilight giggled as she reached for her jacket.  "We were just arguing about age, and now we're playing like a couple of foals."  She tilted the garment upside down in front of her, emptying the interior pocket she had unzipped.  A quill, a parchment wrapped with a single red ribbon, and a clattering bag of-

Astral grabbed the small item that just dropped to the bed.  "Are these marbles?"  He opened the little satchel and tilted it into his hoof.  Inside were a mix of colorful glass marbles, gems, wooden dice, pumpkin seeds, sunflower seeds, and ball bearings, and other tiny knick-knacks.  He dumped them back in the bag and closed it up.  "I don't even want to know."

"I'll show you once my magic recovers," Twilight said with almost giddy pride.

"Can't wait to show off, huh?"  Astral grabbed the parchment next.  "You know, I'm going to be really disappointed if you just launch the things like bullets."

"Don't worry," Twilight gave a cat-like grin, "I'm not that boring."

Astral stared at her for a moment, then shook his head.  "Nah, it'd be too easy."  He looked down at the parchment, undid the gold medallion's magnetic clasp, and unrolled it as the red ribbon fell away.  "Let's see..."

Twilight dropped to her belly, head propped up on her hooves as Astral picked up the quill in his magic.  "You know," she told him, "if I knew you could get pads like this, I would have bought one years ago."

"I thought you might like it."  Astral tapped the soft, stubby business end of the quill to the parchment's surface, and the electronic ink display came to life, playing a startup video that made it look like ink had splashed from the quill and was being absorbed across the page.  "Say what you want about dragon tech, they make some badass versions of everyday items."

"Yeah," Twilight nodded slowly, staring at the ribbon that had fallen to the bed, "I guess."

Astral glanced up.  "Something wrong?"

Twilight shook her head.  "Just remembering a good friend.  Back to what were you doing?"

"Ok," Astral glanced down at the drawings that appeared on the page, and started tapping around with the quill.  "You know," he added quietly, "if you ever need to talk about anything, I can be convinced to listen without giving you a hard time."

She glanced up as he started scribbling with the stylus.  If nothing else, her echo was right in thinking Astral was a good pony.  "I might take you up on that someday."

Astral offered a brief smile, which faded before he spoke again.  "Watch out, I might expect you to return the favor."

"Only fair."  Twilight looked back down at the notes and equations Astral was writing.  "So, what is this?"

"Well," Astral's voice jumped in pitch as he scratched his head, "I'm not exactly sure how old I am anymore.  See, I, um, up through sixteen, I used the Serus Callender to determine my age.  That's three hundred and thirty-seven days in a year."

"That makes you," Twilight thought for a second, "fourteen and a half in Canterlot years?"

He shook his head in disagreement, then pointed at the next equation.  "Shorter day.  Makes me thirteen.  But then I worked on a farm on Gorai II for one of their years."

"Really?" Twilight laughed.  "What would you do on a farm?"

"Lots of stuff," Astral replied defensively, "my dad ran a farm on Serus."

"Huh?"  Twilight looked up.  "I thought you said he ran cargo."

Astral looked up as well.  "Where do you think the cargo came from?"

"Oh."  The alicorn shrugged.

"Anyway," Astral pointed back down the important thing is that Gorai is a slow revolution planet in the dragon territories.  It has one day for each of its years, which is seven hundred and sixty three Canterlot days long."

"Then, by the time you were fifteen, it all evened out?"

Astral sighed.  "But then after working on convoys for a few months, I spent several years on Tana, which has a shorter year than Serus did, a year on Lunara, Two on hoofton, a year running cargo in the Sol system, earth and mars mostly, then back to hoofton.  And I switched calendars each time I changed systems.  And then, I switched back to the Serus calendar when I starting making intersystem cargo runs again, right up until three months ago when I returned to Hoofton, switched to their calendar again, bought the Philomena, and started using her computer's calendar."

"Hoo boy," Twilight brought a hoof to her forehead, "Astral, why would you do that?"

Astral struggled to come up with an answer, but ended up shrugging.  "I have no clue.  It must have made sense at the time, but now it's just a mess."

Twilight pointed at the parchment.  "You forgot to carry the two here."

Astral quickly made the correction, muttering as he went.  "makes that nine an eleven, carry the one, an this changes this, this and here."

Astral continued making changes until he was satisfied.  The moment the quill stopped moving, Twilight grabbed it, and started working his equations back, substituting certain values.

"What are you doing?" He asked, watching her carefully and reading her upside down numbers.  Every so often, she pulled up a general reference app, closing it once she gleaned some piece of data from the search function, and returning to her notes.

"You might be satisfied with a rough number, but I'm not.  I'm guessing you don't have the exact dates you switched calendars, but I just want to be a little more..." She trailed off.  "Wait, why are we doing this?  What was your birth date and year by the Serus Calendar?"

"Fifth of harvest, fifty-four P.C." he answered quickly.

Twilight checked one last thing in the reference app, made some final scribbles, then circled her result, tossing the quill down.  "There, hah!"  Her head tilted.  " Huh."

Astral looked down at the number she circled.  "Wait a minute, that's only-"

"Yep," she interrupted him with a smile, "Astral, your birthday is in three weeks, and you're turning twenty-six."

"Huh."  He scratched his mane as he considered it.  He was two years younger than he thought.  As long as you count it by Canterlot time. "I expect a nice gift."

Twilight cleared the screen after saving the notes, then started rolling up the electronic parchment.  "Hmm..."  She stuffed it back in the jacket.  She did the same with the quill-shaped stylus and bag of trinkets.  "Too bad my birthday was two months ago."  She held up the jacket.  "You pick out good gifts."

"So?"  Astral shifted over and leaned against the wall.  "Mine's coming up."

She stared at him for a moment.  "How does that help if I want a gift?"

Astral pushed away from the wall, straightening up.  "Everypony gets gifts on a birthday," he said with some confusion.

Twilight could help but giggle.  "You're saying that the birthday pony gives everypony else gifts?"

"Yeah," Astral answered cautiously, "that's kind of the point.  You might get one gift from everypony as a group, then maybe a personal gift or two from somepony close.  But for the most part you're expressing your gratitude to those around you, for their contribution to your life over the previous year.  As well as expressing your hope that they will continue to be a part of your life."

Twilight's laughter slowly subsided, but her smile stuck.  "That's beautiful, Astral, but please tell me there's still a cake."

To Twilight's horror, he scratched his mane.  "What's a cake?"

Her smile fell faster than a satellite knocked out of orbit.  "You can't be serious."

Biting back a smile, Astral shrugged.  "We grew up in different cultures, Twi, and I didn't know yours existed until recently."  He frowned, sadly, desperately hiding the fact that he was inches away from exploding with laughter as he lied through his teeth.  "You can't expect me to know every obscure ritual you remember, if any at all."

"What?  But, a cake isn't a ritual," Twilight protested, "it's a type of-"

"No."  Astral held up a hoof, tears forming in his eyes as he bit his lip.  This shouldn't be so easy.  "I'm sorry.  All this talk of birthdays is bringing up bad memories.  If you want to, you can incorporate your customs into my birthday, including this cake thing.  It would actually mean a lot to me to learn more about your culture."

Twilight gave a determined nod.  "I will.   I promise, this will be a birthday to remember.  I'll incorporate Equestrian customs, both from Ponyville and Old Canterlot.  And I want to learn more about your culture as well."

Astral nodded, a soft chuckle slipping out.  "That's so sweet of you.  I'll do my best to teach you what I can."

Twilight smiled warmly, and Astral returned it, still fighting his own face for control over his expression.  That honest, sincere look on her face though, it just wasn't fair!  He turned away, and hopped off the bed.  He wouldn't be able to maintain his composure if he kept eye contact too much longer.

Twilight hopped out of bed beside him.  "Astral, is something wrong?"

"No."  Astral took a deep breath and sighed.  He was almost back under control.  "It's just...  I want to be fully rested if I have to work a shift in the cargo bay tomorrow.  I'm going to see if it was part of Silver's arrangement, or if I can get out of it first, but just in case, I should probably get to sleep."

Twilight nodded.  She was more than a little tired herself, but wouldn't mind staying up to talk a little longer.  She watched Astral for a moment.  She never really thought about it before, but he was really easy to talk to.  His quick wit made conversations interesting, and they had a surprising number of things in common.  Chief among those was that both of them knew what it was like to lose their entire planet.

Twilight glanced back at the bunk bed.  It was then that she noticed there was no ladder.  There was a bracket for one, and the bolts were hanging in the holes.  It had been removed, and judging by the scuffs on the floor below, it was removed recently.  Most likely Patch's last attempt at revenge, forcing them to share the lower bunk.

She couldn't stop the smug grin that showed on her face.  Patch didn't know she had wings.  But, it made her think.  She and Astral had taken the first steps towards a relationship.  These sort of things would eventually come up.

Eventually.  It was way too soon to even consider it.  But, back on Equestria, she had been a princess, a public figure, responsible for maintaining a certain level of decorum, tradition, and discression.  It would have been, as one of her friends would put it, absolutely scandalous if she were to share a bed with a stallion she hadn't married.

Nopony would care now.  Hell, she already slept next to him once.  She could do it again, and there would be no consequences.  They could do more than sleep, and nopony would care.  Not that it was going to happen anytime soon.

But, she reminded herself, it might, someday.

She looked back at Astral.  He shook his head silently, eyes closed as he worked the muscles in his mouth.  He was fighting to keep his expression neutral, as Twilight watched sadly.

He was a stallion with pain in his past.  He was used to being alone, and even if he wasn't alone anymore, he was used to dealing with things on his own.  She could sympathize.  Old habits like that weren't going to change themselves overnight.  Should she offer to listen?  Would he take her up on it?

Deciding against it, she walked over, sat next to him, and did the only other thing she could think of to comfort him.  She gave him a hug, like he had done that night on Picus, like he had done when she accidentally turned out the lights back in medical.

She felt him freeze as she pressed her face into the side of his neck, as she wrapped her hooves around him.  She heard his gasp of surprise.

"T-Twi," came the unsteady whisper, unsure, questioning.

"Shh," she she admonished as she tightened her grip slightly.  She felt him relax into the embrace, even return it.  His hoof hooked around the back of her shoulders, brushing against the soft sensitive down and fur at her wing-joints, before pulling her closer to him.

She shivered, despite the warmth.  Chest to chest, pressed together like they were, she could feel the rise and fall of each breath.  She didn't move.  For long seconds, she stayed still.  She held him there, even as he leaned his head down, and she began to feel those breaths against her mane.

She gripped him even tighter, burying her snout into the base of his neck with a soft sigh.  He shuddered as hot breath spread through his fur, and she closed her eyes as she inhaled his scent.

He sat down, pulling her back with him.  His hoof slipped up to the back of her neck, and she felt his other hoof wrap around her to make up for it.  Lower on her back, but without pinning her wings to her sides.  Which was good, because as his hoof started to stroke down her back,  she could feel muscles loosen and feathers start to unfold against her will.

She didn't care at this point.  She felt him lean in a little closer, nuzzling his snout through her mane.  The hot wind of his breath started to fall on the back of her neck.  She tensed up.  She wrapped her wings around him, giving him clear access to her back as the soft stroking became more erratic.  As he continued to muzzle through her mane, he started pressing harder on her back, pulling her closer and closer to him.

She sighed into his neck again.  He was strong for a unicorn, not that she ever expected to learn that about him in quite this way.  His hoof kept pulling tighter, and his snout more insistent against her.

If he kept pulling her like this, they would end up on the floor.  From there, who knew what would happen.  If he went too far, she didn't think she would want to say no.  He could probably suggest they take this to the bed right now, and she wouldn't say no.

She lifted her head a little, slowly opening her eyes as she returned the affectionate nuzzling.  A little lock of blue hair hung there in front of her, and she gave it a nibble, almost like it was a bit of grass.  He stiffened up at the unexpected tug, hoof freezing on her back.

In one small move, she had turned the tables on him.  She gave another tug, a little higher up, working her way to his ear.  He stopped pulling her, but she made up for it by pressing herself to him.

His hoof started moving again, gently tracing the leading edge of her wing.  She pulled one hoof back, tracing along the side of his neck, and up to his cheek as she nuzzled and nibbled her way up the other.  She pulled back a little, laying her muzzle just shy of his ear.  "Astral?" she  whispered, breathless, and panting.

He pulled his head back quickly, looking her in the eyes.  His surprise showed on his face, and he was breathing as heavily as she was.  But he remained silent, face flushed.  Leaning back like he was, it would be so easy for her to step forward right now, putting him on his back beneath her.

But, what would she do after that?

She looked away, realization setting in.  So much for not happening anytime soon.  "I, um..."  She had lost herself in the moment, the sheer physicality of it.  Her wings quickly folded themselves.  "Astral, I..."

The stallion regained his composure faster than she did, even if the red hadn't completely left his face.  He shuffled back and stood up, clearing his throat.

Twilight looked back at him, and he caught her in another hug, careful, delicate, and much less intimate.  A single hoof around her shoulder, a chin beside her horn, and a few soft pats.  "Good night, Twi."

The alicorn smiled and rested a hoof on his leg.  He was purposely keeping the distance between their bodies, and she wasn't going to jeopardize that.  Her heart was pounding again just from this little touch.  She wasn't sure she could stop herself a second time if things went any further.  "Thank you, Astral."

He pulled away, offering a shrug and a nervous chuckle.  "Like I said, you gotta buy me dinner first."

Twilight's face went bright red.  

Astral saw the reaction to his joke, and winced.  "Sorry, that wasn't as funny as I thought it would be."

"I was just trying to cheer you up," she mumbled, staring at the floor.

"It worked," Astral responded quickly, "it definitely worked."

"Ok, great," Twilight answered just as fast, eager to turn around and break eye contact, "good night then, and see you in the morning."

"Right, good night."

Astral turned towards his bunk, and Twilight flew up to hers.  He switched off the light, and she retrieved her jacket.  Both ponies were still thoroughly flushed from what transpired, both still embarrassed by how far it almost progressed.  And as they each climbed into bed, and pulled the covers over themselves in awkward silence, they each came to a realization.

"There is no way in hell I'm going to be able to sleep after that."

Twilight chewed her lip for a moment.  She wasn't satisfied with leaving things like this.  "Hey, Astral," she whispered through the bunk, "are you asleep?"

"No," came the quiet answer, "we climbed into bed less than a minute ago."

"Right."  Twilight peeked over the side.  It was dark, but she could make out Astral's shape as he laid there.  When he glanced up at her, she asked him, "what happened on the Philomena after I left?"













Mica held out his plasma rifle.  "Happy Birthday, Ma'am."

Growl looked at the weapon, then shot her deputy a dirty look.  "Even if I celebrated it, I don't know when my birthday is."

He pulled the weapon back, since it was clear she didn't want it.  "I know, it was a joke.  I figured that after everything that happened, you of all people could use a laugh."

With a sigh, she sat down, turning her eyes on the ship taking up most of the cargo bay.  Somehow, it was even more damaged than last time she saw it.  "I'm sorry, Mica.  You just picked a sore spot there."

The human pulled over a crate so he could sit down as well.  "What, the birthday thing?  I say that every time I hand you something.  It's never bothered you before."

She nodded.  "I know, but now it does."

"Well, whatever, boss."  He shrugged.  "I know you'll tell me when you're ready to.  James came by yesterday and did a sweep of the ship before the rest of us got here to secure things, but scanners still show three remaining.  Sure you don't want the rifle?"

With a laugh, she shook her head.  "No, I'm good."  After a moment of silence, she glanced back up.  "How many were there before James came through?"

"Eight ma'am."  Mica shrugged.  "He was complaining about being cooped up all the time."

"Of course he was," Growl laughed, "that man has never learned how to sit still, and he never will."  With a sigh, she looked up at Mica.  "You know what?  Go ahead and clear the ship.  Thank you for alerting me to the situation, but use it as a training experience for some of the newer guards.  Build their confidence a little.  Subdue the surviving creatures and deliver them, alive if possible, to the Planetary Defense Labs for analysis."

With that, she marched off towards the exit.

Mica stared in stunned silence.  Did his boss just decline to fight?  This was a historic first occasion, the sort of thing you mark on a calendar.  "What- I mean, if I may ask, what will you be doing instead?"

She smirked as she entered the lift and turned around. Before the doors closed, she shrugged.  "I'm going back to bed."
> Where?  Behind the Pony?  It is the Pony!
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------

Three days later.

"Last one!  Ready on those ropes!"  Astral braced his shoulder against the massive cage and started pushing.  "Heave!"

The three other ponies lined up beside him pushed as well.  The cage, five times as tall as any of them, and a little larger wide and deep, squealed on damaged casters.  With their combined efforts, it slowly inched towards a track along the wall.  Two more ponies guided five heavy ropes so they wouldn't entangle anypony as they dragged along behind the cage.

Once it reached, Astral and the others backed away.  "Lock it down!" the grey unicorn shouted.

A young pegasus, maybe seventeen, who had been sitting idly by, chatting with the two armed ponies seated at the cargo Bay's entrance,  flew up to the top of the cage.  Once there, he busied himself with latching together the mechanical arms that would tether the cage to the track.  It took longer than it should.  He cursed at the one mechanical arm that stuck in place, smacking it with his hoof until it latched onto the cage's transport hook.

Once that was complete, a much older pegasus with similar colors flew up and checked it out, testing each joint.  Once he was satisfied, he gave Astral a quick salute with his wing before flying down.  The younger pegasus didn't follow.

Astral motioned him down.  "You can ride it after we finish the transfer."

The colt looked back at the track.  On one side, there was a docking port, leading to a much nicer, newer cargo ship awaiting the last of a delivery.  On the other side was another cage, one of a series of them integrated along the cargo bay wall.  And, the only one not currently empty.

The creature within was long and lithe, canine in form but for two long tentacles trailing from its jawline.  Its body was covered in glistening bronze scales, as mobile as fur, rippling in the light with every breath it took.  It watched, still as death in its cage.  Golden eyes, narrowed in anger, focused on the loudest of its captors.

"Why?" the colt asked, "It's not like that thing can get out, and we've already loaded seven of them."

Astral sighed.  "Fine," he motioned to the older pegasus, who hit a switch to move the cage along the track, "you can ride it over, but you are not staying on top of there during the transfer.  That is an alpha female Tana'bin snake-wolf.  The subservient males we already loaded are prills in comparison."

"It's just a dumb animal," the colt scoffed.  "What's it gonna do, pick the lock?"

Astral shook his head.  "You're worse than Radio."  He grabbed the colt by the mane, and dragged him off the cage, forcing him to flap his wings to keep from falling.  He pulled him down to the floor, and away from the cage.  "You wanna get yourself killed," he glared at the colt, "do it when I'm not in charge."  He pointed at the old pegasus.  "Go wait next to your grandfather, and stay out of the way."

The colt slunk away as Astral turned his gaze on the Snake-wolf.  Its tentacles twitched, but it made no other movement.

"He's meaner 'n the captain," the colt muttered when he reached his grandfather.

"No, he ain't," the old pegasus answered with a laugh.  He scratched his greying beard with a wingtip.  "First, he's right, he is in charge now, so don't talk back.  Second, he's protectin' us all right now.  That beast ain't a mindless dog like the others.  Look at her, watchin' us work.  She knows who's in charge.  In her mind, he's the one responsible for bein' in that there cage.  Should she get loose, she's goin' after him first."

The colt glanced back at Astral.  He kept eye contact with the snake-wolf as he shouted orders, and there was no fear in either set of eyes.  To the colt, Astral's expression was unreadable, cold awareness.  But the monster's eyes clearly conveyed its anger.  "Gramps, who is this guy?  He's not even crew, why would the captain put him in charge of all this?"

The old pegasus smirked.  "Ya know those bedtime stories I used to tell ya?  Ya had a favorite, right?"

"Yeah!" The colt answered enthusiastically, his question forgotten for the chance to talk about his personal hero, "Yardrin!  Because he was real, and a total bad-ass.  He was only my age when he became a hunter, and he quickly became one of the best.  It was even rumored he was part monster himself.  He was also the first pony ever to decline initiation into the Order of Tamers.  Then, he was exiled, and nopony really knows why.  Some say he-"

Whap!!  The old pegasus slapped his descendant across the back the head with his wing.  "If ya paid that much attention in school, ya wouldn't be working here!

The colt grabbed his head.  "So I like history better 'n science, it's not a crime!"

"Celebrity gossip ain't history," the elder retorted.

"Whatever."  The now pouting colt looked away.  "Why even ask me about the Yardrin?"

"You said nopony knows what really happened."  The old pony leaned in, whispering like the mutineers of old, "he does."

"Really?"  The colt's voice dropped to match his grandfather's whispers, though his excitement steamed higher.  "He was there?  He saw the Yardrin get exiled?"

Hoof met face as the grandfather let out a long miserable groan.  "I work my flank off for decades," he mumbled, "raising my boy to be a doctor.  And he repays me by raising this?"  He stomped the hoof down.  "He is the Yardrin!  Beastmaster of Tana'ahklan!  Hero of Jegoyo square!"

"I wasn't a hero," Astral said calmly.  His eyes never left the Snake-wolf.  "It was a long time ago.  I was young, stupid, and reckless.  And I wish everypony would just stop bringing it up."  He glanced back.  "And keep it down, you're agitating her."

"Looks the same to me," the colt offered.

Astral nodded slowly.  "We've already established that you know nothing, and need to shut up.  This just confirms it."

The colt opened his mouth to reply, but his grandfather beat him to it.  "My daughter in law was there, at Jegoyo square."

The colt forgot about Astral's slight against him, and focused on his grandfather.  "Mom was?  Her... her accident, it was really..."

"She was shopping," the grandfather shrugged, "picked the wrong market, got hurt by a monster.  Could have been worse.  She could have been killed, but she told me about a hunter that ran into the swarm, with nothing but a stick to save everypony."

Astral scratched the back of his neck.  "Um, shotgun, not stick."

"I could have never been born," the colt breathed in realization.  "If mom had died..."  He looked up at Astral.  "I owe you my life."

The unicorn frowned.  "Um..."

"Hey moron!" Shouted another worker.  "That was ten years ago!  You're seventeen!"

The colt went red in the face as his coworkers bust into laughter.  But, he was granted reprieve almost immediately.  The click of a relay ended all laughter.

Astral spun around, magic swirling white around his horn as he crafted a pencil sized cylinder from the glowing aether.  "Who did that?"  He demanded, keeping his voice normal volume.

All eyes were on the Snake-wolf, ears perked at the sudden change in atmosphere.  It started to look around, the most it had moved in nearly an hour.  All eyes, pseudo-canine and pony, settled on the door of the cage, the door that had just popped open.

"Somepony, please tell me the transport cage is locked in place."

"Negative," came an almost whispered answer, "the actuators aren't responding.  I'm going to try locking the main cage again."

Astral's eyes went wide at that last suggestion.  "Wait, don't!"

It was too late.  The pony at the control panel had flipped the switch to run the main cage lockdown procedure.  Only, the door didn't lock in place like it was supposed to.  It groaned and clicked in place, faulty mechanisms making a terrible grinding noise until they shut themselves off with the loud click of the locking relays.

The Snake-wolf stared at the door.  So much noise!  It stood up slowly, taking cautious sniffs at the sudden change in its environment.

"Ready on the ropes," Astral ordered calmly.  "Tranq team, stand by.  Fire if it gets close to anypony besides me."

The two guards, standing at attention since the sudden shift in tone, answered in unison.  "Yes, sir."  One crouched in place, shouldering his weapon, the other headed for higher ground, climbing the ladder to the top of the feed storage before taking up a similar stance.

"Good, good, get the transport cage open."  Astral motion to the team on the ropes, once the transport pen's door started lifting.  Five ponies started pulling, and the transport pulled closer to the main cage.  They were less than half a meter apart, but they couldn't leave any gap for the beast to-

The Snake-wolf charged forward, ramming the door to the cage.  The impact sent the main door open, and shoved the transport cage back by several meters.  The poor ponies on the ropes cried out in pain as their hooves suffered friction burns from the speed of the line's pull.  One lost a tooth as the knotted end whipped across his face.

One earth pony, his grip on the rope tighter than his grip on the floor, was yanked towards the gap between cages.  That gap where the now enraged Snake-wolf was recovering from the impact.

Astral ran forward as the bristling mass of scales turned it's head towards the dazed earth pony.  After a deep breath, he blew into the magic rod he created.  The warbling, whistling noise that escaped it was faint to pony ears, but it froze the Snake-wolf in place.

It howled in pain, giving Astral time to pull the earth pony up.  He stared blankly at the unicorn, blood dripping from where his head hit the floor of the cargo bay.

"Run!" Astral shouted at him, hoping the simple command, and a shove in the right direction would get through to him.

It did, and he stumbled away, but the Snake-wolf regained it's senses faster.  It lunged for him and Astral, aiming to scarf down both in one swoop.

Its jaw snapped shut, teeth gnashing together on open air just short of Astral's head.  Snarling, splattering the unicorn with foul-smelling spittle, the Snake-wolf stepped back.  Its mouth twitched as it gagged on the magic grasping the scent-sensing tendrils lining its throat.

Astral gripped the sensitive cilia and twisted.  The Snake-wolf vomited as it retreated, a vile golden substance that sizzled on contact with air.  Astral forced the creature back towards the holding cage, it's door fully open and waiting.

"Whap!!"

One of the Snake-wolf's tentacles lashed out, striking Astral across his front right quarter.  He staggered back.  His concentration broke, like the skin at the center of the large welt rising across the side of his neck, and he lost his grip on the beast's scent tendrils.

Roaring, the Snake-wolf snapped at him again, and Astral lunged forward, under the jaws that wanted to tear him in two.  He reared up. He buried his horn into the soft flesh behind its chin, just before the monster's throat.  And as it reared back, howling in pain, he blew into his whistle with every last bit of air he could summon.  It cowered as he desperately worked his lungs.  The Snake-wolf retreated from the sound, and straight into the back of the transport cage.

The transport gate slammed down, and so did the whistle.  It hit the floor and shattered into shards of light, as if it was made from luminant glass, then faded away.  Astral fell to his haunches, light-headed from the expended air and magic, shaking from the adrenaline.  "Is it locked?" he asked as he gasped for air.

"Locked!"  Answered the pegasus colt, helping his grandfather at the console.  "Secure and ready for transfer procedure."

"Then do it!"  Astral stood up with a groan.  "I am through dealing with these things."

"Yes, si-" The colt glanced back, and what he saw froze the words in his throat.  He turned back, focusing on the console.  "He really is the Yardrin," he whispered to his grandfather.

"Of course he is, you dolt," the grandfather whispered back.  "Do you know any other pony that changes like that when facing a monster?"
> I Made Her an Offer She Quickly Refused
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------

"You want to what?" Growl asked slowly, not quite believing what she heard.

"I want to buy a cargo bay," Berry happily repeated, bouncing in her chair on the far side of Growl's desk.  She was wearing her bandolier, and it was stuffed with tools, parts, and broken pieces of household items.  "Preferably the one the Philomena is in now, but it could be any of them that will hold her.  And opens to space, obviously.  Oh, and has mainline access to the station's power systems."

"That's what I thought you said," the older earth pony replied with a nod.  "Luckily for you, I'm in a very good mood after last night.  No way in hell."

"Why not?" Berry whined.  "Maybe, 'buy,' is too strong of a word.  I don't want to keep it, I just want to borrow it for a little while, and not get stopped when I try to open the access panels for station utilities.  Rent!  That's what I want to do, I want to rent the cargo bay."

Growl sighed.  "You already have access to power and data systems via dozens and dozens of ports on the wall.  I can get a tech to install a specific type if there's a compatibility issue, but that's already being more than generous, considering that you've already asked me to install more lights, a manipulator field, and two dozen storage cabinets."

"Hmm..."  Berry's mouth twisted in concentration as she considered the other pony's words.  "What if I... paid for it?"

Growl laughed, short and harsh.  "With what?  That credit account your friend gave you?  I heard you've been on a shopping spree, but I doubt you have enough funds to cover what I should be billing you."  With a shrug, she added, "your friend did save this station, so I'll do what I can, but... do you have any sort of end goal in mind here?  Any sort of limit?  Any way for me to know how much you're going to ask for?"

"Hmm..."  Berry scratched her chin.  "Nope."  Then she pulled a small pad from the largest pocket of the bandolier.  "I honestly don't know exactly what it's going to take to finish the repairs to the Philomena, but I will once I get the computer back online.  To do that, I need more data access than a port will allow."

Growl shook her head.  "Our systems are pretty old.  The ports we have in place account for that, bypassing them could disrupt some of our systems.  I might be able to schedule you for more access during an off-peak time, and take down the weather simulation in the commissary for a few hours.  Give me a breakdown of the data requirements, and I'll see what I can do."

Berry offered her the pad, setting it on the edge of the desk before sliding it over.  "It might be easier if I just fixed these for you.  And I can make certain upgrades that might help as well."

"Huh?"  Growl switched on the pad.  Her weary eyes flew open wide as the itemized manifest for secure storage bay two popped up on screen.  Highlighted, were two defunct computer cores, being held until their crystal components could be properly wiped and disposed of.  "How the hell did you get ahold of this?"

"You say, 'hell,' a lot," Berry pointed out.

"And why the hell shouldn't I?!"  Growl let out an angry snort as she started navigating through the pad.  "What the hell?  You've tapped into our root file directory, tunneled through the guest interface, you bypassed all our security systems, and-"  Growl checked her own pad, then hung her head.  "You gave yourself a publicly visible admin account."

Berry shrugged.  "I needed a-"

"What the hell?!"  Growl shouted her interruption.  "Why would you-  How would you-  You hack our system, avoid all detection, and then you just slap your name up on a list that everyone sees when they boot up a terminal?"

"I was going to add a profile picture too," Berry explained, "but I didn't like the lighting in my quarters."

Growl rubbed her face, pulling it in all different directions as she debated whether pulling a patch of fur out would make this more or less painful.  "Ok!"  She slammed her hooves down on the table.  "Here's the deal."

"Mhm?" Berry nodded, listening intently.

"This is a space station."

Berry nodded again.

"It's basically a self contained city, but it's treated more like an independent country."

Another nod.

"It has its own laws, system of government, and so forth."

"Understanding so far," Berry said with a smile.

"You just breached the security of an entire nation, gained unauthorized access to data regarding the operation of an entire city.  Most places would throw you in prison for that, at the very least."

Berry blinked.  "Ohh," she said slowly, "so it's like a ship's computer?"

Growl raised an eyebrow, surprised at the utter lack of a reaction to the mention of prison.  "In what way?"

"You have to ask the captain before you modify it."  Berry raised a hoof, pointing it at Growl.  "But, it's gotta be the captain of the ship you want to modify."

Growl dropped her face to the desk.  "My head hurts," she muttered.  "Where are you from?  How do you not know that you shouldn't hack other ponies' computers?  Or that you should at least try to hide it?"

"Well, I'm from Sevus," Berry answered.  "And I guess, 'cause Granpa never told me."

Growl lifted her head slightly.  "Sevus?  Never heard of it."  She grabbed her own pad from the drawer and looked it up.  "A small colony on the outskirts of the Taro cluster, sister colony of the destroyed planet Serus," she read out loud, slowing to a halt as she read the next part, "known for its complete rejection of technology...  how...  what?"

"The hell?" Berry offered helpfully.

That earned a glare.  "Let me get this straight.  You came from a planet with no technology, and yet you are some sort of computer genius?"

The young earth pony blushed.  "Aww, thanks.  Granpa taught me everything he knew, so I'm pretty good with anything electronic."

"Uh-huh."  Growl brought up a schematic on her pad, the results of a recent scan.  "Well, if you're so good with electronics, what is this?  And can you give me any clues to who made it?"

Berry leaned forward, stretching her neck to see the screen as Growl held out the pad.  She grabbed it once she got a good look.  "This is..."  Berry shook her head.  "It can't be, he never finished it."

"You've actually seen this before?" Growl prodded.  She was hoping for some little bit of insight before she sent it off for analysis, but it looked like Berry might be able to give her far more than that.  "What is it?"

Berry looked up at her.  "It's a bio-mechanical interface meant to translate a neural connection into reliable mechanical controls.  It allows a pony to control artificial limbs without the need for intensive surgery, or fragile biological grafts.  Its main advantage over conventional methods is that it's also expandable, and can be used to control just about any machine."  She looked back at the pad.  "This is how that pony was controlling those construction drones, wasn't it?"

Growl nodded.  "I'm trying to figure out where she may have gotten this, and if it's possible that other criminals are using similar technology."

"I don't know."  Berry shook her head.  "This has been modified from the original design."  Berry pointed at several components.  "These would have to replace a portion of the pony's brain.  Unless it was already damaged, you would lose your memories, personality, everything."

"At one point, this pony was a pilot with no family and severe brain damage stemming from a crash," Growl explained.  "Perfect candidate for testing something like this.  And, it sounds like you know who made this."

Berry sighed.  "I'm not sure who made this one, but this is Granpa's design.  Only, he never finished it."

"Berry, this is incredibly advanced medical technology.  Just who was your grandfather?"

Berry shrugged.  "I don't really know.  He never told me about things that happened before I was born."  With a sigh, she added, "I only ever heard his full name a few times.  Grandma always just called him Grin."

"And his full name?"

"Grinparch Norland."

Growl felt a chill run down her spine, and she caught her hoof moving for the stunner she kept hooked under her desk.  She clicked the silent alarm instead, but kept her hoof near the weapon just in case.  "Berry, please take off your tool belt."

"Uh, ok," the pink pony muttered in confusion.  She shimmied her way out of the bandolier and dropped it on the floor.  "Is this going to help me get that cargo bay?"

"I'm afraid not."  Growl frowned.  This didn't feel right.  It was standard procedure for security forces across the galaxy to detain anypony with ties to Grinparch Norland, and to deliver them to the nearest planetary authority.  But, this pony, who helped save them, openly admitted to being his grand-daughter?  "Berry, where is your grandfather?"

Berry looked down at the floor.  "With grandma," she said sadly, "the cough took both of them.  I'm the only one who got better."

He was dead?  Growl brought a hoof to her chin.  It was long suspected that something had happened to him, especially since his original group had disbanded.  "Berry, who is in charge now?"

The pink pony's head tilted to the side.  "Huh?"  She looked so confused.  "You are, duh.  Is this a trick question?  Because, if it is, um, the answer would be something like, the citizens of station?  Because you really work for them, even though you can order them around?"

Growl sighed, and brought her hoof away from her concealed weapon.  "Berry, by now, there is a fully armed response team outside the door."

She glanced back.  "Why?  Seems like a silly place for them."

With another sigh, Growl continued, "they are ready to take you into custody if necessary."

"Oh," Berry's ears drooped.  "I guess negotiating isn't my strong suit.  I'll stop bothering you about the cargo bay."

"The cargo bay?"  Growl shook her head.  "No, that's not...  Berry, do you seriously not know what your grandfather did?  Who he was?"

Berry shrugged.  "Not really.  I know it had something to do with computers, but he retired when he got hurt.  We lived in a junkyard on Sevus for my entire life."

Growl chewed it over.  This pony was either the most naive being in the galaxy, or the most cunning.  "In that case, I won't have you taken into custody.  But until I'm sure you aren't a threat, I have to focus on the safety of the station."





Radio waved as Berry entered the waiting area for the main shuttle bay.  He got her attention pretty quickly.  She headed over to him.  He would have headed over to her, but he didn't want to leave his bags alone.

He had both of them again, now that the Philomena had been cleared of monsters.  And all his personal belongings, and freshly replenished medical supplies were packed nice and neatly inside.

"Did you get what you wanted?" he asked as Berry approached.

"I'm not sure.  Things got pretty weird after I told her Granpa's name."  Berry shrugged.  "I'll ask again later."

"Good, don't you dare give up."  Radio gave her a light lunch to her shoulder.  "I expect the ship to be back up and running when I get back."

"Yeah..."  Berry sighed sadly.  "In a month."

"What's wrong?"  Radio tried his best to hide that he was feeling the same way.  "You gonna miss me?"

"Of course I am," she said, suddenly loud.  "Even if you are a braggart.  And a bully."

Radio frowned.

"And bossy.  And nosy."

"Hey now."

She didn't stop.  "And arrogant.  And a know-it-all.  And a show off.  And you lie to get things done.  And I still haven't forgiven you for the ice cream thing."  Berry hugged him before he could react.  "But you're still a good pony."

"Thanks," Radio muttered, returning the hug.  "You know, you remind me a lot of Ribbon.  Very... honest."

Berry let go of the colt.  "She's lucky.  I used to imagine what it would be like to have a brother, or parents, or anypony, really..."  The mare shook her head, realizing she was getting off topic.  "Anyway, you would have been a great brother."

Radio tried to smile, but found himself choking up.  "I don't know about that, but we're crew now.  That makes us kind of like a family, right?"

Berry nodded.  "I have no clue, but I'm going to agree because I want to."

The colt chuckled.  "Well, we'll have to put up with each other plenty once I get back then.  So enjoy your days of peace while you can."  He grinned evilly.  "Oh, and I gave James the list of vaccinations you still need.  Have fun with that."

"Hmph!"  Berry turned her nose up.  "I should have known you didn't forget about that."

"Hey," the colt shrugged, turning around as the PA system dinged, "I want to keep you healthy enough to put up with me.  And look on the bright side, you've got to wait in between some of them, so I should be back in time to give you the last one."

"Now boarding, Shuttle Gamma Exhedron, bound for Canterlot.  Stops at Pharaoh's Mill Paper company, Yarnhead's tree farm, and Luna's Academy Main Campus."

Berry glanced up at the ceiling.  "That's you, isn't it?"

"To paraphrase a friend, eeyup."  The colt grabbed his bags and sighed softly.  "It's only for a month, and I'll come back fully licensed to practice medicine in the Galactic Assembly.  We'll be able to stock proper medical gear on the Philomena, all sorts of medicines, and I'll be able to restock at nearly any planet we visit.  We won't be limited to my emergency gear.  This will help us on our mission."

"I know."  Berry started walking away.  "It's just that everything is moving so fast now that I left Sevus, it's hard to get used to."

"Yeah," Radio agreed as he started for his shuttle, "I know what you mean."

Berry kept her smile until the colt disappeared through a doorway.  As soon as he was gone, she turned a scowl up towards the ceiling, at a security camera in the corner.  "Twenty-four hour surveillance," she said mockingly, before sticking her tongue out.  "All I wanted was to help."

She stared at the camera for a moment, then sighed loudly.  She needed to fix the Pilomena, but she couldn't do that as long as Growl was standing in her way.  She needed something that would pacify the grump.  "Hey!"  She suddenly shouted at the camera.  "Tell your boss, I have something to trade."
> Breakfast at Mezzo's
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------

Vinyl's nose wrinkled in disgust as she sniffed her morning cup of hot chocolate.  It wasn't the chocolate.  No, that was fine.  Mezzo made it for her, and even if it wasn't the ceramzelachian layered stuff she liked so much, she knew his food and drinks were always top notch.

No, the problem laid squarely on her, and the foolish decision she made to brush her teeth immediately upon waking.  Honestly, she had planned on skipping breakfast in favor of trying the new Donut Joe's in the commissary a little later.  It hadn't occurred to her that Mezzo might have made breakfast while she slept in.

He went all out too.  The last of the carrots from the other day had been baked into a cake, complete with frosting.  He beat her to the punch.  She was going to do that later today.  Reconstituted potato hash had been fried up and the skillet sat on a trivet in the middle of the table.  The heavy cast iron skillet, an antique that Mezzo had spent several days restoring, would keep the food warm for a while, even though more than half of it was already gone.  There was also a bowl of oatmeal set out, under the tent of a folded napkin.  It was sitting there, waiting for her, alongside a plate and appropriate silverware for the meal.  

She set her hot chocolate down, and started spooning hashbrowns onto her plate.  If she ate something first, it might kill the overwhelming taste of mint enough for her to enjoy the chocolate.

She quickly realized that there would be enough potatoes left for at least one more pony.  Two servings, almost exactly so.  This brought her attention back to the carrot cake.  Half the cake was already sliced.  There were exactly two slices remaining.  And there was another napkin across the table, folded the way hers was, like a little cone, covering something.

She picked it up in her magic, delicately, preserving its shape.  Underneath was another bowl of oatmeal.

"Interesting," she muttered to herself.

A knock on the door kept her from thinking too deeply into it.  She let herself up, and stretched out.  "Who's there?" She called out.

"Oh, um, Mrs. Scratch?"  Came the nervous answer.  "It's me, Ribbon."

Vinyl smiled as the extra table setting suddenly made sense.  She trotted to the door, and opened it wide.  "How ya doin', Colors?  I was just about to have breakfast, care to join me?"

Ribbon peeked in the doorway, eyes skimming the living room, before answering.  "I guess.  Is Mezzo here?"

"He brought Mini-Tavi to school, since big Tavi had some other stuff to take care of.  He should be back any minute."  Vinyl nodded back towards the table.  "Come on, Mezzo already set a place for you."

Ribbon blushed.  "He did?  I'll need to apologize for being late."

"Don't sweat it," Vinyl said with a chuckle, leading the guest to the table, "he hasn't been able to take Minuette to school since they got that new boss in the prototyping bay.  The pay was good, and he socked away a whole bunch of savings, but the hours got a bit weird there for a while."

Ribbon followed her, and sat at the seat the older mare pointed to.  The white unicorn had her mental defenses up, and an odd smirk on her face.  Even without her powers, Ribbon could tell she was probably in for an interrogation.  "So, is today a day off, or something?  Mezzo said he wanted to meet me here."

The smirk fell away, replaced by confusion, and a slight weakening of the older mare's mental barrier.  "He didn't tell you?"  Her hoof went straight to her face.  "But I just did," she sighed, "let Mezzo explain it, OK?  He may deny it, but I overheard him practicing his little speech last night."

"Ok," Ribbon agreed meekly, trying to distract herself with the oatmeal under the napkin.  She wasn't going to let herself worry.  If Mezzo wanted to tell her, and it sounded like he did, he would do it on his own time.  Or, if it was troubling him, she would probably know immediately next time they meet.  "Did Mezzo fold this napkin like this?  It's pretty complicated.  And kind of fancy for an everyday breakfast."

Vinyl smiled and dug into her oatmeal.  "Glad I'm not the only one that thinks so," she said between mouthfuls, "we get fancy napkins with every meal.  And he goes all out for Minuette's snack time, usually little animals."  The mare stared into her oatmeal as if it had suddenly gone sour.  "He took up origami to help him with his magic.  Practices it all the time, every spare chance he gets."  Deciding it was just the toothpaste, she tried another bite.  "But, I think it stopped helping."

She gave up on her oatmeal and pushes the bowl away.  "Colors, I probably shouldn't burden you with this, but I'm worried about Mezzo.  He stopped going to his magic tutor, he tires himself out everyday practicing, and he still can't master basic spells."

Ribbon stirred her own oatmeal, watching the memories in the swirling grain.  Images that she never should have seen folded in with bits and pieces of diced fruit.  "Because of the injuries he sustained on Tankra?"

Vinyl nodded.  Then, she swapped the oatmeal for the hashbrowns.  "I've patched him up enough to know that he's lucky to still have any magic.  He cracked his horn once, chipped it deep at least twice.  Combine that with those damned limiters, and he might have been better off with a broken horn.  He might have been able to adjust the flow of his magic easier."

"He's strong though," Ribbon offered.  "He doesn't have fine control, or elemental affinity, but he has incredible strength, and an endless well to draw from."

Vinyl raised an eyebrow.  "And how would you know that?"

Ribbon went bright red.  "Oh, um, well, you see..."  The nurse chewed her lip for a moment.  "The other day, in the cargo bay, while we were fighting those monsters, Mezzo was able to use high power telekinetic blasts one after the other.  He didn't get tired, and his accuracy didn't drop, even after about twenty to thirty blasts.  I'm talking steel-bending, monster-rending offensive power, and I don't think he even started to feel worn out."

The older mare folded her hooves.  "I heard a bit about that, from him, and some of the security team.  Man, that was just a crazy day, wasn't it?  Still doesn't explain how you know he doesn't have an elemental affinity.  He doesn't even know if he does or not, how would you?"

Ribbon nervously tapped her hooves together.  "We, um, may have performed a flawless resonance link while fighting monsters.  We turned roughly a ton and a half of water into ice, in like, a few seconds, and dropped it on them.  Even when it was over, it took me a few minutes to come down from all the residual magic."

Vinyl looked confused.  "You two are resonance compatible?  And you were the one stuck with the magic high?  Growl told me you were genetically engineered to have some sort of amazing magic."

Ribbon shook her head.  "Mezzo is still stronger, by a lot.  My magic is actually kind of average as far as strength, but it's a little different than most unicorn's in other ways.  Especially when it comes to elemental affinity."

"In what way?"

Ribbon focused her magic on the pan in front of them.  After a few seconds, the hash browns started to sizzle and pop.  Steam difted up from the heated pan, and her magic drifted up with it.  Moisture condensed into droplets, coalesced into a ball of water, and froze solid with a flash of light.

A breeze blew through the quarters, and with it, a blade of air sliced through the chunk of ice, leaving two clean halves.  One fell towards the table, only to blink from existence and reappear above the other.  They smashed into each other above a bowl shaped forcefield of golden light, breaking into pieces.

The golden bowl drifted down towards the pan on the table, and the ice started to melt from the residual heat.  As the pieces grew smaller in their puddle, Ribbon used her hoof to add a dash of salt from the shaker that sat nearby.

The edges of the field grew taller, forming into a sphere with a pinhole near the top.  electricity crackled around the sphere, and a stray spark near the pinhole lit a flame that rose like a Bunsen burner.  Ribbon dropped her napkin onto the flame, and it roared into an inferno, turned to ash and smoke in an instant.

That smoke rose, then fell, then spun together with larger bits of ash and char, making another dish shape.  This one hung suspended over the still burning torch rising from the golden vessel.  After a few seconds, it turned over, and Ribbon picked it out of the air with her hoof.

The nurse sighed, and poured the bowl over the flame, extinguishing it with nothing.  The golden vessel dissolved into glittering light, like fairy dust evaporating into thin air.  The black dish, formed from the immolated napkin, was set down on the table, very much real and solid and permanent.  "Furian scientists called it a lack of elemental affinity.  My Luna Academy instructors called it an excess of elemental affinity.  I'm not sure who's right.  Magic is magic to me, there isn't much difference between starting a flame, guiding a lightning bolt, or putting up a shield."

Vinyl let out a low whistle.  "That's impressive, Colors, but any unicorn can learn a little of any element.  You don't have to have any great affinity to do that."   The mare thought a moment.  "Let's see if I've got this.  Fire, you heated up the pan.  Water, you condensed the steam.  Ice, you froze it.  Wind, you cut it.  Spatial magic, teleportation.  Barrier magic, the forcefield.  Electricity, you sent a current through the melted ice after adding an electrolyte, the salt, to split it into hydrogen and oxygen, which you forced through the pinhole to make that jet of flame.  Then, you add a little extra flame, or maybe some wind to add oxygen, so the napking goes out in a blaze of glory.  And the ashes, well, that's probably the most impressive part, considering the bowl is still intact, but I'm going to guess alchemical guidance?  Knit the carbon back together as graphite?  Again, that was impressive.  And you trapped carbon dioxide in the bowl to put out the flame with."  The older mare leaned in, clearly unimpressed.  "I used to do that same trick at parties."

Ribbon smiled, and Vinyl returned it.  It was a playful challenge, but still a challenge.  Ribbon held up her oatmeal spoon, and a fork from elsewhere on the table.  Suspended in magic, the utility ends of each started to discolor.  Pale yellow, fading to purple, then blue, until finally they started glowing red.  The air above them rippled with heat distortion.

The tines of the fork spread out, eventually joining together to make a solid scoop.  The bowl of the spoon endured the opposite metamorphosis.  It was split to form tines.  The heat started fading, and the glow eventually disappeared, leaving two slightly mishapen, and horribly discolored utensils behind.  "Heat and complex telekinesis at the same time on two objects, four separate spells," Ribbon said with a grin, "I can do up to sixteen."

Vinyl appraised this a little more carefully, offering a nod.  "That is some ugly ass silverware."  Ribbon frowned, and Vinyl started laughing.  "Lighten up, Colors, I'm just messing with you.  I know it isn't easy to switch magic around like that.  Believe me, I know.  I still haven't relearned dual casting, unless you count simple telekinesis as one of the spells."

"Oh, right."  Ribbon shook her head.  For a moment there, she had forgotten that Vinyl had worn a limiter for much longer than Mezzo had.  "I guess all the unicorn's from Tankra had to relearn magic from the ground up, huh?"

"Yeah."  Vinyl grabbed her hot chocolate and took a swig.  Thankfully, the taste of toothpaste was almost completely gone.  "We all had to start over, but the kids had it the worst.  Anypony who came out of a pod had the memory of using magic.  Everypony born in captivity didn't even know what it felt like to control magic."  She stared into her mug, gripping it tight to keep her hooves from shaking.  "Mezzo got his first limiter forced on him when he was seven months old.  It was put on hot, just like the rest of ours."  Vinyl downed the rest of her drink.  "I don't think I ever wanted to kill somepony more than that soulless bitch who made my foal scream like that.  Not even that bastard king.  She didn't even bat an eye, holding him down on the table so he wouldn't knock it loose while it cooled."

The younger mare kept quiet.

"Sorry," Vinyl huffed, "Only thing I killed was the mood there.  I... get worked up when I remember certain things."  She got up and walked towards the kitchen.  "We were talking about magic, right?"  She grabbed a clear red plastic tumbler, like you would find in a restaurant, from the sink and filled it with water.  "I've got a spell you might like."

She came back and set it on the table, leaving it wrapped in magic.  Then, she dumped Ribbon's torched silverware into it.  "Little bit of water, shatterproof container, and dirty things, three out of four ingredients.  And last..."  She knocked her hoof against the table's surface.  "Is a little sound."

The sound of her hoof clicking against the table echoed, something such a quiet noise shouldn't have able to do so clearly.  The water in the cup rippled and danced with increasing violence, until the silverware started to shake and clatter together.  It built in frequency until the clatter was a buzz, and both spoon and fork were vibrating in place.

"Ultrasonic cleaning," Vinyl explained, "You catch the sound waves inside the cup.  Sustain them, and increase the frequency with magic, until it vibrates the contents at around forty thousand Hertz, minimum.  Higher is better, but then it's harder to maintain the spell long enough to actually clean anything."

Ribbon watched carefully, leaning the table with on hoof.  Vinyl could tell she was picking the spell apart.  Dissecting it in her mind so she could put it back together.  Given the demonstrated versatility of her magic, she would probably have the spell mastered by the end of the day.

With a smirk, Vinyl decided that she didn't want the nurse concentrating on it so easily.  "You know, back where I'm from, resonance compatibility was considered a good way to test romantic compatibility."

Ribbon's hoof slipped out from under her, kicking the water off the table as the door to the quarters slid open.  Ribbon landed in her oatmeal and jumped back quickly, proclaiming her disgust with having the lumpy breakfast caked to her chest.

Mezzo sighed from the doorway as his mother laughed.  "Mom, what did you do?"

Both mares looked up.

"Nothing," Vinyl quickly defended, "we were just talking."

Ribbon, red faced with embarrassment, nodded meekly.  "Yeah, just talking."  She glanced over at Vinyl and quickly added, "about magic.  She was showing me a really neat spell.  Then I kinda slipped."

Mezzo raised an eyebrow.

"We were too talking about magic," Ribbon protested.

He tilted his head with a smug look that asked, "oh, really?" without the need for words.

"Maybe we were talking about other stuff too," she sheepishly admitted.  "But we were mostly talking about magic."

Mezzo tilted his head the other way.

"Maybe I don't want to say."

"Well that's not fair," Mezzo complained, "if I don't want to say something, I have to avoid even thinking about it."

"Oh, right..." Ribbon sighed, then crossed her hooves.  "Too bad."  She stuck out her tongue.  "I'm still not telling."

"Oh yeah?"  Mezzo sat down, flustered, before crossing his hooves as well.  "Then, maybe I won't tell you about the special dessert I packed for lunch later."  The colt tapped his hoof as he furiously thought of all manner of salty and unpleasant tasting things.  Oversalted popcorn, burnt carrots, even dry, moldy bread with the coal dust brushed off.  "I'll just leave it here, and you'll never know what it is, or how good it tasted."  For insurance against any stray thoughts skipping out, Mezzo built up the clearest, brightest mental picture he could of himself and Ribbon animatedly munching on grass.  "That's what lunch is gonna taste like now."

"Pfft!"  Ribbon clamped her hooves over her mouth, trying not to laugh at the bubble headed cartoons of them stuffing their faces.  "Mezzo!  Stop, please, that's ridiculous!"

"Nope!  Not gonna!"  Mezzo closed his eyes, and concentrated on the scenery.  Pretty soon, animated Ribbon and Mezzo were eating grass out of a planter box in the commissary, while similarly bubble-like ponies pointed and whispered.  Bubblehead-Growl, steam coming out of her ears, and teeth sharper than James' beak, shouted something about vandalism as the two dining ponies ran off to get a drink from the department store fountain.

Ribbon snorted, but managed to stifle her laughter.

"I'm not done yet," Mezzo said with a huff.  The two ponies made it to the fountain, and as Bubblehead Ribbon leaned down to take a drink, Bubblehead Mezzo hip bumped her in.  "Splash."

Ribbon lost it.  "Pwah-haha! I wouldn't go down alone," she threatened through her laughter.  "I would drag you down like the kraken dragged down the Nautilus!"

"As if I'd let you."  Mezzo stuck his tongue out, payback for her doing the same earlier.  Bubblehead-Ribbon reached for him, but bubblehead-Mezzo stepped back just in time.  And when she, with much flailing and splashing, dragged herself back on dry land, he shoved her right back into the fountain.  "Step in and strike, fade from view.  Let them search where you are not.  Strike once more as they seek you."

Ribbon blinked.  "You know Kala Ma's War Poems?"

Mezzo scratched his mane, suddenly bashful.  "Well, yeah.  Growl gave me a copy for my birthday one year.  Three volume set, they're pretty good."

"One of my favorite's for sure," Ribbon happily agreed, "and not just because they were required reading on Furia.  I have the annotated three volume set put out by Luna Academy, as well as the standard issue Furian Military Softcover.  I want the limited edition Calligraphic hand binding, but the wait list is something like four years long now."

Mezzo shrugged.  "I'll show you the one Growl gave me.  It's not the official one, but you'd like it.  It's a claw-made gryphon version from her planet, done on an ancient printing press.  The lettering is kind of embossed into the pages, and there's painted illuminated lettering as an accent on a lot of the pages."

Vinyl smiled and looked back and forth between the two younger ponies.  They were so cute, sharing a bonding moment over such trivial common ground.  So cute, that she was now required, by the universal rules of motherhood, to embarrass them.  "You two do know that the entire station has seen the video of you two making out in the cargo bay, right?"

Both of them went red, conversation dropping like a rock off a cliff as they looked away from each other.  "Lilybelle may have mentioned it during yesterday's shift," Ribbon admitted.

"Minuette showed me on Aunt Tavi's pad," Mezzo confessed.

"Uh-huh."  Vinyl nodded slowly.  "We're you planning to tell me at any point?"

Mezzo nodded sheepishly, looking at Ribbon, confirming that he was about to explain things in a way she was comfortable with.  The nurse's answering nod told him to go ahead.

"We were going to," he said, looking over at his mother, "when we were a little more sure of things.  What happened in the cargo bay was heat of the moment.  Adrenaline, magic, fear for lives, and all that.  We talked it over a few hours later, and we decided we were going to take it slow, let things cool down a little, and see how we want to do this."

"How you want to do this?" Vinyl repeated in disbelief.  "What do you mean how?  You two like each other, right?  So, you kiss, you date, you have fun.  You're kids, that's the extent of how hard you should have to think about things.  Either things don't work out, and you cry during the break up, or things do work out, and I cry at the wedding." She shrugged.  "It's worked that way since the beginning of time."

Ribbon giggled.  Mezzo was bright red now, and there were bubbleheads standing at the altar in his thoughts.  If his face got any warmer, steam would start pouring from his ears.  "Quit it with the bubbleheads," Ribbon whispered to him before clearing her throat.  "He meant that we both want to be careful.  Given our pasts, and my telepathy, we decided that we needed separate time to think before making any decisions."

"Um, yeah," Mezzo stammered, "I mean, no need to rush, right?"

"That's right."  Ribbon nodded, and leaned over in her chair until she could grab Mezzo from behind, hugging his neck.  "But, it's been three days, and I still want him.  So, can I have your son as a colt friend?"

Ribbon could feel the colt's body temperature rise as Vinyl laughed.  "Sure, Colors, sure.  But, you better treat him right, you hear me?  And if he ever gives you a hard time, just let me know.  I'll sic his little sister on him."

Mezzo stayed quiet, making himself as small as possible.  As embarrassed as he was, things seemed to be going well, and he was glad for it.  His mom seemed to like Ribbon more than she liked most ponies.

Vinyl's laughter slowly faded, and she pushed her chair away from the table.  "Well, if I ask you kids every question I've got in my head right now, I'll be late for my post-mission physical.  I've already had to reschedule it twice."  She got up, and headed for the door, dragging a slice of carrot cake, along behind her.  "You two have fun today, and be ready to tell me all about it."

Once she left, and the door slid shut behind her, Mezzo let out a heavy sigh of relief.  His whole body slumped several centimeters, shifting the weight of the mare hanging around him.  "That went well," he told her, "I was expecting a lot more teasing."

"Yeah, you missed that part," she twisted her hoof into his fur, "lucky you."

"What can I say?"  Mezzo tried to ward off the grinding hoof with his own.  "I have good timing."

"Ah!  Mezzo!"  Ribbon's hooves suddenly clamped down.  She almost fell off his back, and her rear hooves had slipped on the chair.  "Um, if you move, I'm going to hit the floor."

The colt carefully looked back.  "Oh, here."

He turned slowly, hooking his hoof around her as a support.  With him there, ready to catch her, she slid her backside off the chair.  She fell.  He caught her with his other hoof before she landed.

When she touched the floor, after being gently lowered, she looked up.

"You OK?" Mezzo asked, looking down, hooves low on her sides.

She nodded her reply.  Her hooves were still wrapped around him, high on the back of his neck, forcing him to hunch over her.  She stared up at him with a blush on her face, snouts almost touching.  "Mezzo?"

The colt swallowed dryly.  He tried to fight back the memory of the cargo bay, but he could feel her breath on him, just like then.  "Y-yeah?"

Ribbon looked away quickly, reliving her own memories of that brief moment, while seeing his played alongside.  "I, um, I missed you, these last few days."  She smiled as the rough edges of his hooves scratched over her ribs, seeking to engulf her, and pull her tight to the colt's large frame.  "I guess you did too?"

"Yeah," the colt gave in answer.  A short answer, but he knew he didn't have to waste time with words.  Yes, he had missed her.  More than he expected to.  So much more.

She looked up.  It was nice, knowing she wasn't alone in that.  She took a moment to look Mezzo in the eye.  She knew what he was thinking, and right now, it went both ways.  Only, he did it by watching her, his eyes open for any twitch, any movement.  He did it by feeling her rapid heartbeat against his chest.  And he expressed it by pulling that heartbeat closer to his.  "You could do something about that," she said smile.

"Yeah?"

It was her turn to feel his heart beat faster.  She watched him for the things he watched her for.  His denim blue eyes were wide, and focused on her.  They flicked away several times as he was distracted by his brain's attempt to formulate a better response, but they always returned to her.   He opened his mouth, closed it, licked his dry lips, then bit them before he could say anything.  He took a deep breath.

His hooves sliding across her fur told her he had chosen action over words.  Moving against the fur, travelling up her sides, but only one continued up her chest, up to her face.  She closed her eyes as that hoof rested against her cheek.

Mezzo leaned in and gave her a little peck on the other cheek.

Ribbon opened her eyes.  She blinked.  Mezzo's bright red face hovered over her.  "That's it?"  She asked.  "Really?"

"What?  No?"  He shook his head, then said a little more firmly, "No."  He pressed his lips to hers again, hard, and both ponies blinked.  Ribbon tried to press into it, but Mezzo pulled back, bringing his hoof to his mouth.  "Um, wait, I don't think it's supposed to feel like that."

"Sweet buttered crab buckets, we're bad at this."  Ribbon blinked in surprise, then brought her hoof to her own mouth.  "I think my teeth left an imprint on the inside of my lips."

"Butter what buckets?"  Mezzo asked in confusion, swiping his foreleg across his mouth.  He glanced down at it afterwards.  "Are my lips bleeding?"  He looked up at Ribbon, who was staring at him in horror.  "I- I don't understand," he stammered, "what did I do wrong?  We kissed just fine in the cargo bay."

"Don't ask me!"  Ribbon held her hooves up.  "You're the only pony I've ever kissed."  She waited a moment, then corrected his previous statement.  "And the cargo bay was more than fine.  Way more."

"I know!"  Mezzo grabbed his mane, wracking his brain for answers.  "It was amazing, not just the kiss, but the magic, and the holding you, and the way you looked at me after.  I haven't been able to stop thinking about it."  He swallowed heavily.  "Thinking about... you.  But, I guess you already knew that."

"I had my suspicions," Ribbon confessed, "I know you saw me in the corridor the other day, and I thought you were going to give yourself an aneurysm trying to decide between saying hi, and keeping our agreement to wait."

"Really?  Heh."  Mezzo groaned.  "I didn't think I was, well, in range, so to say."

Ribbon shrugged.  "If it was anypony else, I wouldn't have been able to pick them out of the crowd.  My telepathy reacts differently to you than to anypony else."

With a sigh, Mezzo shrugged.  "That's kind of why I asked you to come over."

"Is it also why you asked if it was my day off?"  Ribbon's eyes went wide as she remembered.  "Oh, yeah!  Your mom wouldn't tell me anything about what happened with your job, I was supposed to-"  Ribbon saw him wince before he unwittingly spilled the beans.  It was a strong memory, so much yelling.  "They fired you?  Why?"

That video, projected on the wall in the project manager's office, played in Mezzo's mind before he could stop it.  Him, attacking Ribbon in the middle of the crowded commissary.

"It wasn't that," Mezzo said before Ribbon could respond, "Tight Schedule's been looking for a reason to fire me since he was promoted.  This just gave him an excuse.  He likes to threaten, 'disciplinary action,' to get his way.  The first time he tried that on me, I laughed in his face.  I thought he was a fellow Tankrit making a morbid joke.  I didn't know he was serious, and when I found that out, I laughed harder."  The colt chuckled just thinking about it.  "I mean, what was he going to do?  You know what I've been through.  I've been beaten and starved by taskmasters before.  Nothing he could do would ever scare me."

Ribbon nodded.  "I know how that feels.  A pilot got in my face after MP's broke up a fight between him and Radio.  I remember trying to ignore him while I patched up my brother at the base hospital, but he shoved the chief medic out of the way and started yelling at me.  I don't remember most of what he said.  But, right at the end, he said, 'You think you can take me, huh?"  She shook her head.  "I look up, and this guy had a busted lip, a black eye, his sunglasses were missing a lens, and his shoulder was still dislocated.  I said, 'um, yeah,' answering him like it was a serious question.  When I walked away after that, Radio was laughing his head off, and they ended up getting in another fight.  Come on, even if we're only twelve, we were genetically engineered, and painstakingly trained to be able to fight alongside standard military personnel."

Mezzo laughed.  "Do you have more than one brother?  The one I met doesn't seem like the kind to start fights."

"I know, it surprised me," Ribbon admitted, "but, I think he's calmed down a little.  He used get in fights all the time.  Though, honestly, he ended far more than he ever started.  He always took the blame for instigating though, even when it wasn't his fault.  Took the blame for a lot of other things too.  I've spent every spare second with him these last few days, and he's happier than I've ever seen.  I think he's a bit nervous, but he's also very determined to overcome that.  I'm glad."  She refocused on Mezzo.  "So, what exactly was this threat you were talking about?"

"That?"  Mezzo rolled his eyes.  "Except for the one time he actually used the words, 'whip me into shape,' he always kept it vague.  Oh, you should have heard how quiet it got when he said that.  Fifteen Tankrit were working that day, and they all heard him.  Later, once he was promoted, I called his bluff.  He told me I would regret it, then wrote a strongly worded letter for me to take home and show mom."  The colt pointed to the kitchen.  "I think it's still hanging on the fridge, with a, 'best son ever,' magnet."

Ribbon glanced over, but couldn't see much of the kitchen past the white colt.  "So, Mezzo, I don't want to pry, but what have you been doing since you got fired?  I came by yesterday, and you weren't here.  I played with Minuette for an hour or two, but you never came back."

"That's why she was so worn out yesterday."  Mezzo smiled.  "She fell straight asleep when I put her to bed, and woke up happier than usual this morning.  I didn't even have to argue with her about her brushing her teeth."

"She talked about you a lot," Ribbon added with a nod.  "You really care for her, don't you?"

"Well, with dad always being gone, I guess I feel like I need to take his place.  Do the things that he can't be here to do."  Mezzo noticed that Ribbon suddenly seemed uncomfortable.  "I'm going to say this now because I want you to know, not because you'll find out anyway.  Mom hates him, Minuette barely remembers him, and Aunt Tavi misses him, but I know there has to be a reason he's out travelling through the galaxy instead of being here with us.  He willingly dipped his own hoof in molten glass to keep the guards from hurting me.  He wouldn't just abandon us after that."

Ribbon nodded slowly.   "You have a lot of faith in him."  With a sigh, she added, "I hope you find out the reason."

"What's bothering you about this?"

She glanced up , and quickly shook her head.  "It's nothing, just...  Mezzo, I'm sorry.  The more I think about it, the more I hate that you can't keep anything from me.  You've done more for me, more to try and understand me than anypony has in years.  I don't know if can tell you how much that means to me.  And it feels like I'm being unfair to you.  You said before, that I can do more than take, but I'm too good at it.  I can't keep myself from taking any more than a moth can keep from flying into a flame."

"I know."  Mezzo shrugged.  "I know you can't help it.  And I'm starting to see how many problems it causes for you.  So, if it's ok with you, I want to try and help you, and keep trying to understand you.  That's... That's kind of what I wanted to talk to you about."

"What do you mean?"

"You know that tall grey guy from medical?  The one who was some sort of teacher?"

Ribbon nodded.  Clak wasn't the forgettable sort.  Wether it was his unusual appearance, or stone-like composure despite his mangled arm, he made an impression on a lot of folks that day.

"Well," Mezzo continued, "I've been speaking with him.  Remember how he pointed to me during the conversation?  He's not a teacher for telepaths, he's a teacher for their companions.  He said he could train me to understand you, and to understand myself better as well.  I would be able to control myself, control my mind and thoughts, I guess like my mom can.  She can block you out, right?"

Ribbon nodded again.  "She likes to flaunt it."

The colt rolled his eyes.  "I bet.  Anyway, he told me there were two ways I can go about this, and he could train me, whichever way I decide.  The first way we could have started right away, it's a solitary training.  The human translating for him had some trouble with the specific terms, but described it as training to be a telepathic handler.  I would be able to block you out, or be more open, sense telepathic intrusion, and a lot more, at my choice.

"Would you want to do that?  It would make things easier for you, right?"

"I don't think so, that's why I waited to talk to you.  He told me that I wouldn't be able to be close to you.  The skills I would learn are extremely impersonal, and I would have to avoid emotional attachment to anypony with telepathic abilities because it could eventually break everything I learned."  He shrugged.  "So, that isn't really an option here."

She wanted to hug him for that, but kept her cool.  "I'm so glad you feel that way."  She smiled at the faint blush her words caused.  "Thank you."

"The, um, the second option," Mezzo stammered, "involves training both of us.  I would learn almost everything I would in the first training, plus more, and you would be able to learn a lot of new skills too."

"Almost everything?  What wouldn't you learn?"

"He said I would never be able to block you out of my mind.  I would be able to block other telepaths, but never you.  And, I might be able to live with that."

"You would?"

Mezzo nodded.

Ribbon was unable to contain herself this time.  She wrapped the larger colt in a hug that felt like an attempted bonecrushing, then looked up with bright, eager eyes.  "Then let's do it!  I spend most of my free time avoiding crowds, and let's just say it's not the most fulfilling hobby.  If we can spend time together, and learn awesome new skills, I say bring it on!"

"Hold on," Mezzo cautioned, "you need to know everything first.  We would be the youngest pair he ever trained.  He doesn't know if that will affect things at all.  And also...  the way it was translated, I um, had to ask to clarify.  I thought it was a translation mistake at first.  It's a, um,"

"Couple's class?"  Ribbon finished, hearing the words before he could say them.  She also noticed, slightly off-topic, that Mezzo's internal voice was much more accurate than the average pony's.  Come to think of it, so were the rest of his family's.  Was it a musician thing?  More on topic, she also realized that she wasn't even fazed by the concept of taking a couple's class with him.  If anything, it was a cute thought.

Mezzo nodded.  "He said that most, not quite all, but most,of his students have ended up... well, as couples.  The human translated it as companions for life.  He's even trained four generations of a single family line, each one descended from the previous pair of students."

At that point Ribbon figured out that she had a pretty naive view of the word, 'couple', and that Mezzo's embarassment stemmed from a more mature understanding.  "Four generations?  How old is he?"

"Uh, something like a hundred and seventy in Canterlot years?  He told me, but I don't remember exactly.  I was a bit distracted by the photo album he brought out."

Ribbon was quickly treated to a replay.  Mezzo had a good memory and eye for detail, and that translated into nearly complete images for Ribbon to share.  She didn't even recognize some of the alien species depicted, but it was quite obvious that each pair of individuals were quite close.  More than a few were shown with children.

Ribbon suddenly looked up, unable to keep her mind from running off on several tangents.  First, was the feeling of immediate relief that her foals would sired by an absolute chiseled hercules of a stallion, assuming Mezzo still had some growing to do.  Second, was the feeling of immediate cringe that it only took a photo of a happy family to turn her thoughts that way.  Third, was a gentle self-reminder that Mezzo would probably be an awesome and caring father.  Fourth, was internal screaming that it was way too soon to be thinking about this.

"Um, Ribbon, are you ok?"  Mezzo brought his hoof to her face, feeling the almost feverish warmth.  "Your face is getting a little red."

Ribbon pulled back from the touch, turning away in embarassment.  "What do you think?" she asked while staring at the floor.

Mezzo scratched the back of his neck.  "Me?"

"Yes."  Ribbon glanced up, working really hard to control her thoughts.  "I've always been a telepath, I'll probably always be a telepath.  That's my fate.  You aren't bound by that.  You don't have to force yourself into this for me."

"I'm not forcing myself," Mezzo reassured her.  "I think I want to do this."

"Even if we-"

"End up a couple for life?"  Mezzo finished.

Ribbon chuckled.  "I thought I was the telepath."

The colt shrugged.  "I don't think I've ever thought that far ahead.  There were times when I thought that the rest of my life didn't include tomorrow.  Now that I have the chance to look ahead, and make plans, I think this gives me a chance to do something important.  Something I would never have dreamed possible a few years ago.  If I can help you, I want to, but I think this could help me too."

Ribbon smiled so hard, she thought she was going to cry.  To him, she had value.  Not as a Telepath, not as a nurse, not as any one thing that she was, but as a pony.  She, Ribbon, had value, and was wanted, for no other reason than that she was Ribbon.  "Mezzo?"  She hugged the colt again, weaving her hooves under his to force him to return the gesture.  "Let's try again.  But, take it slow this time."

He blinked, gently rocking the young mare back and forth in the embrace.  "Try what?"

It took a moment for Ribbon to realize he was only teasing.  "What do you think?"  She closed her eyes as he leaned down towards her.  "Silly colt."
> Sunbows and Rainbeams
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------

"Hey, I like your hair."

"Huh?"  Radio looked up from his tablet, and the latest message from Celestia.  The only being within speaking range stood next to him, stuffing a towel into a gym bag.  He looked up at her.  Human, taller than he was, unsurprising, since most humans were taller than most ponies.  But any estimation of her height was derailed by the distraction of her hair.  It was a bit longer than his own, and of a very similar color scheme.  She had to be talking to him.  "Oh, um, thanks."

She smiled as she finished squaring away her stuff, and zipped up her bag.  "It natural?"

Radio glanced up, even though it was both impossible and unnecessary to check his mane.  "Um, yeah," he said, managing a smile, "runs in the family."

She shook her head as she walked away.  "Lucky rat bastard."

Radio blinked as his smile faded, and she headed out of the gymnasium.  He glanced around to see if any of the active souls around him had witnessed that confusing event.  Was she complementing him?  Or insulting him?  Who was that even?

He glanced around the gym again.  Who were any of these ponies?  Not that they were all ponies.  Maybe half of them were, but there were at least a dozen species present.  Some bipeds were playing basketball, a mix of bipeds and quadrupeds were doing some sort of modified yoga, and four unicorns were struggling at tug of war against a lanky earthpony, and a pegasus who was too busy laughing to help him.

They were all using the gym for its intended purpose.  There was no sign of anything remotely resembling admissions interviews.  At least he wasn't too out of place, sitting in the bleachers with his beat up old military duffel.  Aside from the fact that he was sitting around playing with a pad while everyone else was having fun.

His eyes continued to travel the room, but his focus shifted from the occupants to the room itself.  Wooden floors, school logo on the wall, posters advertising a number of upcoming events.  Everything Radio saw reminded him of the stereotypical gyms he would see in old movies.

He had never been in one himself.  Not a nice gym like this.  He was used to training rooms in the barracks.  Trees didn't grow well on Furia, so wood was always a valuable, and expensive, commodity.  No one would waste it on flooring in a military installation.  No, concrete or metal floors with polymer mats - if you were lucky - were more than enough for that.

"This is a pretty big gym," he told no one in particular as his eyes drifted back to his pad's screen.

"And you're taking up space, playing on your pad," answered a commanding voice.

Radio jumped up off the bleacher, nearly dropping his pad before managing to tuck it under a wing.  For a second, he found himself considering whether or not he would be expected to salute, but then he remembered where he was.  He also got a good look at the Curaxxan who had called him out.

He was tall, even for a curaxxan, and would have dwarfed the human earlier.  He had a muscular frame, though bulging in the middle, and wore a grey shirt and the brightest red metallic shorts possible over his dark green scales.  He was also older than most of the other gym-goers, by a fair bit, considering the scales along his cranial ridge had all fused together into one big, shiny surface.

Radio shook his head.  He went bald without having hair in the first place.  "Sorry, I can move.  Name's Radio, I was supposed to be here at four pm."

He checked the small timekeeping device on the lanyard around his neck.  "It's 3:18.  Punctual.  I like it."  He looked up.  "I'm Coach Kalakalaki, but most folks just call me Coach K.  If you're scheduled for four, you're scheduled for the wrestling practice."

"Um, no?"  Radio fought the urge to dig out the pad and double check.  "I'm supposed to be doing an interview?"

"Looking to join the wrestling club then?"

"Admissions interview," Radio clarified.

"As in, admission to the academy?"

Radio nodded.

"Boy, are you in the wrong place."  The coach put his hands on his hips.  "Admissions interviews aren't held in the gym.  They're held in the admissions office.  And, if you're from off planet, they're held at the North campus."

"I was told it would be here.  How far away is the North campus?"

"No more than a thousand clicks."

"A thousand cli-"  Radio turned around and stuffed his pad into his bag, pulling up a map as it sat on top of the rest of his stuff.  "If I leave now, I can still make it.  Thanks, man.  Uh, any way I could trouble you for a description of the building I need?"

The coach raised an eyebrow.  "You planning on flying there?"

"I can make it if I leave now."

The Curraxan shrugged.  "You aren't even going to ask how I knew you were from off-planet?  Or that I'm not surprised you think you can make it?"

Radio glanced back with a smirk.  "I know I can make it.  And how hard can it be to spot a tourist?"

The coach sighed as Radio zipped his bag up and started walking away.  "Ribbon Dancer was far more curious than you."

Radio stopped cold, bag falling to the ground.  He looked back, eyes narrowed in suspicion.  "You know Ribbon?"

"Calm down, kid."  He pointed at the colt's back.  "The tension in the wings indicate a fight or flight response in pegasi and gryphons.  You haven't moved them, but you're ready to."  With a smile, he waved the colt back towards the bleachers.  "Let's sit and talk a bit, I may know why you were told to come here."

With a sigh, Radio forced himself to relax.  This was Ribbon's school for the last few years, he reminded himself.  It isn't unusual for ponies to know who she was, given her distinctive appearance and abilities.  Given that his appearance was identically distinctive, it was only natural for a connection to be drawn.  And all the politics and interdepartmental struggles of the Furian military were a thing of the past.  He didn't need to jump to red alert anytime her name was mentioned anymore.

The coach nodded slowly.  "You have a lot on your mind, for a boy your age."

Radio snapped up.  "Huh?  No, I just zoned out," he offered as an excuse before marching over to the bleachers, bag in tow, and sitting down.  "I was clearly told to be here, in this gym, which is clearly not an admissions office, for an admissions interview.  I think I'm gonna try blindly following orders for a change."

"For a change?"  Kalakalaki, crossed his arms and leaned back.  "You trust somepony who gave you presumably bad intel more than your own government?  You and Ribbon sure are different."

Radio looked over, sizing up the odd coach.  "What do you know?"

"You familiar with Curraxan Green Teams?"

"Yeah, the special forces teams formed to combat new tactics employed by raiders after the dissolution of the original Norland Pirates.  As operators from those groups spread out, becoming trainers for other organizations, or striking out on their own, the weapons and tactics used in raids became more advanced and effective almost overnight.  Every planet had to come up with new ways to fight them.  Curaxxa had the Green Teams, elite units trained in combat and infiltration, working out of mobile bases.  They also created the straw technique for the breaching of space stations."

"Which is highly classified."  He shrugged.  "Then again, so are you and Ribbon.  Project Junebug, phase two.  Also known by the codenames Wondertwins, Rainbow Road, or Bright Bridge, by various interplanetary intelligence agencies.  For a while, you two kept a lot of powerful people up at night.  Furian military technology is on par with, or above, the rest of the galaxy, at least on a smaller, personnel level.  Super soldiers, automatons, scramblers, and guerilla tactics, all rivaling even earth.  A second generation of Super Soldiers was a terrifying thought, considering what your little planet did with just the one."

"Who are you?  You should not know any of this."

"Says you."  The coach shook his head.  "Before I was Coach K, I was Colonel K, Curaxxan Defense Force.  I worked closely with the intelligence agencies overseeing anti-raider operations on other Galactic Assembly planets, advising and receiving advice during the development of defenses against these Post-Norland Raiders."

"So, you were involved with the Green Teams?"

"I created them, kid.  They were my personal project.  Hell, I led the first team into battle at least a dozen times before an equipment failure lodged a piece of metal under my shoulder blade.  Thirty years of operation, and I'm still the only mission casualty."

"And why are you telling me this?"  Radio scoffed.  "No.  Never mind that.  If any of that is true, why are you even here?  Talking to me, in a gym, wearing ridiculous red shorts?"

"Hey!"  He grabbed the hem of the shorts.  "My wife made these!  They're comfortable."

Radio raised an eyebrow.  "Uh-huh."

"They really are," the Curraxan mumbled as he crossed his arms again.  "Anyway, after I retired, over a decade ago now, I was contacted by a member of an organization called the COC, the Civilian Oversight Committee.  I had some dealings with them in the past, but minimal.  The most I ever saw out of them was messages.  Questions about proposals, or projected societal impacts of programs.  I never expected them to offer me a job, much less to be forwarding that offer from Luna herself."

Radio chewed on his lower lip for a few seconds.  "So...  You're telling me that Luna, of Luna Academy fame, personally hired a retired special forces commander, using the most secretive known organization in the galaxy as the recruiter, so you could be... the gym coach?"

Coach K looked over.  "It sounds stupid when you put it that way."

The colt's hoof rubbed his face.  "I don't know how else to put it.  The whole story sounds absurd."

"Well, I've got worse, if you want them.  All you need to know is that I'm one of the few instructors that get the full briefing on students who might require special security.  Your sister, as a political refugee, being one of them."

"Then, was I sent here to meet you?"

"Nah, I wasn't told about it.  Though, it's not much of a stretch to say I'll be in charge of your security.  No, I would be willing to bet you're here to meet Luna herself, after her scheduled visit to congratulate the wrestling team for their win against New Texas Orbital.  First win against them in nearly a decade."  The coach glanced at the door, then at his timepiece.  "And, speaking of my team, they won't be here for a while.  Help me set up the mats for practice, and I'll let you sit in.  Sound like fun?"
> 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."
> Cargo Room Rumble
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------

"Astral, are you sure this is right?"  Twilight stepped into the main cargo bay and looked around.  "There's nopony in here."

"What?"  Astral followed her in.  His eyes scanned the now empty cages and workstations.  Less than an hour ago, this place was full of ponies cleaning up after the Snake-wolves, and celebrating a sizeable payday.  "Guys!"  Astral shouted out.  "Hello?  Anypony here?"

Twilight shook her head.  "We're alone.  Astral, I don't like the looks of this."

"No," Astral looked down at the knives hanging from him on an improvised bandolier cut and tied from a bed sheet, "crazy as he is, Patch wouldn't do this to us."

Twilight swept a hoof out, bringing Astral's attention back to the empty cargo bay.  "You trust him?"

He brought his hoof to his his chest, wrapping it around the handle of one of the gifted blades.  "I used to," he said quietly.

"Attention please," the com-system sprang to life, broadcasting Patch's voice through the empty cargo bay.  It echoed off the walls, giving his happy mannerisms a dark undertone.  "Ten minutes is just about up, and we just did a quick headcount using our internal sensors.  Looks like like everypony's made it to the staging areas, so we'll be sealing all doors and emergency bulkheads.  On a more personal note, I'm a little surprised that we managed to fit the entire crew on the bridge.  I mean, weren't some of you guys in the cargo bay when I told our guests to head there?  You're missing out on the chance to see a master in action."

Twilight listened to the announcement, but her focus was on Astral, who stood unmoving as he listened.  His hoof tightened on the knife handle, and she could see tears forming in his eyes as strands of gold started to creep into his steel-blue irises.  She walked over.  "Astral?"

His eyes focused on her as she put her hoof on his.  "He was my friend."  Astral shook his head.  "The snake-wolf...  I thought it was an accident...  I'm sorry, I didn't think he would do something like this.  Can you teleport us to to the bridge?"

"I've never been there.  I could get us back to our quarters, the mess hall, or anywhere in between, but that doesn't really help us."  She gave his hoof a squeeze.  "I got the feeling that you were really happy these last few days.  I'm sorry it came to this."

"All right folks, time's up!  We're moving!"

"I saved his life the first time we encountered a void strand."  Astral looked at Twilight, his eyes showing his confusion at the betrayal before he looked back at the floor.  "Why would he do this?"

"It doesn't matter.  We're going to face it together, and that's all that really matters."  Twilight hooked her nose under his chin, lifting it up.  "Astral, look me in the eyes."  She pulled back, and he did as he was told.  She darted back in, giving him a quick kiss, mashing their lips together for less than a second.  "I love you.  We're in this together, right?  Head in the game, and all that?"

It took him a moment to recover, but when he did, he smiled.  It was weak, conflicted, but it was there.  And, more importantly, the hint of gold in his eyes started fading.  "Yeah, we're in this together."

"Good."  Twilight's eyes focused behind Astral.  "Because, what the hell is that?"

The stallion turned around.  A line of what appeared to be lava had appeared along the wall, near the floor.  It glowed dull reds and orange, specked with sections of obsidian black.  "That's the void strand."  He and Twilight stepped back as it grew out into the room.  Once it separated from the wall, it was a cylinder, half a meter across, stretching the length of the cargo bay, and moving slowly up and towards them.  "Twi?"

She spared a glance, but kept her attention on the strand.  "Yeah?"

"You might want to put a small forcefield in your ears.  This could get loud."  Astral pulled a knife and readied his pistol.  "And, you know, I love you, too."

"Thanks."  Twilight smiled as she pulled out her tiny bag of tricks.  She had considered a forcefield, but already had another alternative prepped.  She dug a puff of cotton out from the bottom of the bag, tore it into four pieces.  "With or without the comma?"

Astral looked over as two pieces of cotton floated into his peripheral vision.  "With," he answered as he grabbed it and stuffed it in his ears, "but that's a matter of debate that's lasted for centuries."

"Well, I like your answer, myself."  Twilight stuffed her own cotton in, and looked over.  "It's enchanted, you should be able to hear me, but not anything over a hundred and five decibels."

Astral nodded.  "Nice.  How long will this last?"

"It's a permanent enchantment, it should last as long as the cotton itself."  She pointed at the strand.  "So, isn't this supposed to be spitting monsters at us?"

"It will," Astral reassured her, "it should start to deform before any creatures break through.  How long that takes is anypony's guess.  These things are unpredictable, that's what makes them dangerous."

"Ah."  Twilight pulled few more items out of the bag, to have them ready at a moment's notice as the strand passed over their heads.  "One more thing.  The strand is stationary in space, right?  For it to be moving this slowly means that the ship is moving this slowly, yes?"

Astral nodded.  "It also means I'm taking Patch's teeth home as a souvenir."

"So, we've pretty well established that he's purposely putting at risk, right?"  Twilight looked over at Astral as the void strand disappeared beyond the far wall without incident.  "But what does he stand to gain?  If he wanted to kill us, wouldn't he have just opened the cargo bay doors the moment we walked in?  He doesn't know I can survive in space."

"He does now, I bet."  Astral looked up into the corners of the room.  He didn't see any cameras, but he couldn't know for sure.  His detection spell wouldn't work reliably with all the passive systems a spaceship had running through its walls.  At least, not for him, Twilight was a better spellcaster, and might be better equipped to pick out surveillance equipment.  "I know you're watching us, asshole!"  He shouted into the air.  "You put your own crew at risk to get to me.  You have five seconds to tell me why you're doing this, or I'm coming after you!"

"Astral," Twilight tapped his side with a hoof, "we've got another one."  She pointed to the corner of the room, where another section of void strand appeared high up on the wall.  "Or, more accurately, a different part of the same one.  And, is it just me, or is getting colder in here?"

"There!"  Astral aimed his pistol at it as it drifted up towards the ceiling.  "See that bulge on the side?  That's something trying to break through.  Watch for those.  And, yeah, it is getting colder, void strands tend to suck the heat out of the air."

"Got it," Twilight responded with a quick nod.  "It's pretty small, does that have any correlation with the size of the creature that's going to appear?"

"Sometimes, but don't count on it."

Just before the strand reached the ceiling, a small slit appeared on the surface, revealing a roiling blue and black expanse within the cylinder.  A hoof-sized insectoid creature crawled out onto the surface of the strand.  It could have passed for a beetle, but a closer look at it revealed that what look like a shell from a distance was really a mass of undulating legs.

"Gross," Twilight stuck her tongue out.  "Slithering Soul-roach,  Mycelium pedunculparapoda.  Literally, little foot, underfoot.  The legs on its back are actually some sort of symbiotic fungus, putting it in the mycelium shadow-genus."

It was knocked off the strand as the anomaly disappeared into the ceiling, and Twilight threw a sunflower seed from her bag towards it as it fell.  Both the bug and the seed clattered against the floor.  On its back, the insectoid started crawling on its hundreds of smaller legs.  Attracted by the traces of Twilight's magic, the small creature slinked towards the sunflower seed.

There was a bustle of movement when it touched the seed.  A sunflower sprouted and grew in an instant, leaves and stalk unfurling only to twist around the insect that had disturbed it.  It curled and wove itself tight, forming a basket with a single hole on its top, which was sealed when the sunflower bloomed its big, bright, yellow flower.

Astral raised an eyebrow.  "So, that's what the seeds were for, nice."

"Thank you," Twilight gave a playful bow, "it's a preservation seal, so it can keep that ugly bug trapped and stable in our universe for approximately twenty-one days."

The stallion looked over in confusion.  "Why the hell would you even want to?"

"Shadow-genus Mycelium is the source for some of rarest and highest grade alchemical materials around," Twilight answered proudly.  "We got super lucky that it was only the one Roach.  They usually travel in swarms of several hundred."

"They're probably running around the halls by now then."  Astral blinked.  "And what are we supposed to do if we run into hundreds of them here?"  He asked in disbelief.  "I don't have anywhere near that many bullets."

Twilight shrugged.  "Fire works well against most Mycelium."

"They're all yours then.  I couldn't cast a fireball if my life depended on it."   Astral pointed to the wall.  "Heads up."

Twilight turned around.  Another section of the void strand, this time moving in a different direction.  "Is the ship turning?"

"Yeah," Astral spat, "that bastard isn't taking us straight away from the strand."

The section of strand was almost immediately followed by a second section, only the next was grotesquely distended.  Some massive creature, larger than the Snake-wolf cages it passed over and barely visible through the thin membrane between dimensions, fought to tear free of its cosmic womb.

"A Gigantus," Twilight groaned.  "At least it isn't a Titano.  We wouldn't have room to fight it.  There isn't exactly a true evolutionary order in the dark dimension," she explained to Astral, keeping her eyes on what could quickly become their next opponent, "so the taxonomy is a little different.  Gigantus and Titano are size classes.  There's five size classes; Nano, Regulara, and Extus, Gigantus, and Titano, in that order.  Class is not part of the species taxonomy."

"I'm so very glad you clarified that last part," Astral deadpanned.  "This thing will be so much easier to fight now."

"Oh, shut up," Twilight shot back.  A tentacle covered in short hooks errupted through the strand, and her eyes went wide.  "Oculum Stalaspire!  Kill it!  Kill!  It!  Now!"

"Good plan!"  Astral shouted as the tentacle twitched and lashed out.  It slammed into the ceiling and stuck there, hooks embedding in the sheet metal. "How?!"

"When you see eyes, shoot!"  Twilight grabbed the tentacle in her magic and pulled.  The hooks tore free, and the owner of the tentacle was ripped from the void strand.  With a shout, it was thrown across the cargo bay, leaving a gash in the dimensional barrier much larger than the strand was originally.  Nearly the entire wall was now a portal into a swirling void of darkness, ringed by the tattered remains of the dull fire of the void strand.  "Crap!  It was bigger than I thought!"

The mass of hooked tentacles Twilight threw slammed into the wall and stuck there.  A shelled, segmented body occupied the center, and it split, leaving Astral and Twilight staring into a hissing, snapping maw, oozing blue-grey spittle between thousands of dirt-brown, needle-like teeth.  The broken shells of other creatures lay lodged among the teeth.  A long, pink tongue, easily another tentacle on its own lashed about, sporting a single, ivory hook on its end.

"Twi," Astral said quietly as he and Twilight backed away, "I don't see any eyes."

"You will," she reassured him.  The creature roared.  A deafening sound that grew louder until it reached the threshold of the enchanted cotton in the ponies' ears.  "Any second now."

The giant mouth extended out of the creatures body, the surrounding skin stretching to accommodate it.  It snapped shut on open air, then twisted, leaving a orb of featureless skin.  A line of holes to either side of the orb began to secrete a sickly grey fluid that began to move of its own will towards the center.  The fluid met, leaving a slick shine over the orb, and the thing twisted again.  Flaps of skin closed over the orb, like eyelids.

"Ugh, here it comes," Twilight groaned, cringing.

The flaps opened with a sickening squelch, and a jaundiced eye, bloodshot with veins of blue-green stared at the ponies.  It blinked as it looked at them, eyelids retracting back to show far too much of the eye.  Which split open as the creature roared again, revealing the maw contained within.  The eye-mouth snapped shut and the eyelid blinked shut with a squishy noise.

Twilight screamed.

Before Astral could fire a shot, she grabbed one of the cages lining the wall.  Despite being welded in place, her magic tore it free, and launched at the giant eye, which had barely opened again.  The last thing it saw was a tangled steel cube before being smashed into a bloody paste.

Twilight gagged at the sight, shaking with disgust.  "Those things should not exist!"

Astral stared at the mess for a moment before looking over at Twilight.  "If you were gonna do that, why did you tell me to shoot it?"

"The little eyes!"  Twilight pointed at the thing.  "Don't be looking at me, it's not even close to dead!"

Astral looked back, and sure enough, another eye had emerged from among the tentacles.  It was a fraction of the size of the first, and an angry red in color.

Astral wasted no time putting a bullet through it.  It burst like a balloon filled with slime.  In his concentration, Astral didn't realize that Twilight was directly to the right of him and his pistol.  The empty casing ejected after his shot went down the collar of her jacket.

"Yeowch!"  Twilight jumped suddenly.  "Hot, hot, hot!"  She bounced in place, shaking the hot metal away from her neck and shoulder.  She quickly shook the offending piece of brass down and out her sleeve, and it clattered to the floor.

"Sorry," Astral offered, keeping his eyes on the Stalaspire.  "You might want to step back."

"No," Twilight picked up the little piece of metal, "this is good."  Another eye appeared, and as Astral shifted his aim, Twilight took the shot instead, using the spent casing as her bullet, launching it with magic.  She glanced over at him with a big smile on her face.  "Hee hee."

"Smart ass," Astral snorted.

"Prettier than your ass," she retorted.

"How do you know?  Been checking out my ass lately?"  Astral fired at another eye, and Twilight caught the spent shell as it ejected.  "Must say, I'm flattered."

She frowned at him, shooting down the next eye without even looking.  "Maybe I will start staring at your butt.  You sure seem to like staring at my wings."

"I can't help it," Astral defended himself as he rapid fire shot down a cluster of three eyes, "they're so soft."

Twilight blushed and launched two of her casings at eyes that appeared on opposite sides of the tentacle mass.  "Well maybe I'll let you help preen them, now that we're, you know..."

"An item?" Astral finished for her as he aimed for the next eye.  "Wait, this one's still yours."

"Oh, right."  Twilight quickly dispatched it.  "So, um, back on the station, you mentioned maybe going on a date when we get back to Canter-"  She was cut off by a pair of shots, and had to scramble to catch the shells as they flew past her.  "Whoops.  Anyway, did you have anything particular in mind?"

"Not really.  I was convinced you would say no."  A cluster of eyes, at least half a dozen, appeared near the top of the body.  Astral waited for Twilight to blast her two, then took out half the remaining ones, leaving Twilight with just the right amount of ammo.  "How many eyes do these things have, anyway?"

"More as they get larger, but always a power of three, so three, nine, or twenty-seven.  Three's are important when dealing with Oculum."  She blasted the next eye with a fireball, not even giving Astral a chance.  She shrugged as he raised an eyebrow.  "What?  It isn't going to be an even number."

"I've fired eleven shots, and you used each piece of brass, so we're at twenty-three with your little fireball stunt.  Only four left."

"And, your eyes are still blue," Twilight pointed out.  "What?  You aren't afraid of interdimensional horrors?"

"You're doing most of the work."  Astral glanced back, and frowned.   "Twi, the strand hasn't moved."

"Huh?"  Twilight looked back as well.  "Doesn't that mean we've stopped?"

"Yes," Astral stomped his hoof.  "What is that idiot thinking?"

Twilight shook her head.  "I don't know, but I'm thinking we take over the ship after this, and find out."  She looked back at Astral.  "Finish this up.  It'll disintegrate when you destroy the last eye."

"What are you going to be doing?"  Astral blasted one more eye as she turned around and walked towards the yawning void.  There were noises coming from far off in the darkness, and she was taking her jacket off.  "Uh, you might want to leave that on.  It's armored, kind of why I got it for you."

"I appreciate it," she set it down and kept walking, "but I don't want to risk burning it."  White magic swirled around her hooves with each step.  The noises were getting louder.  Scraping, like wood on leather, or shell on shell.  "Keep 'em off me until I'm done."

Astral ran to her side, keeping his weapon trained on the monster behind them.  He fired when another eye appeared.  The thing was more annoying than frightening at this point.  Why couldn't it hurry up and show the last two eyes?  "I don't know what you're planning, but I'll cover you."

She smiled, staring off into the nothingness, eyes glowing with pure, ethereal light.  Wisps of magical aura leached from her coat.  "Be careful and don't touch me, the magic might burn you."

Astral could feel the energy cooking off of her.  "No it won't," he said, confident about that for some reason.  Maybe it was something the other Twilight said, but he felt safe around what he knew was a dangerous amount of magic.  He put his hoof on her shoulder, and the white flames of aura wrapped around his hoof harmlessly.  "See?"

"She was right then, the other me."  Twilight took a deep breath and closed her eyes.  "Astral, we have a long talk ahead of us when this is over.  I'm going to trust you to keep me safe until then."

"Understood," he said, stepping back.  He placed himself so he could watch over her, with the open void strand and the body of the Oculum to either side.

"One last thing," Twilight's voice was starting to echo, and the occasional wisps were coalescing into a solid halo surrounding her, "the amount of magic I'm gathering is going to draw these creatures like parasprites to a picnic the moment I start to release it."

"When will that be?" Astral asked uneasily.  The scraping noises stopped getting louder, but no creatures showed themselves.  Were they hiding?  Just out of sight?  And the Oculum was convulsing, its body heaving as the outermost tentacles shriveled and died.

"Right about now," Twilight answered, "get ready."

Twilight's gathered magic exploded outwards.  Her glowing shell turning into a shockwave that spread through the cargo bay, then passed through the walls.

The scraping noises were joined by a chorus of screeches.  At least a dozen creatures appeared at the edges of the portal.  Some above, and some at ground level.  Astral recognized them.  Vaguely feline in nature, black, leathery bodies studded with irregular chitinous plates.  Scorpion-like tails twitched behind them.  Two on the smaller creatures, three on the larger ones.  And one large eye sat above their drooling, segmented beaks.

These were the things he saved Patch from years ago.

Behind them, shadows swam in the mist.  Flashes in the void, like fish in the ocean's night, hinted at something keeping its distance.

Beside him, Twilight collapsed, and all hell broke loose.

The largest of the scorpion-cats rushed forward.  It made it halfway to them before it was bowled over by a meter wide projectile.  Hooked tentacles tore into its skin.  It screeched as the clinging mass gripped and shifted, tearing more and more of it open, flinging black blood everywhere.

A mouth emerged from the mass, clamping down on the struggling creature's neck, tearing out a large bite.  The mouth chewed and choked down its meal, then closed as its prey collapsed in writhing pain.  It turned towards Astral, fluid covering itself as it prepared to turn back into an eye.

He didn't let it finish.  He shot it, three times in quick succession.  It didn't explode like the other small eyes, but it did squeal in pain.  Astral looked back at the Oculum's main body, grabbing a knife in his hoof upon hearing an answering squeal.

He bit down on the scabbard, and when he saw the movement among the dead tentacles, he drew the knife and threw it in one movement.  A second projectile of tentacles launched from the main body which crumbled behind it.  Astral guided his knife with magic, adding as much force as he could.  He knew he couldn't stop it, but when the knife slammed into the thing, he pushed it sideways enough to deflect it by a few meters.

It slammed into empty floor, and Astral slashed with the same knife until it stopped moving.  He then yanked the knife out of it as it turned to ashen dust, and launched his weapon back at the first one.  It was still moving, still trying to form its eye despite the damage done to it.  A quick slice to the base of its eye-mouth severed it from the rest of the body.

As it joined its counterpart as ash on the cargo bay floor, the scorpion cats stalked towards Astral.  Those above leapt to the ground, one or two crashing as gravity took hold of them, but most managed to land gracefully.

The second largest of them had taken over, and stood closest to Astral and the prone  Twilight.  It hissed as the others fanned out, likely to draw attention away from the attempts to surround their prey.

"Sorry," Astral took aim at the leader, and picked out another two that were standing relatively still.  "Hunters don't play by the prey's rules."  His first shot rang out, true to his aim, straight into the leader's eye.  Astral didn't wait for it to fall.  The moment he felt the recoil, he shifted his aim to the next target.  It couldn't comprehend what happened to the leader, and was looking to it for guidance, presenting a perfect profile.

Astral fired again, dropping the second target, and shifted again.  He fired, but this third shot was a little late, the creatures were all running in panic, and he only winged the creature in the flank.  Still, pack structure lost with their leaders, Astral was in a better spot to defend himself and more importantly Twilight.

That was when the lights died.

There was no warning.  Not even a flicker.  The sudden change in environment calmed the panicked scorpion cats.  It was much more like home now, and they turned back to regard their intended prey.

Astral let out an angry snort.  Was this Patch's doing?  "Like I said," he shouted into the cargo bay, "hunters don't play by the prey's rules!"

Astral shot the closest beast in the head.  The darkness wasn't an issue for him.  And he knew his eyes were burning gold by now, if only fueled by his anger at Patch.  He kept his knife close and ready, and his pistol ahead of him.  

One of the scorpion cats tried to flank him, losing its nerve as the unicorn turned to face it.  Astral fired once as it leapt away.  He only knicked it in the hindleg, but once it landed and collapsed on the injury, Astral Astral quickly reloaded and put it down for good with four more shots.

Blinking away the flash, Astral searched for his next target.  He knew he could hit the scorpion cats that kept themselves to the walls, but to conserve ammo and keep them from attacking all at once, he wanted them to think they were safe farther away from him.

Suddenly, they all cowered.  Astral felt a deep rumbling through the deckplates, but heard nothing.  After a few seconds, he heard the tail end fade of a howling noise, almost like a whale's song, directly behind him.

He spun around, bringing his knife and pistol to bear.  He fired blindly into the face of an eel like creature, darting through the air towards him.  It turned suddenly, tail bashing the the unicorn in the face as it swam away through open air.

Astral recovered quickly.  Whatever the thing was, it wasn't very strong.  But it circled overhead, and Astral could see more heading his way.  He could also see where he had clearly hit the creature.  five rounds, out of seven fired had found their mark, yet barely slowed it down.

"Tough bastards," Astral lamented, bringing his hoof to his face.  His cheek throbbed, and he could feel the familiar sting of a busted lip.

He moved closer to Twilight, pulling another knife from its scabbard.  The deck rumbled again as the fish-beast overhead cried out.  Judging by the pained reactions of the scorpion cats, Astral knew he should be grateful.  He felt it echo through his body, but couldn't hear it through the enchanted cotton.

Another eel charged towards him, called by its injured brethren.  Astral stared it down, letting it get closer and closer.  He waited until was almost on top of him before nearly emptying his magazine into the monster's face.  It veered off, same as the first one, but not before Astral lunged at it, plunging one of his blades into its side.

The stallion threw his weight into it, hooves holding the knife in place, angled back as the creature squirmed away.  Its own desperate flight let the knife slip from gill to tail, gutting the beast.

It swam several more meters before succumbing to gravity, aided by a pouncing scorpion-cat.  It caught the fish in midair, claws digging into the open side, and dragged it to ground.  Two more of them joined in,tearing away at the flailing eel's insides.

Astral felt the deckplates rumble once more.  A glance into the void showed several more eel's approaching.  At least four, and two of them were significantly larger than the other.

Astral dropped the magazine from his pistol.  It clattered to the ground as he took the opportunity to reload as the eel's approached.  He had left one round in the pistol, so it was ready to fire the moment he snapped a new magazine in place.

He had three more magazines, having spent two of them, and twenty-one shots in each.  He also had his knives, but they wouldn't hold their edge forever.  "Come on, Twi," he said to the inanimate mare at his hooves, "whatever you did better kick in soon."

"It will!"  She shouted as she screamed through the cargo bay, a ghostly image of her tearing through the wall, and zipping across the open void strand.  She left a thin trail of magic that was leaking glowing fumes.

Astral looked down at Twilight, who was still there, then back at where she disappeared through the wall trailing a silver-white thread.  His eyes were wide, and his mouth hung open as he tried to comprehend what he just saw. 

Twilight's trail started growing.  No longer the thin trail she left, it was expanding like a net.  The approaching eels sped up, shooting for the barrier that threatened to keep them from leaving the void.

The glowing silver treads of the net stretched towards the ceiling and floor.  But before it could reach, two of the eels slipped through.  One above, and one below.

The one near the floor, smaller and faster, shot straight for Astral.  He didn't waste time shooting at it.  He took a knife and tossed it at the thing.  It went high, missing the beast.  Just as planned.

A burst of magic shot the knife down, lodging it in what Astral hoped was the monster's spine.  The eel dipped, belly scraping the floor, but kept on course.

With a strained grunt, Astral's magic grabbed the knife embedded in the thing's back, and jarred it back and forth.  The eel rocked with the motion of the short blade.  Its movements were twitchy and uncoordinated compared to before.  Was this working?

The eel was closing in on Astral, and he pushed his knife to the side.  He put everything he had into it as he drew another blade.  He felt hot, sweat dripped down his coat. He was burning through magic rapidly, and he could feel it.  But it paid off.

One last burst of magic dragged the eel sideways just as it reached him.  Astral stabbed it behind the eye with the knife he had ready.  Then, in the same moment, he spun around and bucked the knife in deep.

The eel flopped to the floor, but it wasn't dead yet.  And big brother was approaching from above.  While the small eel tried to right itself, Astral took his pistol and started shooting.  Shot after shot.  Astral squinted as the continuing flashes tried to burn their afterimage in his eyes.  The smell of sulphur and the heat of burning powder only added to his discomfort.

He fired until the pistol until it clicked dry.  Cursing himself for losing track of rounds fired, he reloaded.  The eel was still moving, but barely.  it was twitching erratically, shaking, seizing.  Astral could only hope it was beyond recovery while he focused on the other one.

When he turned, a blindingly bright mass of light shot down through the ceiling, burning a hole through the massive eel before crashing into Twilight.  Shockwaves of pure energy blew everything away from the alicorn, including Astral.  The poor unicorn went tumbling as Twilight stood up in the middle of it all.

The magic faded quickly, leaving the two ponies in the midst of destruction, massacred monsters, and slime.  Everything was fading to dust, even the surviving scorpion cats.  They came apart like sculptures made of dry sand.

"Wow, it's dark in here."  Twilight blinked as she looked around, seeing nothing in the pitch black of the cargo bay.  "So, Astral, about that date, I've been meaning to visit the Dragon embassy on Canterlot Alpha.  I hear they have a grand library that's modeled after the one on Har'Mone, which is of the galaxy's cultural wonders."

"Sounds great."  Astral spit the blood out of his mouth and put pressure on his lip.  "It's not going to be infested with monsters when we get there for some reason, is it?  Because it seems like we can't go more than a few days without facing some sort of life-threatening situation."

"Say, what happened while I was out?"  Twilight walked towards Astral's voice, feeling out in front of her with a hoof as she moved.  "It wasn't this dark earlier."

He walked over to meet her, grabbing her hoof to let her know where he was.  He lit his horn, ramping up the light slowly so their eyes could adjust.  "Ask Patch," he spat.  "What did you do?  I thought I saw you flying earlier, and what was all that light?"

She smiled, a proud, cunning smile, and leaned in close.  "That, Astral Plane, was Astral projection."

The unicorn groaned.  "Ok, how long have you been sitting on that?"

"I thought of it on the Solomon's Ring," she admitted.  "I was really starting think I wouldn't get a chance to-  Wait, what happened to your face?"

"One of those eels got in a lucky hit."  Astral nodded towards the door.  "Let's get up to the bridge before Patch runs us through the gauntlet again."

"Oh, he can't."  Twilight strolled over to her jacket.  "I sealed the void strand.  It's gone for good."

"You what?!"  Astral looked back at the wall that, only moments ago, held a portal to a cold, dark hell.  "How the hell did you do that?  Wouldn't that involve fundamentally altering the fabric of space?"

"Only in the immediate vicinity of the strand."  Twilight shrugged.  "Don't overthink it.  It's not as complicated as it seems."

"If you say so."  Astral shook his head.  He was sure it was much more complicated than it seemed.  He couldn't even begin to imagine the magic involved, the amount of power necessary to make such a drastic change to space itself.   "I'm headed to the bridge."

"Good."  Twilight started putting her jacket on, collecting Astral's discarded magazines with her magic and putting them in the pockets.  "I've got a few words to share with our Captain."





Patch leaned back in his chair, heaving a sigh.  He shut down the viewscreen as the two ponies left the cargo bay.  "You heard 'em folks, void strand's gone, that wash of magic we saw wiped out any remaining creatures, and it's safe to leave.  Double check that with sensors, then everypony get out of here.  Astral's got a temper and the hooves to back it, and I bet his filly's the same."

The crew he was addressing was crammed into every spare space on the bridge.  Standing side-by-side in the dark of emergency lighting, they started exchanging glances.  One of them, the pegasus colt from the cargo bay, decided to speak up.  "Captain, why?  Why did we do this?"

All eyes were on the colt, but they slowly made their way to Patch.  "That's for me to worry about, kid," the captain answered, "I want you to get started making multiple copies and backups of the recording we just made, and the footage from the Snake-wolf transfer.  I want everything, sensor data, thermal readouts, and the holocam footage, saved in so many places that we start leaking it from the transponders."

"Why?" the colt asked again, as the bridge doors slid open.

"That's what I want to know."

Most of the crew froze, but Patch just nodded.  "You got here fast, Astral.  Did ya finally learn to teleport?"

"You know I can't," Astral growled, marching towards the other unicorn and nodding towards Twilight, "luckily she can.  It's a pretty short run here from the galley."  He glanced around as the crew parted, cramming even tighter together to give Astral a wide berth.  His eyes locked on one of the displays, and he froze mid-step.  "Are those..."  He clenched his teeth, jaw working in anger at what he saw.  "Are those our coordinates?!"

With a sigh, Patch pulled his mane back.  He stared straight ahead, oddly calm.  Far calmer than most of the crew had ever seen him.  And he smiled weakly as he answered Astral's demand with a simple, "Yep."

Screaming in anger, Astral leapt at him.  Patch made no move to dodge, or even brace himself, and the flying tackle tore the relaxed unicorn from his chair.  He hit the deck hard, his armored jacket clanging under the weight of the snarling grey unicorn on top of him, staring murderously down at him with flaming golden eyes.  Astral grabbed as much jacket as he could in one hoof and pulled Patch up.  His other hoof cracked across his jaw, slamming him back to the deck.

The sound of that impact pulled Twilight out of her shock, and she ran forward.  "Astral!"

He looked back, pointing his hoof at her.  "Stay out of this!"

This seemed to snap everypony else out of their inaction.  Numbers were on their side, why weren't they saving the captain?

Patch laid limp against the deck as his crew started to move.  Only, his eyes were open and he was fully conscious.  "All crew, stand down."

They stopped in their tracks, but Astral punched him again on hearing his voice.

"Dammit Patch!"  The unicorn screamed in his face, dragging up by the collar.  "I'm not going to forgive you anymore.  I can't!  I've put up with a lot, but you just tried to kill us!"

Patch refused to look his old friend in the eyes.  He also refused to resist or defend himself.  "Come on, Astral, you're the reason we survived our first void strand.  I knew you could handle-"

Astral shoved him away, and stood up. "This is that first void strand!  The one we mapped out fourteen years ago.  You knew it was here!  You knew the shape of it!  You knew just how to make sure we'd end up right in the middle of it!"

Something hit Astral in the side of the head.  There was almost no force behind it, but it stopped him in the middle of raising his hoof for another punch.  He looked down.  It had landed by his hoof, a small box of crayons, broken colors littering the deck.  He looked up again as somepony shouted out, "Stop it!"

Astral didn't see who said it, but the crowded crew suddenly turned its attention inwards.  They scrambled about, for something in their midst, shouting at each other.

"Get him!"

"Stop, don't let him by!"

"Grab him!"

One of the crew dove for something, only for it to jump on his head and launch out of the crowd using the convenient springboard.  Astral watched it land, and swallowed hard.  Before him, stood a small foal, six or seven years old at most, with the same rust red mane as Patch.

"Leave my dad alone!" The colt shouted.  Astral couldn't see the horn hidden in his unruly mane, but he saw the sputtering glow of an attempted spell.

"Astral," said another voice in the crowd, "stop this."  A mare made her way out, most of the crew stepping out of the way in respect.  Her mane was long, its soft, silky purple standing out against her pale, peach coat.

Astral let his hoof fall as he stared in shock.   "Gutsy?" He asked in disbelief.  "You were on board?"

She nodded slowly.  "I wanted to see you, but I couldn't bring myself to do it.  Not after...  We should have been there for you and Coolie when you were exiled."  She walked over to the colt and rested her hoof on his back.  "Astral, stop it, this is your father's fight."

"We named him after you," Patch said quietly to the unicorn still standing over him.  "Gutsy's idea.  Woulda been named after Coolie if we had a filly."

The colt looked up at his mother, confusion clear on his face.  "Why isn't anypony doing anything?"  He looked over at his father.  "Why aren't you fighting back?!"

"Son?"  Patch turned to face his boy, bloody nose and lip testament to Astral's anger.  "Sometimes, fighting means you already lost."  He looked back up at Astral, tears forming.  "I lost this one long ago.  And, I know I've lost any trust you might have still had in me.  That I've lost any friendship we once had.  But, you still have my respect, and I'm not going to fight you.  Let my boy leave, and... you can hit me all you want.  I deserve it for dragging you and your friend into this."

"Patch..."  Astral shook his head, his anger was already fading, giving way to confusion.  Patch's refusal to fight back was something Astral couldn't comprehend.  "I just want to know why."

"The King of Tana wants you dead," Patch answered.  "This was the safest way for you that still proves I tried."

Astral stepped back.  "Patch, did he order you to do this?"

"Not just me, Astral."  Patch slowly stood up, bringing a hoof to his battered face.  "Every hunter on Tana.  He put a bounty on your head, larger than any I've seen.  There's a prize for even trying."

"Is that why you did this, Patch?  For the money?"

"No!  No, never.  I have a plan, a dangerous one, but I think I can get the king to rescind the bounty, or back it off a little.  Coolie's safe, but I can't leave you a target.  At the very least, I might be able to to scare the other Hunter's guilds off of you.  You always were one of the best, and the video of this, you taking on an alpha snake-wolf, fighting off nightmares in pitch black void, and that filly of yours altering reality, might remind everypony why you're called Yardrin."

"Patch, if you go back, having disobeyed the king..."

"Why do you think Gutsy and my boy are on board?  I snuck 'em off planet.  Screw customs, screw choosing one to take with me.  We left no record that they ever left the planet.  If I'm exiled, they'll both be right here with me."

Astral shook his head.  "I wish I could believe you, Patch."

"I understand if ya don't."  Patch sighed.  "But, if I wanted ya dead, I could have poisoned any one of your meals on this trip.  Wouldn't even have involved your filly.  Gotta say, I wasn't expectin' her to be a Celestial."

Twilight stepped up.  "First of all, you all need to stop calling me Astral's filly.  Ok?  Second, I'm not a Celestial, I'm an Alicorn.  Third, the space station you picked us up at is basically a refugee camp, you would be welcome there if necessary."

"I'm doin' everything I can so it ain't," Patch replied.  With a groan, he brought a hoof to his mouth.  "Damn, Astral, for bein' outta shape, you sure pack a mean punch."

"Out of practice," Astral corrected, "Not out of shape.  And why does the king want me dead?  Why now?"

"We don't know," Gutsy answered.  "There have been tensions with the Order of Tamers, and they could be involved, but we don't know for sure.  All the guilds have stopped speaking to each other, so it's hard to gather reliable information."

Twilight nodded.  "I would offer any help I can with this matter, but first, I need to know if we'll reach Tirassa without further incident."

It was Gutsy who answered.  "We will, I will see to it myself.  We are only ten hours away."

Twilight responded with a nod.  "Thank you."  She glanced over at Astral, who looked almost as beat up as Patch.  "We'll need to rest, please see to it that we aren't disturbed."

"I will."  Gutsy walked over to Patch, letting him lean against her.  "If you'll excuse me, I need to patch him up, so to speak."

"Yes, of course.  Same here."  Twilight nodded again, teleporting herself and Astral back to their quarters halfway through the motion.  "Oh, shoot," she said suddenly, smacking her hoof against her forehead, "I forgot the bug."  She flashed away, leaving Astral alone.

With a sigh, he headed over to the filing cabinet.  Digging through the drawers, he found a small medkit and some napkins among various silverware and shelf stable rations.  There was even a kettle, bottled water, and a selection of teas to go with the hotplate.  Gutsy's idea, no doubt.  She couldn't go more than a day without a glass of hot tea.

This was a lot to process, everything that happened.  He had felt so betrayed, but was it truly a betrayal?  Was Patch honestly trying to protect him in some twisted way?

He opened one of the water bottles, holding it in a shaky hoof and wetting down a napkin so he could wipe down his lip.  He winced in pain, but kept at it, gently removing the crust that had quickly formed after getting bashed in the face by the eel.  He then patted it down with a styptic from the kit.  It stung, but only for a moment, and it felt a lot better than the grit of void dust and drying blood.

Once that was done, he felt along his cheekbone.  The soreness told him it probably wasn't any worse than a bruise under his fur.  Not the worst he's ever been hit, that's for sure.  He probably did worse to Patch just now.

Astral shook his head, thinking of what Patch told him.  The king of Tana?  Why would he suddenly put a bounty on somepony who had been banished for years?  Something had to have changed his mind, but what?  Patch did say that Coolie was safe, but how sure was he about that?

With a grunt, Astral punched the hapless filing cabinet, denting the thin metal.  Again, he felt helpless.  He was a fighter, a good one, but why didn't it ever seem to matter?  No matter what he had to fight through, he always lost what was important.  He won the fight at Jegoyo Square, only to lose the life he built on Tana to the anger of nobles and royalty.

He sighed and turned his attention to the welt on his neck.  The swelling had gone down around the wound, but Twilight didn't get a chance to show off the healing spell she was talking about earlier.

He froze with his hoof on his neck.  It was happening again.  He was getting close to somepony.  A lot of ponies, he corrected himself.  He was trying to build something more for himself than the life of a lonely freighter pilot.  Would the universe let it happen this time?

It nearly didn't.  He thought about the other night.  Twilight asked him about his rescue of Fluttershy.  She thought he was heroic fighting through what he had, but he couldn't help but see it as a failure.  He may have been too hard on himself.  He did manage to buy enough time for Fluttershy to wake up at least.  But, it could have gone either way at the end, and what if something similar happened in the future?  He didn't think he could handle losing anypony close to him again.  It had already happened too many times before.

Astral tried to shake himself from his worry as he cleaned his neck with a napkin, then scrubbed down the welt with an antiseptic wipe.  He was digging for an ointment cream when Twilight reappeared, her jacket draped over her back.  "That took longer than expected," he told her, glancing back, "where's the bug?"

"I left it with Gutsy, with instructions to deliver it to Canterlot.  The container will keep anypony I don't know from tampering with it."  Twilight tossed her jacket on the bed, walked over to Astral, and sat down next to him.  She held her hoof out for the medkit, and Astral handed it over.  "I probably don't have enough magic left for any proper healing spells, but I can at least help with this."

"Thanks, Twi."  Astral sat still while she applied a cold cream to his neck and worked it in.  "You must be tired after what you did in the cargo bay."

"Not so much," she answered with a smile, "not as much as I was expecting anyway.  The void strand was smaller than I expected."

Astral nodded absent-mindedly.  "That's good."  He glanced over as she packed up the first aid kit.  He couldn't help but be reminded of his worries. If he was honest with himself, that was probably the thing that scared him the most about her.  Not that she was more powerful than him, not that she was part of some secret society that could erase him, but that she may not be there some day.  Everypony he met was like that anymore, but the closer he got to her, the more it worried him.  "I'm sorry I yelled at you earlier."

"You sound tired."  Twilight brushed his mane back to check the back of his neck, where he had been injured by the centipede on Picus.  It was healed, quite well, given Radio's work with the dermal accelerator.  But, the fur was thin, and white from the nutrient gel treatment.  They didn't have the proper dye on the shuttle to counteract the bleaching effect, and it wasn't exactly a priority during their brief stay on Delta.  It would take a little while, but it would go back to normal eventually.  "Astral?"

He looked up.  His eyes were just as gold as when they left the cargo bay."Huh?"

"I said, you seem tired."  Twilight let her hoof rest there on his neck.  "Is everything alright."

"Yeah..."  He rubbed at his face.  "This thing with Patch is a bit much to process, and I'm a little tired from using so much magic all at once.  Between the Snake-wolf, and the void strand, I'm pretty spent.  And I bet I used less magic than you use with each teleport."

Twilight nodded slowly.  His magic was quite weak, almost unnaturally so.  Proximity to the void could explain that.  It leeched magic from anything near it, even the most basic spells would require more magic than usual.  "Still, you protected me while I closed the void strand.  You got your face bashed in, and I don't even have a scratch."

"Yeah," Astral finally smiled.  "I am pretty good at dealing with monsters.  It's kind of my thing."

Twilight laughed.  "Yeah, you surprised me on Picus.  You were good, but I never expected you were actually a pro monster hunter."

"Eh... I was kind of rusty on Picus.  Even in the cargo bay now, I wasn't moving as fast as I used to."

"But you had that spell to see in the dark," Twilight reminded him.  "Those Pisces Audius, the eel things, navigate in the dark by a very rudimentary echolocation.  They rely on their call paralyzing their prey.  They didn't stand a chance."

"They were tough bastards," Astral pointed out.  "And, what spell?"  He shrugged.  "I can always see in the dark."

"What?!"  Twilight scrambled to her hooves and faced Astral, staring him in the face.  Her mind was turning as she studied him, the colors, his golden eyes, and she remembered his disappointment at the lack of fruit on the station, and the gusto with which he attacked the fruit basket on the Solomon's Ring.  Only Fluttershy's enthusiasm outstripped his.  "Oh, my gosh.  Astral, you're a thestral!"

He leaned back from the shouting alicorn.  "A what-sal?"

"A bat pony!"  She grabbed his jaw, pulling his mouth open.  "You get your fangs ground, don't you?"

Astral pushed her hoof away.  "What?  Yeah, a few times a year.  Last time was on Hoofton before we met."  He ran his tongue over his teeth.  They were still nice and smooth.  It would be months before they needed a touchup.  "By bat pony, you mean wings like Fluttershy's, right?"

Twilight nodded quickly.

"Then, yes," Astral shrugged, "my dad was, anyway.  A lot of the ponies on Serus were, only, we called ourselves Night Ponies.  And, none of us were as big as her, or half and half like that."

"Then, you trim your ear-tufts, too?"

"Yes," he answered quickly.  "Monthly.  Otherwise ponies stare at them when they talk to me."

"Do me a favor, don't."  Twilight laughed.  "This explains so much.  The fighting, the reflexes, the eyes.  Astral, I can't believe you never told me!"

"Told you what?" Astral defended.  "I didn't even know there was a proper word for it until now.  We haven't even known each other that long.  I'm sure you would have found out when I went to get my ears trimmed, or my teeth done, or something.  And why is it a big deal?"

"It isn't," she said quickly, then quietly added, "I just, kinda have a thing for Thestrals."

Astral smirked at her.  "A thing?"

"Yes, a thing," she admitted.  "I mean, I am the personification of the transition from day to night.  It's only natural I might find the nocturnal, mysterious Thestral... attractive.  And it might explain our magical compatibility."

"All I got out of that was, you find me attractive."  Astral laughed.  "I thought we already established that?"

"We did."  Twilight sat and crossed her hooves.  "We also established the inverse."

Astral strolled ove to her, magic reaching out to lower the lights as he leaned in close.  "You mean, that I find you sexy?"

"Attractive," Twilight corrected quickly, blushing as she brought the lights back up. "We were talking about finding each other attractive."

"You were," Astral corrected, sitting in front of her, smiling.  "Thanks for cheering me up, Twi.  I was feeling down for bit there."

"No problem."  Twilight smiled back.  "And I've got something that might cheer you up even more."

"Are you going to kiss me again?  Because I was too preoccupied with the apparent betrayal and threat of imminent monster attack to fully enjoy that last one."

She rolled her eyes.  "Maybe I will, maybe I won't."

"Maybe I will," Astral suggested, leaning in.  

She just smiled, not backing down.  "I have a better idea."

Astral froze.  He wasn't sure how to respond to that.  "Better?"

She nodded, slyly smiling at the stunned look on Astral's face.  "Stay right there."  She got up, and walked around behind him.  She brushed his tail to the side, then sat down behind him so their backs were touching.  "You were taught how to meditate in Spellcasting 101, right?"

Astral swallowed hard before answering.  "Yeah, why?  What are you doing?"

"What we are doing, is meditating."  She took a deep breath.  "Just in a specific way.  Try to relax as much as possible."

"Kind of hard like this."  Astral glanced back.  She was leaning back a little more than he was, so he adjusted to match.  This pressed them together from flank to shoulder blades.  Astral could feel her wings against him, moving in small twitches.  "Twi?  Are you nervous?"

"Yes," she admitted quickly.  With a sigh, Twilight glanced back.  She found him looking back as well.  She wasn't sure why, but it made her happy.  "Remember how I said there was a way to quickly recover from magical exhaustion?  I want to show you how."

He nodded slowly.  "What about those special conditions you mentioned?"

Twilight could feel her cheeks warming up.  "The conditions should be met."

"Well, that wasn't cryptic at all."  Astral twisted to get a better look at the alicorn.  "What were the conditions?"

She turned the opposite direction to hide her blush.  "This, um, it's an ancient ritual.  Even by equestrian standards.  There's a certain amount of innate compatibility required.  That much is pure chance.  There is also a degree of familiarity required.  A level of, um... intimacy?"

"Huh?"  Astral turned around completely.  "Ok, maybe we should talk this through before jumping to the step-by-step version.  How intimate are you planning on getting?"

Twilight brought her hooves to her face.  How was it so easy for him to embarass her?  Taking a deep breath, she lowered her hooves.  She wasn't going to let it stop her.  "I didn't mean it like that," she explained softly, "It isn't physical, but, this is most likely going to be the most intimate act I've ever done with anypony.  This is important to me, and I feel like I can trust you with it."

Astral was silent for a moment, then sat back down behind her.  Now that they were back to back again, he took a deep breath of his own.  He had a fairly good idea what she was talking about now.  "Are we going to be sharing magic?"  He felt her wings freeze, telling him he was right and that she was nervous about it.  But, how was this supposed to help recover their magic?  If anything, it would consume what little they had left, driving them further into exhaustion.  "You know, I've never done this either.  But, you don't have to be this worried about it.  We can take things slowly, right?  I mean, a few days ago, we weren't even sure about each other, we could wait a few more to do this if it makes you feel better.  It's kind of a jump to go from first kiss to this on the same day."

Twilight stood up quickly.  "You're right, maybe we should talk this over a little more."  As Astral turned around, she turned to face him.  "Astral, my echo called you a focuser.  She said you had the qualities of one, and that you might have been mine if we had met in Equestria."

He nodded slowly.  "I'm not sure exactly what that means, but it sounds important."

"It... can be."  Twilight paced back and forth, debating just how much to tell him.  "I knew a couple that was focuser/caster back in Equestria.  I can tell you, it's complicated, and there are a lot of things we would need to discuss if we ever wanted to try to be a focused pair.  But, for now, I just wanted to try and perform a recovery link."

Astral put his hoof out to stop her as she passed by him again.  "Is that like a resonance link?  Where two unicorns work together to make a spell stronger than either of them could alone?"

"Kind of."  She shrugged.  "By classical Equestrian methodology, there are four classes of magical links.  Strengthening, weakening, changing, and preserving.  A resonance link is the most basic of the strengthening links, and the most common.  Any two ponies can perform one, if they are in tune with each other.  This requires some deal of understanding, affinity, a common goal, etc.  So, good friends, family members, squadmates, members of a team, etc. could all use the resonance link in theory.  Even two enemies, as long as they share a specific goal, might be able to perform a resonance link."

"Again with the teacher bit," Astral chuckled.  "I've always wanted my own personal magic tutor."

Twilight shook her head.  "And I've always wanted my own faithful student, but let's not get weird here."

"Why not?  I could be faithful."  Astral lowered his voice.  "I could be so faithful, you wouldn't know what to do with me."

"I already don't," Twilight laughed.  "So don't make it any worse." 

"All right, all right, I won't."  Astral straightened up, putting himself on his best behavior.  "So, what makes this recovery link different from the resonance link?  You've got me curious."

"Well, with a resonance link, you each pool your magic, and whoever has stronger magic focuses on power, whoever has finer control focuses on spellcasting.  This lets two ponies cast spells far stronger and complex than either could alone.  A focuser and a caster are two ponies that can take this skill to the next level.  Generally, the caster will handle the raw magic and primary spell casting, while the focuser weaves their own magic into the spell in ways to maximize efficiency or control secondary effects.  The recovery link plays a large part in this, allowing the continuous, and almost immediate recharge of the body's magic reserves."

"I feel like I should be taking notes.  So, how does this recovery link let you instantly recover magic?"

Twilight suddenly blushed.  "Well...  Like you said, we would be sharing magic.  Just a little, like a focus light you would imagine during meditation.  It takes a lot of practice and training to be able to use the recovery link during spellcasting, years of practice.  But we should be able to achieve something close during meditation if we are truly focus compatible."

Astral bit back a smile.  "Is it really that embarassing?"

She shrugged.  "Using magic to restore your magic, it's almost perverse, like cleaning dust off of a vacuum cleaner... with itself."

"Oh, my word," Astral faked a gasp, "I've corrupted you."

Twilight rolled her eyes.  "Oh, come on, you can't deny that it's the slightest bit... I dunno, kinky?"

"This coming from the mare that was licking my neck less than an hour ago.  You want kinky?  How about a little payback?"

Twilight scooted back as Astral leaned towards her.  "You wouldn't."

"Wouldn't I?"  He bounced his eyebrows, then started laughing.  "Your face is so red right now."

Her snout scrunched up as she frowned at the stallion's teasing.  "That was dirty."

"Your thoughts are dirty," he countered, smiling as she looked away with a really guilty look on her face.  "Oh, they really are, aren't they?"

"Oh, shut up," Twilight swatted at him half-heartedly.  He grabbed the hoof, and she looked down with a sigh.  "Astral, is this ok?"

Astral saw the hesitation he felt mirrored in her.  "What do you mean?"

She shrugged.  "I mean, is it ok for us to be this light-hearted with everything that's happening?  I...  I already feel guilty enough about moving forward with my life while I'm still searching for Cryo-chambers.  And, Gutsy told me that you have a bounty on your head, that it isn't deserved, but wouldn't say why."  Shaking her head, she scoffed at herself.  "Its the same thing, all over again.  Mac's hurt, everypony went through hell, and it all traces back to how I set things up.  I can't help but feel like I don't have the right to be happy when so much pain is all around me, and so much of it is my fault."

He nodded.  He could understand how she felt now.  He had been so adamant about telling her that none of what happened was her fault, but he was starting to understand now.  It still wasn't her fault.  He steadfastly believed that.  But, he could see now, how it could feel that way.  "My name is the one that was written in blood on the station walls.  I'm no less a part of this than you are."  With a sigh, he added, "There was something Patch told me long ago, when we first met.  'Nopony's got a right to anything.  That's why we have greed.  We all want something that the universe doesn't want us to have.  Greed, envy, lust, even hope, dreams, and ambition are all there so we can find out which his stronger, the universe, or our own desire.'"

"That's a depressing way to view life."

"Yeah," Astral agreed.  "He said all this after mugging me in an alley, by the way, so don't give it any serious thought.  He took the last few bits I had after trapping me in a net.  I tracked him down, beat the snot out of him, and, somehow, we ended up joining a hunter's guild together.  In our defense, we were both broke, homeless, and trying to take care of another pony, so a few bits for food was a big deal to us at the time."

Twilight blinked.  "Wait, you met him via mugging?  Then became friends, and worked together for how long?"

"Um, couple years."  Astral scratched his neck.  "It sounds bad when you say it like that."

Twilight shook her head.  "Somehow, it doesn't surprise me as much as it should.  And, what he said, depressing as it may be, isn't necessarily wrong."  She moved closer to him.  "Astral, I'm going to be greedy, just a little."  She stole a kiss, short and quick, not letting him respond.  "I want this.  I don't know if I have any right to it, but I want it."

"So do I."

Astral immediately moved to follow up with a kiss of his own.  But she stopped him with a hoof, a sigh, and a shake of her head.  "There will be plenty of time for that later.  But, right now, you should probably go talk to Patch.  Now that you've both had a chance to cool down.  We need to know exactly what's going on with the bounty if we're going to face it together, and I don't want to see you needlessly lose a friend."  She nudged him a little towards the door.  "Go on.  I'll be here, waiting for you."

He groaned as he dragged himself up.  "You better be."
> Need it Like a hole in the Roof
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------

"Alright, class, last question.  How about this?"  The professor, a tan pegasus with greying mane, dragged his stylus against the wall's screen, sliding it to display the next equation.  "We are modifying the electrolytes from the previous example, what will that do to the absorption rates?"

He glanced back, and one hoof shot up faster than any of the others.  Looking around the room, he waited for other hooves and hands to join it.  Instead, he saw panicked students flipping through their textbooks, or sliding through their pads, for something they had missed.

The instructor sighed heavily.  "Does anypony know the answer?"

The lone hoof waved back and forth.

"Anypony besides our young guest, who is ostensibly here to be inspired by your shining examples of academic prowess?"  He looked around again, and shrugged.  "Anypony?  Anypony at all?"  He heaved a little sigh.  "Fine, then, Stormy Skies?  What is the answer?"

The hoof lowered, and the young pegasus shifted in her seat.  "It's a trick question.  You modified the composition of certain individual compounds in a way that's chemically impossible, but you didn't change the concentrations.  Hypothetically, absorption rates would be unchanged, but realistically, this is faulty data."

The instructor sighed.  "Right as usual, folks.  You heard her.  Now, the homework is to explain how the changes I made are impossible.  Pick one of the modified compounds.  I want a short report on what the compound is supposed to be, what change I made to it, and why this change is impossible.  I'm feeling generous, with the weekend coming up, so one to two hundred words will be plenty.  Dismissed!"

Books closed, and pads were shut down.  Students grumbled amongst themselves as they slowly made their way out of the classroom.  The instructor packed up to leave as well, logging out of the classroom computer before packing his pad and physical notes into his briefcase.

Before he could close the case, his pad beeped.  With a sigh, he looked up, at the only student still in her chair.  "Stormy Skies?"  The golden yellow pegasus was only now putting her tablet away, running a hoof through her grey-purple mane as the other latched the padded folio case shut.  "You are here as a guest, so you can see if you want to attend our medical program.  You don't have to turn in homework assignments."

She shrugged, adjusting her loose T-shirt, an unusual piece of clothing for a pony, after it slipped on her shoulder.  "Ok," she answered quietly before getting up.  She chomped down on the case's lanyard and headed out the door.

The instructor was left shaking his head.  "She's an odd one, that's for sure."  He pulled his pad out and checked the messages.  Predictably, the most recent one was from her, a very concise, and very correct report.  It was only four sentences long, but presented the requested information in a clear and professional manner.  "If only they were all like that."

Out in the hallway, Stormy Skies went and found a quiet corner to sit down in.  The wide halls of Luna's Academy ran along the outside of the building wherever possible, giving a wonderful view of the city through massive windows.  Ponies and people of all races hurried through to their next class, or wasted time chatting to each other.

Class start and end times were staggered by a few minutes, very few classes shared them.  The class she just left let out at five-thirty, but the one next door wouldn't let out until five-fourty.  The next one over at five-fifty.  Any classes that let out around the same time were held in classrooms far away from each other.  This minimized bottlenecks, but the exchange was that the hallways always had some traffic in them.

She didn't really mind.  It was easy to get lost in the crowds here.  It wasn't like back home.  Her high school was almost all ponies.  No.  That wasn't right.  Her grade was almost all ponies, the rest were more evenly mixed.  Still, being surrounded by ponies, she stood out if she wore a shirt.  And if she didn't...

She shook her head.  She promised herself she wouldn't think about it.  She wanted to enjoy her little vacation off-world.  It had taken her long enough to convince her mom that she would be fine on her own.

Stormy Skies waited for an opening, and crossed the hall to look out the window.  They were on the fourth floor, so the view wasn't as stunning as it was from higher up, but it was still high enough for her to see the tops of the short buildings around them.  "The way she went on about it, you'd think I was exploring the fringe worlds.  This place almost looks like home."

It had honestly been a little disappointing.  This campus was definitely nice, a wide sprawl, resembling a small town, parsed with parks and gardens, all atop a massive hill.  Wherever you went, paths had a gentle slope to them.  The buildings were simple, unobtrusive things.  Pale, stone colored, with massive windows in decorative iron frames.  The tallest buildings, a trio of them, only stood seven or eight stories, and she was there now.  The rest were below her sight from this floor.

But, she had signed in from the north campus, and that was far more impressive.  Right in the heart of the city.  Three chromatic glass skyscrapers, reaching dozens of stories higher than those around them.  Piercing the sky like the spears of some ancient goddess challenging the sun itself.  Surrounded by buildings covered in in trees and vines - ruins - like the jungle was reclaiming its land.

She knew that the vegetation was actually planned and carefully maintained, but the imagery of vine-wrapped buildings, against those glittering towers that reached the clouds, made it feel like something old and powerful slept there.

Then she was sent here via shuttle after filling out her forms for the trial stay.  The medical program was held at the South campus.  Such a shame.  She had been looking forward to diving off one of those tall towers, but wasn't able to slip away during the registration process.

Everything here at the south campus was so relaxed.  It wasn't bad, but it wasn't quite the adventure she hoped it would be.  In fact, it was kind of boring.  She didn't get to take any of the advanced classes she really wanted to, just sit in on the basic ones.  They didn't assign homework, because she was a temporary student, and would be gone in a few weeks.  She also wasn't allowed to bring any work from her internship because her school wanted her focused on this.

She sighed loudly as she caught sight of her reflection in the window.  "Why does this need to last a month?  It's been a week, and I've already done everything."

She decided to wait until one of the nearby classrooms emptied out, since they were holding the last classes of the day, and hang out until the cleaning crew made her leave.  She'd done that once or twice already.  By that time, the dinner rush would be over, and she could grab some food without waiting in a ridiculous line.  Then...  Well, she wasn't sure.  The tour had been quite thorough, there wasn't much left to explore.  What little there was had to last another three weeks.

She would probably just head to her temporary dorm.  There was free subnet service, like there was in most campus buildings, so she could call home if she wanted.  One of her brothers or sisters might be up to answer.  She had some games on her pad, she could play those.  Or she could be productive, and work on her book like she promised herself she would during any downtime.

As she pondered her lack of entertainment, she listened to the sounds of birds outside the window.  She blinked.  The birds were getting louder.  

"Oh!"  She glanced around.  That was her pad.  She was receiving a video call.  The hallway was far from empty, but one of the classrooms was emptying out a little early.

She made her way over as a human professor stormed out amidst his students, muttering about noise.  She slipped in easily, unnoticed by everyone eager to leave.  And all despite the constant chirping!

She picked a desk and sat down, unclipping the folio at her belt and setting it up so it would prop up her pad.  She didn't like having to hold the pad while talking.  Many ponies pointed out that she liked to talk with her hooves, and she had to agree.  If her hooves or wings weren't moving, she was most likely asleep.  She answered the impatient bird, clicking the switch that would activate her camera and answer her call.  

"Connecting," the screen came to life, "establishing subspace-link."

"Who could it be?"  She wondered out loud.  It would take several more seconds for a stable real-time connection to be found, an impressively short time given the distances involved.  "It's too late to be mom or dad.  Is somepony up past bed time?"  She smiled as she waited.  It had to be one of her younger siblings, or one of the few friends who knew her contact info.

"Link established," the screen flashed.

The words were quickly replaced by a pony's face.  A colt, her age, with a confident smirk and bright green hair.  His tan snout and brown eyes filled the screen.  "Hey, Sky!  Miss me yet?"

Her hoof went straight to her face, and she let out a miserable groan. "Damn it, Spot!  Who gave you my contact code?"

He leaned back and shrugged.  "I missed you, too."

Now that he was framed better, Stormy Skies could see the other pony's surroundings.  Chairs and computer stations, lit only by the lamp next to him.  "Holy crap.  You're at school."

He shrugged again, pressing his ear buds in better.  "Yeah?  So?  I don't have a Subnet connection at home."

"It's two in the morning there!"  She rubbed her temples, hoping to stave off the impending migraine.  "You broke into the school to call me?"

"Can't leave my girl hanging," he said with a smile.

"No!"  Both hooves slammed to the desk, rattling her pad.  "I am not your girl.  I never have been, and I never will be.  Get that through your puny, mishapen brain."

"Ouch!"  Spot mimed out getting shot in the chest, going limp in his chair.

"If only I could be so lucky," Stormy muttered.

"You could be nicer to me."  Spot laughed.  "I mean, who else is gonna want you?"

She bit her lip to keep herself from lashing out immediately.  She was in a vacant room, but one of the rooms next door still had a class in session.  She had to restrain herself, even though she wanted to tear this colt's head off.   She took a slow measured breath before speaking again.  "What the hell, Spot?  Do you even think before you say things like that?"

"Things like what?" He asked in confusion.  "I'm just sayin', unlike some of the other guys, I don't care about-"

"I don't care if you care, or not!"  She wrapped her hooves around herself, covering her midsection.  "I don't want you thinking about it!  Why can't anypony just get the hint?  I'm not interested.  I go to school to study, not to get caught up in the social drama you all want want to shove down my throat."

"Don't get mad at me, I want to shove something totally different down-"

"Shut up!"  She didn't care if she was heard anymore.  "That is never going to happen, and if you ever try, I'll bite it off.  Got it?"  She leaned against the desk.  "Goddess, why is everypony in my high-school driven by their libido?"

"Because we're in highschool, duh."  Spot answered, oblivious to her question's rhetorical nature.  "It's just sex, why do you get so worked up over it?"

"Because, I don't care!"

His snout scrunched up in confusion.  "If you didn't care, you wouldn't get worked up."

Stormy threw her hooves up.  "I'm dealing with a moron!  Let me rephrase what I just said.  I don't care about who's sleeping with who, because I am not going to get involved with any of it.  I only get worked up because everypony tries to pressure me into caring."

Spot shrugged it off.  He didn't even try to respond to what she said.  "You used to be popular."

Stormy shook her head, jaw clenching as she lost control of her anger.  "And you used to be my friend."  She smashed her hoof down on the camera switch, shutting down the call, and collapsing the folio stand under her hoof.

She sat there in silence for a moment.  Her, the empty class, her raspy breathing, and her burning eyes.  That was the reason she shut down the call.  She wasn't going to cry in front of Spot Light.  She was not going to show any kind of weakness to that creep.

She pulled her hoof away from her pad and rubbed her eyes.  It seemed that he at least had the good sense not to call back.

What happened to him?  He wasn't always like that, and that made it so much worse.  They used to be best friends, taking on the world together, training to be the best racers in the galaxy.  Every time she saw him, she would remember that, and give him a chance to talk to her.  It always ended up with her feeling miserable and degraded.  Or, like now, sick to her stomach.

The sad part was that she could pinpoint the exact moment when everything went wrong.  No, that wasn't the sad part.  The sad part was that the moment that started pushing everything downhill was the moment they spent their entire friendship striving for, the day they made the racing team.

Working together, they aced the tryouts.  All the other rookies were confident in their own abilities, but when they were forced to team up, they didn't know how to work with each other.  She and Spot had been practicing together for so long, training for that very moment, that they didn't have to plan or discuss anything.  Relays, obstacles, nothing slowed them down.  During the final trial, they came within a second of breaking a record that had been in place for years.

They had become school celebrities overnight.  They were no longer the loners who went off to play on their own, and even if they tried, ponies would follow them.

Spot definitely saw more of the attention.  He was an only child, and had no real responsibilities at home.  He could spend more time at practice, or hang out after school, or go places on the weekend.  Stormy made it out to some events, but with the way her family was, she had to be picky about the time she spent goofing off.

Somewhere during this whirling rush of popularity, Spot got a mare friend.  He started dating the coach's daughter.  That should have been enough for her to tell Spot something was wrong, but he seemed really happy about it.  Also, guess who was a year above them?  And fresh out of a relationship with the senior captain of the racing team who was a year above her?

Despite her best efforts, she and Spot started drifting apart.  She tried to make time for the group movies, or school functions, but even if she made it, there was no guarantee Spot plus one would be there.  He never seemed to go anywhere without his new flame.

Then, revealing herself to be the grade A, undiluted bitch that Stormy had started to suspect, the coach's daughter approached her at practice one day and told her to stay away from Spot.  No prelude, no leadup, nothing.  Just, "hey, stay away from my colt."

How do you respond to something like that?  It wasn't like Stormy even knew her name back then.  She never got the chance to properly meet her.  She still couldn't recall it.  So, she didn't respond to the command.  She just went back to her workout.

Stormy never expected that would be the worst mistake of her athletic career.  She should have seen it coming, especially when that bitch immediately walked over to daddy dearest with the water bottle Stormy lost a week earlier.

While Stormy tried to figure out how she got her hooves on it, father and daughter whispered back and forth.  It wasn't until the coach looked in her direction that she realized something was wrong.  The always smiling coach had a cold expression on his face.  His daughter glanced back with a smile, then trotted away like nothing happened, leaving him to unknowingly finish her dirty work.

He opened the water bottle, took a sniff, and his unreadable expression became a scowl.  He took a sip, and immediately spit it out, a look of disgust on his face.  An ugly look that quickly turned at her.

He called Stormy over, and she complied.  What else was she going to do?  Not listen to the coach?  Before she could ask what was going on, he dumped the water bottle over her head.

It wasn't water.

She was told that the coach had kicked her off the team on the spot, and that he was practically screaming at her.  But she couldn't remember anything about it.  Her only memory of that moment was being drenched in alcohol.  It stung her eyes, and burned her nostrils as she ran for the showers.

She ran into classmates along the way.  She ran into walls along the way.  Nopony listened when she asked for help.  Nopony believed her when she said she was set up.  Nopony trusted her anymore.  And worst of all, the coach had the gall to expect her gratitude for destroying the evidence instead of turning her in.

Even Spot didn't believe her.  Until a friend of the coach's daughter admitted to supplying the Torran Whiskey for the incident.  When confronted, the bitch blamed it on the Hormones.  What Hormones?  Oh, just the ones from the foal.  Wait, what?  Oh, the senior captain of the team's foal?  She'd been seeing him the entire time she was dating Spot?

Word got back to the coach somehow, and word made it to the students that there had been a fight.  Nopony got the full story, but the coach was fired, the Captain of the team was expelled, and guess who dropped out to move in with him.

Then it was time for winter break.

By the time the break ended, Spot was unrecognizable.  He was Captain of the team now, and more popular than ever.  Stormy couldn't understand why.  He was never nice to anypony after what happened.  He hardly ever smiled, and he was downright mean to any mare that tried to talk to him.

Somehow, that didn't keep him from sleeping his way through half the hoofball cheerleading squad.

It only took until spring break for him to get tired of constant flings.  And when school started up again, he had a steady mare friend.  They were inseparable, and acted so head over hooves it made your teeth rot from syrupy sappyness of it all.  At least, until the last day before summer break.  She walked up on stage and, slapped him before he gave their grade's farewell speech.  No words were exchanged.

And so ended their first year of highschool.

Spot was nowhere to be found that Summer.  Slappy moved away with her family.  None of Stormy's old friends wanted anything to do with her anymore.

Come second year, she was nopony, just the quiet bookworm studying alone in the corner.  Spot was just as popular as ever, only he had stopped chasing every tail attached to a pretty rump.  Which would have been great, except, for some reason, he was focused on her.  

There was a time she might have considered it.  If he had asked her to be his mare friend back right after they joined the racing team, she probably would have agreed.  They did everything together back then.  But he wasn't the same pony anymore.

It was sad, everything that happened to him, but it didn't excuse his behavior.  He was crude.  His friends were all assholes, especially the new vice-captain of the racing team.  He was a worse, if that's even possible, version of post-breakup Spot.  Only, he had nothing to blame it on.  And, somehow, there were still mares that wanted either him, or Spot, for themselves.  Worst of all, they saw her as an obstacle.

She spent the whole year keeping her head down, and avoiding Spot whenever possible.  She wanted her friend back at first, but he was impossible to talk to.  Every conversation went sour, turning into an argument.  Every argument brought backlash from the fanclub.

There were only a few girls in her class who weren't mean to her.  And only two she would even consider calling friends.  But even they couldn't understand why she wouldn't date Spot.  It was most likely one of them who gave Spot her contact code.

Why?  Why can't everypony just mind their own damn business?  She was always told to enjoy highschool school, because you only get to go once.  That's one too many, thank you.  Everypony who isn't a friend hates you.  Everypony who is or was a friend won't respect boundaries.  And every damned one of them is hell-bent on fucking their way to the top.

And now, here she was.  Third-year honor student, never had a boyfriend, never had a chance at an athletic career, alone on a different planet because all she had in life was her studying.

That was probably all she would ever have.  As much as she hated to admit it, Spot was right.  Who else would want her?  She leaned back and tugged at the collar of her shirt.  What was underneath would scare away most ponies.  Where in the galaxy was she supposed to find somepony her age, that could overlook her flaws, wouldn't pressure her to get physical, and could avoid the social landmines waiting back home?

Without warning, a brightly colored mass crashed through the ceiling.  She yelped in surprise as a sky blue meteor smashed into the desk in front of her, leaving a rainbow lined lump that groaned in pain.

The lump lifted its head, and a pair of eyes looked up at her.  It was a pegasus!  He opened his mouth to speak, and dark blue magic enveloped him, yanking him back up through the ceiling as fast as he had fallen.

Stormy Skies was alone in the room once more, with a damaged desk, and an obliterated pad in front of her.  She looked up through the hole left behind in the pony's wake, and it went through at least another two floors.  She couldn't see past that.  What was up there?  There was a floor of offices, the gym on the top floor, and nothing past that.

"What the hell?"  Stormy stared up until falling dust forced her to look away.  Did he fall through the roof?  How was he able to move after that?  And who dragged him back up?  He wasn't screaming, and his face didn't show any fear, so he probably wasn't in any danger.

She blinked and looked back up.  That was probably the stupidest thought she ever had in her life.  How do you crash through a building, twice, without being in danger?

She looked down at the desk.  Its top was smashed, the frame was bent, and the legs had been punched into the floor.  Her pad was a mangled spiderweb of glass and plastic clinging to what was now a bowl shaped metal frame sitting on splintered wood.  On the bright side, Spot couldn't contact her anymore.  

On the dark side, it looked like a cherry bomb got set off in the middle of the classroom.  And the perpetrator was nowhere to be found.

Stormy's eyes went wide.  "They're gonna think I did this!"

With that, she ran from the classroom, mangled pad stuffed into her shirt to contain as many pieces as possible.  She kept her eyes forward as she slipped into the bustling crowds.  Glancing back only once, upon reaching the elevator, to ensure she wasn't trailing plastic breadcrumbs.

She entered the elevator with a group of human students, who were too thoroughly engrossed in their conversation about startup finances to notice her during the ride to the second floor.  When they left the elevator, and no one else boarded, Stormy Skies was left with a choice.

She could leave, or she could try to find that colt.

She quickly hit the button that would take her to the top floor.  It wasn't that much of a choice really.

What if he was hurt?
> Late Morning Radio
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------

Stormy Skies stretched out with a loud sigh.  She was perched on a branch in a large tree near the Crossroad Courtyard, the center of shopping district.  She had been flying all morning, and most of the previous evening.

Her attempts to find the colt that crashed through the ceiling had been fruitless so far.  By the time she made it to the top floor, the gym was empty.  There was a whole in the floor on that level, but not the ceiling, making that the level where the incident began.

The first thing she did after that was head to the infirmary.  If that colt was hurt, he would end up there.  No matter how serious his injuries, they could handle it.  After all, it was a cutting edge facility connected to one of the most prestigious medical schools on the planet.

But, he wasn't there.  There was a purple pegasus, with a bandaged leg, but a quick glance at his chart showed it was a sprained ankle from tripping down a flight of stairs on a lower level.  Presumably no involvement in the events that led to the prismatic meteor event.   Looking back, she probably should have asked, instead of sneaking a look at his medical info.

Striking out there, she switched focus.  If he wasn't hurt, odds are, he went on with his day.  So she started looking for him around the standard student hangouts.  Fast food places were first, the nearest parks, and any bars that sold food, since the ones that were alcohol only wouldn't let her in.

She struck out there as well.  She really didn't think it would be so hard.  A true rainbow mane is pretty damn rare.  The odds of having seven stripes of color in the mane are astronomically small.  One or two was much more common.  But then, add in the odds of having the right colors, then in the right order, and it was almost impossible.

Which brought up the possibility that his mane was dyed, and he might have washed the dye out, and had a completely different mane color.  Which brought up the possibility that she was really over thinking this.

Still, Stormy kept up the search.  She dropped by her dorm, dropped off the remains of her pad, and her shirt, then headed out via window to continue her search.

She was nervous to be out and about without any clothes, but as long as she was flying, nopony would be able to get a good look at her.  But, her search was in vain.  Every time she found the distinctive color pattern she was searching for, it turned out to be a human.  Why would so many of them dye their mane that specific color combo?

She had given up close to midnight, and set out again near dawn.  She had the day off, so she could spend it searching, if necessary.  But, so far, it wasn't going well.  She didn't see him at all during the breakfast rush on the food trucks, or heading into the main building when morning classes started.

She had no way to know if he made it by her, or if he didn't have classes today.  She didn't even know if he was a student!  But, if he was, and he didn't have classes, what would he do on his day off?  Stormy came to the conclusion that shopping was the most likely activity for a student with free time, and that led her to the shopping district.

Actually, she came to the conclusion that video games, extra sleep, or studying were the most likely activities for a student with time to kill.  But shopping was the only possibility that would let her continue the search without going knocking door-to-door in the dorms..  And, so far, the shopping district was devoid of rainbows.

She landed in a nice, leafy tree to take a short break.  Little white flowers bloomed here and there, with a slightly soapy scent.  With a weary groan, she laid down on a branch.  It didn't look like she was going to find him like this, and it was getting close to lunch time.  And she skipped breakfast.  She should probably head back to her dorm, grab her shirt, and get some food somewhere.  She could stake out the food trucks again during the lunch rush, then take another flyover of the shopping district sometime later.

She looked down.  The streets below weren't crowded, but they weren't empty either.  Perhaps you could call it pleasantly busy.  All sorts of ponies and aliens went about their day, calm and laid back.  There was none of the rush she witnessed at the food trucks, or at the academy entrance.

Groups talked among themselves, making jokes and laughing.  A large group of children made most of the noise, as they dragged a group of weary parents from store to store.  A pair of dragons waited for the hoverbus at a nearby corner, tails intertwined as they talked.  One pointed at the children, and whispered something to the other, prompting a surprised look.  As the surprise faded, it was replaced by a smile, and their claws, at their sides as they sat, grasped each other's with a gentle squeeze.

Stormy sighed, resting her chin against bark, and moving her head from side to side to scratch.  They looked so happy.  She wanted something like that someday.  She didn't want the sort of relationship that everypony around her called normal.  All the fighting, and drama, and social scrutiny could take a hike.

She was going to wait until she grew up, let all the pain and nonsense of these teen years pass, and let things develop naturally.  Maybe she'll meet somepony at work, or at a conference.  Maybe it will be somepony who works in the same field, and they can talk about their work days as they make dinner, or maybe skip that and head out to eat somewhere.  Quiet dinner and conversation, relaxing after a long day.

That was what she wanted.  Something like her mom and dad had.  Always smiling, laughing, supporting each other.  They played around like foals just as much as any of their kids, most of whom were literally foals.

It just seemed so different from what she saw going on at school.  It seemed much more real.  Much more sustainable.

With a sigh, she closed her eyes and listened to the voices below.  She would take a quick nap, then stake out the academy when classes let out.

"I like your mane, it's so colorful."

Stormy's eyes snapped open.  The voice came from nearby, behind her.  Well, behind the tree.  She got up, and moved from branch to branch to get a better look.

"Uh, thanks.  I've never gotten this many comments on it before."

That was a colt's voice.  Stormy could see a waiter at the outdoor cafe talking to someone who was blocked from view by the umbrella over his table.

"That's a shame," she replied, "it's so distinctive.  Anyway, does that complete your order?"

"Sure does.  Thanks."

Stormy saw a sky blue hoof hand the waitress a menu.  Could that be him?  A distinctive, colorful mane, one worth commenting on, and a sky blue coat.  That had to be him, right?

At that moment, Stormy realized that she didn't think things through as well as she should have.  There was a good chance she may have found him, and she can't even go down and check!  Why didn't she bring a shirt?  She could have just tied it around her neck or a leg to keep from losing it during flight.

She could go and grab one.  Her dorm was only a few minutes away, she could be back here and clothed in less than ten.  The question was, would he still be there?  Was he getting an early lunch?  Or just a coffee to go?  He could be here for another thirty minutes, or he could leave in the next two!

And why did it even matter?  Stormy shook her head, ending the doubt then and there.  This was all to satisfy her curiosity.  That made it matter enough.  When somepony crashes through the ceiling in front of you, you want to know why.  What string of events led up to that point?  She was owed an explanation at least, right?

He did break her pad, after all.

But, first, she had to find a way to go down there.

She could hit the clothing shop up the street.  If she was lucky, she could make a purchase and get back pretty quick.  Oh, but what what if there was a line?  Or if the pony down there was really just getting a coffee to go?  He could be gone in less than a minute.

She would just have to go down there as is.  If it wasn't the colt from yesterday, it was just a random pony, on a planet she didn't even live on, that she wouldn't even talk to him.  Even if he saw her, what were the odds he would even remember her tomorrow?

And even if it was him, she was just going to ask what happened.  No big deal, right?

Stormy swallowed hard, and leapt from her hiding place.  Every second she remained in the tree was a second she would have used to talk herself out of it.

She spread her wings and allowed herself to glide down.  She saw a flash of rainbow in the corner of her eye as she passed the umbrella.  Once she landed, back behind the umbrella, she looked back and confirmed it.

It was him.  It was that sky-blue colt with a Rainbow mane and tail that crashed through the ceiling and wrecked her pad yesterday.  And right now, he was happily playing on a pad of his own, ear buds in, and head bouncing to music!  The nerve!

Stormy shook her head, reminding herself that he probably didn't even notice that her pad was under him when he hit the desktop.  Even if he did, there was no way he could have avoided it.

She walked up.  She was nervous, but she refused to back down.  This was the only way she would find out what happened last night.  She walked up to the side of the table, leaning her head down to enter his field of view as he looked at his pad.  "Um, excuse me, hello?"

Radio looked up quickly.  "Me?"  He blinked, seeing Stormy standing there.  "Oh, hello.  You're the one from yesterday.  Are you OK?"

"Huh?"  Stormy was stunned by the surprise for a moment.  He remembered her?  "I'm fine," she finally forced out, "you missed me completely when you hit the desk."

The colt shook his head.  "Not that.  You seemed sad about something, and um..."  He swallowed as his eyes drifted down.

Stormy saw it and retreated to the far side of the table to hide herself.  She also raised a hoof to help cover her chest from sight.  This was a pretty common reaction when ponies saw the mess of scars on her chest.  They were so prominent, they could hijack any conversation if she didn't wear a shirt.  Turning around wasn't an option either, her back was just more of the same.

She and Radio were both silent for a moment, but he was the first one to speak after pulling out his earbuds.  "Those scars...  Are you allergic to nutrient gel?"

Stormy nodded, realizing she was looking away.  She looked back up, and the colt was looking straight at her.  He wasn't turning his gaze out of discomfort, or staring at her scars, but looking straight at her face.  It wasn't often that ponies did that, they usually looked away, or kept staring.  And most ponies would have asked a different question of her.  "Acute subdermal sensitivity, they called it.  The doctors didn't realize until it was too late," Stormy explained, "I suffered chemical burns in the wounds they were trying to treat."

Radio nodded.  "Nutrient gel reactions are extremely rare.  It's only recently become protocol on Furia to test for it before treatment."  Radio saw her sit and bring her other hoof around her chest, covering as much as she could.  "Um, you don't have to do that.  Put your hooves down, please?"

Stormy winced.  She didn't mean to.  It was a habit.  "I, um, sorry."  She forced her hooves back to the ground.  "I usually wear clothes out in public.  I didn't wear anything today because I was out flying."

"Well, it is a great day for it."  Radio looked skyward, only to notice that all he saw was the inside of the table's umbrella.  He frowned for a split second, then scratched his neck.  "So, um, not that it's any of my business, the crying yesterday, did that have something to do with..."

"My scars?"  Stormy finished for him.  "You're right, it isn't any of your business."  She took a deep breath, and let it out slowly.  "But, no, it's not related, not directly.  Was I really crying?"

Radio shrugged.  "Not really, like, you weren't sobbing, but there were definitely tears.  Are you ok?"

She nodded.  "Yeah, it's just some nonsense from back home.  Nothing important."

"Ponies cry all the time over things that aren't important."  Radio tapped his hooves against the side of his pad.  It really wasn't his place to say anything, but he couldn't stop himself.  "They don't cry like that."

Stormy stared at the colt for a moment, and he shrank back from her gaze.  He seemed almost shy.  It was kind of cute.  He also seemed younger than the other colts she had seen around campus.  "What do ponies cry, 'like that,' for?"

Radio shrugged again, looking firmly away from the other pegasus.  "For important things, when you lose them."  He looked down at his hoof, and she could see on his face that he was reliving something.  "When you lose them slowly, and you're powerless to stop it, and all you can do is sit by and watch as it slips away.  But it happens so slowly, that sometimes you have hope that things might get better, but that only makes it hurt more when things eventually get worse."

"Yeah," Stormy agreed with a sigh, "that's about it."  She stared at the colt some more.  For him to pinpoint exactly what she was feeling in the short time he had seen her, he had to be terribly familiar with the feeling.  As she looked at him, he shuffled his wings nervously.  He opened them a little, but Stormy didn't see any tertiary feathers on the underside.  They usually grow in between eighteen and twenty-five.  Any college aged pegasus should have them, even small ones.  "Wait, how old are you?"

"Seventeen," he answered sheepishly.  "Why?  How old are you?"

"Same," she replied with some excitement, "you must be in the off-planet trial program!"

Radio shook his head.  "Never heard of it.  I'm here for kind of a re-certification thing."

The waitress came by with covered trays in both hands, depositing them both on the table.  "The drinks you ordered should be ready in just a moment.  Will there be anything else?"

"Oh, um-"  Radio looked over at the other pegasus, and gestured to the empty chair next to him.  "Why don't you join me?  I can get you something to drink if you'd like?"

"Uh-" Stormy stepped back, shocked by the sudden offer.  "I, um, you don't really have to, I mean, I just started bothering you out of the blue and all."

"I don't mind," Radio said with a shrug, "I don't really know anypony around here anyway."

"Ok, um," she swallowed and made her way around the table, "could I have a water then?  No ice?"

"Right away," the waitress said with a nod.  She headed off immediately after.

"You can get something with a little more flavor if you want," Radio said quietly, "I really don't mind."

Stormy climbed into the chair.  "I might then, after my water.  I'm parched from flying around all morning."

Radio offered his hoof.  "My name's Radio, by the way, Radio Dancer.  So, training or leisure flight?"

She took the offered hoof and gave it a shake.  "Stormy Skies.  And, I was looking for you, actually.  I spent most of last night doing the same thing."

"Ah."  Radio tapped his hooves together.  "I spent last night searching for you in the school building."

"You did? Why?"

"I wanted to make sure you weren't hurt.  Why were you looking for me?"

"Because you crashed through the ceiling!" Stormy shouted.  "And you smashed a desk, and it scared the crap out of me."

Radio winced, cowed by the sudden outburst.  "Sorry."

"I thought you might be hurt.  You fell through half the building.  And landed right on my pad."

"Really?  Shoot, I'll get you a new one.  Sorry."

Stormy shrugged.  "Well, it's not like I tracked you down just for that.  The pad was getting kind of old anyway.  I really just want to know what happened."

"Well, that's kind of a long story."  Radio grabbed the nearest of the two trays and pulled it closer to him before removing the lid, revealing thinly sliced and fried potatoes covered in herbs and finely grated cheese.  "The short version is that I was sparring with Luna, and she doesn't pull any punches."

"Luna?"  Stormy scoffed in disbelief.  "You're telling me that you were sparring with Luna?  The Luna?  The one who runs Luna Academy?"

Radio sniffed at the fries.  "She said she was friend of my mom's."  They smelled good, so he picked one up.  "Then, in the middle of the fight, she hit me with some sort of gravity spell."  He ate the chip he held, and his eyes lit up.  He slid the tray over so that Stormy had easy access to it, grabbing a hoof-full before leaving it there.  "These are really good, want some?"

Seeing him stuffing them down, Stormy considered it.  She did skip breakfast after all.  "Ah, why not?"  She started with one, like he had, but quickly had another.  They were better than she was expecting.  Even fried, they were light, crispy, and not oily at all.  "Garlic-parmesan?"

Radio shrugged, grabbing some more.  "I don't know.  I just asked for jumbo orders of their best-selling dishes."  He saw her delicately take one more chip, and pushed the bowl a little more towards her.  "Don't hold back on my account.  I still have two more restaurants to go."

She looked over at him, hoof paused above the bowl.  "What?"

Radio's hoof slipped under hers to grab a few more chips.  "I'm eating fine alien cuisine for the first time, and I want to make the most of it.  I searched for the highest rated restaurants in the area, and I'm going to try all their best dishes."

Stormy's face was frozen in an expression halfway between confusion and shock.  "All at once?  How many have you been to?"

"Two today, three if you count the pretzel cart."  He gestured to his pad.  "I'm only going to be here a month, and there are seventy-something restaurants I have to try.  I only have time to try one or two on class days, so I have to make up for it on days off.  Five restaurants for a big breakfast, another two for lunch, then one big meal with Mr. Jones at a fancy place for dinner.  That'll keep me on schedule."

"Wow."  Stormy grabbed a bunch of chips.  She didn't feel bad about taking food from him now.  "How much can you eat?"

"Over five thousand calories a day," the colt answered without skipping a beat, thinking it a serious question.  "That's maintaining my current weight, and assuming I'm not doing anything too crazy.  You?"

"Uh, I-"  Stormy stammered a moment.  Her statement had been rhetorical, but she was half expecting an answer.  Only, she was expecting a joke, not an earnest analysis of caloric intake.  Well, her athletic habits had never really left her, so she could answer in kind.  "thirty-two hundred, maintenance of course, on an average day, assuming my standard exercise routine, and I'm not loading up for an extended flight."

"That's high, even for a pegasus.  How strenuous is your exercise plan?"

"Not too bad, I just have high metabolism.  Yours is pretty damn high too.  What's your excuse?"

"Genetic manipulation."

Stormy chuckled.  "Good one.  So, what's this re-certification you mentioned?"

"Oh, it's a re-certification for citizens of non-assembly planets, so they can get their medical licenses without having to go all the way through medical school again."

"No, seriously, what is it?"  Stormy shook her head.  "Who's going to beleive that a high schooler already has a medical license?  I'm working on one, and I'm already interning with a biotech company back home, but even if I study non-stop, skipping as many classes as I can, I'll be at least twenty before I have the degree I want."

"So, we'll be in the same field?"

Their hooves bumped at the bottom of an empty bowl, and Stormy jerked hers back like it had been stung.  "What?"

Radio was more than a little confused.  It was times like this that he almost envied Ribbon.  He had no idea what was going on.  "We're both studying medicine?"

"You are?"  It was just starting to hit her that she was eating at a restaurant with a young stallion in the same field as her, talking about their days, and laughing about things.  It was literally everything she was fantasizing about up in the tree.  She suddenly laughed out loud.  "No, life doesn't work like that."

"Huh?"  Radio was getting more and more lost by the second.  "What are you talking about?"

"Nothing," she waved it off with a hoof.  She stared at him a moment more.  His puzzled look was so cute.  "But, what if it could?"

Radio stared back.  "I really don't know what's going on right now."

"It's really nothing," Stormy reassured him.  "I'm just reflecting on how different I am from my friends."  She rolled her eyes just thinking about their last conversation before she left.  "Both of them think getting laid would solve all my problems."

"How would that help?"  Radio dragged over the other tray.  "Laying down and doing nothing is never a good way to approach problems."

This earned a healthy snickering from the young mare.  "Geez, Radio, you're a lot funnier than most of the colts I know."  She looked up, and saw that his signature look of confusion had only intensified.  His head was even tilting to the side as he tried to figure things out.  Stormy's laughter vanished.  "Oh, goddess, you're serious?"

"Yes!"  Radio threw his hooves up.  "How is ignoring your problems a joke?"

"Radio, um," Stormy kept her voice quiet.  She felt her face burning as she realized she would have to explain it.  "I don't know what planet you're from, that you've never heard it, but, 'getting laid,' is a euphemism."

"A euphemism for what?" Radio asked earnestly.  "And I'm from Furia.  It's a small planet outside the Galactic Assembly, but looking to join."

Stormy sighed.  Radio was looking at her, happily awaiting an answer.  He was so earnest in his answers, and eager for conversation, it was almost like... a dog!  It was like talking to a large, happy, fluffy dog.  Those bright eyes, that smile, even that head tilt earlier.  "Getting laid is a euphemism for sex."

Radio went bright, bright red.  Stormy almost expected to hear sizzling.  The waitress came back, and before she could set the tray of drinks on the table, or even speak, Radio turned and grabbed the largest glass on the tray.  He chugged that lemonade like there was money on the line, then slowly set the glass down on the table.  "Thank you," he said quietly to the waitress while staring straight ahead.

She left the tray and walked away without another word.

"That wasn't weird at all," Stormy offered sarcastically as she reached past Radio for her water.  "Nope, just two totally normal ponies here, talkin' 'bout euphemisms, creepin' out the wait staff."

"Sorry," Radio just about whispered as she took a drink.  "You caught me a bit off guard.  I've never, um, talked about sex unless it was in a purely clinical context.  And definitely never with anypony my age.  Or as pretty as you."  Radio was promptly sprayed by Stormy's sudden spit-take.  "Gah!  What was that?!"  He looked up to see her coughing, the rest of her water dumped on the table.  "Are you OK?"

She nodded, and forced out a, "yeah," in between coughs.

Radio started patting her on the back, hoping to help, but her face turned red.  Radio grabbed her hoof in his own, and his other hoof went to her cheek.  Stormy only went more red as he looked her in the eye with a stern, serious expression.  It was a complete flip from the earlier Radio.  He looked more like a stallion than a colt now, a confident and reliable one at that.  Also one that was way to close, but she was still coughing, and couldn't tell him that.

"Your heart rate is elevated," he said suddenly, all business and professional concern in his voice, "temperature too, face is flushed, and your pupils are dilated.  You might be having a reaction, do you have any food allergies?  The restaurant should have an epinephrine injector in their medkit."

Stormy shook her headshook her head violently, and held her hoof up to indicate that Radio just need to wait for a moment.  To her surprise, he did just that, and she was able to let her coughing subside in peace.  "Radio," she cleared her throat, "do you-"

Her eyes drifted down to her other hoof, the one he still held.

"You stopped coughing, but your heart rate just jumped again," Radio noted in concern.  "Are you sure you-"

"Radio," Stormy cut him off, "do my scars bother you at all?"

"What?  No, why would they?"  He shrugged.  "Everypony's got scars, whether you can see 'em, or not."  He was quiet for a moment, then quickly asked, "so, you weren't having an allergic reaction to the food just now?"

Stormy shook her head, maintaining eye contact.

Radio pointed his free hoof at the one he held.  "Then why is your heart rate still rising?"

"A cute colt just told me I'm pretty."

"A cute..."  Radio's eyes went wide.  "Me?"

Stormy nodded.  "How's your heart rate now?"

Radio looked down at their intertwined hooves, then back at her.  "Um, I didn't mean to, uh-"

"Did you mean it?"  She cut him off.  "When you said I was pretty, did you really mean it?"

Radio's redness returned.  "I said it, didn't I?  I bet you hear that all the time, and probably from better colts than me."

Stormy shook her head.  "You're the first to say it after seeing my scars.  And what do you mean by better?"

"Better," Radio shrugged, "I dunno."  He mulled it over.  There were so many things wrong with him, that he found it hard to choose just one.  There was the issue of his genetic modifications, his past violent tendencies, and his ability to say the worst things at the wrong moments.  "Somepony not... me."

"Whoa, harsh.  Give yourself some credit, dude."

"No, I shouldn't, and I'll probably be better off staying alone."

"Ok.  Gotta say, I would normally be the pony to understand feeling defective, but this, you're gonna have to explain."

"The Galactic Assembly has a term, I think it's GMS.  Sound right?"

"Genetically modified specimen?  As in, a genetically engineered individual of an intelligent species whose modifications go beyond the legal correction of congenital or hereditary defects."

Radio's expression didn't change, but his ears drooped with every word.  "Yeah, that's the one."

"Oh..."  Stormy realized what he was getting at, but she didn't quite believe it.  "You mean to tell me you're an illegally modified being?"

Radio winced.  "Well, Furia isn't part of the Assembly yet, so not really illegal."

"Slow down.  So, you are a GMS?"

"Yeah."  Radio looked down, finally letting go of Stormy's hoof.  "Sorry."

"Dude, what are apologizing for?"  Stormy grabbed his hoof, and pulled.  Once it was stretched out, she excitedly poked at the joints and muscles.  "What kind of work did ya have done?  You don't have super crazy muscles, so reaction times maybe?"

The colt gingerly tried to pull away, but she held on tight, and was working her way up his leg with her prodding.  Each poke made him more and more nervous, but it also felt kind of nice, especially as she made her way towards the shoulder.  After yesterday, he was far overdue for a chiropractic visit, or a massage.  "Um, that's all, kind of..."  Stormy's hoof skipped his shoulder, dug into the base of Radio's wing, and he let out a high pitched yelp, "Classified!"

"Classified?  By who?"  Her hoof continued to probe the joint, slowly working around where downy feathers met fur.  "Whoa, there's no ligament tension at all.  Muscles are well defined, but not bulky.  Either you were very carefully trained from day one, or this is one of your augments."

Her hoof moved to the other side, dragging across his back, right between his wings, and his eyes started to roll back into his head.  "Whoa!"  Radio jumped suddenly, wings flapping as he tried to keep himself in his chair.  Stormy had lost her grip on his leg, and was staring in surprise at the sudden commotion.  Radio was staring back, surprise showing on his own reddened face.  "What was that?"

It took Stormy a moment, but the scandalized look on the colt's face told her she may have been a tiny bit too excited there.  "So, your wings are sensitive," she said with a chuckle, eyebrows pulling together in a wince, "I'm so sorry."

Radio wanted to tell her not to worry about it, but he was still too flustered.  It was just her hoof, but it felt like electricity running through him.  Such a brief sensation.  The colt couldn't tell if he liked it or not. "Does it always feel like that when somepony touches your wings?"

"Shh!"  Stormy blushed.  "Dude," she said in a harsh whisper, "I already said sorry, you don't have to embarrass me like that."

"Like what?  I've never felt anything like that before, so of course I'm going to ask about it."

"You've never..."  Stormy trailed off.  "Radio, this might be a bit of a personal question, but when was the last time somepony touched your wings?"

The colt shrugged.  "I guess when I was about ten?  I dislocated it, and my dad set it.  That's the last time I remember.  The other doctors had to use automated equipment to work on me.  Let's just say they didn't like to get close to me.  And, I didn't like them touching me either."

"Really?"  That explained it for the young mare.  If nopony touched his wings since puberty, he really wouldn't know what they could feel like.  But, it was kind of sad, the way he described his past.  It didn't seem like there was anypony he was close to.  "Radio, what's it like being..." it took her a moment to find her words.  "What's it like being different?  Being genetically modified?"

He shrugged again.  "I don't know anything else, so I'm not sure what you're asking.  What's it like being normal?"

Surprisingly, this brought a smile to Stormy's face.  "Ha," she said dryly, "if I knew, I'd tell you."  With a sigh, she leaned against the table.  Looking out at the surrounding traffic, she realized that, to them, both she and Radio probably looked perfectly normal.  "So, I work at a biotech company.  It's an internship for now, but I've been promised a full-time job if I get a medical degree.  I'm helping with research, but I'm also the subject of said research."

She looked over at the colt, and he dragged his chair closer to hers.  "Go on," he said quietly.

She offered a small smile.  She only met him today, but she had already talked to him more than she had to any colt from her school.  A little more wouldn't hurt.  "I'm allergic to one hundred and seventy-three common medications, and approximately four hundred specialized ones.  Finding out about two of them nearly killed me.  I've been tested before being given anything ever since.  That's how I found out about most of them, simulated sample testing at work.  We find another medication I'm allergic to every couple of days.  I don't have any food allergies, oddly enough, but so many pharmaceutical compounds that everypony takes for granted cause me anything from pain to hives to... the worst reaction nearly shut down my kidneys.  I had to be put on dialysis until the medication was flushed from my system."

Stormy glanced back at Radio, and he was still looking at her, listening intently.  "At least I wasn't allergic to karma," she continued, turning away with a wry smile, "everything else about me is fine.  More than fine!  I have a high metabolism, no chronic conditions, and excellent athletic capabilities.  Some of the testing we've done at the lab shows that I have the ability to form antibodies faster than most ponies, a natural resistance to negative magical effects, and stronger than average magic of my own.  I also don't show any of the genetic markers that indicate cancer risk later in life."  She chewed her lip for a moment, and rubbed her foreleg, where the smallest of her scars sat.  "And, if I ever have an accident, all it would take to kill me is for the EMT to give me a painkiller before checking my medical chip."

She looked back at Radio one more time.  "I want to be like you."  She folded her hooves on the table and rested her head on them.  "I will be like you.  Once my research is complete, and I figure out all the mechanisms responsible for my allergies, I'm going to change them.  I don't care about the legalities, or moral debates.  These allergies are a defect.  They're my defect, and I'm going to repair them.  That's as far as the discussion needs to go."

Radio rested a hoof on her shoulder, surprising himself more than her.  "Nopony can complain about that."  His other hoof went to his chest, where he felt almost physical pain from how close to home her story hit.  "But that would make you like everypony else, normal.  You wouldn't want to be like me."

"Why not?"  Stormy asked, crossing a hoof across herself to touch the one on her shoulder.  "You're easily the kindest young stallion I know.  Even if that bar isn't set very high.  Not to mention the best listener."

"Why does everypony keep saying that?"  Radio pulled his hoof away from her, and brought it to his head.  "It isn't right, not even close.  I try, I want to be, but I still can't control myself.  Even if I'm better than I was, I get condescending, or overconfident, or caught up in my own head playing hero, and somepony gets hurt.  If I'm nice, it's only because nopony's been around me long enough to find out who I really am."

"Then how long does it take?"  Stormy straightened up, and fixed Radio with a stern look.  "How long does it take to find out who you really are?"

Radio looked away and shrugged.  "I don't even know."

Stormy touched his shoulder, to get him to look back at her.  "How about you tell me now, and I'll let you know?  You listened to me, so it's only fair for me to listen to you, right?"

Radio met her eyes for a moment then looked around.  "I wish I could.  I can't tell tell you everything, even if we weren't in public."  He sighed.  "I probably shouldn't even tell you this, but I was engineered to be a weapon.  My father was part of a program, and his genetic code was heavily rewritten.  My mother, she wasn't an average pony by any stretch, but she was, I guess you could say, natural.  Because of this, my sister and I have undergone genetic monitoring and therapy since before we were born.  Most of it was to smooth out the defects and artifacts from our father's genetics, and having been the lead scientist in engineering his own augments, he performed most of the treatments.  But, there were also some tossed in by other scientists that he only found out about later."

Radio shook his head.  "Anything more detailed is classified, but everything was fine for a while, and then it wasn't, and I was the reason for it, my aggression, my anger, and it took me a long time to figure out how to be who I am now, and I don't think it makes up for anything I've done, and I don't get why anypony cares, and I feel bad about it, and I just can't understand why anypony else cares about me."

Radio finally stopped and took a breath, letting it out in one big sigh.  It happened again.  He hit a point of no return, and let out way too much information at once.  Why did he always do that?  Come to think of it, the rest of the crew had episodes like that too.  Everypony around him had a painful past and nopony to really talk to about it except each other.  Was that enough?

"Hey, dude," Stormy waved a hoof in front of his face, "I hate to interrupt your moment of introspection, but, I bet they care about you because you care about them.  That's all it takes, really, isn't it?"

Radio looked over.  "Yeah," he wearily agreed, "I guess."  He shrugged.  He did care about everypony, but he cared about them because they cared about him first.  Or did he?  Who cared first?  Or was it because they cared about his mother, and those feelings extended to him until they could become something of their own?  If that was the case, who cared first back then?  Quite the paradox, this whole friendship thing.  "Do you have anypony you care about?"

"Sure do," Stormy smiled proudly.  "I've got a pretty big family, lots of brothers and sisters, but I'm the oldest.  Everypony looks up to me, and I help my folks out a lot."  She leaned back, crossing her hooves with a confident air.  "I bet mom and dad are pulling their manes out trying to get along without me for the month."

Radio smiled too.  Stormy's happiness talking about her home was infectious.  "And how about friends?  I bet you have a whole bunch."

Stormy's expression soured immediately.  "I used to."  She groaned just thinking about the call with Spot yesterday.  "And there was one really close friend in particular, but he's changed, and I can't really call him that anymore.  The sad thing is, I still care about him, but I don't think he cares about me the same way, and I refuse to be dragged down by the toxic crap surrounding him."

"That's sad," Radio agreed, sorry he asked, "but, if he made his choices, there's nothing you can do."

A hoof slammed on the table.  "That's the thing!  He didn't really choose any of it!  That bitch used him for her own gratification, betrayed him, then tossed him aside when that other guy knocked her up."

Radio blinked.  "Huh?"

"Spot didn't know how to handle any of that," Stormy quickly continued .  "It was so easy to see how much that hurt him, but everypony pushed him to keep on like nothing ever happened.  If somepony had just tried to talk to him about it, or maybe tell him it wasn't his fault, maybe he wouldn't have just started hopping from bed to bed and treating our classmates like shit.  I know I tried, but nopony listened to me after that thing with the water bottle."

"I'm not sure what you're saying anymore," Radio admitted.

Stormy pointed at him.  "I'm saying that if you're popular, you can be the biggest, most manipulative bitch in the universe, and ponies will still believe you over the damn class valedictorian.  She ruined five ponies' lives, dropped out, and still got a freakin', 'we miss you,' float in the year end parade.  I was banned from attending!"  With a strangled sound of frustration, the young mare crossed her hooves.  "It's been almost two years, and I'm still not over it.  I don't think I ever will be."

Radio looked down at his hooves, scratching one with the other as she fumed.  She was clearly mad, but he didn't have a clear understanding of the reason.  So, there wasn't anything he could say that could make her less angry.  Maybe he could at least make her feel better about it?  "Would cheesecake help?"

Stormy's eyebrows furrowed.  "What?"

"A cheesecake," Radio repeated.  "My dad used to give me a piece of sugar candy to keep me from worrying when I had to have an electro-magical gene therapy session.  I still like to distract myself with sweets when I'm worried about things I can't change."

"Radio, that's... touching."  Stormy chewed her lip for a moment.  It was touching, but in more ways than one.  It was sweet that his dad found a way to ease his worry, but she knew from her research that any em genetic manipulation performed on somepony older than a young toddler would cause unspeakable pain, and that it would get worse with age.  That was one of the reasons adult gene therapy was so highly controlled, and why viral methods were so preferred.  EM therapy basically forced a doctor to torture their patient for up to several weeks before any benefits were seen.  "But, I'm fine, don't worry about it."

"If you're sure," Radio said with a sly smile, and pulled the cover off the remaining tray, "more for me."

Her hoof went up, stopping him from reaching his other hoof for a fork.  She didn't realize he had already ordered the thing.  "Is that blueberry?"  She asked quietly.

"Blueberry lemonade, with a sugar cookie crust," Radio corrected.  "Seems like a strange flavor for a cheesecake, but it had over a thousand positive reviews on the campus discussion forums, and comes highly recommended by a pen pal."

Stormy squinted at it.  She had missed the  swirls of yellow at first glance, hidden among the rest of the blue and white marbling.  The crust was much more pale than a regular cheesecake crust, almost the shade of beach sand, and sparkling like it was peppered with crystals.

Radio smiled as she stared.  "I'll ask for another fork."

"Yeah," she grabbed the one on the table, "you do that."

"Hey!"  Radio reached to snatch it back.

Stormy pulled it away, clutching it close to her chest.  "Unless you want to share."  Radio went red in the face and withdrew his hoof.  The smiling filly laughed and held the fork out to him.

He gingerly took it from her, his eyes lowered and not meeting hers.  "You have a really nice laugh."

This made her smile even more, and she found herself coming up with a crazy idea.  She was a long way from home, they both were.  "Say, Radio, do you have anypony special back home?"

The colt froze for a moment, fork halfway to the food.  "I gave up on that happening a long time ago."  He jabbed his fork into the cheesecake and ripped up a good sized bite.  "Who would ever want to pursue a relationship with a living weapon?"

She leaned against the table and stared at the colt as he brought the fork to his mouth.  She didn't say anything as she watched him, just waited for him to try the colorfully swirled dessert.

He came close to chomping down on the morsel, but hesitated.  He stared back at her, lowering his fork and closing his mouth.  "You're going to stare at me until you get to try it, aren't you?"

She gave a playful nod.

"Fine."  Radio sighed and held out the fork.  "Here."

Stormy regarded the fork with a smile before looking back up at Radio.  Without breaking eye contact, she leaned towards him, opened her mouth, and closed it around the offered tidbit.

Caught off-guard, Radio tried to pull the fork back, but she held on to it.  And she was looking right at him with a big, beautiful smile.  He was offering her the fork, not just the food, but this worked too.  He felt it again, that odd sensation running through him, like a cold stimulant was pumped into his veins, and he felt it coursing through his veins for a fraction of a second.  Too short to properly analyze, but long enough this time to know he liked it.

Smile turning shy and sheepish, Stormy pulled back.  She brought a hoof to her mouth as she chewed the cheesecake, its rich sweetness cut with just the right amount of tang to keep it interesting.  But the tingle of lemon on her tongue wasn't the only tingle she felt.  She knew the feeling of adrenaline, and this was similar.  She felt it down her back, and had the urge to move her wings, almost a fight or flight response.  This could actually work.

"Nopony on Furia wants a genetically modified colt-friend," Stormy took a deep breath, "and nopony in the solar-domes wants a mare-friend covered in scars."  She shrugged, trying not to appear as nervous as she felt.  She spent years avoiding this sort of thing, so she had no clue what to say.  But she knew this was a once in a lifetime chance for her.  Somepony that could understand her more than anypony back home, and that she could understand as well.  And, as they say, what happens on Canterlot, stays on Canterlot.  "This could be a win-win situation for us."

Radio barely stammered out his response.  "You, uh, r-really?  Like, you, and, um, you and I, uh, being..."

"A couple," Stormy finished for him.  "At least, for as long as we're both on Canterlot.  I mean, we're from different planets, and we both have different things going on in our lives.  It would be crazy to think our first relationships are going to last forever, right?"

"Oh, yeah," Radio quickly agreed, "Totally.  I mean, we're still kids basically.  There's no way we know what we're doing.  I don't even know what couples are supposed to do."

Stormy sat there for a moment, and did nothing but blink.  "Huh," she finally said, "I don't either.  The only relationships I've seen are either complete train wrecks or utter shitshows.  Sometimes both.  Except for my parents and their friends.  They're all happy."

"Ok," Radio nodded as he processed the info, "so, what do they do differently?  What stands out about the way they approach things?"

"Hmm," Stormy scratched her chin, "well, they're always laughing.  That's the most obvious one.  My parents are old and married, and obviously more mature than any of my classmates, but they smile more than most of the couples at school.  They are always laughing and playing, and sometimes you think you're looking at two foals that drank a growth potion."

Radio chuckled.  "That sounds like how my parents used to be."

Stormy saw the sad look that flashed across his face, the one he tried to hide.  "Used to be?"

Caught, Radio debated telling her the truth or trying to dismiss it as nothing.  Honesty quickly won out.  His parents wouldn't lie to each other, and if he was going to follow their example, he wouldn't either.  "My mom was badly hurt long ago, and she's been in suspended animation ever since.  It's why I chose to study medicine.  I want to be able to bring her back."

"Oh," came the soft reply, "I feel selfish now.  I'm studying medicine to cure my own allergies."

"But you'll still help countless others with the research," Radio pointed out.  "Lots of ponies have allergies, how many are locked in ancient cryogenics chambers with injuries that require treatment before the chamber can be opened?"

"Obviously not none," Stormy answered.  "But I'm sure there will be other benefits to your path.  I can't imagine a kind colt like you not helping tons of ponies."

"Th-thanks," Radio stammered, blushing brighter than he had yet.

Stormy laughed at the sudden change in color.  "If you keep reacting like that, I'm going to keep complimenting you."

"That might not be too bad," the colt said sheepishly, only to see a mischievous smile spread across her face.  Probably a good time for a subject change.  "Well," he said, nervously tapping his hooves together, "since we're a couple now, we need to start dating, right?"

Stormy blushed as her smile was replaced with a look of shock.  "I, uh, I guess?"

"In that case..."  Radio leaned in close, maintaining his air of confidence even though his heart felt like it would explode.  Stormy really was a pretty young mare, and fun to talk to.  He was lucky just to have run into her again, not to mention hitting it off like they had.  "And, remember, this is your idea."  He took a deep breath, unable to contain his smile.  "Let's go on a date!"
> Pie from a Pirate
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------

Pipsqueak shook his head as he read the construction order again.  "I don't believe this," he said to nopony in particular.  "Hey," he then called out to the only other pony in the cargo bay.  "How did you manage this?"

Berry looked up from where she was laying out pads on temporary tables.  She wore her toolbelt, and her bright pink pad was clipped to it.  "How'd I manage what?"

"This!"  The pinto held up his pad.  "Growl would never agree to all this.  You didn't hack the computer again, did you?"

"No!"  Berry gave a miserable huff.  "I already said I was sorry, why does everypony want to keep bringing it up?"

"Then how did you convince her to do this?"  He glanced back down at the pad.  "Rebuilding this cargo bay into a spacedock specifically for your ship?  Installing dedicated power and data sub-cores?  Reinforcing the floor?  This is not cheap work, and it will take everypony we've got since we still have repair work to perform on the station.  Not to mention all the equipment we'll have to ship up from the surface and install.  Why would she agree to this?"

With a sigh, Berry went back to arranging pads.  "I gave her Granpa."  she squared up the last pad she set down, lining it up with the one next to it.  "Planet, coordinates," she said quietly, "how far down he's buried."  She shook her head again.  "They'll probably exhume his body and test it to make sure it's really him."

"Oh." Pip scratched his neck, and walked over so he wasn't shouting across the room. "Was he somepony important then?"

Berry shrugged.  She fired up her personal pad, and used it to remotely activate the other twenty or so.  "If he was,  I never knew about it.  His name was Grinparch Norland."

The colt froze.  For a moment, he wasn't sure he heard her right.  "Norland?"  He asked for confirmation.  "As in the super famous pirate captain?  The one who defeated the Taraxian Raider's Coalition by himself?  The terror of the galaxy until he disappeared fifty years ago?  The pirate who made technological advancements that baffle scientists even today?  That Grinparch Norland?"

Berry stared at him.  "I didn't even know he was a pirate until yesterday."

"Oh, sorry."  He busied himself with scrolling through the details of the work order.  "I guess I still have a bit of a soft spot for pirates, have since I was a foal.  But, hey, Norland was one of the few modern pirates that is generally considered to have made a positive impact on the galaxy."

Berry looked up in surprise.  "Really?"

"Uh, yeah."  The colt shrugged.  "There was a documentary I saw, and it talked about the things he did.  From what I remember, he operated in the fringe worlds mostly, developed all sorts of inventions, and never attacked civilians, only military research targets, criminal groups, and other pirates.  He was searching for some ancient treasure, but never found it.  Then, when he disappeared, raids and pirate attacks throughout the galaxy started happening more often.  Hundreds of different groups are trying to amass wealth and power to fill the void one stallion left behind."

Berry stared down at her pad.  "Do..."  She rubbed her hoof at the screen, cleaning off the annoying drops of drops of water that somehow kept falling on it.  "Do you think you could send me that documentary?"

"Of course."  Pipsqueak walked over to her, head lowered as she noticed her crying as she hunched over her pad.  "Hey, are you OK?"

She nodded quickly, and swiped at her face.  "I feel so stupid for not seeing it.  He told me I might have to do this someday, give him up to some military or investigative agency, and that I should make sure to bargain something out of it.  But, he never told me why."

"The reason why is probably because he still has a massive bounty on his head."  Pipsqueak let out a low, slow exhale as he thought about it.  "In his heyday, the bounty was billions of Curraxan credits, the price of one of their cruisers he destroyed.  It dropped when he signed a non-aggression pact with them, but it was still pretty high.  Even if he's already, um, passed, being able to confirm that would be worth millions, if not billions of bits to the Assembly's Peacekeeping Council."

Berry let out an angry snort.  "If it's that much, I shouldn't have let grumpy-pants include the computer repairs in the deal."

Pipsqueak choked back a laugh.  Was she talking about Growl?  It was true she could be grumpy at times, but no pony on the station would dare call her grumpy-pants to her face, not even James.  "What computer repairs?"

Berry wiped her eyes one last time before looking up.  "I fixed those old computer cores in storage, made them compatible with the current ones, and fixed the damage in the main computer from the recent attacks.  The system's software was compromised nearly a month ago, and that pony that tried to kill us had been sending in fake shipments since then.  We haven't been able to determine if it was just a smuggling operation, or if the plan was to attack the station all along, but that's how they got the explosives, monsters, and construction drones on board."

"Really?  I'd been wondering about that."  He scratched his chin.  "But then, how did he manage to keep the monsters from going crazy until the time was right?"

"Cortical override tags," Berry answered, before going back to her pad.

Pipsqueak waited for her to expand on her answer, or perhaps pull up some relevant information on her pad, but she didn't.  "And what is a cortical override tag?"

"It's a thing Granpa designed.  It overrides portions of the brain controlling autonomous functions like sleeping and breathing."

Again, Pipsqueak waited for her to provide more exposition, and when she didn't, he offered a guess.  "So, these tags were used to keep the monsters asleep?  I saw one of those things up close when I was working on the wall in the cargo bay, and it had some tubes sticking out of it.  He must have been feeding them IV nutrients."

"It kept them alive."  Berry nodded.  "But, with no solid food for that long, they still woke up hungry."

The colt watched her for a moment as she worked, hunched over her her pad, and eyes glued to the screen.  "This thing with your grandfather is really bothering you, isn't it?"

She nodded without looking up.  "It all seems so obvious now.  Everything he taught me about electronics, teaching me how to fight, how to use weapons, and I never realized it."  She wiped at her screen again, glad that it was, at the very least, spill proof.  "The last thing he told me before he died, was to follow in grandma's steps, not his.  'Cherish those around you, and help them.  Let them help you back.  Build bonds of trust, not fear.'"  She shook her head.  "He apologized to me before he went to sleep.  I keep thinking he knew he wasn't going to wake up, and I thought he was apologizing for that.  But, now, I have to wonder, was he apologizing for who he was?  Or for not telling me about it?"

Pipsqueak shrugged.  He didn't know.  Her grandfather was the only one who could answer that.  "Either way, sounds like he worried more about you than for himself."

Berry nodded.  "I know he did.  And I'm going to do exactly what he told me."

She punched in a final command, and the holo-projectors on several pads fired up, linking together as they streamed a glowing grid into the open cargo bay.  The bright white and blue lines expanded out towards the walls, mapping out the boundaries of walls and existing utilities.

The pads that weren't involved with scanning started collecting and processing the data.  Quadrant by quadrant, portions of the holoscan were replaced by the ghostly representations of planned changes.  Blueprints translated into 3d information, then projected into place.

When it was done, Pipsqueak let out a low whistle.

Berry looked up at the projected model of the Philomena's new dry-dock.  Wide open space in the middle. Cranes, storage lockers, robotic arms, and utility connections lined the walls.  Tractor beam emitters hung from the ceiling.  Fabrication equipment of all kinds would be added later, once it was determined the sort of repairs the Philomena would need, and a small lounge would be placed along the interior wall.

Berry nodded slowly.  "This is Granpa's last gift, and I'm going to use it to help everypony I can."







"You have what?!"  The Curraxan that just shouted brought a hand to his forehead as the human next to him choked on his coffee.  The reptilian exchanged glances with the gryphon beside him, then looked back at Growl.  "Do you know what this means?"

Growl nodded as her eyes scanned the seven beings displayed on the big screen in her office.  The heads of security for each of Canterlot's four other space stations, one high level official from planetary police, one advisor from the Assembly United Military Force, and one presidential aide.  This was the Canterlot security council, of which, she was the newest member.  "That's why I asked for this conference."

An ice-blue unicorn on the far end of the display cleared his throat.  Sheriff Glacier of Station Beta, if Growl recalled correctly.  "The timing of this is all rather convenient, isn't it?  Pulling this out of your hat right after that embarassing-"

"Oh, shut up," Growl cut him off.  "Calling the attack on my station embarrassing is like calling Kikurage a fever.  It downplays the seriousness of the situation to fit it into a political narrative."  She looked at the other members, but no one spoke up.  She didn't care for politics, and this was a private meeting.  She wasn't going to put up with vague accusations and subtlety.  "Now, I'm sure you all have questions about what happened that day, and have rightly assumed that I left certain things out of my official report.  So, allow me to answer those questions, and clear up this current matter at the same time."

The planetary official, the human who was just choking on his coffee, lifted his hand.  "Before we get too far, Mrs. Growl, I need to bring up one thing.  Are you aware of the pending lawsuit against you and your station?  A copy has been filed with my office, and I want to be sure you aren't going to ignore it."

"The stallion who claims his son is being forcibly withheld from him and was placed in danger during this attack?"  With a sigh, Growl crossed her hooves.  "I loosen my security, on your recommendation, and you all want to treat me as the incompetent one?  I find it hard to believe the claims, but I've already extended an invitation to the attorney to bring the client to my station and discuss this.  The client has maintained anonymity so far, and I have no clue as to the identity of the colt he claims is his son.  Kind of hard to act on such limited information.  We are closing in on two thousand permanent station residents, and hundreds more pass through on a weekly basis.  Our population is also fairly young, given the nature of our founding, and colts, under eighteen of course, currently number over two hundred.  Include ages eighteen through twenty-four, and that number jumps to nearly six hundred.  I included all types of pony, zebra, dragon-pony hybrids, and gryphon-pony hybrids in the count, since the client was described only as a stallion.  And, of course. none of these colts are on any sort of missing pony list, domestic watch list, or any other sort of list I can find."

"Well. it seems like you have a handle on things," said the presidential aide.  Growl couldn't remember the pegasus stallion's name, it was some kind of stone, Onyx, or Flint, or something.  "We should focus on the larger matters, and let her run her station as she sees fit.  She did come out of this attack with zero casualties, after all."  He glanced down the table, adjusting the sunglasses he wore, even though he was inside.  "How many deaths from drug overdoses alone has Beta had this year?  fourteen?  Sixteen if you count the dealer and grieving father killing each other over the daughter's overdose."

"Excuse me?" Glacier shot an angry look down at the well dressed pegasus.  "We have a population of well over a million, Jasper.  It's inevitable that a few ne'er-do-wells are going to fall through the cracks when you're that big."

"I hardly think a hurting father counts as a ne'er-do-well," Jasper continued calmly, "but, the point is, we all have problems. And, we should be focused on solving them, not assigning blame."  He looked back at Growl.  "Please, continue."

"Thank you."  Growl surveyed the table again, glad that she wasn't planet-side to deal with them face to face.  "I'll keep it short and to the point.  Yes, I have the location of the body of Grinparch Norland, the galaxy's most wanted criminal, along with some additional information about the attack.  The attack on Delta was carried out using technology and methods derived from Norland's work by a pony going by the name Visor, who was augmented with neural enhancements also derived from Norland's technology." She smiled faintly.  This next part is going to cause an uproar.  "Analysis of these devices, and tactics, was aided by Norland's Granddaughter, who is now a station resident.  Also, left out of my previous report, was not only her role in all this, but the involvement of two COC representatives, an elder Dragon, two Furian super soldiers, an honest to goodness vampony, and a Celestial."

Silence reigned supreme for several seconds, until the unicorn mare, dressed in white robes and headdress and representing station Alpha, turned to look at the dragoness representative from station Gamma.  "She's lost it."

"I thought you might say that."  Growl reached for the pad on her desk.  "So, I prepared this.  This is footage from various security cameras during the atack."

She hit a prepared control that swapped her camera feed for security footage from the day of the attack.    It was similar to the video she showed Astral, but with additional footage from later in the day, including the rescue of her security team from open space.

All the security council members watched in awe, except for Jasper.  Growl watched him careful as he rubbed at his eyes.  Every so often, he would glance back at the video, wince, and shake his head.  Growl grabbed her pad, which was playing the same video, so she could gauge his reaction to specific parts.

She didn't have to wait long for a notable reaction.  The drone in her office, and Astral's name scrawled in blood showed up, and he threw his hooves in the air.  His next action was to pull out a pad of his own and start typing into it.

Wondering who he could be contacting, Growl almost dropped her pad when it pinged.  She looked down and saw the notification.  Priority message, from Jasper, Office of the President.

She glanced back at the screen.  Jasper was looking straight at her, or rather, at the screen, but he wasn't paying attention to the video that replaced her like all the others.  That look was for her, an addendum to the message he sent.  He quietly left the table, slipping away while his colleagues' attention was still trapped by the action on screen.

Growl opened the short plain-text message.

"I need to discuss things with the president and others.  Do not share the location of Norland's Body."

Growl raised an eyebrow.  She wasn't planning on it in the the first place.  She cut the video feed, and her face replaced the video on the council's screen.  "I trust that's enough to give you an idea of what happened?  The, 'Astral Plane' mentioned in the bloody message was unknowingly used to smuggle a piece of technology into the system roughly a week ago.  When he was attacked in an effort to reclaim it, he managed to kill his attacker.  This recent attack was revenge for that.  The perpetrators may have ties to the remnants of the Norland pirates, as evidenced by the technology used, but the motives were clearly personal.  I will continue to investigate, and will request help if it becomes necessary.  Any questions?"

"Yes," Glacier answered almost immediately, "the location-"

"The location of Grinparch Norland will remain secret until I personally confirm it," Growl spoke over him, "his granddaughter volunteered this information of her own free will, and I wish to ensure that his remains are treated with respect and discretion.  He may have been a criminal, but he was still a pony like the rest of us, and he was her only family for many years."

He scoffed.  "And you trust her?  The spawn of a pirate?"

Growl raised an eyebrow.  "She detected and disabled the data probe you placed on our transmitter array, so I would go with yes."

"What?!"  The stallion slammed his hoof on the table.  "I resent the implication that-"

"Oh, save me the righteous indignation," Growl spoke over him again, "why don't you go home and check your computer's administrator list?  Then tell me I'm wrong about where the probe was transmitting."

Alpha's representative spoke again.  "Mrs. Growl, I apologize for my earlier comment."  She was soft spoken as ever, but Growl respected her most out of the council because she always thought things through carefully before speaking.  Growl thought of the mare as better than herself in that regard.  Except for that wisecrack a moment ago.  "In part of the video, there was a young stallion and a colorful filly fighting monsters alongside your security team.  Is it standard procedure to allow children to put their lives on the line?"

"No."  Growl answered simply.  "Those two are a special case, and they were not sent there to fight.  The colorful young mare is Ribbon Dancer, one of the Furian super soldiers I mentioned.  She is one of my nurses, and a telepath.  She went to the cargo bay to help search for injured.  The young stallion's name is Mezzo-Forte Melody, he is the son of a close friend, and one of the Tankrit refugees.  He is a close friend of Ribbon's, and went along to help.  They ended up rescuing two civilians before joining the security forces in battle."

"A friend of a telepath?"  The gryphon from science station O'Rourke asked in disbelief.  "He probably just doesn't know."

"I assure you, he does."  Growl smiled at the mean look Alpha's representative gave the gryphon, and wished she had at least tried to remember her name.  "As does his family, who also count Ribbon as a friend.  This includes his mother,who is a bounty hunter, trained in anti-psy techniques."

"In any case," the unicorn mare said loudly, bringing attention back to her, "the young Stallion uses an impressive amount of magic.  Did he suffer exhaustion afterwards?"

Growl was a little confused by how much interest she was showing in the colt, especially given he was only on screen for a few seconds.  "Not that I know of.  He assisted efforts in the medical bay after this incident, and he was using his magic normally for several hours."

"I see."  She rested her chin on a hoof hidden by the long sleeves of her robe.  "I would like to meet him, if possible.  Might I visit your station for your founding anniversary next month?"

"I don't any reason why not.   And, I must say, surprised you remembered it."  Growl was confused, but a month was more than enough time to figure out any hidden motivations she may have.  "Though, it's up to him if he wishes to meet you."

She nodded slowly.  "Understood."

It was the dragoness who spoke up next.  "Might I tag along?  You mentioned that there is an elder dragon on your station.  If true, then it is a relative of mine."  This statement drew surprised looks from everyone at the table except the representative from station alpha.  With a sharp-toothed grin, the dragoness added, "don't be surprised, there are thousands of us out there.  Not all of us feel the need to brag about it."

"Very well, I will extend formal invitations to each of you."  Growl nodded slowly.  " I will also keep the council updated as the situation develops."

The human raised his hand again.  "Is no one going to mention the Vampony or the Celestial?  Because it's kind of terrifying that those exist, let alone live in orbit."

"Says the guy who stabbed another guy," muttered the Curraxan, "with a pen."

The human looked over with a frown.  "I am merely pointing out that the population of the planet may not be comfortable with supernatural blood-sucking creatures, or mythical entities that can survive in space and level entire cities, living above their heads."

"You stabbed him in the face," the lizard-man reminded him, "multiple times.  I had to pressure wash my scales to get the smell of blood gone.  A vampony can't be any more dangerous than a cornered human.  And I've known plenty of unicorns that could wreak havoc if they put their minds to it.  As long as they're on our side, who cares?"

Growl sighed, regretting her use of the word vampony, no matter how well it described Fluttershy.  "I should probably add that the Celestial is a Canterlot Citizen, who lives on the surface, and works as a professor at Luna's Academy."  All eyes snapped to her, then back to the human.  "And with that, I'm signing off."

She shut down the video conference, and headed for the door.  The incoming call notifications started playing before she was even halfway there.

She poked her head out the door, and waved a hoof at the nearest security guard.  He was walking down the hall, not facing her, so she whistled to get his attention and called out, "Mica!  Good thing you're here, I have a job for you."

He froze midstep, his back to her, and glanced around.

"You can't play it off like you didn't hear me," Growl warned him.

He turned around, forced smile on his face.  "Wouldn't dream of it, ma'am.  What did you need?"

"I'm stepping out for a moment," she said quietly, "answer my calls, but don't answer any questions unless it's about accommodations for next month's founding day festival."

"Huh, that time of year again."  Mica scratched his head.  "I forgot all about it, what with the whole attack on the station."

"Yes, it slipped my mind as well, until this morning, when I started receiving requests to invite Miss Sparkle as a guest of honor."

"Why not?  She saved the station."  He shrugged.  "Mere hours after you punched her in the face to boot.  Most folks wouldn't even be walking again in that time frame."

"Interesting hypothesis," Growl deadpanned, "care to test it?"

"Not really, no."  Mica pointed into the room Growl was vacating.  "I can hear incoming calls, I should probably answer them."

"Yes, probably."  Growl headed out, and Mica ducked into the room behind her.  "And no one from Beta gets invited!" she called back as she strolled away.

"Amen to that, ma'am!"

"Poor Mica," she muttered to herself.  "He has no clue who I was talking to, or what I told them."

Well, what's done is done.  Growl headed down the hall.  It was almost lunch time, so she decided to head to medical and see if James was busy.  If things were slow enough, they might be able to slip away for lunch.  James has been wanting to try that new restaurant, the one with breakfast any time of day.  Pretty odd choice for the first and only proper restaurant on the station, but with all the shifting schedules, it might be an excellent choice.

As she walked through the halls of the station, Growl greeted everyone she came across.  Her words were greeted with waves and smiles.  It was almost hard to believe that this was just days after the attack.  The compiled reports put total injuries at fourty percent of the population.

Of course, that was counting every cut, scrape, and bruise that was reported in the after action report forms she sent out to every station resident.  Mostly from the initial explosion shaking the station like a snowglobe.  The number who actually sought treatment was much lower.  Including security personnel, seven percent of the population required medical attention.  And somehow, they managed that while being down a nurse.

Still, things needed to change.  Five medical personnel may be sufficient for the day to day needs of the station, but they only made it through this crisis with the help of others.  So many of the Tankrit, and several newer residents as well, were able to take charge in this crisis, and minimize the impact on the rest of the station.  Perhaps it would be wise to formalize that arrangement?

Growl stopped and chewed her lip for a moment.  Maybe citizen responders?  Individuals who could volunteer for training that could help during an emergency.  Not replacing full-time personnel, but augmenting them.

She started walking again.  How did other stations handle things like this?  Delta's size puts it in an awkward stage.  It was getting too large to continue handling things like a village, but not yet large enough to be a city.  There was no budget for expanding the staff more than a few new hires here and there.  And repairs would likely eat up any expansion budgets for the next few months.

With a sigh, she realized she may have to speak with administrators from other stations, see if they could give advice.  Perhaps that unicorn from Station Alpha would be willing to speak one on one?  Beta was out of the question, she wouldn't be able to trust that Glacier wasn't trying to sabotage her.

Gamma was another possibility.  The dragoness in charge there was the quiet sort, a watcher, and a listener.  She rarely ever spoke during meetings, and never took sides, but she wrote in depth analyses based on discussions that were nothing short of inspirational.  These texts would seldom take sides, but point out the benefits and flaws of different options.  Surely, someone who thinks like that would be open to an exchange of ideas.

In the meantime, she would start small.  At the very least, an expanded disaster preparedness program, some sort of volunteer training, and two more part time nurses.  Or one full-timer.

Speaking of nurses, Ribbon really stepped up during all this.  All three of them went above and beyond, especially Lilybelle, who managed to direct triage operations alone while James operated on the critically wounded.  And Annabelle had undertaken a huge risk to save the injured elder dragon.  But it really stood out that Ribbon, who usually helped from the sidelines, was right in the thick of it.  It was a gamble, sending her back to the cargo bay with Mezzo, but it paid off.  She wasn't sure on all the details, but those two were able to pull out the best in each other.

Ribbon was able to work around the injured, and not succumb to the pain.  Mezzo was able to temper his judgement and think things through for a change.  The angry colt she met on Tankra would never have been able to follow the order to leave a possible enemy alone.  They also saved two foals from the clutches of hungry monsters.  That they then wiped out every last one of those monsters was an unexpected bonus.

Perhaps it was time to formalize that arrangement as well.  Mezzo was recently unemployed, after all.  A strong young colt, bright and eager to help others, who knew the station and its residents?  Sounds like prime material for a guard.  And Ribbon, skilled in medicine, but unable to handle emergency calls alone due to her extreme empathy, could use a partner.

"It would be an interesting partnership," she mused.  Mezzo could be given some formal medical training, to better assist Ribbon, and she was already fully trained in weaponry and combat.

Growl smiled.  They could be a medical and security super team, a younger version of herself and James, almost.

Before she knew, it Growl was standing before the door to medical.  It was odd, actually having a door, but she knew she would get used to it soon.  Especially once the lettering was installed on the glass, telling everypony what the place was.  She had plans for a larger sign above the door as well, but hit a roadblock trying to find a design she liked.

The door slid open, and Growl tore her attention from the empty space above and focused on the pony walking out.  "Octavia?" she said with some surprise.

The grey mare was startled for a moment.  Her mind was on other things as she walked, but was quickly pulled from distraction by the greeting.  "Oh, Growl, good morning."

The green mare nodded.  "I forgot, you're keeping yourself on the school schedule now, aren't you?"

Tavi shrugged.  "It makes it easier on the days I teach music class.  I can't seem to ignore my circadian rhythms like Vinyl does.  I swear, she'll sleep until noon one day, and be up early enough to make everypony breakfast the next.  I don't know how she does it."

"I don't either, but I know she shouldn't."  Growl peeked inside the windows, at the bustling medical bay full of patients.  There was no way James would be able to leave, so she ammended her plans.  "Octavia, I haven't gotten a chance to check in with you since the attack, are you busy right now?"

She thought it over for a moment, then shook her head.  "Honestly, I thought my appointment would take longer, so I have some free time."

They moved out of the doorway as another pony left, and Growl pointed in the general direction of the commissary.  "Well, I was planning on trying out the new Donut Joe's, care to join me?"

The other mare made a face, like she smelled something sour.  "I don't know, why don't we just grab a drink at the cafe?"

Growl put a hoof on her shoulder.  "We talked about this.  Did you eat breakfast today?"

Octavia nodded slowly, but quietly added, "It didn't stay down."

Growl sighed.  "Sorry, I know there's days like that, but you need to keep eating solid food.  You need the energy, now more than ever, and straying from routine causes stress you don't need."  She looked at the floor for a moment.  "But, if it's really bad, I can make some nutrient shakes that you should be able to handle."

The grey mare shook her head.  "Don't trouble yourself, Growl.  Everything that's happened lately just threw things off.  I'm sure I'll start feeling better when I get back on schedule."

"Good," Growl gave her shoulder a soft pat.  "So, did James show you the latest results?"

Octavia nodded happily.  "He said things are looking good."

"Good?  I saw the scans, you're almost clear," Growl whispered.  "Speaking of, I have some news of my own to share, if you can keep it a secret."

Octavia scratched her chin.  "I can try, but you know how pushy Vinyl can get if she feels left out of the loop."

"Hmm," Growl shrugged, " I'll risk it.  Come on, I'll tell you over breakfast."

With a wince, Octavia followed as Growl started walking away.  "How did I know you weren't going to let me get away?"
> Side Effects of the Dragon Ritual
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------

"There's nothing here!"  Softy shoved the massive scroll away from him.  It hit a massive leather bound book, which bumped another scroll, which started rolling away.

Annabelle jumped to catch the golden, jewel-encrusted roll before it could fall off the desk.  The desk was made of beautiful, richly colored wood that was probably imported from some other planet.  The chairs she and Softy sat in were of matching wood, and upholstered in extremely fine embroidered silk.  They matched the tapestries that hung over the dark red, stone textured walls.

"I don't know why I keep these stupid ancient texts around," the young dragon declared.  He jumped out of the chair, sinking into the thick, plush rug, whose pattern matched the cushions and tapestries.  He made his way over to a four-poster bed made for ten, built of the same wood as the desk.  He pulled the sheer silk curtain to the side and climbed on the bed.  He then flopped down into blankets that threatened to swallow him whole.  "The things are heavy, and take up so much room."

Annabelle looked over at the bookshelves beside the desk.  They were of a different, darker wood than the desk, and ornately carved.  Armored draconic sentinels adorned the top, while the sides and thick shelves depicted more mundane scenes of everyday life.  They were loaded with tomes and scrolls that were every bit ornate, if not more so, than the bookcases.

They did look like a lot to move, but so did the rest of the furniture.  Softy's room was a little smaller than her and Lilybelle's shared quarters, but furnished like a room from a palace.  Even the kitchen looked like it was lifted from a fairytale of ancient nobility.  The microwave was design to match the ornate cast-iron cauldron nearby, and the sink, faucet, and handles were inlaid with mother of pearl.

"Softy?"  Annabelle's voice caught in her throat, and she coughed quietly.  She realized it was the first time she had spoken since coming here.  She had been focused on searching the ancient texts for some clue to breaking the effects of the ritual.  How long had they been at it?  Come to think of it...  "When did we leave my place?"

Softy shot straight up to sitting in the bed.  "Oh, crap!"  He fumbled with the curtain to open it and climbed out in a hurry.  He ran over to Annabelle as she blinked and shook her head.  "Um, OK, wording, um, if you want to," he said carefully, "could you please tell me about the walk over here?"

"Huh?"  Annabelle shook her head.  Everything was foggy.  She vaguely remembered walking through the station corridors, and reading the books, but it was fuzzy.  She felt like she had just woken up.  Jumping for the scroll that was about to fall was where things felt clear again.  "Softy, what happened?"


"Oh, hell," the color drained from his face, "I'm so sorry.  I didn't mean to, I'm so, so sorry."

"Just tell me what happened," she demanded.

"I told you what to do."  Softy blinked, and shook his head.  "And it goes both ways," he said to himself, "only fair, I guess.  Annabelle, we should probably be careful about what we say to each other, and how we say it.  You probably don't remember anything I explained earlier, but we are magically bonded by an ancient ritual of extreme power.  Our magic, blood, and very lifeforces are joined in ways that shouldn't be possible."

Annabelle blinked again.  "Did I ever tell you how much I hate dealing with the cryptic mumbo jumbo that magic creates?  It's always us unicorns that have to deal with that shit."

"Well, that shit saved my life," Softy reminded her.

"It did," she agreed, "so you better explain this."

"I will, let me think."  Softy scratched his head.  What she said didn't do anything, maybe it wasn't a direct command?  "Tell me to do something simple."

She immediately pointed at the books and scrolls on the table.  "Put these away."

Softy walked over to the desk and rolled up the scroll he had been reading.  Once done, he brought to the shelf and carefully placed it on a shelf with other matching scrolls.

Annabelle shook her head again after Softy bumped into her while reaching to take the gilded scroll away.  "What are you doing?"

Softy seemed to snap out of a trance.  His unfocused eyes blinked, and he looked at the unicorn while he pulled the ornate scroll towards him.  "I guess I'm putting the ancient texts away."

He walked back over to the bookshelf.

Annabelle slowly asked, "Why?  And how did you get on the other side of me?"

"I told you to tell me to do something," he explained as he went back to the desk for one of the books that remained.  "You told me to put these away."  He stopped midreach.  His claw shook, and he clenched his teeth as he fought himself not to move.  Slowly, his claw pulled back, like it was dragging a weight along.  With a groan, he gave up, and grabbed a book off the table.  "And it looks like I'm going to do it."

"No," Annabelle laughed, "no, this is some bad joke, isn't it?"

Softy looked back as he set the book on the shelf.  He went back for another book, but she was in the way, looking for him to ease her worry.  He wished he could, but he couldn't think of anything to say.  And, it was hard to think while he was still bound to finish his task, walking beyond his own control, and trying to address her concerns.  "I'll try to explain, but can you let me finish this real quick?  Go lay on the bed or something."

Annabelle got up and walked over as Softy made it back to the desk.  With a wince, he realized he had slipped up again.  By the time he put the last two books back on the shelf, she had made it past the curtain and was nestled in the heavy blankets.

Softy glanced down at his claws.  He no longer felt any compulsion to move them.

"NO!!!!"

Softy jumped at the sudden scream.  When he looked over, Annabelle was fighting her way out of the covers, and wrestling with the curtain.  Softy ran over, but the thin silk tore, and she tumbled from the bed tangled in it. 

"Anna!"  Softy grabbed for the sheer fabric, ready to cut it away from her with his claws if needed.  "Are you OK?"

The moment he grabbed the material, she looked up.  Her expression was almost feral.  Softy had never seen anypony this terrified, even when the cargo bay exploded.  She shoved him away, screaming, "Don't touch me!"

"Annabelle, what's wrong?"  He instinctively reached for her again, because she was still fighting the tangled silk, but his claw hit an unseen wall.  He tried to push forward, but he couldn't force past it.  "Anna!"

She shrieked and tore at the material binding her as Softy watched, powerless to help.  He caught himself wanting to say, "calm down," but would that truly help, or just make things worse?  As she freed herself, and retreated away from him he said the only other thing he could think of.  "I'm sorry.  I'm so, so sorry."

She freed herself and retreated into the corner, between the bed and the nightstand.  It took her a moment to get her breathing under control.  "Softy," she stared at the floor, "please don't tell me to do anything else."

"I won't, I promise," he replied quickly.  "I didn't mean to scare you, I was just buying some time so I could finish putting the books away like you told me to."

"This is so messed up," she muttered, bringing her hooves to her head.  "We can just tell each other to do things, and that's it?  We have to do it?"

Softy nodded.  "According to my clan's ancient laws, my life belongs to you now.  The exact words in the scrolls are, 'the one gifted life is bound to the health and will of the giver, until the same is returned anew.'  Or, at least, that's how I think it translates.  I thought it was just a custom, like, I owe you a life debt or something.  I didn't know it was going to be literal magical compulsion to do anything we tell each other.  You have to-"  Softy stopped himself.  Was it really that easy to slip up?  "No, I mean, please.  Please believe me."

She didn't answer right away.  Her hooves grasped her mane, and for a second, Softy thought she going start pulling it out.  "H-how does it," she whispered, "um, would it work if you told me not to be afraid?"

"Of what?"  Softy asked before offering a shrug.  "I really don't know.  And it wouldn't be real anyway, so I won't, unless you order me to.  Anna, this is not what I wanted.  I knew there was too much risk involved, that's why I didn't want you to perform the ritual."

Annabelle lifted her head a little.  "But, you were dying.  I couldn't just let that happen."

Softy looked down, bringing his claw to his side.  He could feel where he had been cut, even if no one else could see it.  He had been opened up, and pieces of him were removed, then stuffed back in.  It made him sick to his stomach just thinking about it.  He felt... different, from before, even though Anna's magic had completely restored his health.  "I know, thank you."

With a sigh, he slumped against the bed, and Annabelle uncurled a little from her hiding place.  "Now what?"

He shrugged.  "We can't just avoid each other.  If we're separate for more than a few hours, we'll start to feel physical pain.  And, if one of us gets hurt, so will the other.  The best we can do is be careful what we say to each other, if we talk at all."

Annabelle sat quietly for a moment.  "I didn't-"  She shook her head violently.  "I don't want it to be like this."  Her voice was harsh, but only a whisper.  One that quickly gave way to the silence in the room.  She looked up at Softy.  He looked like everypony she ever told her story to.  That worry, the powerlessness, the confusion.  He wanted to say something, make it all better, but there wasn't anything that could.  "Softy, I chose this.  I didn't do it so we could stop talking to each other.  I did it because I didn't want you to die."

"But, you're afraid of me now, because of this..."  He looked down at his claws.  "This curse."

"No, Softy, not you.  You're the only one I'm not afraid of."  She squeezed herself tight.  Was she really going to tell him this?  "That's probably why I agreed to this so quickly.  I was desperate not to lose you."

She stared at the floor as she continued.  "You don't have fur, or hooves, or a mane.  Your face is different from a stallions.  When you touch me with your claw, it is so different from being touched with a hoof, that for once I can feel someone touch me and focus on that without curling up into a little ball."

"You told me not to touch you."  Softy reached out to her.  "I can't now, even if I wanted to."

"That's not what I wanted," she repeated.  "I was just scared."

"Of me?" Softy asked, letting his claw fall to the floor.

"Of what you could do.  If I have to do anything you tell me to, there's... you could..." She closed her eyes.  "I know exactly what you could force me to do," she managed to get out, "and I don't want to go through that again."

"No, Anna," Softy shifted, leaning towards her.  He wanted to reassure her, but the command imposed on him kept him from going any closer.  What little Lilybelle told him of their pasts let him fill in the blanks.  "I would never do anything like that.  I- I'd sooner tear my own beating heart out of my chest than do something so evil."  He paused for a moment after hearing himself. "Ok, that was a really, um, dragon way of putting it, and probably not in the best taste, given recent events, but I mean it.  I may have deserted my role as a dragon Prince, but I will never abandoned my honor, or the honor of my clan.  And, on my honor, I swear, I will never force you to do anything you don't want to.  If I ever do anything to hurt you, I will kill myself the moment our bond is broken."

"That's not what I want!"  Annabelle screamed.  "I just want to not be afraid.  I want to be like every other mare galaxy, with friends, a lover, a social life.  I want to be touched, without everypony having to give me a warning first.  I want to be able to stand next to a stranger in line without watching their every move.  When they comment on the weather simulation, I want to be able to respond without having a heart attack.  I...  I just want to feel safe."

"Is there anything I can do to make that happen?"

Without looking at him, Annabelle held a hoof out towards him.  "Touch me," she ordered, not knowing if it override her panicked command earlier.  "Tell me...  I don't know, tell me something that can make this seem OK.  Because, I don't see how it can."

Softy looked down at his claw, flexing it.  He felt no compulsion to move it, but held it out towards her outstretched hoof anyway.  He didn't feel any resistance.  Did the contradicting commands cancel each other out?  He moved closer to her, and slowly took her hoof in his claw, but moved no closer than that.  Then, he fulfilled her second order, and told her the only thing that came to mind.  "Anna, we'll figure this out."
> Stormy and Radio Go Shopping
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------

"What do you think of this one?"

Radio looked over at the shirt Stormy picked out.  "I'm with stupid," he read off the bold letters.  "I like it, but I thought we were picking a shirt for you?"

She laughed and stuck it back on the rack.  "Oof, I walked straight into that one."

"Check it out, this one matches my mane."  Radio grabbed a bright tie-dyed shirt off the rack.  On its front was a grotesquely detailed toad with samurai swords strapped to its back.  Every bump and wart was painstakingly rendered in crosshatched ink lines.  He stared at it.  "What?"

Stormy nodded slowly, before laughingly saying, "Matches your face too."



"Ouch."  Radio put it back and glanced out the window behind them.  Across the street, at the cafe where he and Stormy met, a waitress was boxing up his cheesecake for him to take home.  He didn't even get to taste it yet.

The moment he suggested a date to Stormy, she got really quiet.  She looked really nervous, almost embarrassed by his sudden air of confidence.  But, it didn't last.

She grabbed his hoof and nearly dragged him out of his seat.  It seemed she had taken the suggestion to mean that the date would happen that very moment.  It caught the colt off-guard, but he saw no reason to refuse.  He asked to get his cheesecake packed to go, and Stormy dragged him across the street so she could buy a shirt to wear.

He looked back at the filly he was shopping with.  She found two more shirts, but instead of holding them up, she was quietly comparing them.  These two must be serious candidates for purchase, not merely good for a quick laugh.

"Hey," he said quietly, breaking her concentration.  "What are we going to do?  On our date, I mean.  Have any ideas?"

She lowered the shirts, a blank look on her face.  "Uh..."

"Hmm."  Radio shrugged.  This was off to a great start.  He flipped through a few shirts, and held up one he thought she might like.  "How about this?"

Stormy glanced up, and immediately shoved her two back on the rack.  "Ladies and gentle colt's, we have a winner."  She snatched it from Radio and looked it over.  "Super Awesome Badass," read the big block letters, and added below, in script that looked like it was written with a marker, was, "and still totally cute."  She held it up to herself, smiling at Radio.  "How's it look?"

"Good," Radio answered quickly, turning away in embarrassment.  Totally cute was a totally apt description, and that big smile was dangerous. "It suits you."

He brought a hoof to his stomach.  It was churning.  He was so nervous right now.  It was his first date ever!  Was this really OK?  She knew he was genetically modified, and said it didn't bother her, but she didn't know the full extent of it.  He would never be able to tell her the full extent of it.  Would that become an issue in the future?

She watched him for a moment.  As he clutched his stomach, she felt her own twist in dread.  He said it didn't bother him, was that a lie?  She knew just how revolting her scars were, had been told such many times.  It wouldn't be that easy to just ignore them.

Stormy looked down at herself behind the shirt she held.  How could anypony ignore this?  The crisscross lines of ugly, bumpy skin that covered her chest, burns where her fur refused to grow back, were hideous.  Her back was much the same.  She could only count herself lucky that the doctors noticed her adverse reaction to the nutrient gel before applying any to her face or legs.  Her wounds there were treated with primitive salves, and the, thankfully few, scars hid well under her fur.

"Radio, I'm not sure I can do this."  She was quiet, and wasn't sure if the colt could hear her over the sound of his rummaging through the clothing racks .  "It's the scars...I know it is, this was a bad idea," she muttered to herself.  She walked over to Radio, forcing herself to speak louder.  "Radio, I'm sorry, I-"

"What's wrong?" Radio asked quickly, cutting her off.  "Oh, I bet I know," he said with a smile, not giving her a chance to respond, "you didn't bring any clothes, so I bet you didn't bring any money.  No worries, I've got you covered.  The least I can do for all the trouble I caused.  And besides, they're buy one, get one, I'll get a free shirt!"

Stormy tried to bite back a smile.  "No, Radio, I-"

The colt held up his hooves as his smile faltered.  "Please, wait.  Let me say something?"

She stopped, and both ponies stared at each other for a moment.  She noticed the worry on his face, and nodded quietly that she would hear him out.

"I heard you," Radio said quietly.  "I heard you muttering to yourself just now.  Maybe you thought I didn't, but my hearing was one of the things genetically enhanced.  And, I'm no good at feigning ignorance, so I'm just going to say it.  It's not the scars.  I really am not bothered by them.  If I am doing something that makes you think I am, please tell me, I promise that it's only because I'm nervous."

She nodded quickly.  "I guess I am, too."  Closing her eyes, she took a slow breath.  "I'm sorry, I'm so used to my scars being the first thing anypony notices...  And the only thing colts my age focus on is how nasty they are."

"Then give me a chance to be different."  He held his hoof up, slowly holding it out to her.  She watched, not moving as he carefully touched a large scar at her collarbone.  "So, um, what sort of things do you like to do for fun?"

His smile was so nervous, that Stormy couldn't help but smile herself.  It was probably the best thing Radio could have done to ease her mind.  They were both so awkward at this!  It was reassuring, in a sad, pathetic way.  "Flying and vr games," she answered with conviction.  "And, I'm kickbutt unstoppable at both.  I beat Dark Souls Fourteen, Nightmare Edition with under a thousand deaths, without cheats, and I can break the sound barrier any day."

"You can?" Radio asked, surprise overriding his earlier unease.  "That's awesome!  I didn't know anypony else could do that."

"Wait," she put up a hoof, "you beat DS:14 :NE without cheats too?"

"What?  No."  Radio shook his head.  "No, I like games, but I haven't played that series.  I was talking about breaking the sound barrier."

"You can do that?!"  Stormy's mouth hung open for a second, and her eyes went unfocused as the gears started turning.  "Holy crap.  We've got to go flying one of these days.  There's an airfield for stunt flyers a few kilometers South of the campus.  If we find an empty timeslot, we could go all out.  Oh, man!  I haven't gotten a chance to go all out in weeks, and I've never flown with anyone else who can hit mach one."

"Three," Radio corrected offhoof.  "But, yeah, that would be great!  I haven't flown supersonic with another pony since I was a foal.  I usually get stuck keeping formation with Stinger-class Aerojets, or light attack fighters.  Even then, I can't fly supersonic around them, or things get messy."

Stormy's smile disappeared, and she squinted at Radio.  "Hold up.  Did you just say three?  As in, mach three?  As in you can hit three times the speed of sound?"

Radio leaned back as she leaned in, shying away from her inquisition.  "Yeah," he slowly admitted, "that's my limit in normal atmospheric conditions.  It's lower if there's excess wind or anything."

The young mare didn't ease up on the suspicious glare.  Instead, she took it further, standing up and putting her eye level a little above the sitting colt.  "Are you bullshitting me right now?"

Radio realized she was trying to intimidate him, but knowing didn't keep it from working.  "About what?  My flight speeds have been very carefully documented, along with all my other physical benchmarks.  If you apply for a special permissions security clearance with the Furian government, I could show you.  I've been pretty much decommissioned, so that much shouldn't be a huge deal anymore."

"I can't believe you actually said all that with a straight face."  Stormy backed down, sitting in front of the colt.  "And let me get this straight.  Since you are some sort of military project back on your homeworld, and all super-genetically enhanced, are you even allowed to just randomly start dating somepony you just met?  Wouldn't you have to run some sort of background check on me, or something like that?"

"Oh, I already did," Radio answered quickly.  He pointed over his shoulder, in no particular direction.  "Back when you told me your name, I entered it into my pad, and before we came over here, I connected to the Furian Intelligence Agency via the cafe's subnet.  You said you were from the solar-domes, and there were only three Stormy Skies in GA records for that settlement, and they all came back clean.  More or less."

"You what?"  Stormy brought a hoof to her face.  "Overlooking the obvious creep factor of running a background check on somepony you just met, didn't you say your furry planet was outside the Assembly?  How did they check Assembly records?"

Radio swallowed hard, realizing that if he was a spy, he would probably be dead by now.  "Um, classified?"

"Don't, 'um, classified,' me, colors."  She leaned in close, whispering, "Your planet's the one behind all the hack attacks that have been on the news, isn't it?"

Radio blinked.  "Maybe?" He squeaked out.  "Can you blame us?  We want to know what we're getting into.  It's a trust, but verify, sort of thing...  Oh, and they want me to, uh, get an iris scan of you to make sure it matches the one in your criminal record."

"An iris scan?" Stormy demanded.  "Who the hell do they think they are?  And what do they mean by criminal record?  I don't have a criminal record!"

The shop owner, hearing Stormy's outburst, leaned over his counter to get a better look at the two pegasi.  "Everything all right over there?"

"Yes," Stormy called back, "my friend just tried to tell a very bad joke, and I may have overreacted.  I'm almost ready to check-out."

"Uh-huh."  He leaned back with a shrug.  "Just so you know, I've got security cameras in here."

Stormy shot Radio a dirty look, and he raised his hooves in surrender.  "Sorry," he muttered quietly, "I didn't read the whole thing, but it said you were arrested for destruction of property.  They took a mugshot and iris scan.  Isn't that kind of the definition of a criminal record?"

Stormy winced, letting out a quiet groan.  "Ugh, that's right, I put a brick through the  bitch's window.  They didn't actually press charges, but I guess the arrest records still exist."

"The same, 'bitch,'" Radio made the air quote motion, "with the parade float?"

"Yes, ugh, don't remind me."  She tapped her hoof, impatient with how long it took to push the memory of that gaudy, paper-mache, monstrosity out of her mind.  "They put the thing on display outside the school for weeks after the parade.  And why aren't you more freaked out about my criminal record?"

"Can't be worse than mine."  Radio shrugged.  "I, 'borrowed,' my first spaceship at the age of four."

"And, I'm running an inventory audit," the store owner muttered, flipping through a magazine, "the second you leave."

"Well, fuck you, too!"  Stormy bundled up her chosen shirt and tossed it at the front counter, landing it with precision next to the snide worker.  "Ring that up, and we'll be on our way."  With a snort, she muttered, "asshole."

Radio's eyes were wide as she stalked off to pay.  "You swear like my mother," he muttered to himself.
> Fluttershy and Big Mac have Breakfast
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------

"Take."

"Help me up."  Mac held his hoof out, and Fluttershy quickly grabbed hold.  She eased him up, taking the bulk of his weight, so he could focus on keeping himself straightened out.  If he bent at all, his sore body would protest.

Once he was up, and sitting next to her, Fluttershy tapped the small tray she brought over to him, and repeated her command.  "Take."

Mac yawned, and stretched.  Only a little stretch, but his side wasn't happy with him, and he winced at the pain.  Still, it was an improvement over yesterday.  With a sigh, he took the two pills off the tray and tossed them in his mouth, swallowing them quickly.  He took the small cup of water that was next to them to wash them down, emptying it in one swig.

Setting the cup down, he raised an eyebrow at Fluttershy.  "Good morning?"  He said with some hesitation.  She had woken him up by shoving his prescription in his face, so he was guessing her mood hadn't improved much.  "How ya feelin'?"

Predictably, she didn't respond.  She just took the tray, and brought it back to the kitchen.  She returned to Mac carrying a second tray bearing toast with jam.  She set it down before him, and turned to leave.

Mac sighed miserably as she returned to the kitchen.  Yesterday, he had a follow-up appointment with Dr James, and Fluttershy had accompanied him.  The day before that, she had successfully gone shopping with Berry, and so, felt up to task of accompanying him.

Everything started off fine.  Fluttershy was determined not to dwell on the past, and was focused on learning everything she could about everything new around them.  She asked a lot of questions.  More than a few that stumped the injured earth pony she was escorting.  Luckily, a vaguely familiar-looking, grey earth pony they met was more than happy to offer information.

Once she left though, a confident Fluttershy tried to speak with a pair of teenage fillies.  After loudly proclaiming their disgust at her monstrous appearance, they mercilessly mocked her still stunted speech.  Mac stepped in quickly, because Fluttershy either couldn't, or wouldn't defend herself, but it seemed the damage was done.

During the actual appointment, Fluttershy was struggling with certain words.  She was trying to ask questions, good questions, about his recovery process, but was still relearning the vocabulary.  James was patient, never rushing her or judging her, but she grew more frustrated with herself as the appointment dragged on.

The worst of it happened as they were leaving medical.  Somepony in a suit bumped into them.  More accurately, bumped into him.  It wasn't pleasant, given his condition, but he was fine.  An apology was quickly muttered, but Fluttershy snarled at this new pony for his carelessness.

To his credit, the pony in the suit wasn't scared of Fluttershy in the slightest, and tried to diffuse the situation by offering to share samples of some kind of protein shake.  He didn't actually have any, but promised they were on the way from the surface.  But then, he put his hoof on her shoulder, and said the magic words.  "We're all friends here, so calm down, killer."

It was simply an unfortunate choice of nickname, but Fluttershy slapped his hoof away so fast and so hard that it broke his leg.  A crowd gathered from all the screaming.  She had a panic attack and had to be sedated.  When she woke up, here in their quarters yesterday, she refused to speak.

That lasted the rest of the day, and once simulated night time rolled around, she refused to sleep in the bed.  Instead, she curled up on a spot in the middle of the floor.  No blanket, no pillow.

Mac tried to talk her out of it, but it seemed like the only only word left in her vocabulary was, "no."  So, he laid in bed, until she fell asleep, then got up and laid down on the floor next to her.

That left them here.  His body wasn't happy with him for spending a night on the space station floor, and Fluttershy wasn't happy with anything at the moment.

Mac leaned down, groaning as he picked up his breakfast.  He then hobbled his way towards the kitchen, surprised by just how sore the night on the floor left him.

The second he entered the kitchen, he dumped the plate on the polished composite countertop.  It clattered like stone, only a bit more dull, maybe like plastic.  Whatever the material, the sound caught Fluttershy's ear, and she looked up from her own breakfast.  A package of some sort of preserved meat strips sat in front of her, untouched so far.

She looked down, sliding the package of bacon away from her.  "Burned?" she asked quietly.

"No," Mac answered without moving.

"Oh," came the quiet reply.  Without looking back, she pointed to a small jelly jar on the counter, a short distance away.  "More?"

"No," Mac answered again.  Silence stretched between them as Fluttershy withdrew, unsure of what else could have brought the stallion in here.  Mac let the quiet drag on for longer than he should have, then sighed loudly.  "We keep on like this, and it's gonna be mighty quiet in here."

"Oh," Fluttershy nodded, but there was no follow up aside from still and silence.

"Ain't ya gonna eat?"  Mac pointed at the meat she pushed away.  "Ah didn't mean to interrupt."

Fluttershy pushed the bacon farther away.  "No."

Mac fell on his rump with groan.  "Damn it, Shy!  Nopony expects ya ta be fine after what happened to ya.  Nopony expects ya to be the same."  He forced himself back up, and marched towards her.  "And Ah ain't gonna sit around and let ya starve yourself."

He pushed past her and swiped the package.  She tried to grab it back with a concerned noise.  With one hoof, he tried to hold her back, but it was much harder than it used to be.  She was nearly as large as him, and nearly as strong.  Perhaps stronger, given his current condition, but she was holding back for fear of hurting him.

With a frustrated grunt, Mac tossed the package across the room.  When she took her eyes off him to watch it, he latched on to her instead, dragging her to him and locking his hooves around her.

She protested the sudden embrace, squeezing out a feeble, "No!" as she squirmed in his grip.

"Ya wanna stop me, ya gotta bite me again!"  Mac sighed as her struggles ceased.  He adjusted his hold on her, and she stayed still this time.  It shouldn't be this hard to hug somepony that needs it.  "Shy, Ah know ya ain't right with everythin' that's happened.  Ah ain't either.  Yer hurtin', and it's hurtin' me tryin' ta watch it.  But ya can't shut down every time somethin' goes wrong!"

Mac tightened his grip on the pony he held.  Small heaves as she kept her head down told him she was crying, and hiding it.  "Have to," she sobbed into his chest.  "Have to."

"Why?"  He whispered into Fluttershy's mane, softly stroking the pegasus as she shook.  "Help me understand this, Shy."

Fluttershy shook her head, burying her snout into his chest as she let his reassuring hoof flow over her.  How was she supposed to explain it to him when she was fighting to understand it herself?  So many of the words she needed were still out of reach.  She remembered so many, but there were still so many that she could only remember once knowing.

"I need..."  She bit her lip.  She needed a lot of things, more practice speaking chief among them.  There was something else though, something inside that she lost from who she was before.

Back on Equestria, before her time alone, she was a different pony.  Not just the way she looked, but the way she acted.  And not just in the obvious ways.  There was one tiny thing she felt she had lost, and she needed it back.  Something that the timid, reserved her, from back when she had to look up to see her lover's expression, had in abundance.  Something that the taller, stronger, able to fight and kill any monster in her path, Fluttershy lacked.

She was like an animal now.  Responding to things, fight or flight.  She lost the capacity to repress her feelings, to hide her disappointment or anger at a situation.  When those fillies insulted her, she was so sad that her efforts to regain her speech were falling short, but she couldn't push it back like she could have before.  Then, when that other pony bumped into Mac, she reacted in anger almost immediately.  She didn't even check to see if they were both OK.

"Mac..."  She pushed herself up from his chest, wiping her eyes before looking up.  They were so nearly eye to eye, that it made her long selfishly for a time when he towered over her, able to protect her from the world around.  She had wished for that so many nights, curled up alone on Picus.  But, he was here again, even though it was different from what she wanted.  They were now more like equals, and they needed to support each other in this new world they found themselves thrust into.  And to do that, she needed to change the animalistic part of herself that was born in that desolate jungle.  "I need control."

He shook his head.  "Ah don't think Ah can give that to ya."

"I have to."  She knew.  This was her battle.  Nothing he could do would fix this for her.  She had to learn to control herself.  "Don't know how," she admitted quietly.

"Slowly," Mac told her.  "Slowly.  A little bit every day.  It ain't gonna happen all at once, so don't get upset when things happen.  Ah'll keep ya from hurtin' anypony else."

She nodded slowly, even though she wanted to scream that he shouldn't have to.  If she was that much of a danger, she should just stay isolated.  But, selfishly, she wanted more than that.  She still wanted all the things that kept her from giving up on Picus.  She still wanted everything she had been promised by this stallion holding her.  Promises made years ago, in another life, to a pony much, much different.  "Ssslowly," she said in a whisper.  "Sss...  Ss... low...  S...  lo..."  Managing a weary smile, she looked back up.  She still couldn't get rid of the hissing.  "Ssslowly."

"Eeyup."  Mac smiled a much larger smile, pulling her back into the hug.  "Ah love ya, Shy.  Hisses, and fangs, and bat wings, and all.  Don't ya ever give up on yerself."

"I won't," she promised him, "Won't ever."  And, as she nestled into the embrace, worry settling down a little, Fluttershy let herself listen to his heartbeat.  Slow, steady, calming.  Just like the rest of him.  Resting there, listening to that soothing beat, she felt safe for the first time in a long time.  "I love you, too."

Mac nodded slowly, eyes as misty as a grey morning.  "Ah've wanted ta hear ya say that for years now."  He gave her one last squeeze, and leaned back to look at her.  "After breakfast, let's go apologize ta that business pony.  A fresh start.  And after that, Ah wanna see if anypony we know lives here."

With a small smile, Fluttershy nodded her agreement.  "Sssoundsss good."





One Hour Later.


"Apologize?!"

Mac and Fluttershy stepped back, eyes wide as the pony scoffed, tugging at the edges of his suit.  He rolled off his triage mat, and stood up, carefully avoiding the leg in the cast.  "Apologize?!"  He tugged at his suit when he realized that the act of standing up had wrinkled it again.  "Why, I oughtta thank you!"

"What?"  Mac and Fluttershy asked in unison.

He finished smoothing out the wrinkles in the grey fabric and looked back up.  "Exactly what I said!  'What the heck just happened?' I asked myself once the painkillers kicked in.  Well, I'll tell you what happened!  Opportunity knocked harder than it ever knocked before, and you, honey, are standing at the door!"

Fluttershy shot Mac a worried glance.  "Uhh..."

He shrugged, not understanding the situation anymore than she did.  "Ah'm not sure Ah-"

"And not just her," the business pony interrupted.  "I mean, look at you!  You've got the rustic outter-worlds farmer look going on like you were born with it.  That look is trending so hot right now, you would not believe it!  I could show you charts, but best of all, even if it's not the hottest trend, it's a consistently high ranked look.  It's practically recession-proof, and has been for centuries!  Again, I've got charts."

Mac blinked.  "Ah ain't followin'."

"You've even got the accent!"  The business pony sat down so he could pump his good hoof in the air.  "If you are even half as strong as you look, then we are golden!"

The red earth pony shook his head as his voice jumped an octave.  "Huh?"

"Now, I can't promise anything yet."  the pony started tapping his hoof against open air as he started building a to-do list in his head.  "I'll have to return to the surface, and run it by the board, and the focus groups, of course.  But Kalikoku's contract is just about up, and he has expressed some, shall we say... disinterest, in renewing.  I'm sure they'll love the idea, and we can do some camera tests, get you some samples of our products, see which ones you like, which ones you'd want to endorse, and best of all?  Discuss getting you two getting paid!  How's that sound?"

Before either Mac or Fluttershy could process enough of the conversation to respond, his pocket emitted a beeping noise, and the business pony's eyes lit up.  "That's the delivery notification," he said happily, pulling a business card out of his pocket.  "I've got to go, but I'll leave you with this."  He reached up, tucking the glossy piece of paper behind Mac's ear before standing up.  "Protein-Pro Products will soon be available from the Commissary, and if you contact me, I'll get you some coupons for some free samples.  Don't want to leave the new superstars hanging, huh?"

With that, he hobbled away on three legs, happily muttering to himself about soon being able to expand sales to the next space station on the list.

Mac and Fluttershy exchanged glances, still quite confused.  And, suppressing a giggle, Fluttershy pulled the business card from Mac's mane.  She looked at it, then held it out.

"Protein-Pro, Nutrition and Supplements," read the front, "Everything you need for the fastest, strongest, healthiest you."  And on its back, "V.P. of Off-Planet Sales and Marketing, Stone's Throw."

Mac took it, looked it over, and shrugged.  "Should we keep it?"

Fluttershy shrugged back.  "I guess?"
> All Expense Pained Vacation
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------

Several Hundred Lightyears Beyond the Edge of the Galactic Assembly.


"Tourists?!"  A massive stallion, filthy and bloodied, screamed in rage at a pair of white-coated unicorns, a mare and a stallion.  Around them, the largest narcotics and chemical weapons hub in the fringe worlds laid in ruins.  Emergency forcefields held a tenuous atmosphere in despite gaping holes in the hull, even while fires worked to consume the oxygen that was saved.  Cargo and criminals were floating in the vacuum beyond, and the few small ships that weren't entirely destroyed were engaged in rescue and recovery operations.  "You still expect me to believe you two are tourists?!"

"Well, we are," the stallion said with a shrug, annoyance clear on his face as he brushed a speck of ash off his otherwise pristine coat, "so we don't really care if you believe us, isn't that right, dear?"

His companion nodded, adjusting her oversized sunglasses.  "This vacation has been simply dreadful."

The angered stallion raised his damaged hoof, a modified bionic limb, skin and fur sloughing off in grotesque layers from the caustic coolant he was doused with.  He pointed it at the white stallion's head, the barrel of a blaster slowly extending on a mechanical frame.  He leaned in close.  "I'm gonna blow your head off," he whispered over the whine of charging capacitors, "then I'm going to have my way with your mare before I blow hers off, too."

"Well," the mare scoffed, "that's not nice."

Screaming in impotent frustration, the injured cyborg brought his hoof around, pointing it at her instead.  "I can change the order!" he growled.

Ignoring the weapon that was pointed at her, she looked over at the other stallion.  "I told you we should have simply gone to Tan Taba."

"Oh, sure," he threw his hooves up, "no matter where I take you, you always want to go somewhere else."  The white stallion made mocking mocking movements with his hoof.  "Whine, whine, whine, nag, nag, nag, that's all I ever get."

"Shut up!"  The cyborg shoved his mechanical hoof back towards the stallion, and twisted his hoof, there was a pulsing glow for a moment before the weapon discharged an angry orange beam.  It lanced out with a crackling sound before striking a purple-coated pegasus in the chest.  He screamed as the incandescent energies consumed him from within, but the rocket launcher he had been aiming at the cyborg triggered, launching its missile into the deck at his hooves, fiery explosion ending his suffering far faster than the cyborg's weapon would have.

Behind the cyborg, the white stallion grimaced.  "That must have hurt like a bitch!"  He looked over at the mare.  "Say, darling, I do believe that pegasus was the newcomer that was muscling in on old Iron Hoof's territory."

She looked over at the stallion.  " Why, darling, I do believe you are correct.  Last I heard, he had personally slit the necks of a dozen of Iron Hoof's dealers, including his second in command. "

The stallion nodded.  "That's the one.  And Iron Hoof just took advantage of the confusion caused by several freak engineering accidents to murder him on neutral ground.  I sure hope there weren't any active security cameras around to see that."

The mare happily held up a security camera, keeping it pointed at the thoroughly confused cyborg.  "You mean like this one?"

The stallion played up his surprise.  "Oh my, look at that, all the wires are still connected somehow.  It's even got a little green light.  It's operational!"  The stallion  tore the wires out, ending the recording, before looking back at the cyborg.  "I don't know your real name, Iron Hoof, but the way I see it, you have two choices.  Option one, you stay here and wait for your fellow drug dealers to discover the footage.  They see that you used the confusion as cover to murder your competition, at which point they hunt you down and kill you in whatever slow, painful manner the many pissed off suppliers here can come up with.  Option two, you surrender quietly, and come with us."

"You two...  You're members of the White Flags."  The cyborg pointed his hoof at the white stallion, and his weapon started charging again.  "I'll die first!"

There was a flash, and the white stallion was suddenly beside the cyborg.  As his bionic hoof swung around, the unicorn jabbed his hoof into the cyborg's neck, stunning him.  He then grabbed the bionic arm, pulling it as it pulsed, and jamming it upwards.  It fired harmlessly upwards, impacting on the emergency force fields.

The white stallion hooked his hoof around the weapon as it charged up again, and held it still while he blasted the cyborg's shoulder with magic.  The blast tore away the joint, separating the artificial limb from the socket built into his torso.  He then cracked the metal limb across its owner's face, knocking the cyborg over.

Now standing over the him, the white stallion aimed the cyborg's own blaster down at him.  "Correction, we're the leaders of the white flags.  You should feel honored that we both came to take you down personally."

"Darling," called the mare, "it's less paperwork if he surrenders.  A lot less, so don't you dare shoot him."

The stallion bashed the cyborg in the face with his own hoof, knocking him out.  He then swept his hoof around to indicate the destruction around them.  "Look, Honey, I think we're going to have some paperwork to fill out either way."

"True," she conceded as she tossed the security camera.  "In that case, darling, we are definitely heading to Tan Taba afterwards."

He thought about it for a second, then nodded slowly.  "We have been needing to get the kids off the station for a while.  Family trip?"

"Family trip," the mare confirmed with a nod.

The stallion nodded back, then held up the cyborg's hoof.  "Would it have been cheesy to say, 'stop hitting yourself,' after hitting him with this?"

"That would have been quite juvenile, dear."  She answered with a sigh.  "Your restraint is admirable."
> 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."
> Cheers!
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------

"This stuff smells funny."  Berry set her glass down and leaned over to smell Pip's glass.  Then, she leaned over to smell the glass being set in front of the human technician sitting on the other side of her.  It was the same.  "Is it supposed to smell like that?"

Pip looked down at his drink.  He took a sniff, decided he didn't quite trust his nose alone to make the judgement, and took a small sip.  With a shrug, he lowered his glass.  "Seems like beer to me.  Somethin' a touch off with it?"

Berry set her chin on the bar, peering into the amber liquid.  "I guess not.  Never tried it before."

"Really?"  Pip shrugged again.  "Right, well, order whatever you like.  Mrs.Punch has got stuff from the far reaches a' the galaxy.  And it doesn't have to be alcohol, she's got different kinds a' juice, sodas, elixers, and even some potions."  Under his breath he added, "I just wish she offered some type of food.  Who drinks without snacking?"

Berry glanced around the small bar, at the rest of the crew.  A varied group of souls she just met today.  There were just over twenty of them, and she didn't even get all their names yet.  This was the team tasked with implementing her vision, and turning the empty cargo bay into Philomena's new docking bay.

A human woman with hair as pink as hers.  A male curaxxan with scales to match.  Three gryphons, a dragon, four more humans, some sort of walking rock, who was very polite when speaking, and a whole bunch of ponies.  Most of them stallions about Pip's age, but there were a few older mares and stallions.  The onnly thing that they all had in common were the drinks in front of them.

Berry looked back at Pip, scooping up the drink.  "If everypony else is having this, I'm having this!"

Everyone gave a cheer, startling the pink pony.  But seeing as they immediately started knocking back their drinks, Berry decided to do the same.  She regretted it immediately.  She took a big swig, eyes going wide as she swallowed the harsh liquid. She was already on the second mouthful by the time she was able to lower the glass.

Trapped between not wanting to swallow the stuff, and not wanting to spit it back in the cup, she braced her hooves on the bar.  Her face soured as she realized she didn't have a choice.  She forced it down, coughing lightly.  "Is it supposed to taste like that?"

Pip, meanwhile, had downed half his pint, and lowered his glass as he raised an eyebrow.  He smacked his lips, looking down at his glass.  "Tastes normal ta me.  Maybe yours got mixed up with another drink?  Let me see."

Berry happily handed over the glass, and Pip took a careful sniff.  "Can't tell," he shrugged, "Let's get you a new one, be sure about it."  As Pip flagged down the bartender, the sentient stone-being walked up to the bar beside him.



Rough and grey, he was shaped like a human, with a stocky grey body clothed only in denim overalls.  He was tall enough to rest his chin on the bar as he watched the bartender running back and forth.  His, "eyes," slight depressions on his roughly spherical head were the only facial features other than his mouth.  "Another!"  He shouted, a smile on his surprisingly expressive mouth and holding his empty glass high above his head.  With a laugh, he leaned back, mouth open, and dropped the glass in.  A few seconds of crunching away preceded him swallowing with a sound like a trash compactor.  "And a mineral water," he amended his order.

Pip glanced down at Berry's drink, letting out a silent, "huh," as he found an efficient, win-win solution to the current situation.  "Oy.  'Ere ya go Flint."  He tossed the glass as the walking pile of grey granite started to turn.  "Catch."

Flint turned, head tracking the glass, and hopped up.  He snatched it from the air in one big bite, only spilling a little as the mug shattered in his mouth.  He then landed with a solid clang against the deck.  "Much obliged," he said with an exaggerated bow, before turning back to the bartender.  "If at all possible, could you pour that mineral water in a metal cup?  I fear I'll be filling up on glass before too long."

The pinto stallion leaned and whispered to his pink guest, "Lucky bloke's the only who gets snacks around here."

"You still want the beer?" Asked the bartender, slamming a fresh mug under the tap.

Pipsqueak quickly raised his hoof.  "No, but we'll take it."  As his hoof fell, he slapped Flint on the shoulder.  "Thanks, mate."  He turned back to say something to Berry, but caught sight of something beyond her, and scrambled out of his seat.  "Excuse me a moment."

"Um, sure," Berry said as she watched him go.

Flint quickly took the young stallion's seat.  "Good evening, Miss Pie," he said with a nod, holding out his stubby, flattened, hand.  It lacked fingers, but a small stone sat roughly where a thumb would be, floating disconnected from the rest of him.  "We didn't get a chance to speak earlier."

Berry looked down at the offered limb, slightly surprised that he was even talking to her.  There sure were lots of friendly things in the galaxy.  "We didn't," she agreed, and held her hoof out.

He gave it a shake, his touch far more warm and delicate than his appearance would lead you to expect.  "You are related to the finder," he said quietly, reverently, "aren't you?"

Berry blinked.  "Huh?"

Flint glanced around, making sure no one was around.  The human on the other side of the pony had wandered off to talk to some of the other techs, and the bartender was still busy with orders, so he leaned in and whispered, "King Norland."

Berry's eyes went wide.  The bartender started over towards them before she could say anything.  She waited for him to deposit her fresh beer and Flint's mineral water, and scooped hers up, taking a big swig.  It tasted just like the last one, but it was better than the dryness in her mouth right now.  "King?!"

Taking a smaller sip of his mineral water, and nibbling the rim of the stainless steel mug, Flint shrugged.  "Am I mistaken?"

The earth pony rested her hooves together on the bar.  "I don't think so," she answered quietly.  "My grandfather's name was Grinparch Norland.  I...  I guess there's a lot I don't know about him."

Flint nodded.  "You have a similar resonance.  That's how we see, electromagnetic resonance.  Any of my people would recognize you. Please, do not hesitate to request my help, should you ever need it."

Before Berry could ask him to clarify, he bowed out of his seat, vacating it for the returning Pipsqueak.  He had another pony with him, a pale pink unicorn with a blue mane and faint, fuzzy grey spots.  "Sorry for runnin' off like that," he offered hastily.  "Berry, Flint, this is Lilybelle.  Lilybelle, this is Berry, our new boss at the moment, and Flint, one of our zero-g repair techs."

"And the only one that doesn't require a suit," Flint added as he held out his hand.  "It's a pleasure to finally meet the mare that's got our Pipsqueak tangled like string."

Lily stifled a laugh for the pinto pony's sake, and offered her hoof for a shake.  "I'm sure that's an exaggeration."

"Not at all," Flint responded.  "He's been talking about the angel of medical since he first started welding the new doors and windows in.  And he hasn't been able to keep his head on straight a whole shift since ya started talking to him.  And you should hear what-"

"Okay!"  Pipsqueak shoved himself between his girlfriend and his co-worker.  "That's enough, Flint, thank you."  He kept a smile plastered on his face as he covertly kicked the laughing golem in the shin until he started to wander away.  "Anyway, Berry here is the one in charge of the new project.  We're converting a cargo bay into a spacedock for Mr. Plane's cargo ship, and then we'll be repairing that, too."

Lily nodded, smiling at the tint of red on the colt's face.  "Isn't he cute when he's embarrassed?" she asked Berry.

Berry looked at the pinto pony, realizing she wasn't exactly sure what constituted cute when it came to a stallion.  But Lily seemed to think he was, and Pipsqueak seemed to really like her.  "He did say the other day, that he got a girlfriend, and it was the best time of his life."

Lilybelle couldn't hold back the laugh anymore.

Pipsqueak buried his face in his hooves as his mare-friend laughed, a beautiful sound to be sure, but at his expense.  "Et tu, Berry?"

The earth pony's head tilted slightly.  "Hem?"

"Sorry, Pip, but I think thats absolutely adorable."  The nurse cleared her throat.  "Berry, was it?  I don't think we've properly met yet, but Mac's been telling me about you during his daily appointments.  He said you were amazingly brave during the attack."

Berry shrugged.  "I didn't want to die."

Lilybelle blanched, gasping sharply as she winced.  "I- I'm sorry, maybe I shouldn't have brought it up."

Berry glanced at the unicorn, then turned back to her drink.  She took a sip, slowly growing used to the hearty, grainy flavor under the bitter bite.  "It's fine," she said with another shrug.  "I didn't want to die, so I fought back.  It's only natural."  She took another sip to fill the silence as she tried to piece her words together.  She wasn't used to holding conversations.  "I could have fought better, or fought back sooner, if I wasn't so scared.  Mac would have been better off if we didn't have to run away like we did."

"I'm sure you did all you could," Pipsqueak said confidently.

"Yeah," Lilybelle agreed.  "I heard you destroyed two of those robot weapons, and fought with the mastermind behind the attack before you two escaped.  That's pretty amazing."

"Two of them," Berry muttered, a murderous stare leveled at the bubbles in her drink, "next time, I'll destroy them all."

The nurse and the welder exchanged wide-eyed glances.  "Uh, yeah," Pipsqueak chuckled nervously, "with any luck it'll never come up again.  So," he said loudly, hoping to change the subject, "Berry, you were telling me about the computer repairs, that there was something special about the circuitry?"

"Huh?"  The pink pony looked up from where she had been scowling into her drink.  "You mean the crystalline component integration around the magical crossovers?  Or the unexplained redundancies in the internal sensors and communications systems?"

Pip heaved a quick sigh of relief as her anger dissipated, replaced by her normal earnest curiosity.  "How about the redundancies?  I get the crystal components, since almost all the computers we had back in Equestria had some sort of crystalline-magical integration.  But I don't see why a ship needs two full sets of internal sensors that are completely separated from each other."

Berry nodded her agreement.  It was an intriguing set up, for sure.  "We'll find out once we get the main computer online."

"You think we'll be able to find a manual?  Maybe schematics?"

Berry nodded slowly.  "Something along those lines.  The computer should be able to tell us the rest."

"Can't wait," Pipsqueak glanced at the bar, noticing that the beer he left was gone.  It most likely left with Flint a moment ago.  "Say, Berry, why don't you get Flint to introduce you to everypony?  We're all gonna be working for you, so it'd be good for everypony to get to know you a bit."  He glanced back at the crow, then leaned in, and whispered, "and when ya find him, tell him he owes me a beer."
> Atop the Silver Tower
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------

Celestia set down the pad with a heavy sigh.  "Thank you for bringing this to my attention, Jasper."

The pegasus glanced over from window.  He had been watching the sunset.  This tower was the tallest point in the city, and had one of the best views.  The pony he was conversing with had been enjoying this view since before the Galactic Assembly existed.  "I wasn't sure if you already knew or not."

Celestia rose from her desk, and joined Jasper at the window.  "Well, I certainly had an idea that my student had gone and revealed herself.  She would not protect herself at the expense of others.  Though, I wasn't aware there was such clear video evidence.  Have they made any progress determining a cause for the attack?"

Jasper nodded slowly.  "I'll forward the reports, but the gist of it is that it was revenge for the death of Eckrt, the pirate that you recently purchased a cryo-chamber from."

"A mistake that won't be repeated," she said in a low, quiet voice.

Jasper felt himself shiver from the cold tone.  "Ma'am, the Assembly overlooks a lot of the COC's actions as thanks for the services you provide, but please don't-"

Celestia raised a hoof to stop him.  "I appreciate the candor, my little pony, but rest assured, you are reading more into my statement than is intended."  With a sigh, she returned to her desk.  "I would never take it upon myself to start personally eliminating criminal groups, no matter how much it might benefit the rest of the galaxy.  I merely meant we would take more safeguards, and not rely on black market dealers keeping their word."

"I'm relieved to hear that."  Jasper stepped away from the window.  Honestly, there wasn't much the Assembly could do, even if she decided to take over a member planet and declare herself Queen.  She knew too much, had too many supporters, and nopony knew exactly what she was capable of if she decided to get her hooves dirty.  "Well, I believe that concludes my business here."

"It seems so," Celestia said with a small nod.  "Always a pleasure, Jasper.  Let Coriander know that I am looking forward to our luncheon this weekend."

"I will," the pegasus returned the nod.  "And, might I ask if Luna is in?"

"Away on business at the moment."  Celestia smiled knowingly as he turned away in disappointment.  "However, Silver was taking care of some paperwork down in the library."

Jasper froze, then hung his head and chuckled.  "You see right through me."

Celestia giggled.  "I've seen this more times than I can count, it's easy to recognize when you know what to look for."

With a sigh, Jasper nodded.  "What gave me away?"

Folding her hooves on her desk, Celestia smiled at the pegasus.  "In all the time I've known you, you've never interrupted her.  Not during conferences, not during negotiations, not ever.  Even when it would have been to your benefit.  She has not extended the same courtesy to you."

Jasper frowned.  "Are you saying it's one sided?"

"Not at all," Celestia assured him.  "She has never complained about you.  Even I am not excluded when Silver feels the need to vent.  But, somehow, you are.  Interesting, isn't it?"

"Yes," the pegasus admitted, "but there is an alternate explanation.  Survivors of dead worlds tend to stick close together."

Celestia raised an eyebrow.  "How close?"

Jasper sighed.  "I walked into that one."

"Yes.  Yes, you did," she reaffirmed.  "Jasper, as much as I am enjoying finally discussing something other than business with you, I don't wish to keep you."

He gave a slow nod.  "I appreciate that, Ma'am."

"Celestia is fine, Jasper."

The pegasus walked to the elevator.  "Respectfully, Ma'am, I don't think it is."

The pegasus entered the elevator, leaving the white alicorn sighing at her desk.  He hit the control that would bring him to the library level, protective film crinkling under his hoof.  The panel was brand new, and nopony bothered to peel the blue plastic off the brass buttons.

Jasper sighed to himself as the elevator started moving.  He may have been cold to Celestia, but he didn't completely trust her.  It wasn't just the wings and horn, either.  Though, nopony who survived Sevus could ignore the combination.

His sister died that night.  Trampled under hooves of flame as she tried to save a neighbor's foal.  He had been across town, and only arrived in time to hold the foal as she bled out.  A stab wound, from a flaming horn.

Both his sister's body, and the foal's, where left behind, to make room for more survivors on a small cargo craft.  A choice made by the ship's captain, a crying foal who had lost his own parents that night.

A foal that had not recognized Jasper when they met two weeks ago.

Jasper transferred to one of the military ships in orbit, not wanting to leave for Sevus before he knew other planets would be safe from the monsters below.

It was Silver who made sure of that.  Somehow, two of the monsters made it onto the ship, perhaps on one of the evacuation shuttles, and wreaked havoc.  By the time they were subdued, Silver was the highest ranked officer left alive.

Blood stained the walls around them as she made the decision to destroy Serus, utterly and completely.  She watched alone, through an unshielded window, as the largest artificial explosion in known history reduced the planet to atoms.   Wiping Serus from existence was the only way to be sure the Celestials couldn't find their way to another world.

So, imagine his surprise when he met Celestia, founder of the Galactic Assembly.  Thousands of years later, and she still had a hoof in the galaxy's affairs.  Guiding, she says, assisting where she can.

Controlling from the shadows, as far as Jasper was concerned.  But as much as he pushed back against her, questioned her authority, even on occasion directly defying her, he was still here.

She told him once, that what he thought were orders were merely suggestions, and that she had no authority to force the issue.  Dare he believe her?  So far, her actions have always been for the benefit of the Galactic Assembly, and the ponies within it.

That's not to say she cared one bit for the governments and businesses running things.  She once bankrupted a conglomerate that owned dozens of space stations over their debt policies, caused a revolt on a recently joined planet, and drove at least one corrupt politician to suicide in the time he had known her.

But, as long as things were honest and above board, she left things alone, merely watching.

The sound of a bell pulled him from his thoughts.  The elevator had stopped, and the door was open.  Pearly eyes stared through him, from above a confused frown.  "I wasn't notified of any visitors.  Who are you?"

Jasper smiled, but stayed still and silent.

Silver's tail twitched, ringing her bell again.  The crystal inside rang against enchanted silver, putting out waves of energy that Silver could feel bouncing off her surroundings.  More specifically, she could feel them bouncing off something pony sized and shaped in front of her. "Hello?"

Still, Jasper remained silent.

The bell rang once more, and Silver groaned loudly.  "Not another one.  Chryssy, I swear, I am going to have Twilight turn you into a mannequin if you insist on leaving them around the towers."

She walked into the elevator, turning and feeling the control panel for the one for her floor.  She finally found it, thankful for the large buttons and Braille markings that replaced the old keypad, and hit the button.  Then, she hip-checked what she thought was a mannequin.

It hip-checked her back.

She yelped in surprise, then turned her head, ears folding back as she frowned.  Her bell jingled as she twitched her tail angrily.  "Jasper?!"

"Yes?" The pegasus answered calmly.  "May I help you?"

She punched him in the shoulder.  "I get that enough from Chrysalis, you dolt."

"Who do you think told me to do this?"  He smirked.

"I bet," she huffed.  Still frowning, she raised her hoof again, but didn't hit him.  Instead, she lifted it to his chin, then to his cheek, and softly over his face, tracing his smile.  "Was it really that fun to scare me like that?"

"No," he answered as he mirrored her actions, pulling a smile from her as his hoof gently ran over her features.  "I'm just happy to see you."

"Same here."  She sidled up to him.  "Figuratively, of course."

His wing wrapped around her, holding her close to him.  "Of course."

"Is this going to be one of those nights?"

"You tell me," he said as he pressed his cheek against hers, "our schedules haven't matched up in weeks."

With a chuckle, she nudged her snout into his neck.  "On one condition," she told him.

"Name it," he replied confidently.

"Make breakfast in the morning?"

"And here I thought you were actually going to give me a challenge."  The lift stopped, the door opened, and Jasper walked out, guiding the pony beside him.  "So, how are things around here?"

"Hectic," she laughed, "but what else is new?  I think taking over as Luna might loosen my schedule, compared to how it is now."

Jasper nodded.  Pressed against him as she was, Silver felt the muscles in his neck move.  "I heard that's been delayed."

Silver nodded back.  "I think Luna had something to do with it, the big one, not her herald."

"What makes you say that?"  Jasper asked in concern.  He didn't trust either alicorn sister, but Silver did.  Funny enough, he found the shape shifter in the group easiest to trust.  Mostly because she was easier to understand.  She was a greedy, vindictive thing, and capable of scheming and treachery, but she was fairly honest about what she wanted, and may divine intervention be on your side if you ended up in her way.  "Has she changed her mind about you representing her?"

"Relax, Jasper, it's nothing like that.  Rosa's grandson was recently promoted, and his company is transferring him from Earth, to the Canterlot office."

"So her granddaughter-in-law, and the unborn twins will be moving to Canterlot as well?"

"And, just like that, her eagerness to retire has dried up."  Silver shrugged.  "It's just as well.  Twilight needs my help now more than ever with her search for Cryo-chambers.  We found the first one, and more just started popping up."

"And almost led to the destruction of Canter Delta," Jasper reminded.  "I really wish you weren't involved in all that.  How much help does the young Celestial really need?"

"Oh, not you, too."  Silver stopped and turned to face the other pony.  "She is not a Celestial, Jasper.  None of them are.  I think the Celestials were some twisted attempt to become like them, but there is no comparison.  You need to give them a chance."

Jasper turned as well, sighing.  "I know you trust them, but I worry about you."  

"And I worry about you, every day.  I live in a tower with the oldest, most powerful ponies in the galaxy.  I'm safe.  You are the president's aide, and a member of his security detail.  You're the closest pony to him at any given time.  If somepony ever takes a shot at him..."

"I would get caught in the crossfire," Jasper finished for her.

"Oh, please," Silver muttered, leaning her head against his chest.  His tie was silky smooth, like always.  "You would step in front of him."

"Without hesitation."  Jasper nudged her horn out of his neck, stroking the mane around it.  "He is more important than I am.  And, I know you would do the same for Luna.  It's just the type of ponies we are.  We've been through enough to know how small we are."

"Small doesn't mean unimportant," she reminded him.  "We may not be the ones remembered, but we work directly at their behest, moving things along in ways that could change the course of history."

"And what do we do when we aren't needed anymore?  Jones won't be President forever, and the next president will have his own aide.  Luna will one day have another herald."

"And, we will fade away, together, into the crowd, into obscurity.  We will survive, like we always have."

"With no reason?  No purpose?"

"Reason?  Purpose?"  Silver smiled.  "I thought you were more of a, 'duty and responsibility,' pony.  Why are you suddenly worried about giving your life meaning?"

"Our lives have meaning, Silver."

"And they always will, Jasper."  She pulled away from him, and started walking down the hallway, bell jingling behind her.  "Even after our usefulness to power is over."

Jasper followed her to a doorway, but she didn't enter immediately.  "Something wrong?"

"Something right," she corrected.  She opened the door and led him inside.  She heard the rub of cloth as Jasper loosened his tie.  "Don't you dare," she warned as she closed the door.  "That's my job tonight."

Jasper raised his hoof in defeat.  "If you insist."  He walked over and sat down on her bed.  "The lights are on."

"Oops."  Silver switched them off with magic, and made her way to the bed, feeling the mattress for the pegasus, until he grabbed her hoof.  "I wonder how long those were on."

"Who knows?"  Jasper pulled her into the bed beside him, sighing as she ran her hoof over him.  She felt her way to his face, and pulled off his sunglasses.  He ran his hoof down her back, and gathered up her long tail so he could untie her bell.  "Darkness suits us both better."

"It does, doesn't it?"  Silver slowly undid his tie, and started on his suit's buttons, working nimbly with her hooves.  "Your eyes still bother you?"

"Headaches," he confirmed.  "But it's still worth it.  Especially being able to see you again.  I just wish the sun wasn't so bright."

Silver smiled.  "You know, I finally spoke to that doctor of yours."

"You did?"  Jasper grabbed her hooves, just as she undid his last button.  "What did he say?  Can he help you?"

"Mostly, he told me what I already knew."  Silver pushed Jasper backwards, letting him pull her down with him.  "You watched through a darkened window, I didn't.  My sight is gone, permanently.  My eyes, and the optic nerves, are too far damaged.  Removing them, and installing bionics and a neural interface, was all he could offer."

"Which, you won't do."  Jasper wrapped his hooves around her, hugging her tight.  "I'm sorry."

"Don't be."  Silver laid her head alongside his, and whispered in his ear, "The other scarring isn't as bad."

"What?"  Jasper twisted, dumping Silver on her side as she laughed.  He stared at the unicorn. "What do you mean?"

"You can see again, and now, suddenly, you have to look at me while we talk?"  Silver put her hooves on his face, one near his brow, the other near the corner of his mouth.  If he was going to look at her, she was going to see his expression as best she could.  "He looked over my scans, and noticed they were a little odd.  He ran them again, and it seems that whatever happened to me changed my body chemistry slightly."  He was confused, brow pulled tight, and he was frowning.  That would change, and Silver couldn't help but smile.  "It's why I haven't aged.  And, it seems that there are some other effects.  The normal dose of imaging contrast is too much, so he ran them with a little less.  And it looks like the internal scarring from that magic blast I took during the fight for the bridge, isn't as bad as we thought."

Jasper's mouth opened, but he didn't say anything, so Silver continued,  "It would still require a few year's worth of treatments, possibly a surgery or two."  She felt his mouth pull into a smile, and she knew he understood what she was saying.  She laughed as she grabbed his cheeks with both hooves.  "That makes you happy?"

The stallion grabbed her hoof, kissing it, and laughing as he rubbed his face against it.  Silver felt water against her fur, just a little.  "Silver," Jasper's voice broke, an uncharacteristic weakness from the president's stoic right hoof, "I love you."

Silver smiled, and closed her eyes, lifting her snout in the air.  He took the hint, as she knew he would, and leaned in to kiss her.  "I love you, Jasper," she whispered before their lips met. 

But, Jasper's suit jacket started beeping, and he rolled over with a groan.  Grabbing it, and fumbling for his phone, he offered a weary smile for the hoof still resting on his face.  "It's work, what can we do?"

"Ignore it?"  Silver pulled herself up on him, and leaned over.  With a smile, she felt her way up his hoof, and whispered, "but, you aren't that type of pony."

And with that, she hit the phone's screen, answering the call before holding it up to his face.









Meanwhile, in the grand and empty office atop the tower, Celestia watched alone as night fell over the city.  Stars twinkled in the dark sky, and her pad lay forgotten on her desk.  In her hoof was a picture, carefully preserved, reproduced, replaced many times, but still faded from near centuries of age.

It was a simple picture.  She wasn't even sure who took it, perhaps a guard, or royal attendant, long lost to time.  But, she had kept it close for so long that she couldn't imagine being without it.

In the picture, a sleeping filly lay curled on the red cushion of a throne.   The nobles back then would have thrown a fit if they knew some kid decided the seat of the monarchy was an appropriate place to take a quick nap, but Celestia knew better.  That filly, more than any other, deserved to be there.  That filly, one day, would create a legacy unmatched by any other.

And that legacy was here.  It was right outside the window.  It was the very existence of the city outside, and the civilization that spanned the galaxy beyond.  Her legacy was the very survival of her species, and she couldn't take pride in it because her friends weren't by her side.

Instead, she was out there risking her life.  She was fighting criminals, monsters, and who knows what else to try and ensure the safety of every pony that ever mattered to her.  And, she was succeeding.  And, she was failing.  And, she had the support of every pony except the one who could help her the most.

Celestia looked down at the picture.

And she wept.
> Closing Time
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------

"Ohh, g'd question for Flint, 'at right there, love."  Pip, chuckled, several rounds of drinks bringout the depth of his accent in ways Lilybelle was not ready for.  "Oy!  Flint, ya little bugger!  Where'd ya scurry off ta?"  The stallion winked at his companion.  "He's gon' be right behind me, just you watch."

Lilybelle blushed furiously, constantly taking small sips of her drink so her glass would hide it.  The colt's voice was getting lower as he drank, and his accent growing more and more pronounced.

"Right behind ya, boss!"  Flint raised his stony hand in the air from somewhere across the bar.  He was not behind the pinto by any definition of the word.

The young stallion clicked his tongue, then looked over at Lily with a smile. "What'd I tell ya?"

The nurse giggled, lowering her nearly empty drink.  She was hooked.  And not on the alcohol.  Pip's voice was just amazing like this.  She was doing everything she could to keep him going.  Every question she could think of, she asked it.  Every conversation starter she knew, she tried it.  Even...

She slid her glass, now only filled with ice, towards him.  "I'm almost out," she whispered sheepishly, "could you order maybe one more?"

Pipsqueak looked down at the glass, then back at Lilybelle while pointing at it.  "Same one?"

She nodded, biting her lip to keep her smile from getting too big.

With a smirk, he polished of his own drink, then held the empty glass high.  "Oy!  Barkeep?  C'd I trouble ya f'r another blackberry bourbon 'n soda, f'r the pretty lady?  Ya know what, make it two."  He leaned in close to Lily.  "If you c'n have seven of 'em in a row, and not change y'r order, 'ey must be somethin' special, and I want a try."

"Seven?"  Lilybelle blinked.  No, that many already?  She frowned.  She had lost count.  If she was on drink seven, Pip was on eight or nine.  And he had two tall drinks of something clear, amid the beers.  And that was assuming she didn't lose count.  "Yeah," she shrugged, "they are good, but I'll probably make this the last one."

Pip nodded slowly.  "Gettin' late, ain't it, love?"  Suddenly, his eyes lit up with the beginnings of a great idea.  "Y'know what-"

Flint, having made his way across the bar, raised his hand again and interrupted.  "Now I really am behind ya, boss.  What did ya need?"

Pip looked back.  "Oh, uh," he glanced back at Lilybelle, "aye, we had a qustion.  One 'at seems right in y'r field 'f expertise."  He steepled his hooves, putting on a serious face as they clicked together.  "Flint, w'd ya say you you were an expert on gems?  Er, well, at least, well-versed?"

"Definitely, boss," the stone man answered with a mock salute.  "I've eaten as many gems as any dragon on the station.  More in fact.  Gems are candy to them.  To me, they're the main course!"

Pip nodded.  "All well and good then.  As an expert in all things gem and mineral, name the important characteristics in determining something a gem, or not."

"Hmm."  Flint scratched his head.  "Hard."  He shook his head, redacting that statement.  "No, no, leave mineralogical hardness out of it, that's all relative.  Too relative."  He thought a second more, then answered, "rigid, having a consistent chemical composition, and a consistent crystalline structure.  And, most importantly, having an aesthetically pleasing appearance, generally clear or translucent, but not always."

"So," Pip tapped his hooves for dramatic effect, "would something perfectly clear, rigid, having a consistent, albeit amorphous, crystalline structure, that could come in countless different colors, be considered a gem?"

Flint nodded.  "Sounds like one to me."

Pip mirrored the nod as the bartender dropped off his and Lilybelle's drinks.  He picked one up, and raised it up before taking a sip.  "Then, glass is a gem?"

The golem stared for a moment.  "Boss, you're making my head hurt."

Pip shrugged.  "Is it?  Ya make it the same way a planet makes gem, only faster.  Ya heat up some poor unsuspectin' quartz, 'til it's glowin', angry, red lava, and then ya pour it out, or ya mold it into shapes.  Add impurities to get colors, and if ya do it right, it comes out all pretty and shiny, and if ya do it wrong..."  Pip trailed off, and rubbed at the back of his neck.  "If ya do it wrong..."

Lilybelle saw the look in his eyes, the unfocused look of an unpleasant memory, and jumped in to redirect things.  "So, Flint, glass?  Gem or not?"

The golem shook his head.  "I'm afraid I have to be a buzzkill here, and say, it depends.  A glass window pane isn't clear for beauty's sake, but utility.  A stained glass window-"  Flint stopped midsentence.   "Boss, you ok?"

"Yeah," Pip answered quickly.  "Why wouldn't I be?"

"Your resonance changed," Flint responded quietly, "And your heartbeat."

The stallion did his best to slow his breathing, and calmly responded, "Don't read too much into that, Flint."

"Boss, that was too big a change for me not to worry."  The golem checked to see if anyone was around.  "Is it something to do with...  you know... before?"

Pipsqueak glanced over at Lilybelle, then back at Flint.  He wasn't nearly inebriated enough to miss the concern in their expressions.  "Yeah," he admitted, taking a sip of his new drink, "it is."  He looked down into the glass, looking it over.  It was handcrafted.  Or, hoofcrafted, one or the other.  He could see the seam where the outside shape was molded, the tell-tale wall profile of blownglass, and the little blob at the rim where it was separated from the excess glass while molten.  There was a name for it, but he had forgotten.  He only remembered how much work it took to grind away if you didn't get it just right.  "Flint, I told ya my folks were metal workers, right?"

He nodded.  "Father a smithy, and Mother a jeweler, if I remember correctly.  And going back a few generations."

"Ya remember fine," Pip nodded.  "Well, my folks didn't end up on Tankra, and, far as I know, I was last o' them pods ta be opened, so they just asked me what I knew how to do.  I didn't know what was goin' on, and if I had, I w'd a lied.  But, I told 'em.  Told 'em I was a metal worker.  I could smith, and forge, and weld, and cast, and smelt alloys, and anythin' else ya might want.

The colt took another sip.  " So, they made me a glassworker.  I knew too much about metal.  They didn't want me anywhere near it.  Guess they figured I c'd sabotage something, or teach other ponies ta make weapons or such.  Which, I still did anyways."  Pip tapped his glass, clinking it against his hoof.  "I really hate glass, ya know?  I know more about it than I ever want to, and will never touch the stuff again as a raw material.  'Specially stained glass, stupid stuff f'r a window.  I've got some white in my coat, and knew how to use a torch, so I was perfect for sendin' out to repair 'em.  Take some glass, score it just right, break off the leftover, line it with the copper, and solder it in to place."  He rubbed his chest.  "Then get the torch taken to your skin, 'cause ya went and got some lead on the tile."

Flint shook his head.  "Got to say, I don't see how any of you are still sane after what you went through.  It all seems so senseless."

"Stupid, is more like it."  Pip shook his head.  "I try not ta think about more 'n I have ta.  I'm never gonna understand it, and it isn't like we can go ask 'em why, so best we can do is keep on.  Live however we can."

Lilybelle nodded silent agreement, rubbing her left leg.  She had been slow on a delivery once, and was tripped at the top of a flight of stairs because of it.  Punishments for even simple mistakes were often harsh and unexpected.  She wasn't sure she could accept any explanations given for that.

Pip sighed loudly, and knocked back the rest of his drink.  As he set the glass down, he let himself off his stool.  "I ought ta head home 'fore I order another.  Make sure Berry's drinks go on my tab, Flint."  The colt looked up at the nurse beside him.  "Yours too, Lily.  Thanks f'r sitting with me."

She didn't say anything as he walked away, a slow but steady affair.  But after a few seconds of watching him, remembering how many times she felt how he must right now, she decided she couldn't let it go like this.  She grabbed her newest drink, downed it in one big gulp, then hopped off her stool to run after him.  "Take care of this for me, Flint."

"Yes, miss boss," Flint saluted, and ate his metal tumbler, spilling the last of his mineral water on his denim overalls.  As the bartender came by to collect the glasses, the golem grabbed them first.  "These are on Pip's tab," he said before eating both glasses.  "Same as anything ordered by the pink pony."

"Pink pony, you mean Berry?"  The bartender checked the digital notepad clipped to the pocket of his black button down shirt.  "Four beers, then switched to scotch.  Had three shorts, then took what was left of the bottle.  According to this, she paid in full, then left.  Should I issue her a refund?"

If Flint had eyes, he would have blinked.  "She left?"









Berry squinted at the couch in front of her, and the camera on a tripod beside her.  "How the hell is this supposed to be fun?"  Berry found herself using Growl's favorite expression much more easily after finishing her scotch.  Flint mentioned that her grandfather was known to enjoy a good single cask, and she knew she had to try it.  It was much, much better than the beer, which wasn't so bad once she got used to it.  "I'm going back to the bar."

She turned to leave, only to find the stallion she left the bar with standing in front of her.  He was quite a bit bigger than her, but it seemed like that was the norm for ponies.  Even most of the mares on the fabrication crew were taller than she was.

"Hold on," he told her, putting his hoof on her shoulder.  "I promised you a drink, right?  Sit down, and I'll go get it.  It's an old Terran Corn whiskey.  If you liked scotch, you'll love this."

"Ok," she said with some hestitation, looking down at his hoof.  She couldn't quite put it into words, but there was something about this that she didn't like.  His touch felt weird, greasy.  She rubbed her shoulder as he headed off.  There wasn't actually any residue, or anything like that, but she still didn't like it.

Berry decided to sit at the table near the door instead of on the couch.  It wasn't that much closer to the door, given how small the room was, but she felt more comfortable here.  She looked around while she waited.  The room was small, smaller than the quarters that she and her crewmates were offered, and sparsely furnished.  It looked like temporary lodging.

That observation was strengthened by the stallion returning from the other room with a duffel bag.  "Here it is," he said as he dropped the bag.  It was open, and had an assortment of clothes inside.  At least, they looked like clothes, Berry had never seen transparent fabric in such a variety of colors before.

With a dramatic flair, the stallion pulled a decorative glass bottle out of the bag, strewing clothes all over the floor.  "Sorry, about that," he said as he worked to pile everything up.  "I'm a sales rep for this company, and they want me pushing this new line of luxury nightwear.  Look, this one matches your coat, care to try it on?"  He looked up towards the couch as he held up one of the articles of clothing.

It could have been a hat, Berry guessed, but it wasn't like any she had ever seen before.  It was small, frilly, pink, and stretchy, with a little bow on the rim.  If it wasn't for the two oversized ear holes, Berry wouldn't have even known it was a hat.

When he realized that Berry wasn't on the couch, but at the table, he dropped the bit of lace back in the bag with a shrug.  Seeing the disappointment on his face flip right back to a smile made Berry uneasy, and she realized part of what she didn't like about this.  "I never got your name."

"Ah, names aren't important, are they?"  He dismissed Berry's concern entirely as he trotted over, stood way to close to Berry's chair, and set the bottle on the table.  "Just a mare and a stallion sharing a drink."

Berry glanced over at the bottle.  It was taller than the scotch, and more square.  It also said Vodka on the front, not whiskey.  Looking closer, she saw that the label bragged it was made from the finest soil-grown potatoes.  This was not the corn whiskey he mentioned repeatedly.  "No glasses?"

With a chuckle, the stallion put his hoof back on her shoulder.  "Guess we'll just have to share the bottle."

His hoof started slowly circling, making Berry's fur stand on end.  She shrugged his hoof off onto the back of the chair.  "I don't think I like being touched like that."

He backed off, but not as much as Berry would have liked.  He was still holding the back of her chair, boxing her in.  "Well, I don't like it when ponies forget my name, so we're both at fault here."

"I didn't forget," Berry quickly defended herself, "you never told me."

"No, no," he leaned in with a smile, "I told you back at the bar.  It's not nice to lie to ponies."

Berry leaned back.  She was finally starting to feel something she recognized.  Anger.  That little spark that pushed her to fight back on the Philomena when she was scared.  "I know it's not nice to lie.  You're the one lying to me.  You never told me your name.  You lied about the whiskey.  And, you lied about this being fun."

"It could be, if you'd just relax."  He leaned in closer.  "Let's have a few more drinks, I promise you'll like it."

Berry turned away as she felt his breath on her face.  She held her hooves out to keep him from getting any closer.  "I don't like any of this.  I'm leaving."

He grabbed her hoof.  "You promised to come have a drink.  Just one, then decide if you want to go."

"No, you promised me a drink,"  she tried to push his hoof away, "and a different one.  Why do you keep saying things like that?  That I said something I didn't?  What is wrong with you?"

"Nothing's wrong with me."  His grip tightened, and Berry tried harder to pry his hoof away.  "And, stop doing that."

She did, and looked up at him.  She felt her anger very clearly now.  It was lacking the fear she felt last time, and she felt that was odd.  She didn't know if it was from the alcohol, but she recognized that she should be afraid, but wasn't.  She was uncomfortable, she was angry, but she was not afraid.  "Let go of me."

His smile grew.  "Or what?"

"Or it will hurt," she spat back twisting the hoof he held as far to one side as she could.

He shrugged.  "Maybe at first."

His other hoof grabbed at her waist, and Berry twisted her captive hoof as quick as she could in the opposite direction.  It didn't break his grip, but he moved to keep his hold on her.  She used her other hoof to push his leg at the joint, forcing him twist away or risk a dislocated shoulder.

But, that last movement put him right where Berry wanted.  She grabbed the hoof that held hers, and kicked off the table.  They both went down, chair beneath them, but his face was lined up with the back of the chair, and his chin smacked wood going down.

It didn't break him loose, but Berry put that moment of disorientation to use.  Her free hoof rained blows down at his head, aiming for ears and eyes until he was finally forced to put his hooves up to defend himself.

The moment he did, the blows stopped.  He waited a second longer to be sure, then looked up.

The last thing he saw was the word, "Vodka," approaching at high speed.







Lilybelle caught up to Pip at the edge of the commissary.  She could have easily done so at any point since leaving the bar, but it took this long to put her thoughts in order.  But, she was ready now.  So, she quickened her pace, trotting up beside the sulking pinto before matching his pace.  "It's the not knowing," she said quietly.

If Pip was surprised by her sudden appearance, he didn't show it.  A muttered agreement was his only reaction.

Lilybelle didn't let this discourage her.  "Not knowing what mistake would warrant punishment.  Not knowing what the punishment would be.  Not knowing why we were treated like that.  Not knowing how to let go of the fear of failure."

"Aye," he said wearily, "leavin' the lot of us obsessive perfectionists, who either don't know how ta take a damn complement, or who break down at slightest criticism.  Sometimes both."  With a sigh he looked over.  She knew that as well as he did, didn't she?  She knew him better than most would, and he knew her the same.  A shared past, and similar pain, but there was so much more to know wasn't there?  "D'ya ever think about the future?"

"Sometimes," the nurse answered with a shrug.  That was quite the lie, wasn't it?  She thought about the future all the time.  Her childhood dreams consisted of vagues stories of freedom.  It was only once that freedom was achieved that she even thought to imagine what she could do with it.  "How about you?"

He answered with a nod.

"And?"  Lilybelle prodded.  "What do you think about the future?  Is there anything specific you think about?"

The stallion paused for a moment.  "There was...  Well...  Back at the bar, I'd thought of askin' ya, d'ya fancy soup?  Vegetable soup?  With tomatoes?"

"Tomato soup?"  Lilybelle blinked.  "I guess.  Why?"

Pip shrugged.  "We never got the chance at a proper dinner, and I've got stew in the kettle, back at my place.  I was wonderin' if ya might fancy a bite 'fore we call it a night."

"I might," she answered with a smile, which only grew when he smiled at her response.  "I definitely might.  Lead the way."









"Eeyup?"  The voice was muffled through the door, but it sounded male.  "Who is it?"

"Flint, sir," the golem answered, "so sorry to be knocking so late, but I'm an acquaintance of Berry's.  Has she been by?"

The door slid open, and Flint found himself staring at the largest pony he had ever seen.

"Yer a rock?" asked the pony.

"And you are rather tall," Flint responded without missing a beat.  "Now, if we're quite done stating the obvious here, might I ask if Berry has been by?  I've checked her quarters and she wasn't there."

Mac shrugged, muttering, "Don't know how I was surprised, anyhow."  He nodded back into the dark of the quarters.  "She came by a bit ago, brought us a bottle from the bar, and fell asleep.  Shy tucked her inta bed a bit ago.  She's a might bit buzzed, d'ya need ta speak with her?"

Flint quickly shook his head.  "No.  No, don't disturb her.  I'll see her tomorrow anyways.  I was just makin' sure she got back safe.  She left the bar without tellin' anypony."

Mac nodded slowly.  "She pay at least?  Ah heard she wasn't too understandin' 'bout money and stuff."

"Oh, no worries there.  It was a company party, boss covered it."  Flint shrugged as he walked away.  "Though, his eyes are bug out when he sees how much that bottle of scotch was."

"Scotch?"  Big Mac was a little confused, but his tired mind didn't read too much into it.  "Must have been some other bottle."

Berry brought them a bottle of vodka.
> Ships, Space Stations, and Teleports
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------

"Rise and shine, freeloader!"  Silver Shaker's shout was immediately followed by cruel laughter.

They were short notice for Coffee to grab hold of his hammock.  He barely got his eyes open before being shaken around.  Not that it helped when the strings holding him up got cut.

The head side string was cut first, and Coffee's chin hit the deck with only a thin layer of canvas for a cushion.  Before he could groan, or roll off the cot, the tail side string was cut.

He fell awkwardly on his hind legs, trying to twist so his rump hit the floor instead of hooves or joints.  He was not successful.  And he had plenty of time to contemplate his twisted left leg as he was dragged upright by the scruff of the neck.

"Good morning, boss," Coffee said cheerfully as he was slammed into the side of a cold storage locker.  "What can I do for you?"

The other three ponies in the kitchen glanced over, but went back to work quickly.  This was a common occurrence.

"It's still evening," the unicorn grumbled, "and you've got work to do."

There were two possibilities that Coffee could think of for Silver Shaker to come wake him up personally.  Either he was pissed off, and wanting to blow off some steam by beating down somepony who can't fight back, or given his quiet grumbling...

Coffee smiled.  "She cute?"  The pegasus quickly found himself pressed face first into the side of the storage locker.  At least he knew his guess was right on the money.  There had been an order at the bar for a nice tall glass of not sleeping alone tonight, courtesy of the one pony on board that could be legally, if barely so, prostituted.  A second-class citizen outside most legal jurisdictions doesn't have much going for him by way of legal protections, as evidenced by the misshapen side of the refrigerator.  "You should rotate the appliances, boss.  This one's dented to match my face."

Coffee braced himself for an unpleasant impact, but it never came.

"You're lucky," Silver Shaker sighed.  "Guests usually don't like it when bloody you up first."  With a smirk, he added, "then again, some like to do it themselves."

"Great," Coffee groaned as he was released from the unicorn's magical grip.

"Clean up, and head to room fourty-seven.  She paid for the whole night."

"Gee, a whole night in a real bed?"  Coffee rubbed his neck.  "Almost makes it worth having to lay some ugly unicorn nag, huh?"  Coffee was expecting magic again, not the hoof that cracked across his face.  By the sting, he was pretty sure it drew blood.  The magic followed pretty quickly.  His face was slammed back into the familiar depression on the storage locker two or three times.  "Break that," Coffee shouted amid his pummeling, "and the cheese will go bad!"

A thoroughly angered unicorn slammed the pegasus to the floor. 



He punched coffee in the face before flipping him over, and pinning him to the ground.  His face was red and every muscle was tensed and bulged with rage and hatred.  Standing over him, magic pressed to the back of his neck, he whispered, "I am about two wrong words from snapping your neck and stuffing you in that storage locker to rot.  Understood?"

For a moment, Coffee pondered his answer.  Glancing over at the chefs, he wondered if they would report his murder if he decided to mouth off one last time.  Silver Shaker was getting angrier with him lately.  He was getting angry faster, too.  Probably because he wasn't getting the response he wanted out of his abuse.

If Coffee could have, he would have shrugged.  The current threat of arcane curb stomp made that impossible.  It was getting harder to play scared, or go along with the unicorn's schemes anymore.  He had accepted his fate long ago, and now, even his purpose here was slowly dying.  Steel Catch's new policies had decreased the number of Pegasi trying to smuggle themselves offworld.  It had been months since the last one.

Coffee smiled thinking about it.  A teenaged filly, maybe the same age he was when he tried, had set up an electronic jammer to hide her lifesigns, and stowed herself in a crate with a spacesuit and a transmitter.  Her plan was to jump ship at the next space station, and play dead until the ship left, then call for a rescue.  She was smart, and had a very good chance of making it, as the crew was too small to handle all the cargo they had by themselves.

Coffee only found her because Silver Shaker's idiot brother hated having to do cargo inspections, and knew he could intimidate the pegasus into doing it, and not telling anypony.  If only he knew that his forged signature had helped nearly four hundred pegasi leave Tirassa, sometimes in groups, once as many as twenty at once, what would he think?

Coffee sighed.  He didn't want to die until he saw the fallout to come, should Silver Shaker ever learn how stupid his brother really is.  "Yes, sir."

"Good answer, for you," Silver Shaker growled.  "I was almost hoping to finally be rid of you."  The unicorn released his magic, and walked away.  "Have one of the cooks patch you up before you go."

"Thank you, sir," Coffee groaned weakly.  He glanced over at the three unicorn chefs, who were already drawing lots to determine who got stuck with the task.  It happened often enough that he had made a nice little set of sticks for the guys to use, a kindness apparently lost on them.  "A little help here?"

"Best two out of three?"  He heard one of them whisper.

"Guess not," he mumbled.





With a sigh, a freshly patched up Coffee hit the button on the door.  The pleasant chime sounded, and he waited for the answer.  He didn't know if it would be a voice, saying that the door was unlocked, or somepony opening the door.  He braced himself for the latter.  Unfortunately, it wasn't always the most attractive mares that purchased his time.

But, he couldn't prepare himself for the face he saw this time.  His eyes teared up when he saw her.  His knees buckled when she smiled at him.  "Remember me?"

He rushed in, closing the door behind him as he grabbed her.  The most beautiful pony he had ever seen, made that much more beautiful by the years since he had last seen her.  "How?"  He asked as he wrapped the petite unicorn in hooves and wings, touching as much of her as possible, holding her as tight as he could without hurting her.  "I thought your flight license was revoked after they caught me.  I...  They told me, that you..."  He stopped and stared at her, making sure he wasn't hallucinating in the dim light.  He wasn't, though.  The soft face, pale blue eyes, and peach coat were all hers.  "I love you."

"Aw."  She blinked away tears of her own as she reached up to wipe away his.  "You big softy.  I told you, didn't I?  That I wouldn't rest until I found you again?"

He nodded, closing his eyes.  "You did.  You told me that nothing would stop you."

She closed her eyes and grabbed him, burying her face in his neck.  "Coffee...  Say my name, please?  I've waited so long for this moment.  I want to hear you-"

"Cream," he interrupted her, hoof on her chin, "look at me."

She let him pull her face up from his chest, relishing the touch she had longed for.  "Coffee and Cream, together again?"  She grabbed his hoof, if only to remind herself that this moment was really happening.  "I love you, Coffee.  I love you, and I'm so sorry I took so long to make it back."

"I thought you were dead."  Coffee shook his head.  "They told me that you fell into depression after losing your flight license.  That you committed suicide.  So many times, I was ready to join you.  But, to see you again?  I would have waited another nine years if I had to."

"No, no more waiting, Coffee, for either of us."  She smiled as she looked up at him.  "We can leave tonight."

He blinked.  He almost didn't believe his ears.  "How?"

"I have my own ship now.  It's small, but it has a slipstream drive.  Took me all these years to save up for."  She shrugged.  "And, I had to fake my death, and make a fake identity to get my flight license back, but none of that will matter once we make it to the Galactic Assembly.  I even found a place that takes in ponies escaping their home planets.  We can start over," she glanced down, steeling herself for the next word, "together."

"Together..."  Coffee was silent for a moment, letting it all sink in.  He never dared to dream that this day would come, yet here it was.  There was only one thing left, something that had haunted his dreams for nearly a decade.  "Cream?"

Her eyes lit up hearing her name again. "Yes?"

Those eyes twisted Coffee's gut.  They were the same as he remembered, blue as mid-morning sky.  They were the same ones he saw every night, in faint ephemeral moments before waking up to his nightmare.  Whatever he was planning to ask was forgotten as he stared.  "I've missed you so much."

Those eyes were suddenly much closer.  It took Coffee a second to realize it, but Cream had jumped up.  He was shocked still by the grasping hooves on either side of his neck.  He watched in disbelief as she closed the gap between them, closing her eyes as she kissed him.

Cream held on for dear life, refusing to let gravity pull her away from this embrace.  But, she didn't need to worry about that.  She breathed in sharply as hooves wrapped around her midsection, pulling her closer.  As he returned the kiss, she let herself relax.  She didn't realize how tense she was, how nervous she was about this.  It had been so long.  So much could have changed in that time.  But, not this.  Not them.

Coffee felt her slump into him, hooves relaxing their grip.  He was careful to keep supporting her, careful not to break their kiss.  He didn't want this to end.  Their first kiss since the day she sealed him in that cargo container.  His first in nine years, despite the nature of some of his work.  Of all the unicorns that bought and paid for him over the years, not one had kissed him.  Very few had even tried to.

She broke away first, out of breath from what was really too short of a kiss.  Leaning against him, she let out a long, exhausted sigh.  "It's been so long, Coffee."

"Yes," the pegasus agreed, holding her to him.  He used one hoof to brush her mane back, clearing his view of her eyes.  Nine years ago, they had come up with the plan to leave Tirassa by smuggling him in the cargo of the ship Cream was serving on as a co-pilot.  If they had succeeded, they would have been in neutral territory in two days, with a brief stop at a trade depot on the third.  They would have both jumped ship at that time, never looking back.  "Too long."

She nodded, head still resting against his chest.  "All because the captain stopped here to fix a damn malfunctioning food synth."  She closed her eyes again, letting herself feel the rise and fall of Coffee's breath.  "That won't happen this time.  Are you ready?"

"Always."  Coffee swept his hoof through her mane again, stopping to scratch at the tiny bump on the side of her horn.  It was so small, you could barely see it.  Aside from her, he was the only pony who even knew it was there.  "We'll have plenty of time to catch up, far away from here."

"Yes," she agreed happily, "far, far away."  With a deep breath, she pushed herself away, looking up at the stallion with grim determination.  "Coffee, I want you to know, if we get caught, I'm going to fight this time.  I don't care what happens, but I will use all the magic I have to make this happen.  I'm ready to die fighting this time."

"It won't come to that," he reassured her.  He left out that they would both die in that situation, but he was sure she already knew that.  "What's the plan?"

She walked over to the bed, and pulled an old pad from under the sheets.  "Look," she said, holding it up with a brief smile, "it's the same one.  Anyway, I just ran the slipstream calculations.  They're loaded and checked with the computer on my ship.  If we can get to a window where I can see my ship, I can teleport us aboard, and we can be out of the system before anypony can do anything to stop us."

Coffee nodded quickly.  This was it, now or never for him.  His freedom, and the mare he loved, or most likely, death at the hands of his narcissistic debtor-owner-pimp.  Not much reflection was needed to make the decision.  "Where are you docked?  Do you have a plan for dealing with the docking clamps?"

"I installed a secondary airlock before leaving the planet.  The surface the clamps are secured to is held on with plastic bolts.  It should shear off the moment we engage the engines."  She pulled up a picture of the station on the pad.  "I'm docked here," she pointed to one of the smaller docking arms, "all the way at the end to maximize visibility."

"You'll have a clear line of sight from the bar," Coffee pointed out the location.  "And nopony will question either of us being there."

She looked it over, nodded, and took a deep breath.  "Let's do this."

Coffee nodded back, and headed for the door.  Opening it, he peeked head out into the hall.  There was a pair of earth ponies he didn't recognize walking down the hall, probably just normal station traffic.  They would have to deal with more and more of that as they approached the bar.  "This way ma'am," he said to Cream, tossing her a wink, "the bar is this way."

"It better be," Cream scoffed as she followed him out into the hall, hiding a smile.

Coffee did his best to keep his face neutral as well.  Right now, they were just two ponies headed for the bar.  He had served as a tour guide enough times it was one of his primary jobs.  Nopony would give him a second glance.

Except for one pony.  And they passed him at the first intersection with another hallway.  He was quite a ways down the hall, and Coffee kept his head locked forward in the hopes he hadn't been seen.  "Heads up," he whispered to the mare beside him, "that was the boss."

"Did he see?" she whispered back.

Coffee glanced back as Silver Shaker rounded the corner behind them.  "Yes," he said simply as he looked back forward.

"Is something wrong with the room?"  He called out in a friendly tone reserved for customers.

Cream glanced back, then at Coffee, before realizing how suspicious that might seem.  "N-no," she answered nervously, "I'm just not drunk enough to, you know, go through with it.  I was having him show me to the bar."

"I'll show you."  He started over with a smirk.  "You wouldn't want everypony to know that you hired him, would you?  A pretty mare paying for-"  The look of anger on Cream's face stopped the other unicorn in his tracks.  At first, he attributed it to his attempted teasing, but the longer he saw her next to Coffee, the more familiar she seemed.  "It can't be...  They said you killed yourself."

She looked back at Coffee.  Their cover was blown.  "Sorry."

He didn't bother to respond.  They had one chance to get out of this.  While the other stallion was still surprised, he leapt into action.  Stretching muscles he worked hard and secretly to maintain, he launched into a backflip over the other pony, giving his strong wings a violent flap to twist himself around.  His hoof caught Silver Shaker's horn just as it was lighting up, striking it like a whip.

The unicorn stumbled from the impact, spell disrupted.  Coffee landed beside him and threw his weight into a sideways leap, ramming his shoulder into the  unicorn's side.  He was able to slam the disoriented stallion into the wall, knocking the wind out of him.  Then, with aother leap, straight up, with another flurry of wings and feathers, he dropped a spinning kick on the unicorn's head.

He turned back to Cream as Silver Shaker crashed to the deck.  "This way," he started off in the other direction, "the lounge is closer."

With a nod, she followed him, catching up as he broke into a run.  "I'm sorry you had to do that."

"Don't be," he shot back, "I've wanted to do that for years."






Twilight dragged her peg across the board, popping it into place among the shifting holes in the game board.  Her peg lit up, as did a series of others, before emitters on either side of the board shot a color-shifting beam of light through them.  The beam bounced around the board, redirected by the pegs until the two beams met.  "Karno," she said triumphantly, a smug smile on her face, and a pile of chips in front of her.  "Pay up."

The four other ponies at the table groaned.  Two unicorns, and two earth ponies started counting out their losses as the Twilight started clearing the pegs for another round.

"Count me out," said one of the unicorns, as he handed over his last three chips.  "I know when I'm beat."

"As do I," agreed one of the earth ponies.  Only, he still had a few chips left after handing over five.

The second earth pony, the orange mare named Kat, shrugged as she offered two chips of her own.  "House can't back out until round twenty.  This is only what?"  She checked the counter on her chip tray.  "Fourten?  Six rounds left."  With a sigh, she added, "this is the first time I've been steamrolled this badly."

"Wish I could say the same," replied the last unicorn at the table.  Astral had less than half as many chips as Twilight, but more than anypony else who had gone up against her.  "Did you ask me to teach you to play just to humiliate me?  Or was there another reason?"

Twilight shrugged as she held her hoof out, motioning for Astral to clear his debt.  "I really never played this game before.  But, it is easier than I expected."

Astral squinted at her, searching for signs of deception.  He kept that up as he counted out ten chips, stacked them, and slid them over.  He rolled his eyes as she gleefully added them to her own neatly arranged stacks.  "Really?" he asked with a sigh.  "You are enjoying this way too much."

"Maybe," she shrugged as she pushed her chips towards Kat.  "I think I'll cash out now."  She glanced over at Astral's meager pile, then slid it forward as well.  "And this."

"Hey!"  Astral pulled his chips back.

"You want to keep losing?" Twilight asked with a smirk.

"No."  Astral rolled his eyes, pointing at a table a short distance away where they were playing poker.  "But, maybe I want to try one of the other games?"

"Ooh!  I actually know that one."  Twilight grabbed a couple chips.  "Cash out the rest, and I'll find us a seat."

With a sigh, Astral pushed the chips towards Kat.  "What she said, I guess."

"Sure thing."  The earth pony started counting up the winnings, stacking chips in stacks of ten.  "Your, um, mare-friend?  She's pretty good at this," she said, clearly impressed by the amount won in such a short streak.

"Oh, she's-"  Astral caught himself about to correct her, and silently corrected himself instead.  He glanced over to where Twilight was scoping out card games.  He had to remind himself that she was in fact his mare-friend.  "She's good.  Surprised me, that's for sure."

While Astral was distracted, Kat pulled a small card out of her chip tray.  She keyed in commands on a screen hidden near her drink, then held the card out to Astral.  "Here you are," she waved the card to get the unicorn's attention, "four hundred and eighty-nine chips, minus three for the card, but you can keep loading it up."

"Huh?  Oh."  Astral turned back, and took the thing with a nod.  He looked it over, noting the clip on the back, and the simple display with the number 486 on it.  "Thanks."

"The clip is for your hair."  She pulled back her mane near her neck, showing a similar card only orange to hide against her fur.  "And tell your mare-friend, she doesn't have to cash in the chips if she doesn't have many."  She held one up.  "These are currency.  They'll spend just as well on the surface.  The card is just more convenient."

Astral nodded his understanding and gave the card another look.  It was then that he noticed the grey and blue coloring.  Clipped to his mane like she showed, it would be nearly invisible.  "You just happened to have one my color?"

"Not at all."  The earth pony slid open the access door on her tray, and tilted it towards the unicorn.  Inside were many different colored plastic plates.  "I have the fronts and backs in different colors, and assemble them as needed.  I made it your colors because she has pockets to put it in, but you don't, so you're more likely to use the clip."

"Yeah," he agreed with a shrug.  "Well, thanks.  This definitely beats trying to tote five hundred chips around."

She nodded happily.  "No problem.  Let me know if you have any other questions, or, you know, if you'd like to play Karno again."

"I will.  Thanks."  Astral clipped the card to his mane as he walked away from the table.  When he caught up to Twilight, she was standing in an open area of the floor, looking at several available game tables.  "Did you know, these chips are actually the currency around here?  I wasn't on the surface long enough to actually handle money last time, but that's kind of neat."

Twilight smiled, giving him a smug glance out of the corner of her eye.  "I didn't know that."  She leaned over as he fiddled with the thing clipped to his mane, and whispered, "did you know, she was flirting with you?"

Astral looked up quickly.  "Who was?"  He glanced behind him, and saw Kat waving, big smile on her face.  Astral awkwardly waved back.  "Oh."

Twilight smiled smugly.  "She's crushing, big time."

Astral pressed his lips together as he straightened up, standing next to Twilight.  "I'm going to hear about this, aren't I?"

"You bet," she answered.  "Were you always this much of a charmer?"

"I honestly couldn't tell you," he replied with a shake of his head.  "I wouldn't even have realized what she was doing if you didn't point it out."

"The oblivious type," Twilight mused.  "It's not your fault.  She was pretty subtle about directly asking if I was your mare-friend."

"Which, you are," Astral replied, "right?"

Twilight shrugged.  "If you're alright with being my colt-friend.  I mean, we kind of talked about this earlier."

Astral shrugged back.  "Yeah, but we didn't really come out and say it like this."

"No," she agreed.  "We didn't."

Astral looked over as she trailed off.  She was watching the tables, eyes scanning the room like earlier.  Only, there was a little less focus in them now.  She wasn't searching for a game, she was merely observing them.  Taking in the hustle and bustle from a distance.  He joined her, passively watching the ponies gambling.  Winning, losing, struggling, giving up, eating, drinking, talking.

"Kind of disgusting if you think about it," he said quietly.

"I was thininking sad," she answered in kind.  "What do you think would happen if I took this jacket off?"

"Aside from a few heart attacks?"  Astral stepped closer to her.  "I don't know."  He bumped into her side.  "I know it's bothering you."

She smiled, and bumped him back.  "You aren't going to tell me to focus on the mission?"

"No, because that would make me a hypocrite."  With a shrug, he added, "maybe, after the mission's over, we can convince Steel Catch to speed up his plans.  Or, at least convince one or two officials to stay out of his way?"

Twilight nodded slowly.  "Think we could win enough at Karno to pay off Coffee's debt?"

"Maybe," Astral chuckled.  "You were pretty good at it."

She shrugged.  "Kinesthetic Avoidance Relative to Non-fixed Objects.  Not that hard, really."

"Wait, it's an acronym?"  Astral looked back at the Karno table, immediately regretting it as Kat waved happily again.  "Oh, she is crushing on me, isn't she?  Anyway, I've played Karno since I was a kid.  I've never heard or read any mention of it being an acronym anywhere."

"Really?  Well, it seems to be a modification of a visualization tool I designed after the final codification of the laws of kinesthetic avoidance before we left Equestria.  If it's that old, maybe the acronym got lost to time?"

Astral stared at her for a moment.  "You're saying you invented it?"

Twilight thought for a moment before answering.  "Yes."   She considered it a moment, then continued, "my version used crystals and captured essence of fox-fire.  It was a training tool to safely teach the principles of kinesthetic avoidance to young unicorns.  It became much more useful as the first slipstream drives were being developed."

"I don't follow," Astral admitted.  "What is kinesthetic avoidance?"

"Well, there's two types," Twilight answered.  "There's relative to non-fixed objects, and relative to fixed objects.  Basically, it's how unicorns can teleport without materializing inside of walls and things.  It's also how the slipstream navigates between gravity wells."

Astral's eyes went wide.  The whole game just clicked in his head.  "That...  Those...  It's a slipstream calculation?!"  He looked back in frustration, forgetting the pony at the Karno table again.  Predictably, she waved.  "When you make diverting play, it functions like adding a gravity well.  Like adding a star to the navigation chart.  If you can predict the effect that would have on a slipstream...  Dammit!  Twi, you just ruined the game for me."

She gave him a smirk.  "Or, maybe, we'll be able to play on the same level now."  With a sigh, Twilight looked around again.  "Maybe, after the mission, we can just sneak Coffee off the station with us?  It seems like he has it worse than the pegasi on the surface."

Astral tapped her side to get her attention.  "Somehow, I feel he wouldn't wait that long."

When Twilight glanced over, Astral was pointing towards the entrance of the lounge.  Following his indication showed her the large group of ponies running down the hall.  Coffee was in the lead, followed closely by a cream colored unicorn that was sending random bursts of fireworks back behind her, forcing another unicorn and several earth ponies to duck or swerve to avoid them.  "Somehow, I agree."

"It's about to get hectic in here," Astral warned.  "Ready?"

"You bet," Twilight replied.  "Let's keep it low key, we don't want them to know which side we're on."

As the frantic chase reached the lounge, the unicorn doing the chasing bellowed, "Somepony shoot them!"

"There's your cue," Twilight told Astral.

"Right," he answered, "already on it."  His eyes were scanning the room, passing over patrons and servers in shocked stillness, looking for those moving to respond to orders.  He found one near the large bay window, a security guard scrambling for his weapon as he straightened up in his chair.

Astral's magic reached out, finding its target before the guard's hoof could.  His weapon discharged before he could make it out of his chair, and pointed down like it was, blasted one of the legs out from under him.  He crashed to the ground as Astral searched for more.

He found one more on the other side of the lounge, already moving towards open space so he could get a clear shot.  His weapon was still holstered though, and Astral's magic reached out again.  He pointed the weapon up and fired, blowing a blue bolt of ionic energy into a ceiling light, and raining sparks down on the hapless guard.

That got ponies screaming.  To their credit, there was no mass panic just yet, but a few scattered shrieks, and a general lack of desire to hang around the gunfire and explosions.

Astral didn't see any other guards, and the first one was still searching for his weapon after his fall.  Twilight was heading to cut off Coffee's pursuers, but hung back just out of the way as Coffee and the unicorn ran past.

Now in the center of the lounge, Coffee's companion turned around, charging a large pyrotechnic spell.  Twilight recognized it as a spell that would be loud, flashy, and of limited stopping power.  But, it gave her a good opportunity to act.

Twilight waited until she launched it, and leapt out from behind a table, screaming, "Watch out!"  She threw a forcefield up around Silver Shaker and what seemed to be kitchen crew.  When the fireworks hit the forcefield, the ponies were treated to a grand light show, and a deafening example of what could have happened to them.  Luckily, the crackle of the force-field made it seem far worse than it really was.

"Oh, my gosh!  What was that?"  Twilight asked in her best shell-shocked tourist impression.  She offered the confused unicorn mare a wink and smile before walking over to the forcefield she placed.  "Are you guys all right?  Anypony hurt?  Oh, my gosh, I just saved you guys."

"Yes, thank you," Silver Shaker said quickly, "now lower this, so we can stop them!"

"Huh?"  Twilight looked up.  "Oh, uh..."  She made a show of running her eyes over every edge of the forcefield as if looking for a weak spot.  "Yeah, that ought to go away on its own in a minute or two."

"What?!"

"Three at most," she amended happily.  "I just know how to put 'em up.  Never got the hang of taking them down."

Silver Shaker very clearly wanted to yell at Twilight, but he still believed her to be an average customer.  "Then stop them!"

"Who?"  Twilight turned around and looked around.  "Oh!  Them?"  She pointed at Coffee and his unicorn companion as they ran for the bay window.  She looked back for confirmation.  "Those two?"

The unicorn behind the forcefield was seething.   "Yes," he said, working very hard to control his anger, "them."

"Ok," Twilight replied with a smile.  She turned back as the unicorn mare reached Coffee and looked out the window.  She then looked back at Silver Shaker.  "What should I do to stop them?  I've never done this before."

You could almost hear the veins popping in his forehead.  "Just use another forcefield!"

Twilight gasped like she hadn't thought of that, then turned back to her new targets.  She placed a forcefield directly behind them, a square of magical energy a meter and a half tall, and the same wide.  It didn't reach the ceiling, and there was enough room to march a dozen ponies around on either side.  But that didn't even matter, because the female unicorn teleported herself and Coffee away shortly after that.

"Huh."  Twilight glanced back at Silver Shaker.  "I don't think it worked."

Everypony has a limit, and that was his."No fucking kidding!"  He screamed at Twilight through the forcefield.  "You dumb bitch!"  He grabbed the nearest pony by the collar of his white coat, and tore into the pocket with his hoof.  "Bastard clocks me in the horn and thinks he can get away?"  In frustration, he tore the pocket free, fumbling for the little silver device that fell out.  Once it was in his hooves, he shouted into it, "Silver Shaker to ops!  Are any vessels attempting to leave the station?"

"One, sir," came the answer, "it just broke free of the docking clamps.  Attempting contact now."

"Don't bother," he growled.  "Shoot it down!  Computer override, hostile vessel in proximity.  Authorization, one-three-seven, Dartmouth, Epsilon.  Execute!"

"Sir?"

"Voice match, confirmed," issued another voice from the small communicator.  "Executing."

"Crap!"  Twilight ran to the window, look of panic on her face as the station shook from the launch of several missiles.  Everypony in the lounge saw her light her horn, only for the sight to be washed out by the light of several simultaneous explosions.

As the light returned to normal, Twilight looked over at the only source of sound in the room.  The voice issuing from the communicator expressed confusion while reporting back to Silver Shaker.  "Sir?  The vessel has just made a slipstream jump."

Looking straight at Twilight, Silver Shaker held up the communicator.  "And our missiles?"

"All destroyed, sir.  They seem to have hit some kind of forcefield."

There is a point in anger where violent rage reaches an end, but the underlying anger increases, where a seemingly rational mind calmly decides that the best way to deal with that anger is murdering someone.  That is what Twilight saw looking at Silver Shaker.  "Astral?" She shouted, not taking her eyes off her newest enemy.   "Time to go!"

"No argument here!"  He had managed to take both guard's weapons, but a third had returned from the restroom, and they were locked in a standoff.  Astral didn't know if the blasters were lethal or not, but he didn't want to find out the hard way.  And he wasn't about to pull the trigger on this shaking, chubby earth pony colt trying to do his job.  "Sorry," Astral said, lowering his weapon, "I surrender.  Catch."

He tossed the weapon to the guard, who naively tried to catch it.  Astral tackled him, sending them both sprawling.  He tossed all three blasters away from them as they fell, and was back on his feet well before the colt.

"I really am sorry," he apologized, and floored the guard with a right hook.  "Twi!  Exit plan?"

She ran past him.  "This way!"

He was hot on her hooves, as she headed out the back of the lounge.  This put them in a short hallway with three doors, labeled mare's, stallion's, and staff.  "The bathrooms?!"

"You have a better idea?"  She shot back.  "I'd love to hear it."  She crashed into the door to the mare's bathroom, shoving it open and running in.

Astral was right behind her, slamming the door shut when he saw one of the guards enter the hallway.  He braced himself against the door, waiting for an impact that never came.

Instead, the guard knocked.  "Um, excuse me?  Could you come out of there?  That's the mare's restroom."

Astral's jaw fell open.  "You kids are not cut out for this!"

"That's what my mom says," the guard admitted.  "I'll prove you both wrong, now come out so I can arrest you!"

"All right, I'm opening the door, don't regret this."  He threw the door open, and hit the guard, a young unicorn, with a haymaker to the chin.  Astral winced as his hoof hit, wiping away the colt's triumphant smile.  He had the door closed again by the time the guard hit the floor.  "Twi, I'm starting to feel like the bad guy here."

"Put up with it a few more seconds, I'm almost ready."

Astral turned around to see her standing at the sinks.  There were five of them below a panoramic viewpoint that offered a breathtaking view of the planet below.  "What the hell?!  The stallion's restroom has one sink and crumpled feathers scratched into the walls!"

"What's a crumpled feather?" Twilight asked without taking her eyes off the planet.

"Do you know what a swastika is?"

"Can't say I do."

Astral shrugged.  "Lucky you.  They're kind of the same thing."

Completely ignoring him, she sighed.  "Well, I'm ready.  I hope you are too."

Astral gave the door a worried glance before leaving it.  He walked over to Twilight, and looked out the window next to her.  "Ready for what?  What are you staring at?"  All he saw out the viewport was Tirassa.  He suddenly felt very worried.  He glanced over at Twilight, and noticed that she had an intense look of concentration on her face, and her horn was starting to light up.  "Oh, hell no."
> In for a Bit, In for a Haircut
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------

Stormy Skies stared silently at her reflection.  She could hardly believe what she saw.

"Doth it not please you?" Asked the pony outside the dressing room, dark, silky voice soothing despite its odd vocabulary and meter.

"Oh, no," the young pegasus answered quickly, "it pleases me just fine."  She stared some more.  The dress she wore was a relatively simple thing,a dark cream colored, and of a deceivingly simple fabric.  It was a simple open weave, and any darker, would look like burlap.  But, the fabric was layered together before sewing, so any shifting movement caused the dress to shimmer like a hologram.  And it covered her scars, except for one or two at the neckline.  "It's beautiful."

"Yet thou deign to keep us in suspense?  Is thy reflection truly that enchanting?"

The young pegasus smiled.  She could hardly believe the entire situation.  Radio had been called away shortly after the start of their so called, "first date," mere minutes after they left the clothing shop.  But they decided to meet up again for dinner.  She gave him the number of her temporary dorm, so he could find her, but it wasn't him that knocked on her door when evening rolled around, it was the pony currently outside the dressing room.

Stormy Skies took a deep breath and opened the door.  "What do you think, miss Luna?"

An older unicorn looked her over, midnight blue coat a stark contrast to the younger mare's golden-wheat hue.  The unicorn lifted her glasses, and balanced them atop the respectable bun her greying black mane was tied in.  "Wonderful."

To the left of the door, another unicorn, maybe in her twenties, rolled her eyes.  "Yeah," she scoffed, "wonderful."  She fiddled with her long, reed-straight mane.  Its dark, blue-green color matched her hole-ridden socks, and stood out against her slender, black-furred body.  "Why are we foal-sitting this teenager again?"

"We are not foal-sitting anypony, Chryssy," the older mare admonished.  "We are merely getting to know Radio's friend."

"Of course," she said, standing up with a sigh, "which one's Radio again?"

"Cece's new pen pal," Luna reminded her, "the colorful colt."

The black pony's green eyes lit up.  "Oh," she said excitedly, "the one you pile-drivered through the floor!"  She slowly stood up and looked at the pegasus for the first time that evening.  "Oh," she said with some surprise, "a bit young, but definitely a form I will have to remember.  Anyway, you spoke with the colt?  He must have mentioned it.  What floor did he end up on?"

Stormy Skies chewed her lip for a moment.  She wasn't sure how this pony was friends with Luna, headmistress of Luna's Academy, but something about her set off the young pegasi's threat radar.  "He landed on my desk.  Fourth floor.  Smashed my pad to pieces."

"Fourth floor?  Halfway through the building?"  Chryssy laughed hard, a cackling, witch-like sound.  "Oh my gosh, Lulu, were you trying to kill the kid?  That's hilarious!"

"That's not funny.  Holding back was not among his skill sets, and prompted a slight slipup on my part."  Luna lowered her head to Stormy.  "The destruction of your personal property has resulted from my actions."  Her horn lit up, and the tag popped off Stormy's dress.  "This dress shall be my recompense.  Excuse me a moment."

"It's not a big deal, really," Stormy tried to explain, "it was an old pad, and I needed a new one anyway."

Luna nodded as she walked towards the checkout.  "Then we shall seek out an electronics store with all feasible immediacy."

Stormy opened her mouth to refuse, but the black pony stopped her.  "She's having fun, let her be."

"But..."  Stormy Skies watched the older unicorn trot happily to the counter, hoof over the price tag, and swipe her card.  All with a smile on her face.  "I didn't even check to see how much it was."

Chryssy trotted over to a rack of similar dresses.  "Seven hundred bits," she read off an identical price tag.  "I need to try this on."

"S-seven hundred?"  Stormy stammered as the other mare nudged past her, heading into the changing room without any clothes.  "That's twice the price of a new pad!"

The black pony laughed, sticking her head out the changing room door so she could fix the pegasus with a condescending stare.  "Is the word peasant still part of the modern vernacular?"  She shut the door without giving the Stormy the opportunity to respond, and a faint green light escaped the seems of the door.  "Oh, yes, definitely a look to add to the repertoire."

Stormy glanced back at the nearest clothing rack.  "But, you didn't bring the dress in with you... how..."

"Minor detail," Chryssy said dismissively, "ignore it."  There was another green light, and the door swung open, but the only change was that she didn't look quite as bored as before.  "We need to do something about your mane," she said confidently, "do you have shoes that match the dress?"

Stormy found herself backing away.  Her danger meter was pegging at eleven right now, but she couldn't rationally explain why.  "Uh, no?"

The black mare suddenly looked confused.  "Any shoes at all?"

"With me?"  The pegasus shrugged.  "Nothing.  At home, maybe a pair of rain boots?"

"You poor thing."  The unicorn stalked towards her.  "We must remedy this situation," she whispered, "my treat."

Stormy only realized she was walking backwards when she bumped into a clothing rack.  She glanced back, and by the time she turned back around, the black unicorn was standing snout to snout with her.

"You seem... nervous," the unicorn said with a smile, revealing sharp-looking fangs where most ponies would have flat teeth.  "Do I creep you out?"

"No," Stormy said with an uneasy chuckle, "why would you say that?"

"Because I can smell the fear."  Their noses touched as Stormy's eyes went wide.  "You're a smart pony."

The pegasus broke away, restoring her personal space.  "And you're a creepy pony."

The unicorn didn't pursue her, and instead turned her back on the pegasus.  "No, I'm not."

"You are pretty creepy," Stormy insisted as the other pony started walking over to where Luna was discussing reward points with the clerk.

"Yes, I am," Chryssy agreed, looking back at Stormy.  "Just, not a creepy pony."  She stuck her tongue out, its forked tip rattling with the raspberry she blew, and eyes flashing with alien green light as they shifted to a sharp, alien form for a split second.  "Come along, shoes await!"

Luna looked up.  "Shoes?"

"Shoes," Chrysalis repeated as she reached the counter, "What's-her-name doesn't have any."

"Stormy," Luna corrected before looking back at the clerk.  "How many points do I still need?"

"A bit under four hundred, ma'am," came the timely answer.

"Perfect!"  Luna tapped the price tag on the counter.  "Hold this for me, and we shall finalize the transaction upon procuring elegant hoof-wear."

"Of course, ma'am."

Chrysalis glanced back at Stormy, and whispered to Luna, "I'm thinking those lacy sandals that go halfway up the leg."








"Rejected!"  Chrysalis grabbed the scissors out of the barber's hoof, and tossed them.  Somepony shrieked as they were forced to dodge.  "I clearly stated that her mane is too short already."  Her voice had a fancy accent to it that wasn't there before they walked in to this little salon.  "Did you listen to a word I said?  Bring another stylist, this slender-waisted stallion is no good at following orders, and possibly not eating well enough."

"I'm right in front of you," the stallion reminded her.

"Yes, you are, aren't you?"  She regarded him for a moment.  "Why?"  She looked over at the salon's owner.  "Please, dispense with this rabble, and bring in a proper stylist."

"Um, I'm sure he isn't that bad," Stormy said from her seat.  She was already in the chair, facing the mirrors, sink, and counter full of tools of the trade.  A cape was wrapped around her, and her mane lightly misted and combed to prep for cutting.  "Do you have to make a scene?"

"Trust me on this one."  Chrysalis smiled confidently, as the stylist tried to explain the process behind mane extensions.  He was completely ignored.  "I've been using mine and others looks as weapons since before..."  She stopped and cleared her throat.  "Since before you entered highschool."  She looked over at Stormy.  "This puny stallion may have sufficient skills to tend to the average college girl and boy, but I assure you, he is not up to my standards."

"Okay, so...  Why is it so important that my mane be styled to your standards?"

"Call it a quirk of mine," Chrysalis shrugged.  "I prefer to see those whose forms I am familiar with in as many mane-styles as possible.  Cuts down the work I have to do down the road."  She inspected the stylist that came trotting up after the last one tromped away grumbling.  "Good heavens, did you do those highlights yourself?  Shoo.  Shoo!  You're surrounded by mirrors in here, why didn't you use them?"

"That's it," Chrysalis decided, taking up a stance behind Stormy's chair, "I'll just have to do it myself.  Lulu!  Purchase the store, or whatever it is you established influential types do to get your way."  Luna walked over to the counter, the designer saddlebags she found while they were shoe shopping sat upon her back.  Leaving her to it, Chrysalis leaned in to whisper in Stormy's ear, "I'd do that myself too, but Cece frowns on unnecessary mind control."

Mind control?  She was just saying that to mess with her, right?  Stormy felt herself sweating, even though being anywhere close to this unicorn made her feel cold.  "W-who's Cece?"

"Lulu's older sister," Chrysalis answered before spinning the chair halfway around, jarring the poor pegasus sitting in it.  "Going down!"  With the tap of a control, the chair jerked back, and Stormy was staring at the ceiling and an excited black unicorn who was making a drawn out show of peeling her socks off.  "Stallions have paid your weight in bits to see me do that.  We'll start with a good shampooing."

Chrysalis turned on the water, running her hoof under it to check the temperature.  She adjusted it a bit before manipulating the chair to center Stormy's head over the sink.  "That's it," the black pony cooed, voice suddenly calm and soothing.  "Just lay back, relax, and don't think about the fact you don't really know what I am, or what I'm capable of."

Stormy's eyes had slowly been closing until the not-pony finished that sentence.  Now, they were glued open.

"Water."  As if that was enough warning, Chrysalis pulled the faucet wand off its stand, manipulating the hose with magic.  Warm water sprayed Stormy in the face, and her eyes were once again closed.  She was also sputtering, and trying to free her hooves of the cape, but whatever.  "Calm down, if I wanted to hurt you, there are easier and far more satisfying ways than drowning you in salon water."

In response, Stormy spit-sprayed some of that salon water in the general direction of her voice.

The counter attack was another blast of warm water to the face.  "Respect your elders."

Shaking the water off as best she could, Stormy scoffed.  "You aren't that much older than me."

Chrysalis raised an eyebrow.  "Sure about that, are we?"

"No," the pegasus admitted, "but, even if you are, you don't act like it."

"Flattery will get you everywhere," Chrysalis chuckled, taking the water to Stormy's mane.  She was careful with it this time, avoiding getting any in her ears, or any more in her face.  "How's the temperature?"

"Kind of nice, actually," Stormy sighed as Chrysalis pulled her forelock back to continue the gentle rinsing, "really nice, actually."

"Don't fall asleep on me," Chrysalis cautioned, "you might end up with a Mohawk."

Stormy's eyes started drifting closed again.  "That might be kind of cool."

"Ew, no, I was joking," the black mare said quickly, "that would be a terrible style for the shape of your face."

Stormy heard the pop of a shampoo tube, and nearly jerked out of her chair, throwing warm water everywhere.  "Wait!  Don't!"

Bottle clutched tight to her chest, Chrysalis had to remind herself to breath.  "Now what's wrong?"

Stormy blinked the water out of her eyes, and noticed the other ponies in the salon staring at her.  All except for Luna, who had summoned a magic mop, and was sweeping up the puddles around her.  "Um, I have allergies," she admitted with a good deal of embarrassment, "could I see the ingredients on that?"

Chryssy gave a forceful nod, and a bottle of every shampoo in the building started floating over. They lined up in front the pegasus, label up.  "Be as picky as you need to."

"Yes," Luna agreed, "We have free reign over this chair and station, so long as we clean up after ourselves."

Stormy picked a bottle shampoo out of the lineup, and after working her hoof free of the cape, held it out.  "I'm still a little confused as to why you're going through all this trouble just for me."

"I had the day off," Chrysalis shrugged, "and nothing better to do, really."

"Radio mentioned you in passing, and I wanted to meet you."  Luna summoned a magic bucket to wring the mop out in.  "It has been most enjoyable thus far."  She looked over at the salon entrance with a sudden smile.  "Ah good, it's here."

A second Luna entered the salon, and trotted over to the first, drawing the eyes and whispers of many guests.  She reached into her identical pair of designer saddle bags and pulled out what looked like a smooth piece of glass.  "That took much longer than it should have.  They did not wish me to leave without the extended warranty."

"Not to worry," the original Luna said as she took the transparent item, "Thank you."

Luna looked over at Stormy as her double dissolved into a swarm of countless silvery blue lights and started flowing into the old mare.  "This is for you," she said, completely ignoring the cascading points of energy being absorbed into her body, "along with my sincere apologies."

Stormy looked down at the offered item, and resisted the urge to reach for it.  "No, no, I can't accept this."  Layers of optical coating caught the light like a lens, drawing Stormy's eyes even as she pulled her hoof back.  "I'm sorry."

Luna looked down at it with a slight frown.  "Should I have purchased the next size up?"

"No!"  The pegasus clamped her hooves over her mouth.  She didn't mean to shout.  "I mean," she squeaked out between her hooves, "it's too much.  That's a Crystal©, isn't it?  A real one?  I've never even seen one in person.  How much did it cost?"

Luna frowned deeper.  "It seems I forgot the receipt."  She shrugged it off.  "Price tag was a hundred bits."

Stormy shook her head.  "It had to be more than that."

"The pad itself, yes," Luna agreed, "but the price tag was a hundred bits.  I know this for sure."

"You... you have to pay for the price tag?"

Chrysalis nodded quickly.  "Oh, yes," she laughed, "I've had several of them purchased for me, and they are not cheap."

"I could've given her one of yours!"  Luna scoffed.  "Well, they won't let me return it without a receipt.  Thanks a lot, Chryssy."

"Hey, don't blame me for your bad memory."  She whispered to Stormy, "I think she's going senile in her old age."

"I heard that."  She dumped her magic bucket out in the sink, and the bucket itself melted and flowed out with the water.  "You're only a year younger than I am."

Stormy's eyes went wider than they had yet.  She looked over at the black not-unicorn.  No matter how you looked at her, she couldn't have been much more than twenty-five.  She was slender, smooth-coated, her face was young and most importantly, her horn didn't have anywhere near enough growth spirals to be Luna's age.  "No buckin' way."

Squinting at Luna, lips smushed together and twisted to the side, Chrysalis shoved  Stormy back in the chair, and blasted her in the face once more with the sprayer.  "Language," she calmly cautioned, "it's unbecoming for a young pony to swear."

Sputtering and spitting once more, Stormy tried to fend off a constant stream of water.  "I'll sho-gblh-  Peh!"  She scrambled to grab the sprayer.  "I'll show you unbecoming, you fucking alien bug!"  Stormy managed to wrest the device away from Chrysalis, and grab the unicorn by the mane.  "See how you like this thing when it's shoved up your-"  Chryssy's wide eyes, and a rapid blink-blink stayed the young pegasi's words and actions.  "What?"

Chrysalis blinked again before replying, "How'd you know I was a bug?"

Luna raised an eyebrow.  "That's what you're focusing on?  Everypony's staring."

Chrysalis glanced back , and noted that, yes, there were several pairs of eyes locked on them.  "Eh, no matter."  She covered Stormy's eyes with her hoof, and a bright light flashed from her horn.  "All better!"

Luna, having managed to duck at the last moment, groaned quietly.  "Chryssy...  Please, tell me you didn't..."  She looked over at the salon owner without finishing her sentence.

The poor mare was staring at a pad screen in confusion, glancing over at a paper receipt as her brow furrowed deeper and deeper.  "When did I enter all this?" She muttered to herself.

"You did."  Luna threw her hooves in the air.  "I'll go make sure nopony outside saw that."

"Saw what?" Stormy asked as she pulled the not-unicorn's hoof away.  "What was that flash?"

"I erased everypony's memory of your little outburst," Chrysalis pushed Stormy back down, and took the sprayer back to her mane.  She was back to working seriously, and heaved a disappointed sigh.  "Fun time's over, it's not good to do that multiple times in one day.  You wouldn't believe how cranky a mare can get when her husband forgets that they've been married for twenty years, even if she was cheating on him the entire time.  Quite pathetic actually."

"What are you?"  Stormy finally just had to ask the creature massaging her scalp.

"Immortal shapeshifting bug monster," she answered happily as she added shampoo.  "I feed off the excess emotions you ponies are constantly leaking."  Stormy went pale as her barber smiled again, sharp teeth on full display.  "Don't worry, Lulu knows, and I assure you, there will be no side effects from the feeding process."

"Wait, are you feeding off me right now?"

Chrysalis shushed her, glancing back to make sure nopony heard that.  "As a matter of fact, no.  Fear is, eh, meh?"  She shrugged.  "It's tricky.  It only tastes good when it's well deserved, oh but when it is, it's one of the most satisfying emotions.  Especially the creeping fear that shakes anger and confidence when some evildoer realizes his or her plans are crumbling around them."  She licked her lips, savoring a memory.  "Oh, I might still be evil myself if it wasn't for that taste."

"Still?" Stormy asked cautiously.

"Heyyy..."  The not-pony's smile changed, it looked kinder, more genuine now.  "The fear's going away, knew you could do it.  Curiosity's good.  It's easy to gorge yourself on it though, even for a pony, so it must be tempered, but it's better then pointless fear.  I'm going to use a tiny bit of magic."  Stormy's scalp felt pleasantly cool as shampoo was worked in, with just the faintest tingle.  "Yes, I used to be evil.  Not objectively evil, I suppose, but subjectively so?  I cared for my ponies the way any ruler might, but I was ruthless.  Woe befall all who stand in my way, and all that good stuff.  Revenge was a hobby of mine.  Conquered a few kingdoms, laid waste to them slowly as they were drained of resources.  Nearly conquered the largest kingdom at the time by taking the place of one of their princesses and draining power from her soon to be husband, but had my flank handed to me by the very power I sought to steal."

Stormy felt a distinct lack of fear now, and much more overwhelming curiosity.  How old was this creature?  What planet was she from? There haven't been kingdoms in the Assembly for hundreds of years.  There were still some on the outer worlds, was she from one of those?  "What sort of power?"  

"The power of love."  Stormy started rinsing the shampoo out of Stormy's mane.  "I know, totally cliche, but love is probably the most powerful emotion.  Most filling for sure.  Also the most nuanced.  It can be a fickle flower that crumbles in a breeze, or it can be a mighty pillar.  It can be the strongest shield, or the sharpest blade.  Worse yet, it can be nourishing water, or bitter poison.  I've tasted them all."

"That's-"

"Hey," Chrysalis bopped the pegasus on the nose with a wet hoof, "no pity.  It tastes like sulphur."

Stormy frowned, but couldn't find it in her to get angry like earlier.  "Well, what type of love tastes best?"

Chrysalis sighed.  "You know, in my entire life, less than a dozen ponies have ever asked me that." Chrysalis slowly adjusted the chair a little more upright, slicking water of Stormy's mane, and into the sink.  "Familial love is great, it's solid and filling.  That's not to say every family actually contains familial love, sadly, but when it's real, it's a powerful thing.  Still, it only gets the bronze in the love rankings.  Friendship, the unlimited supply of platonic love, is next, it's what most changelings survive on nowadays.  This may lead to rather bizarre and unfortunate appearance issues, but hey, we're shapeshifters.  The flavor can vary, but even when it's bad, it's kind of good, like pizza.  It gets the silver."

Stormy felt concern creeping back.  "There's more of you?"

"Probably no more than any other type of pony," she shrugged, "but not all changelings are immortal.  I'm a bit of a special case, a hive queen, and the strongest one ever.  Most of us just blend in, and go about our lives.  Jobs, families, friends, mortgages, all the same as the rest of ponykind, except for maintaining hives and cocoons in the basement.  You've probably met several, and don't even know it."

"Not if they're anything like you," Stormy boasted, "I've felt something off about you from the second we met."

Chrysalis raised an eyebrow.

Stormy felt it again, that feeling of something being off, and it was intensifying at an alarming rate.  She was even starting to feel nauseous.  "Whatever you're doing, please stop."  

"Ok," Chrysalis said quickly.  Stormy's odd feeling disappeared entirely.  It didn't just subside, it was gone, erased.  "You seem to suffer from ultrasonic sensitivity, irritation by sounds you can't hear."  The changeling gave a guilty look.  "My bad."

"You were emitting ultrasonic waves..."  Stormy nodded to herself.  There was lab equipment at work that annoyed the hell out of her, and she could never explain why.  She would have to make sure she was tested for that when she got back to work.  "Why?  You seem to have control over it, does it serve some sort of function?"

"Of course it does.  It's the communication basis for the changeling hivemind."  There was a slight pause.  "But, there aren't any other changelings around, so I was just sort of humming to myself."

"Humming?"

"Yes."

"What song?"

"Oh, shush."  Chrysalis cranked the chair fully upright and spun it around so Stormy could see herself in the mirror.  "Clever distraction!"

The pegasus took one look, her eyes nearly bulged out of her head.  "What the f-"

A black-furred hoof clamped over her mouth.  "Now, now," Chrysalis reminded her, "I can't do another memory wipe."

Stormy sat in stunned silence even after the hoof pulled away.  What had happened to her hair?

"Say something," Chrysalis prodded, both verbally and physically, poking the young mare in the shoulder, "Your mouth is hanging open."

The pegasus looked over, her confusion rather flavorful to the changeling.  "It's long."

"Thank you, Captain obvious."  Chrysalis grabbed a comb and scissors, and started working the comb through the now flowing mane.  "It's roughly three times longer than it was.  I said I was going to use magic, didn't I?"

"But, I-  I thought you were just using magic to get tangles out or something!"  Stormy kept staring at her reflection.  Her mane had never been this long before.  She had always kept it pretty short, like her mother's.  She wasn't sure if she liked it or not.

"If you don't like it, we can always cut it back," Chrysalis said, as if reading her mind, which Stormy was only now registering as a very real possibility.  "But, this way, we have room to experiment.  Oh, and you may be a little extra hungry after this.  Good thing you have that grand dinner coming up."

Stormy tried to look back, only for the not-pony's hooves to grab her head and point it back at the mirror.  "What grand dinner?"

Chrysalis shrugged keeping herself focused on detangling the young mare's mane.  "So, I never finished answering your earlier question.  The best type of love, the tastiest, the gold standard.  I felt a little hint of it from you earlier.  When Luna knocked on your door, you were expecting somepony else."

"So?"  Stormy was a little worried where this was headed.  "Who would expect the headmaster of their school and a bug pony to knock on their door in the middle of the afternoon?"

"Look, little filly, this isn't about who you weren't expecting, it's about who you were expecting."  Chrysalis leaned in close, whispering in her ear.  "Radio."  Stormy blushed, and Chrysalis laughed, licking her lips with a normal pony tongue.  "There it is, the best type of love.  Not the most filling, or the most abundant, but the tastiest."

"That's crazy," Stormy protested, "I don't love Radio, I just met him today.  Sure, he's nice, but-"

"Nice story, dear."  Chrysalis patted her head before going back to combing.  "You do.  Or, maybe not.  Maybe you love the idea.  But either way, there is something there.  Some ponies call it a spark, a seed.  I call it a morsel, for obvious reasons.  It's the root of all romantic love, the very start.  It's fragile, and doesn't last long on its own, but maybe that's what makes it so special.  There isn't much of it.  But, sometimes, it can grow into something more.  And when it does, that root sometimes remains.  It can die, and often does, but that doesn't mean what was built around it must go with it."

"Have you ever fallen in love?"  Stormy asked in a combination of deflection and curiosity.

" I have a daughter about your age," Chrysalis answered quietly, "or perhaps a little closer to my apparent age.  I love her very much, and I loved her father more than I should have."

Stormy didn't like the sound of that past tense.  "What happened?"

"He was bound to another, and his love was pure.  As was hers.  It was only through my trickery that he and I were ever together.  And it was only through her love that I am even alive."  Chrysalis managed a weak smile.  "I loved them both very much."

"That sounds complicated."  Stormy wondered if there was a difference between pity and sympathy, and how they tasted to a changeling.  "What happened to them?"

"Time."  Chrysalis started working with the scissors, trimming the very ends of Stormy's mane so every hair had a fresh tip.  "Time happens, to everything.  They died of old age centuries ago."

"What?"  Stormy's brow furrowed deep.  She had to wonder now, how much of that was even true.  "I thought you said your daughter was my age?"

"Changeling eggs take a while to hatch."  Chrysalis shrugged.  "They can't hatch without love.  And the more powerful the changeling, the more love required.  The only daughter of the immortal Queen?  It took centuries to store up enough love, and then she comes out of her little egg smaller than a loaf of bread.  She was puny!  Half the size of a normal hatchling, and perfect in every way.  She knew my love from the first moments of her life, but I wish she could have known her father's."

Chrysalis sighed as she moved onto the forelock, combing out to the side before trimming even.  "I haven't even told her she's my daughter.  I felt so guilty that she wouldn't know her father, that I raised her thinking I was her grandmother.  Does that even make sense?  What's better?  Not knowing one parent, or not knowing either?"

Stormy wasn't sure.  This was all much more complicated than she was expecting.  But, it didn't seem like Chrysalis was as bad she first thought..  "I'm sure she still loves you the same."

"Careful now, I'm starting to feel something, and it's directed at me."

Stormy rolled her eyes.  "Bon apetit.  It's not every day you get to make friends with an immortal bug monster.  What kind of idiot passes up an opportunity like this?"

"Only the most foalish of fools."
> Rosa Luna
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------

A lone, greying mare sat in front of a glowing terminal.  The room around her sat in the dark as she sorted through real estate listings.  She didn't want to move, but there were more important factors at play than her own desires.

With a sigh, she looked around the room.  Fourty-seven years worth of knick-knacks, photographs, and sentimental baubles cluttered the bookshelves.  Her office at work was in much the same condition.  Five decades at the same job will do that to you.

Tired of digging through grandiose descriptions of boring apartments, she switched off her monitor.  It took a few blinks for the light to fade from her eyes, more with every passing year it seemed.  Once it was gone, she stared at her reflection.

Her mane was down, greying black hair permanently curled from tying it into a tight bun all the time.  Her glasses, slowly, but surely, growing thicker with each new prescription, balanced on her nose just so.  "How many years has it been since I switched frames?"

Another reflection appeared beside hers, the same face, bun drawn up, and makeup flawless.  "Three," it answered quietly.

With a yelp, the older mare jerked sideways in her chair, dumping herself out on the floor.  If she was a few decades older, she might have just had a heart attack instead.  But, as it was, she picked herself up rather quickly, chuckling as she recovered.  "You would think I would be used to that by now, wouldn't you?"

"One would expect," answered the doppelganger as she retrieved the old mare's glasses.  She waited for her to finish dusting off before delicately placing them on her snout.  "I saw the screen.  Are you selling the apartment?"

"I think so."  The old mare adjusted her glasses with a smile.  "And it's all your fault, you know."

"My fault?  However so?"

"I was planning to keep the apartment when I moved offworld, so I had somewhere to stay when I visited.  But now that my family's moving here, I want a bigger place for the twins to play when they visit, something with a garden.  And I can't justify keeping two apartments in the same city."

The doppelganger nodded slowly, as shadows engulfed her.  "An unforeseen consequence."  A larger pony stepped out of the cloud of darkness, lighter in color than the previous form, but much more youthful in appearance.  She towered over the old mare as she crouched beside her, wrapping her wing around her aging form.  "I apologize."

"No apologies needed, Luna."  She smiled up at the alicorn.  "It's good to know that even you can't foresee everything."

"Everything?"  Luna shook her head.  "We can barely foresee anything.  We plan, and we stick to those plans, no matter what happens.  Stubbornness, not foresight explains the outcome."

"Does it though?"  The old mare walked away from the night princess, heading for the kitchen.  She had some tea sitting from earlier.  "Correct me if I'm wrong, but you've already broken from your plan.  Silver was supposed to take my place, a younger form for you to take, so that you could explain away use of more powerful abilities."

Luna followed the older mare, setting out glasses for her as she retrieved honey to sweeten the tea.  "She still may, if you tire of serving as my herald."

"Never, Luna, never."  The old mare shook her head as she poured the tea.  She held out a cup of tea, already sweetened.  "I would serve until my last breath if you will it, and my end would be a happy one."

"Thank you, Rosa."  Luna took the cup, and took a sip.  It was cool from sitting out, but sweetened exactly how she would have done it herself.  "Perfect, as always."

"Glad to hear it."  Rosa started sweetening her own, adding much more honey than went in the alicorn's cup.  "How was the shopping trip with Chryssy?"

"Quite fun," Luna answered with a smile.  "I believe you would enjoy Stormy's company.  If we were to arrange another excursion, and I take another form, would you join us?"

"I might like that.  It would give me a chance to get new glasses."  The old mare took a sip of her tea.  "Do you remember the first time you offered me tea?"

Luna nodded.  "You threw it in my face, after begging me not to eat you."

Rosa laughed.  "Oh, what foal I was back then."

"One does literally count as a foal at age four," Luna pointed out.  "It was my fault for transforming first."

"No, it was your fault for adopting the filly who was in time out, and for biting the last pair of prospective parents no less."

Luna nodded.  "Yes, it must be said, we almost walked by, but when you looked back, your eyes..."  The alicorn shrugged.  "As you've said, we can't foresee everything.  I most certainly did not foresee myself becoming captivated by a little filly giving me the stink eye from her corner, but it happened."

"And I am grateful that it did."  Rosa sighed and looked at the wall.  Even in here, there were pictures and clutter.  Framed photos lined the walls, photos of her and her family, herself with the many students she taught over the years, and even articles of students that went on to make names for themselves in their fields.  "I wouldn't have this otherwise."

After a moment of letting her eyes wander the pictures, Rosa looked back at Luna.  "I've never had the nerve to ask you this before, but with the twins on the way, I've had time to sit and think about it.  How many others have there been?  Like me?  Adopted off of small planets to serve as your herald?"

Luna set her tea down before answering.  "There have been many heralds, and there will be many more after you.  But, most of them were like Silver, adults, who, by various circumstances learn the truth of this galaxy, and choose to serve as my double.  Others were hired, paid generously to play the part for a few years, and retire early.  Though, many of them eventually chose to stay beyond their original contracts.  I never took foals for this purpose."

Luna wrapped her wing around the older mare.  The unchanging princess had watched her grow, and watched her grow old.  She had learned much from this mare, and understood her sister better now because of it.  She knew that she would one day have to say her goodbyes, and that day was sooner than she wanted.  But, she would watch over Rosa's family until the end of time.

"I was only at your orphanage to interview the nutritionist.  They applied to teach at the academy, and my herald at the time was out with a cold.  I was never looking for you, never planning on you, yet found you all the same."  Luna leaned down.  In the seventy-four years she had known Rosa, she couldn't recall a time she wasn't standing over her.  But, that was fine.  "I have had many heralds, serving as my replacement when I am away."  She kissed the top of the old mare's head.  "I have only one daughter."
> Excitement, Followed by Sleep
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------

Growl let out a slow whistle as she handed a pad over to James.  "It looks good," she told him.  "I wasn't expecting to get these inventory audits done until next week.  Did Annabelle come in to work on them?"

James shook his head.  "She came in this morning, but she wasn't ready to do any real work.  We did some cleaning, and she helped me for a little while, but left before noon to go speak with her counselor."  He noticed the look his wife gave him, and added, "It was her own idea.  I think the attack, and the effects of the dragon healing ritual left her a bit more shaken than she was ready to admit."

Growl nodded her agreement.  "Even if she won't admit it to us, she's strong enough to seek help when she needs it.  So, did Ribbon come in and help with the audit, because she has the day off."

"Her new telepathic training starts today," James reminded her.  "I think Lilybelle did this."

"Hasn't she been working all day?"

"She came in quite a bit earlier than scheduled, and did take a break, mid-morning."  The gryphon doctor shrugged.  "She's been on fire all day.  There honestly hasn't been much for me to do.  Did something happen?"

"I should probably ask her."  She put a hoof on her husband's shoulder.  "We've been trying to have lunch together for what, a week now?"

"Something like that."  He nuzzled his beak into her neck for a moment before pulling away.  "We have to take care of our nurses first.  We always have dinner."

"That we do."  She planted a small peck on his beak.  "Just, not tonight."  She shrugged.  " Security briefing."

He frowned.  "Breakfast then?"

"Incident report with Orbital Authority," she replied.

"Hm," he scratched his head, "I thought that would have happened sooner.  Lunch tomorrow?"

Growl shook her head.  "Press conference."

"Dinner tomorrow?"  James winced before she could answer.  "Mac has his pre-surgery physical.  His replacement kidney is growing much faster than I expected."

"Ribbon's brother said it would," she reminded him.  "It looks like we'll have to settle for midnight snacks sometime."

James rolled his eyes.  "How romantic."

Growl chuckled as she stepped away from him, letting herself out of the storage closet.  The rest of the medical bay was back to normal, curtains separating out the individual exam rooms and beds.  Proper separators had been ordered a month ago, but they were built to order, and still two months from being delivered.

The head nurse walked to the main corridor, and waited.  But, not for long.  Only a few seconds passed before she heard Lilybelle's voice from a few rooms down.

"All right, you're all set to go.  If you feel any itchiness around the area we just regenerated, apply this cream, and it should go right away in seconds.  I'll let you get dressed."

As she headed towards the voice, Growl heard James exit the storage closet behind her, and walk back towards the other side of the medical bay.

Up ahead, Lilybelle let herself through the curtain, and saw Growl heading her way.  "Good evening,  ma'am, did you need something?"

"Evening?"  Growl raised an eyebrow.  "It's barely fourteen hundred, station time."

"Is it?"  Lilybelle chuckled nervously, and tried to walk past the older nurse.  "I haven't been keeping track, honestly."

Growl watched her a moment, then followed alongside.  "Are you shaking?  Did you eat lunch yet?"

"Yes!"  The outburst was sudden, and Lilybelle was red in the face as she looked back at her boss.  "I mean, no, but, no need for me to stop for food when there's work to do, right?"

The older nurse blinked.  "Lilybelle, is something wrong?"

"No!"  Lily dismissed the notion with an exaggerated wave of her hoof.  "What makes you say that?"

Growl wanted to say it was the way the younger nurse was acting, but held her tongue.  "Then, did something happen you don't want to tell me about?"

Lilybelle looked really guilty.  "I...  I tell you everything," she nearly whispered, "don't I?"

Growl nodded.  "Now, I won't pry, but if something is bothering you, I'll be here whenever you're ready to-"

Lilybelle interrupted her with a garbled, frustrated sound of helplessness.  "Come on," she she grabbed the older nurse by the hoof and dragged her towards the office.  "You're gonna find out eventually.  I need advice now, and my mom's still on vacation."

"Ok..."  Growl let herself be dragged along.  This was not like Lilybelle at all.  What happened to the meek and studious nurse that she was used to?

They made it to the office, and Lilybelle let go of Growl.  She immediately shut the door, and made her way to her drawer among the filing cabinets.  She pulled out a beat up metal lunch box, and set it on the desk, pointing at the flower and smiley face drawn on with a white paint marker like it somehow answered all of life's questions.

"A lunch box?"  Growl looked at it for a moment.  The flower was clearly a Lily, and the smiley face was clearly a generic pony.  But the lunchbox itself seemed oddly familiar.  "This doesn't strike me as quite your style."

"It's not."  Lilybelle undid the latches, and pulled out the wafer-thin item on top.  She held it up so close that Growl had to pull her head back.  "Look at this!"

"It's a cookie," Growl observed as she pushed the younger nurse's hoof out of her personal bubble.

"Chocolate Chip!"  Lilybelle exclaimed.  "Baked from scratch!"

Glancing into the lunchbox, Growl noticed it was a well-packed, and well-balanced lunch.  Vegetable soup in a mason jar, a salad in another mason jar, some chips and crackers in a third, a sandwich wrapped in white paper, a spoon, a can of apple juice, and a cloth napkin.  "Well, I can tell you didn't make this."

"Of course I didn't," Lilybelle said as if it was the most obvious thing ever.  "Look at the jars!  That's brilliant!  You think I have my shit together well enough to pack a four-course lunch like this in the morning?"

"No, but I wasn't going to say it."  Growl had to keep herself from laughing.  "So, who made this?"

The younger nurse nervously held the cookie close to her chest as her face went red again.  "Pipsqueak."

Growl nodded slowly, realizing why she recognized the lunchbox.  If she recalled correctly, Pipsqueak made and sold them while he was learning to weld with modern tech.  "I know him.  Good kid, and the best repair tech we've got."  The older nurse smiled.  "Did he drop this off for you?"

Lilybelle shook her head.  "It was there when I woke up."

Oh.  the embarrassment suddenly made sense.  "He was in your quarters?" Growl asked with some concern.  Not that she didn't trust Pipsqueak, it was just that those quarters were Annabelle's hideaway, and bringing a stallion there, especially one with any amount of white fur, was probably a bad idea.

Lilybelle shook her head a second time.  "I was in his."

Growl shrugged.  That was probably for the best.  "Did you have fun?"

If Lilybelle's face heated up anymore, she would most likely start steaming.  Looking down with a guilty face, she gave a small nod.  "It could have gone better, but he was really sweet about it."

Growl smiled happily.  It was good to know things were going well between them.  "So?  What did you need advice about?"

Lilybelle clutched the cookie even tighter, and it was coming perilously close to crumbling.  "It was my first time."  She paused for a moment, and looked up.

Growl bobbed her head to show she was listening.  "Go on."

"We were drunk," she admitted.  "We were talking, at the bar, and kind of lost track of the drinks, and oh, goddess, does he have the most amazing voice when gets a few in him."

"Focus," Growl playfully admonished.

"Right."  The young nurse blushed again.  "Anyway, he invited me back to his place, and we had dinner.  He had this amazing soup just waiting in a slow cooker, and he made pasta to go with it.  And we were just eating, and talking, and then he brought out the cookies, and we were just sitting on the couch together, eating cookies, and it was just too much.  He's so cute, and he's kind, and oh, goddess, his voice was more intoxicating than the blackberry rum.  I kissed him while we were sitting there.  He got my first kiss!"

Growl thoughtfully rubbed her hoof over her mouth.  Truthfully, she was hiding a ridiculous smile, and trying her hardest not to laugh.  Her first time kissing a boy!  Growl chastised herself for letting her thoughts steer down a dirty path.  Of course Lilybelle, of all ponies, would take far longer to make that sort of connection with somepony.

"But, then I, um..."  Lilybelle bit her lip, nervously shifting the cookie around in her hooves.  "He was cleaning up, picking up the dishes, and he asked if I needed anything else.  I said no, but then he asked if I wanted anything else, and I sorta... jumped him."

A rapid blink-blink was Growl's only reaction.

"I flipped the lights off with magic, and just kept kissing him, and dragged him to the bed."  She looked down at the cookie.  "I didn't even stop to ask if that was what he wanted.  I mean, he got up and scoured his med kit for a condom, so I guess he was ok with it, but I still should have asked."

Growl shrugged.  "So, you slept with him?  What do you need advice on?  Sounds like you have a handle on things."

Lilybelle chewed her lip for a moment.  "Well, it was my first time, and I wasn't ready for it, and, oh, goddess, that voice of his.  So, it kind of... didn't last long?"  With a wince, Lilybelle corrected herself.  "I mean, I didn't last long.  And it was too much for me to try to keep going, and I don't think he was able to... you know?"

"I've been married for twenty years," Growl reminded her with a sigh, "I think I do.  He didn't finish, and you're worried about it."

The bashful young nurse nodded in shame.  "Should I apologize?  He left for work before I woke up, and I don't know if he's upset about it."

Growl closed the lunchbox, and rotated it so Lilybelle could see the drawings.  "Look at this.  Does this look like the work of an upset pony?"

"I guess not," the younger nurse admitted.  "So, what should I do?"

The older nurse smirked.  "Do you like him?"

Lilybelle nodded quickly.  "More than I'm ready for."

Growl pointed a hoof at her.  "Honesty is good, remember that.  Does he treat you with respect?"

The younger mare nodded again.  "He even asked if I had any allergies before offering me any food."

"Thoughtful of him," Growl said appraisingly.  "Last question, would you repeat last night if given the chance?  Even if you two switched places?"  The younger nurse went bright red, and Growl quickly clarified, "not like that!  I mean, reverse the roles.  How would you feel while you were packing a lunch for him to take to work?"

Lilybelle chewed it over for a moment.  She didn't usually bother packing her own lunches, but she did sometimes.  She could put together a mean berry and lettuce salad, and knew how to make a decent vinaigrette dressing to go with it.  And when she made salads, she usually stuck an ice cube or two in them to keep them cool.  She imagined Pipsqueak digging into a cold, refreshing salad while filthy and tired from working, bandana burnt like the other day in the commissary, and thinking of her.  Her heart was beating so fast, she was worried it might stop.  "Irrationally happy," she answered Growl with a blank expression.

Growl nodded.  "Then, here's my advice.  First, you enjoy every bite of the lunch he prepared.  Second, you return his lunchbox, filled with something you made would be a nice touch.  Third, you thank him for last night, but don't apologize for anything.  And fourth," the older nurse chuckled, "you make it up to him next time."

The cookie snapped in Lily's hooves.  "Next time?"  She looked down at the lunchbox, realizing she was clearly meant to return it once empty.  She also realized that the flower he had drawn was a lily.  She felt just a tiny bit stupid for not noticing that sooner.  "Oh, he's a clever one."

Growl leaned forward, putting her hoof on Lily's shoulder.  "One last thing, you need to sit down and have a good talk with him.  Iron out exactly what this relationship is, what you both want out of it, and what you want for the future.  Don't interrogate him though, and don't do all the talking yourself, make sure it's a discussion.  Communication is what separates a fling from a life-long-"

"Growl!"  James' voice echoed through medical, loud enough to interrupt her, even here in the sealed office.  "Get out here!  Bring a drug scanner and Epi!"

Barely exchanging a glance, both Growl and Lilybelle leapt into action.

Being closest to the desk drawers, Growl dug out the drug scanner kit, a specialized scanner for analyzing substances, in or out of a patient's bloodstream, and comparing them to a database of known medications.  The average scanner could do the same, but this one had software that could trace metabolites, and determine dosing, even if hours had passed.

Lilybelle had the drug storage drawer unlocked and three epinephrine options floating beside her, ready to go.  The nasal applicator for overdoses, the standar needle-free pressure injector for anaphylaxis, and the long needle used as a last resort to restart a stopped heart.

"I hope we don't need that," Growl told her as she held up the scanner kit for her to take.  They both ran out of the office, and Growl took a deep breath.  "James?!"  She shouted out, needing a location.

"At the entrance!" He bellowed back.

They ran down the curtain-lined aisles, and just as they rounded the last turn, Growl was splattered by vomit.  She ignored it as the pony responsible lurched forward, falling.  "Fluttershy?!"

Growl caught the larger pony before she could hit the ground, and lowered her gently.  She quickly rolled her onto her stomach and checked to make sure her airways were clear.  At the moment, they were, no aspirated vomit.  And, she was still conscious.  Trembling, eyes glazed over under the influence of some unknown drug, but still conscious.  Her mouth was moving, making the same motion over and over, trying to speak.

Growl glanced behind her and realized that she was the lucky one.  James was standing over Mac, the large red stallion they kept having to patch up.  The big pony was on his back, and James was performing chest compressions.  Lilybelle had run over to him with the epinephrine, and James grabbed the nasal option as the unicorn took over chest compressions with magic.

Growl looked back at her charge as they worked.  "Fluttershy?"  She brushed the feral pegasus' hair out of her face, getting a closer look.  Without more information, they could only hope she held out until the other pony was stabilized.  "Can you hear me?  What happened?  Did you take something?"

Dull eyes flicked upwards, but couldn't focus.  Gasping breaths escaped her like a broken bellows before she managed to speak.  "Bottle," was the only word she said, "bottle."

"There!"  James pointed towards the entrance with one claw while he focused on administering the starting dose of nasal epinephrine.  With any luck, it would get him breathing on his own again.  If not, they would up it slowly, before switching to harsher methods.  "She dropped it when she came in, had it in her mouth."

Growl saw it.  She grabbed the drug scanner and headed over to it.  Opening the box, and spreading the necessary parts on the floor, she set to work.  She assembled the vapor probe in seconds, followed by the contact probe.  The bottle was empty, so any remaining compounds would be faint traces.

She connected the vapor probe to the main unit, and inserted it through the neck of the bottle, swirling it around so it could sample the air within.  The scanner would connect to the main computer, and check for matches.  Depending on the concentrations, it could take up to a minute to identify any unusual compounds.

So, Growl was rather surprised when the scanner returned a result almost immediately.  It was concentrated.  "James, stop!  Don't give him anymore!"

She got up and ran into the nearest of the makeshift rooms.  It was unoccupied, fortunately, so she didn't have to terrify another patient by running in covered in puke and running off with a rolling cart full of medical gear.

She rolled the cart out to James, who had put down the nasal applicator, and resumed chest compressions.  "It's a mix of drugs," she told him, "there's a powerful stimulant, and a suppressant.  We give him more stimulant, and the suppressant wears off, it could kill him all the same."

"Lilybelle's grabbing the RT Table now," James told her, glancing worriedly at their second patient.  For the moment, she was breathing on her own, he could only hope it stayed that way.  "Stomach pump and a neurotab to keep his autonomous functions going?"

"Safest bet," Growl pointed out as she dug into the drawers of the cart, searching for the necessary equipment.  "I'm pumping and putting an oxy patch on her, just to be safe.  Damn it!  Where the hell did they get that bottle?"









Berry glanced over at Flint as he explained the various settings on the welding unit in front of them.  The rest of the crew was busy removing bits and pieces from the ship that were actively unsafe.  Anything hanging loose where it might fall, or leaking coolant and other chemicals.  After that, they would employ a few more hands and hooves and sweep through the ship from top to bottom, cataloguing and removing anything that isn't bolted down.

In the meantime, Flint was briefing her in the particulars of the available maintenance equipment.  Berry was well acquainted with most aspects of the work, but was used to scavenged tools she made herself, or older ones modified by her grandfather.

This led to some unavoidable confusion.

She glanced over at Flint again, peeking out from the welding helmet as he rubbed his face.  "Are you OK?"

"Hungover's all," he answered.  "Had a bit much beer with my glass last night."

"Hungover?" Berry asked, removing the helmet, and setting it down.

"When ya drink too much, and ya get a headache the next day," the living stone grumbled.

Berry nodded her understanding, though, she didn't have any sort of headache.  "How do you know how much is too much?"

"When ya get a headache," Flint answered.  He supposed it wasn't the most helpful answer, but screw trying to think right now.  "I'm surprised you ain't still drunk off yer noggin with what you drank last night."  Flint immediately groaned at his own words.  "I'm starting to sound like Pip."

Berry thought about it a moment.  "How does a rock get a headache?"

The golem looked over at her.  "I'm not just a rock, you know."

"Actually, I don't," Berry pointed out, "we didn't get to talk much last night."

"Ah, right," Flint scratched his head, "we didn't, did we?"

"So, if you aren't a rock, what are you?"

"I am a cryptoendolith, according to science."  He gestured to his body.  "All this rock is just where I live.  The living component of my body is millions upon millions of algae cells colonized within the pores of the rock."  He shrugged.  "Then again, I may as well be a rock, since I can never be separated from it."

"Algae?"  Berry scratched her head.  "You're a plant?"

"Aye."  Flint held out his thumb, and out popped a teeny tiny bloom, kind of a mushroom, kind of a flower, giving a thumbs up within the thumbs up.  "It's a strange and wonderful universe we live in."

"Aye," Berry agreed, staring in wonder at the new micro thumb.  "Granpa always said it was."

Flint glanced back at the Philomena, checking for his fellow maintenance crew.  "Speaking of him," he started slowly, hesitant to broach the subject, "how much did King Norland tell you?  About himself?  About his...  Well, for lack of a better word, about his business?"  Berry's ears drooped, and Flint realized it was a sensitive matter for the mare.  "I'm sorry, it's not my place to pry."

Berry shook her head.  "No, it's something I need to get used to.  My grandfather was the galaxy's worst pirate."

Flint shrugged.  "I think that technically makes him the galaxy's best pirate."

A faint hint of smile showed on Berry's face, but didn't stay long.  "And he never told me about any of it."

Flint patted her on the shoulder.  "I'm sure he had his reasons."  Berry was surprised by the warmth of the touch.  "And, I know it isn't the same, but let me tell you what I know about him.  I'll tell you the story that the golems pass from generation to generation, hiding it from the rest of the galaxy.  You are King Norland's heir.  You deserve that much from us, at the very least."

"I would like that."  Berry nodded slowly.  Any chance to learn more about her grandparents was a welcome opportunity.  "When?"

"It will have to be later.  The story is..."  Something grabbed Flint's attention. "...rather long."

Berry looked up to see Growl approaching with one of the other nurses in tow.  Behind them, two armored security officers aimed weapons at the pink pony.  "This again?" She groaned.

Growl walked over, grim look on her face, and a putrid smell clinging to her matted fur.  "Yes, this again."

"Ma'am, what's going on?"  Flint eyed the guards.  There were only two, both human, he could knock them out quickly if necessary.  Growl, was another matter, and so was the unicorn with her.  Not that he wanted to start anything, but Berry's safety was his priority.

"Butt out, Flint," Growl ordered, still glaring at Berry.  "Better yet, leave."

The older nurse glanced back at her weary unicorn companion.  The younger nurse saw the look, and a glass bottle she held in magic floated over and dropped on to the table.

Growl's eyes were feircely focused on Berry's as she pointed at the bottle.  "Explain.  This."

"This is from the bar," Flint answered for her, earning a glare from Growl, "she bought it at the party last night, and brought it back to her friends."

"No," Berry took one look at the bottle and sneered in disgust, "I drank that one.  This is from that creepy guy."

"Creepy guy?"  Growl glanced between Flint and Berry, and saw the golem staring at the pink pony, mouth hanging open in surprise.

"What creepy guy?" Flint demanded.  "You drank an entire bottle of scotch, on top of everything else you ordered, and went with some rando for more?  How are you not dying of alcohol poisoning?"

"Berry," Growl interrupted her answer, "did somepony give you this bottle?"

The pony looked up, shrinking under scrutiny from all sides.  "Yeah, and I gave it to Fluttershy and Mac, since they didn't get to go to the bar with everypony."

Growl rested a hoof on the table.  "Where did this happen?  Who gave it to you?  Do you have a name?  A description?"

Berry struggled to process the rapid questions, and the whole situation, really.  She didn't know what was going on, and there were guns being pointed at her again.  Why?  "R-room three-fifteen," she stammered, "he wouldn't tell me his name, and he got all weird when I asked for it.  And, then he got all touchy, and wouldn't let me leave."

The fire in Growl's gaze was doused with the water of realization.  "Oh, hell...  I'm sorry, Berry."  She touched her hoof to her ear.  "Ops, patch me in to the com in temporary quarters room three-twenty-seven."  There was a slight pause as someone on the other end of the line responded.  "I know," Growl said impatiently.  "Just do it!"

Growl waited a beat as she was connected.  "Micah, are you there?"  She looked relieved at the answer she got.  "Good.  Sorry, but your lunch is now on hold.  Get to room three-fifteen asap.  You have permission to to override the door.  Secure the location, back up is on the way."  She looked back at the two guards with her.  "Temporary quarters, room three-fifteen, we'll be right behind you."

They each have a nod before running off.

"What's going on?"  Berry demanded, she could feel her anger rising.  She should be relieved that the guards weren't threatening her, but she found herself upset instead.  "You come in and point blasters at me, and now you just leave?"  The pink pony slammed her hoof down on the table.  "No, you explain this."

"I'm sorry, I didn't know."  Growl sighed, and placed her hoof over Berry's.  "Berry, the Vodka in that bottle was poisoned."

Berry gasped, chest tightening.  She gave her friends poison.  Poison that was meant for her.  Her lips trembled as she fought to get some sort of words out.  "N-no...  Are...  Are they..."

"Stable," Growl answered quickly, seeing the pink pony's distress.  "We pumped their stomachs, and found a passable antidote.  They're recovering."

"I need to see them."  Berry stood up quickly, and rushed for the door.

Growl stepped out of her way.  "Lilybelle, go with her."

The younger nurse scrambled after the pink pony, calling back a hasty, "yes, ma'am!"

Growl was set to march out behind them, but Flint was out of his seat and ran in front her.  He waited until Berry was out of earshot before asking, "What kind of poison?  Was somepony trying to kill her because of her grandfather?"

Growl glared at him for blocking her path, but she forced herself not to snap at him for it.  He was just worried for her.  These newcomers made friends quickly.  But, it was worrying that people were learning about her connection to Norland.  "A mix of drugs," she answered quietly.  "Hallucinogen, stimulant, neural suppressant, beta blocker, and traces of a few others.  As it was mixed, we're guessing that a normal dose would be four to eight ounces of the spiked licquor.  The intended result is probably a conscious pony that's so out of it that they do anything they're told."

Flint understood the implication that she left out.  "A roofie?"

Growl nodded.  "Fluttershy and Mac split the bottle, and finished it.  Even taking into account their size relative to other ponies, they each received at least five times the regular dose.  Fluttershy's internal chemistry is unusual, to say the least, so she was able to resist the hallucinations long enough to drag Mac to medical.  All I got out of her were the words, 'Berry,' and, 'bottle.'  Mac was hit harder, and stopped breathing, but we stabilized him in time."

Flint didn't respond, just stared at her, stony face unreadable.

"Flint, I am covered in vomit, and somepony, who may or may not have been my best friend, put it there because she od'd on whatever was in that vodka.  So, either say something, or get out of my way," Growl ordered, "I need to get the bastard responsible for this."

Flint stepped to the side.  "Of course, ma'am."









By the time Growl reached room three-fifteen, there was nothing for her to do.  Micah was standing outside, face buried in a pad, and waved her down.  He was in his casual clothes, jeans and a t-shirt he got free at some advertising event in the Commisary.  But, he had his ballistic vest on, the one with the claw marks from the cargo bay, and his personal plasma rifle, a dark and dangerous-looking piece earth military tech, slung under his shoulder.  The guards she sent were with him, standing at ease.  "You need to see this, ma'am."

"What is it?"  Growl walked over, sparing a glance through the open door as she walked.  A dumped over chair, stuff knocked over on the table, and a spot of blood on the floor.  Oh, goddess, was that Berry's?  "Please tell me you found the occupant."

"I did."  Micah said without looking up from his pad.  "But not on the station.  He was arrested on the surface about an hour ago, on an outstanding warrant.  Something about fraud and a Hearson Financial case out of the Solar Domes.  They caught him checking into a hospital for an orbital rim fracture."

"A broken eye socket?  How did that happen?"  Growl walked to the door and took a better look into the room, noting the scattered lingerie and the camera she couldn't see earlier.  "Did you move anything?"

"No, ma'm.  I swept the quarters, found them empty, and came back out.  Only touched the closet door to open it.  While waiting for these guys, I had records dig up the occupant's name, and found that he left on a shuttle late last night.  Tracked down where he disembarked, and contacted the local police with his description.  They informed me of his arrest, and I was about to send them this."  He held out his pad.  "I was able to download the video from that camera.  It wasn't even password protected."

Growl took the pad as the human hit play.  The volume was muted, but the visual alone got the point across.  The stallion in the video was standing over Berry, holding her as she struggled to get her hoof back.  Growl didn't want to watch the rest.  She offered the pad back to Micah.  "I need to go find her."

He pushed the device back.  "No, keep watching, trust me on this."

Confused, Growl looked back at the screen, just in time to see Berry kick the chair away from the table.  The stallion, dragged along with the mare he refused to release slammed chin first into the chair, then the floor.  Berry quickly started pummeling him with her free hoof, and then came the final blow.  Growl turned the volume up as Berry scooped up the vodka bottle, and swung.

It hit with a loud satisfying thud, and Berry stood up.  She wobbled a bit, a combination of anger and alcohol.  "I'm keeping this," she said in the video, then walked off with the bottle in her mouth.

"That explains the orbital rim fracture."  Growl held the pad back up for Micah, breathing a sigh of relief.  "How the hell did that guy get on my station with active warrants out on him?"

"Fake name, fake history.  And he must have paid a good deal of money for them, because nothing in this guy's history says he's the type that can pull this off."  He played the video again, shaking his head.  "I've seen footage of Grinparch Norland in combat.  There was a video where three guys had him chained up in the back of an aircar, and he pulled the same move at the end of the fight."  With a shrug, he added, "Only, it was with a briefcase.  And he didn't stop with one hit."

"Your point?"  Growl asked tiredly.  She didn't need a reminder of what Norland was.  Everypony in the galaxy had seen that ten second video at some point.  Two thugs, a rival crime boss, and a driver in the car, and only Norland walked away.  One thug choked with the chain that bound him, then blasted by his buddies plasma pistol, the other thug stabbed with a broken glass, crime boss beaten to death with his briefcase, and the driver died when the car crashed.  Norland grabbed the pistol and blasted the controls before bailing, and blasted the door from the outside, so the driver couldn't escape.  "He probably taught her the trick himself."

Micah smiled.  "Yeah, but she stopped.  She can't be half as bad as he is if she held back on a guy like that."

"Optimism," Growl sighed, finding herself returning the smile, "I needed some of that after what happened earlier."  She held up her hoof again, beckoning for the pad.  "Let me see that again."

"Sure."  He handed it over.  "Should we blur her face before sending the video?  It doesn't sound like they need more evidence to put the guy away."

"Yeah," Growl said as she took the pad, "blur her face, and don't volunteer her name or lineage.  If they need to talk to her, they can ask.  Also, seal the room after taking holo-images.  Treat it like any crime scene.  Even if we won't have to worry about him ourselves, I want every, 'i,' and, 't,' dotted and crossed properly in case planetary authorities need anything."

Micah saluted before turning to the two fellow guards.  "You heard her, nobody goes in."  He pointed at one of them.  "You, go fetch the equipment and the forensics tech.  I'll wait here, and run the holoscans myself since I was already in the room.  Minimize any contamination in case we have to run prints or DNA."

While the guard saluted and ran off, Growl made a call to medical with the pad.  It took a while for anyone to answer, but she wasn't surprised by that.  James was by himself monitoring two patients when she left.  But, it wasn't him who answered, it was Ribbon, answering from the wall panel in the OR.  "Report."

"Hi, Growl," the rainbow maned nurse glanced down, "um, I know it's my day off, but I was nearby and felt the confusion and panic, so I came in."  She glanced back, then shook her head, reacting to something only she could hear.  "Okay, wow.  Um, James filled me in on most of the stuff that happened, and I helped him set them up with a better tuned filtering and antidote.  The neural suppressant is pretty much gone.  Mac regained consciousness briefly, but was still hallucinating.  I restrained him long enough for Mezzo to sedate him, and we are keeping a very close eye on him in case it happens again."

Ribbon winced suddenly in disgust.  "I did not need to see that," she muttered.  "Right now, he seems to be in a dream like state, but the hallucinogenics in his system have him pretty agitated.  If we don't see an improvement soon, James and I may look into speeding up the timeline on his kidney replacement, so his body can filter the medications faster.  Artificial blood filtering is only helping so much."

Ribbon blushed furiously.  "Definitely did not need to see that one."  She shook her head.  "Fluttershy is still conscious, but in a poor state.  She seems to be experiencing hallucinations, but can tell that they aren't real.  The stimulants in her system are making it worse, but the beta blockers are keeping her from panicking.  She is mentally holding herself together on willpower alone.  Her body seems to be metabolizing the medications quickly, and she should be over the hallucinations in about an hour."

"Good.  Keep me up to date."  Growl glanced down at herself.  She may be able to spare the time to get cleaned up before returning to medical.  "Is Lilybelle back yet?"

Ribbon shook her head.  "I haven't seen her."  she closed her eyes and concentrated for a moment.  "I can't feel her, either, she isn't nearby."

"That's ok.  She's bringing Berry to see her friends," Growl explained.  "She gave them the poison without knowing it.  It was spiked alcohol. Some creep brought her to his quarters, and offered it to her, then wouldn't let her leave.  She fought him off, knocked him out, and left with the bottle.  When they get there, tell them it wasn't her fault, and that the creep is in custody on the surface.  It seems he was a wanted stallion."

Ribbon nodded.  "I will.  It shouldn't take them long to get here."

Growl nodded.  "Tell Berry, I'm sorry for accusing her.  And tell Lilybelle to take a break, she pushed herself hard today, she deserves a nap."









In a quiet hallway, somewhere between the Philomena's docking bay and medical, Lilybelle was already taking that nap, courtesy of a stunner bolt from a side corridor.

A unicorn stallion in body armor let out a scream as his leg snapped.  After the the pink nurse collapse in front of her, Berry pressed herself to the wall.  Adrenaline kicked in fast, fear and anger springing up with her heart rate.  And when a stallion ran up to check on the fallen mare, she had tackled him, grabbing the limb, and continuing the roll before twisting in the other direction.

He had a companion down the hallway, who moved to help him, but the pink pony was up and firing the first stallion's stunner indiscriminately.  His armor absorbed wave after wave of energy, and most blasts went wide, but the bright flashes of blue light obscured his vision.  It wasn't until they stopped, and he blinked away the after image that he saw her charging at him.

He raised his own stunner to stop her, but she was too close.  She side-stepped his blast, closed the distance, and reared up.  She knocked the helmet off his head before she lost balance, and as she fell, chomped down hard on his ear.  She was able to drag him to ground like this, and started striking blows to his neck and face.

He raised his hooves to protect himself, and she tore the stunner from his hoof.  It was stuffed under the back of his armor and fired several times before he could react.

As he went limp, two more figures grabbed Berry off of him.  They dragged her back, clamping a cloth over her face, and shouting at each other that, "this was not according to plan!"

Twisting, and grabbing, she managed to snag a hoof-full of silvery white hair.  She yanked a short humanoid, even shorter than Flint, out from behind her.  He had coppery colored skin, and she kicked him hard in the nose.

He bled green.

The hands that still held her gripped tighter.  She could feel claws pricking her skin.  She refused to let go of her dwarven attacker, and kept kicking him, focusing on his ribs.  Her first kick yielded a sharp crack, but she felt her strength waning, and only got a few more kicks in before he managed to pull away.

But, before he was completely out of reach, Berry managed to steal a weapon from his belt.  A dagger, gold and ornamented, more likely a cultural oddity than meant as a tool.  The last, and largest attacker shifted his grip as the pony tried to stab blindly behind her.

He grabbed the hoof with the knife, at the expense of his grip on her body.  She twisted away from him, but he held fast to her hoof.  He pushed forward, tackling her to the ground, and she saw him for the first time.  A dragon, many times her size, mottled green-grey like moss, scales bristling as he looked down with wide eyes.

Berry locked eyes on his as he held her down with sheer weight.  She growled at him as she fought to free her hoof.  His other claw scrambled to grab the cloth he dropped.  She still had the dagger.  She could still fight, and she saw in his eyes the same thing she saw in her own reflection when she faced Vizor.  "You're afraid," she told him as she twisted her hoof down.

He slapped the cloth over her mouth as the knife broke the scales on his arm.  "You're damn right I am!"  He tried to twist his arm away, while she twisted her hoof for a better cut, pressing the tip of the blade slowly deeper between scales.  A millimeter, two, agonizingly slow, blood welling up in the tiny, growing, wound.  "Agh!"  He squeezed his claws harder as the knife slipped deeper, drawing blood of his own.  He grit his sharp teeth and fangs against the pain.  "Damn monster!"

The dragon's bleeding humanoid companion didn't point out the irony as he dragged himself over.  Instead, he did what he could to hold her hoof back, to keep his knife from digging any deeper into his friend as the sleeping potion soaked into the rag worked its magic.
> Keep Your Friends Close,
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------

Astral woke up in a crater.  The smoking ruins of some sort of building surrounding him.  Beyond the rim of the crater, probably four or five meters out, several angry pegasi glared at him.  One of them stood with with his hooves at the very edge of the destruction, clearly the leader.

He stood up slowly.  There was no pain, and a quick check showed that his coat was spared the scorching around him.  He also saw that he was alone in the crater.  Where was Twilight?

The lead pegasus stepped into the crater.  "Just couldn't stand it, could you?"

Astral looked back at him.  He was younger than Coffee, and a lighter shade of brown.  His walnut colored mane had green streaks in it, and his grey eyes were filling with tears.  His teeth ground together as he stared in anger.

Astral swallowed hard, realizing the pony was angry at him.  For what, Astral had no idea, but he had a feeling he was about to find out.

"Answer me!"  The pegasus demanded, stomping his hoof.  "Is it so wrong for a pegasus to own something in this city?  My restaurant was nothing but a shack compared to any other around here.  Why do you care?"

Astral swallowed hard, taking a closer look at the debris around him.  They were in a back alley, between large buildings of glass stone, in the remains of a wooden hut.  His restaurant?  There was enough power in that teleport to destroy a small building?  "No, this isn't..."

"Shut up!"  The pegasus stamped his hoof.  "You've been threatening me for weeks.  But this...  You could have hurt my customers, my friends, all to get at me?"

"No!"  Astral shook his head.  This wasn't good.  He was surrounded, with no weapon and no escape plan, by ponies he couldn't hope to outrun.  "This was an accident.  A teleport that went wrong."

He scoffed at Astral's explanation.  "And now you think I'm stupid?  Today is the last!  That was carved on my door this morning.  You're just making excuses because you were caught.  What sort of teleport has the power to destroy a building?  Or creates blue lightning?  We only had time to get out because we ran from the lightning."

"Something went wrong.  There was another pony with me," Astral explained, "a purple mare.  We teleported from a space station in orbit.  Where is she?"

"If she was here, she left before the explosion."  He spat on the ground.  "Coward."

"Take that back!"  Astral clamped his mouth shut.  He didn't even think before saying that.  "She isn't a coward," he continued a bit more calmly, "and this was an accident."

The pegasus lifted his head as sirens sounded in the distance.  "Then they'll find that a unicorn perished in this accident."

"Oh, crap," Astral muttered as the pegasus launched himself forward.

The unicorn stepped back and right, dodging the punch aimed at his head.  Back and left to dodge the follow-up.  The pegasus was in flight and still punching, so Astral resorted to launching stones from the ground.  With every step back, a stone hit the pegasus in the hoof, pushing him deeper into every swing.

He grew angrier with every miss, and once Astral was backed against a wall, he raised both hooves for a vicious strike.  Astral jumped forward, ducking under the pegasus, and grabbing him by the tail.

Astral tucked and rolled, pulling the pegasus by the tail, and slamming him onto his back.  Another pegasus tackled Astral, and the unicorn grabbed his new attacker as they rolled.  The sirens were growing louder.  Astral pinned him down, noticing the similar color scheme, and shouted out, "Will all of you just stop?!"

Most of them did, but the pegasus that first attacked him squared up with him, scraping his hoof on the ground.  He snorted in anger.  "Let go of my brother."

Astral looked straight at him.  "And then you attack me again?  You know what?"  The unicorn stepped back.  "Go ahead!  I don't care how bad this day is going, I am not taking a hostage."

The angry pegasus rushed forward, and pulled his brother away from Astral.

Astral pointed his hoof skyward.  "What do you think is going to happen when those sirens get here?  Whose side do you think they're going to take?  They are getting damn close."  The pegasi outside the crater exchanged glances and started running off.  Pretty soon, it was just Astral and two light brown pegasi.  "I'm sorry about your restaurant, but it truly was an accident."

The younger one, the brother that Astral had pinned earlier was trying to drag his brother away, whispering things to him.  The only words Astral made out were, "It's not worth it," repeated over and over.

It didn't persuade the older brother.  He stood unmoving, keeping Astral firmly centered in his gaze.

"Gah!"  Astral stomped his hoof in frustration.  The sirens were growing louder.  If they didn't leave now...  "I swear, on my father's wings, this was an accident!"

That got both ponies' attention.

"Your father?" asked the younger brother, turning to look at Astral, eyes as green as the streaks in his brother's mane.  "A pegasus?"

Astral shook his head.  "A night pony.  You might call them a thestral?"

"A bat-wing?"  The younger brother was definitely taking over the conversation.  "I thought they were wiped out, centuries ago, during the war."

"He wasn't from this planet, and neither am I."  The sirens were painfully loud now.  Even if they ran, there was no chance they wouldn't be seen.  "Look, it's too late to run.  I can get us away from here safely, but you have to trust me."

The older brother seemed to have calmed down a little, but he was still suspicious of Astral's motivation.  "And why should we trust you?"

"Because, my friend-"  Astral looked skyward.  The full weight of the situation was settling in.  "Because, the mare I love is out there, somewhere, and she's hiding her wings."

The sirens were nearly deafening by now, and the sound of hovercars could be made out among them.  There was no more time to argue.  Emergency responders would be on top of them in seconds.  Whether that meant fire suppression, rescue teams, medical crews, or a police force, was anypony's guess.

"Start digging," Astral commanded, throwing himself at a pile of broken boards and tossing them aside.

The brothers exchanged glances, realizing the plan immediately.

"Is anypony in there?!" shouted the older brother.

The younger one started digging near Astral.  "You should stand back," he whispered, "use your magic, and leave the physical labor to us, it will be more believable."

"My magic's crap," Astral answered quietly, "and I'm already covered in dirt."  A glance towards the alley entrance showed an armored vehicle landing.  Astral stopped working to wave them down.  "Help!  There may still be ponies trapped!"






A slender earth pony stood in front of Astral, clad in scuffed and dirty ballistic armor.  Her coat was teal-blue, but faded to white at her hooves.  One of which was held out towards the unicorn.  "Thanks again, Mr. Plane.  I'm glad we didn't find anypony in the rubble, but your efforts here were still greatly appreciated."

Astral shook the police chief's hoof, smiling nervously.  "No problem, Chief.  I couldn't just do nothing."

The earth pony sighed miserably, running a hoof through her darker teal mane.  "If only there were more unicorns like you around."  She indicated the cordoned off crater.  "This is the first pegasi-owned business in the capitol.  And, I'm sure you felt the residual magic in there.  Hell, I felt it, and I'm an earth pony.  Somepony didn't want this place to exist."

Astral nodded slowly, looking back at the crater.  "Yeah...  How are you going to track them down?"

She shrugged.  "Well, we took a scan of the magic, with any luck, we can match it to a member of one of the groups that has been threatening this place.  Though, to be honest, the gang we had pegged most likely to carry out an attack got busted yesterday, buying and transporting mining explosives without a license.  Last member was picked up this morning, tagging pegasi owned buildings with threatening messages."

Astral looked back at her.  "Did Flinch get to tell you?  He had some graffiti on his door this morning.  This is the last day, or something like that?"

"Today is the last," she corrected.  "The same message has been popping up all over town.  Flinch and Scratch both gave statements, but neither of them saw anything useful.  They were too busy getting customers out."  She sighed as she stared at the crater.  "And now, I'm going to be forced to arrest them because of this city's messed up vagrancy laws."

"Wait, what?!"  Astral glanced back.  The two pegasi were picking a few small items out of the rubble with the help of a burly unicorn with speckled green fur.  "Why?"

"They lived in that restaurant."  She waved over a red earth pony who seemed to be filling out reports near one of their two armored aircars.  "Red, get them an evidence bag or two for their things."  As he nodded and ducked into the aircar, she turned back to Astral.  "The mayor instituted strict laws regarding homeless pegasi in response to the Chairman's new policies.  If they can't find a place to stay by curfew, I'll have to arrest them."

"Sounds like you don't agree with the mayor."

"I don't," she snorted.  "We're a heavy response team.  We're supposed to protect this city from everything the regular forces can't handle.  Hostage situations, terrorist attacks, not picking up down on their luck pegasi."

Astral chewed it over.  "Then, if you don't mind me asking, why does that duty fall to your team?"

"Because," she shrugged, "I volunteered for it.  It earned me a bad rep with the local pegasi, but I know I treat the ones we pick up better than most departments would."

Astral nodded.  "Well, what if they stayed with me?  I'm in town for business, and staying at a hotel uptown.  I'm sure they won't mind."

"Oh," she said excitedly, "is it the Overlook?  I love that place.  The rooms are huge."

"Yeah, I think that's it" Astral agreed.  "Company's putting me up, so it's a big room, even has a small kitchen."

"Well, I'll let you talk it over with Flinch and Scratch, but I have no objections.  And if the hotel does, just tell them they're your personal chefs.  It's a common job in this city, and one of the few that are legally protected."

Astral nodded.  "Good to know.  I'll go see if they're ok with it."

The chief nodded as he walked away.  She returned to the lead aircar.  Everything here was as sorted as she could manage, and it would be up to an investigations team from here.  She just had to file her reports and keep the site secure until they got here.

She sat down in the driver's seat, and put on a radio headset.  On the console beside her steering column, she pulled up the communications screen.  "This is Hurt One, to Headquarters.  Repeat, Heavy Response Team One, to Headquarters."

"This is Headquarters," answered a voice through the headset, "go ahead Hurt One."

"Situation Secure.  Requesting investigation at documented location PT One-zero-two.  Threats made against the pegasi at this location have culminated in a magic-based explosive attack.  One building destroyed, no major injuries."

"Any displaced pegasi?"

The chief rolled her eyes.  That was hardly a priority right now, was it?  "Negative, HQ.  All victims have accommodations for the night.  Scans of the perpetrator's magical signature will be uploaded in a few minutes, please run them against members of the Earth Alliance and Hoof's Down."

"Roger that."  There was a pause, and the dispatcher whispered, "Sorry, the super was standing over my shoulder.  You know how he feels about the issue.  Should we compare the magic to the members of Wingless Dawn?"

The chief shook her head.  "Shouldn't be necessary.  This blast was too large for a time-delayed spell, and they've been in custody since yesterday."

The voice over the headset suddenly spoke softer.  "You mean, they haven't told you?"

"Told me what?"

"Wingless Dawn was pardoned, by the mayor himself, nearly two hours ago.  Some clerk found the permit for the explosives, and somepony from the Hard Hoof Mining company was saying they were contractors."

"Contractors?!"  The chief kicked the steering column.  "They're an ex-military splinter group!  Two of their founding members were arrested in Cagro for trying to roast a pegasus over a fire.  Burned their wings off with a welding torch!"

"It was brought up, but...  They said it was rogue action by those two individuals."

"Bullshit!"

"Ma'am, I agree with you, but there's nothing you can do about it.  They are staying as the mayor's guests for tomorrow's business conference.  He also gave us a priority assignment.  Two ponies messed up a bar belonging to a friend of his on one of the space stations.  They're supposedly anti-government, but I couldn't find any real information about them."

Her screen popped up a pair of pictures, standard visitor id's for Interplanetary tourists.  First one was a purple unicorn, and the second...  The chief looked out the window.  Astral Plane, grey coat and dark blue mane.  He was over talking to Flinch and Scratch.

She looked back at the screen.  The eye color was wrong.  His eyes were yellow, bright, golden yellow, not blue like in the picture.  But, everything else was correct, even the name.  "What did they do?  You said they messed up a bar, what does that mean?  Did they trash the inside?  Break a window?  Blow it up?  Knock over a bottle of wine?  What?"

"I'm not sure.  I couldn't find any official reports.  It can't be anything too bad, the station hasn't even filed their daily report yet...  Huh."

"What is it?  Did you find anything?"

"Well, not really, um, but...  I just checked my travel app, and the station has a whole bunch of one-star reviews in just the last few hours.  And, lots of complaints about the owner."

"Huh."  The chief looked back out the window.  Flinch and Astral were shaking hooves while Scratch loaded his and his brother's things into the bags Green gave them.  "Well, put the info on our desks, and we'll look it over when we get back."
> And Your Wanted Fugitives Closer
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------

"I thought I said to wait."

A moss colored dragon looked away from the screen.  "Yes, sir, you did, but station security was beginning to take an interest in her.  When they left her alone, I felt it was now or never."  He took a deep breath and waited for a disciplinary message.  "I accept full responsibility for ordering my team into premature action."

The stallion on the screen shook his head.  "You made a judgement call on a high priority target, no one can fault that.  Do you feel it was the right one?"

The dragon winced.  "In hindsight, sir?  No."

"No?"  The stallion on the other end of the call raised an eyebrow.  "You did secure the target?  Was the information faulty?  Or, were there complications?"

The dragon nodded slowly, rubbing his bandaged arm.  "No, it's her, we checked dna on a used glass before capture, and ran the test again after securing her in the cell.  Just, I should have been more cautious.  Every member of my team is injured, myself included.  And, we stunned a civilian."

"I see."  There was silence for a moment.  "I'll await your report.  I expect it in my hooves as soon as you land."

"Yes, My Prince," the dragon bowed his head as the screen cut off.

Letting out a long sigh as he pulled his report back up, the dragon started writing.  He made the wrong call.  He should have waited until more agents were aboard the station, or until the target was alone.  Who would have thought that a lone mare would be able to overpower two armed and armored stallions?  Or hold her own against a dragon and a Dweveli?

A broken leg.  Four stunner bolts point-blank to the spinal column.  A broken nose and outer rib lattice.  A stab wound.  All from an undersized earth pony.  It would be weeks before the team was mission ready again.  But, at least they could rest secure in the knowledge that they had taken down a severe threat, and had it secured in a cell, on a shuttle, headed for a secure holding facility.

If only he knew that threat was dismantling the walls of her cell and pulling wires out.
> A History Lesson
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------

"This is a weird crest."  Dinky ran her hoof over the coffee table.  The wood was polished smooth, the carved crest filled even with the rest with some sort of metallic inlay.  "Does it have a meaning?"

Steel Catch looked up from the paperwork that covered his desk.  There were a lot of items in his study that bore some sort of symbolic imagery.  Most of them filled the intricately fashioned display cases lining the walls, and he expected to see her standing at one of them, inspecting some sort of artifact. Instead, he saw the filly sitting on the couch, right where she sat down nearly thirty minutes earlier.  Weren't teenagers supposed to be more rambunctious and uncontrollable?  This one was a perfectly behaved angel.

The Chairman set down the agricultural report, and made his way over, sitting down on the opposite couch.  The study was made to function as an informal conference room, so the coffee table had a couch on either side.  "The broken horn."  Steel Catch ran his hoof over the table.  "It's an ancient symbol, the mark of the first Storm King."

Dinky looked up from the table.  "The mean pegasus that blocked the sun?"

"Oh, no."  Steel Catch shook his head.  "He used the crest as a symbol of his power over the broken and beaten unicorns and earth ponies, much like some of us now use the crumpled feather to signify our victory over the pegasi, but he was not the first.  The first Storm King was a unicorn, the Shadow of the Tempest, a leader lost to legend.  And she ruled alongside another King, one of the land.  His name is no longer known, but he was a flightless pegasus, and the crumpled feather was his symbol."

She nodded slowly.  "Did they fight each other?"

"No, not at all."  Steel Catch got up, grabbing a small vase from a pedestal.  It was centuries old, if not millennia.  The magics involved in its creation distorting any attempt at ascertaining an accurate age.  Though, analysis revealed something more interesting than its age.  The magic woven into the ceramic was similar to his, most likely an ancestor.  "This is an amphora."  He sat down next to the filly, turning it over in his hooves.  "It was once used to hold wine, and supposedly belonged to Storm King.  Legends say the Land and Storm Kings met once every week to share a meal and discuss matters of their respective kingdoms.  They would start the meal by sharing a drink from this vessel, or one very much like it."

"Ew," the filly stuck her tongue out, "they didn't use separate cups?"

The chairman chuckled at her silly display of disgust and shook his head.  "Nope.  They drank from the same vessel, in full view of their subjects, to symbolize that both kingdoms drink from the same vessel.  That the land and the storm must share the same planet, and that there is enough for both."  He offered her the vessel.  "Go ahead, it's enchanted to be unbreakable."

Dinky took it and looked it over.  There were images and designs glazed over the entire surface, but the two largest were a broken horn surrounded by clouds, and a crumpled feather surrounded by mountains.  "I don't understand.  Why was there a war if they were friends?"

"This was thousands of years ago," Steel Catch reminded her.  "After the first Storm King died, another storm King was chosen.  Only, this time, she was a pegasus.  When the Land King died,  his son took over.  He was also a pegasus.  Many years later, their children were married, uniting the roles of Storm and Land as King and Queen.  Then, their son, ruled alone, opting for the title of Storm King, and discarding Land entirely.  He was a storied ruler, great and just, and his efforts to preserve ancient knowledge for future generations are the only reason we know anything from this time period.  With such a well loved and deserving Storm King, nopony card that the title of Land King was lost.  Tirassa was unified, and there was peace for a long time."

Dinky set the amphora down on the table.  Sure, Mr. Catch said it was unbreakable, but given her genetics, holding things like priceless heirlooms and artifacts always made her nervous.  "What happened?"

"A volcanic eruption."  The chairman twisted in his seat to point at the ornate tapestry behind them.  Its design was dominated in reds and browns, and depicted an entire city falling victim to the fire and fury below the planet's surface.  "Twelve hundred years ago.  It changed the weather, covered the planet in clouds, and the pegasi became the true rulers of the planet.  Many died immediately, many more in the famines that followed.  The Storm King at that time implemented harsh laws to keep as many ponies alive as possible.  The land and clouds were broken up into small city states, mostly near tall mountains, or areas where the clouds could be controlled.  The pegasi would keep the skies clear, the earth ponies would farm the land, and the unicorns would do their best to find a way to fix everything."

He loooked back at Dinky.  "This ended up becoming a caste based system very quickly.  With the Pegasi on the upper rungs of society.  Earth ponies were next, and the unicorns, out of fear of magic, were treated the worst.  The breaking of a unicorn's horn was a common punishment, and the ancient symbol of the storm King was dredged up as a spiteful slur.

Still, we survived.  Technology continued to advance, communities continued to grow, all while the environment slowly healed from the volcanic cataclysm.

Roughly four hundred years ago, the cloud cover had thinned enough that some settlements could get by without pegasi intervention.  They were left to their own devices as the pegasi scouted out new locations for farming communities.  Taxes and tributes of food and goods were still demanded, but mostly, they were left alone.

three hundred and twenty years ago, first contact was made with the  Galactic Assembly.  They weren't as large then as they are now, but were still an impressive power.  And the ideas they brought with them, equality, unity, harmony, and especially the thought of elected governments, were threats to the pegasi.  Their ship never left the planet.

It was seventy years before they made contact again, but by that time, we had reverse engineered a good deal of their technology, and integrated some of our own.  It was made clear that they were unwelcome, and that any interference would mean war.  Around the same time, we made contact with other powers in the galaxy.  Small planetary coalitions, criminal groups, independent planets, and many of them were willing to trade goods and technology.  The Storm King used the new technology to stir up massive storms, sealing the surface away from sunlight, sparing only those farming communities that pledged their loyalty while paying unfair taxes and harsh tributes.

This led to the war I was telling you about before.  The one that ended when my ancestor killed the Storm King and took his place.  He had grown up in a small village listening to the stories told by the survivors of the Galactic Assembly's first contact ship. So, he wanted to implement changes that mirrored the Assembly.  Elected governments, reduced taxes, personal freedoms and protections, for all ponies on the planet.  But, anger towards the pegasi for years of suffering caused resistance to his plans.  He was unable to make things happen on his own, and hatred won out.  His plans were put in place, but only for earth ponies and unicorns, leaving the pegasi where they are now."

Dinky nodded her head in sad understanding.  "And that's why momma doesn't get to go everywhere with us."

"It's alright," he reassured her, patting the filly on the back.  "All this is going to change, and soon.  I promise."

"That green meanie doesn't want it to," Dinky pointed out.  "I don't like him.  The way he looks at you scares me."

"They way he looks at me?"  Steel Catch shook his head.  This filly definitely had decent intuition, and so did her mother.  "He's just mad because the new laws override the ones in his city, and he doesn't get to be as mean to the pegasi as he wants."  He leaned in and whispered, "just wait until the Pegasi get to vote, he won't be mayor for very long after that, will he?"  The filly laughed, shaking her head no, and Steel Catch ruffled her mane.  "Yeah, you bet he won't."

The chairman hopped off the couch and stretched out with a loud groan.  "Oh, I've been working on paperwork too long, I need a break!  I feel like having some tea, don't you?"

Dinky's ears perked up at the mention, and she nodded happily.

Steel Catch smiled.  She was a quiet filly, that was for sure.  But, when she had something to say, nothing would stop her from saying it.  He looked around like he didn't notice the nodding, acting out listening intently.  "That's odd, nopony wants to take a tea break?  Oh, well..."

"I do!" Dinky all but shouted.

Steel Catch laughed loudly.  "Of course, I should have known you would.  I bet you were nodding your head and I wasn't paying attention again."

"Um, yeah."  Dinky shrugged.  "Sorry."

"Don't be sorry, little one, be loud!"  He struck a pose.  "Even if you don't know what you're talking about, if you say it with confidence, ponies will listen."  He suddenly looked puzzled, and started scratching his chin.  "Wait a minute, I think I just figured out how the green meanie got elected.  He's so confident, that it's almost impossible for anypony to tell that he doesn't know anything."

Dinky rubbed her chin as well.  "Then, if we wasn't as confident, would ponies see start to see through him?  How can we make that happen?"

"You just keep being you," Steel Catch told her as he walked to his desk.  "He can't handle it when anypony ignores his inflated sense of authority."  The chairman pressed a button on his desks intercom, and spoke loudly, "Secretary Kettle, are you there?"

"Yes, sir," came the answer, almost immediately.  "What can I do for you?"

"I am breaking for tea," he gave Dinky an exaggerated wink, "would you kindly escort my, 'housekeeper,'" he made exaggerated air quotes with his hoof, "to my study?"

"Of course, sir," she said with a chuckle, "breaks are very important, after all."

"I'm glad you understand."  Steel Catch bowed to his secretary as he clicked off the intercom.  

"I like Miss Kettle," Dinky said, in a rare example of unprovoked conversation.  "That that thing in her nose looks like it hurts, but she doesn't treat anypony any different than anypony else."

"That's why she works for me."  Steel Catch walked back to the couch.  "I chose all my closest staff very carefully, knowing that my position on certain things might be unpopular.  I needed the support of ponies who understood that no pony is more or less deserving of basic rights and decency because they were born with-"  He stopped mid-sentence.  Steel Catch had turned to face the door, smile dissolved, and eyes snapped into a harsh, angry determination.  It was even scarier to Dinky than the way the mayor looked at pegasi.  "Did you feel that?"

The filly looked over, but she didn't see anything.  "Feel what?"

"Nothing," he reassured, keeping his eyes on the door.  "A slight magic surge, I can teach you to detect them sometime."  He offered a smile as he stood up, mentally kicking himself for scaring her.  "Would you like that?"

She nodded, but kept glancing at the door.  What did he feel that she couldn't?  What made him show that face earlier?  "Is something wrong?"

"I'm sure it's nothing."  He made his way to the door, and punched in a code on the keypad.  He hated to leave her, but he needed to check.  "Wait here for a moment."

The door opened, and he slipped through, keeping a wary eye on the hallway beyond.  He stood ready, waiting for a movement from behind every plant, or a shadow down every hallway.  Whatever that surge was, it was strong.

The door closed behind him, and a second code, entered on the keypad on this side locked it tight.  Nopony would be able to open it, from either side, without his personal unlock code.  The room behind was now the most secure in the building.  Energy shielded, magic shielded, with a door operable only by the last of the Storm King's lineage.  Dinky was perfectly safe in there.

With that taken care of, he snuck down the hall, slinking between doorways, and keeping to the walls.  It was quiet, and that made him uneasy.  The surge of magic he felt was no trivial matter.  Its power, plus the sudden nature and immediate dissipation made him suspect an explosion of some kind.  But, if that were the case, there would be alarms sounding, security teams rushing to rally points, and all other sorts of commotion.

Hearing steps down one of the connecting hallways, Steel Catch ducked behind a potted plant, a large tree-like flower from the southern hemisphere.  He cast an invisibility cloak on himself, wiping himself from sight.  It wasn't a perfect spell, and left an outline if you stood in the open, but sneaking through shadows would make up for its limitations.

He also readied another spell, an energy blade.  It hummed to life, vibrant yellow and buzzing.  An adjustment to the spell quickly brought its oscillating hum to a pitch outside a pony's hearing range, and its color to a nearly invisible faint blue.  A quick test on the plant put a slice through the trunk with no resistance felt.

Bracing himself, he listened.  Another sound added itself to the steps as the steps themselves changed pattern.  The sound of wheels on carpet, something being dragged along.

Recognizing the sound, Steel Catch let his energy blade dissipate.  He slipped down the hallway behind the janitor and the trashcan he pulled.  The earth pony never realized anypony went by.

Heading down the hallway, Steel Catch crept by a breakroom.  One pony inside, the media intern, brewing one of the exotic teas he liked push on everypony.

Even further down the hall, at the security checkpoint, it was life as usual for the two guards in uniform.  Spit and Polish, twin brothers skilled in illusion magic, were playing a game, using magic to project images of characters on the floor between them, and then having them duke it out.

Steel Catch stood right in front of them and cleared his throat as he dissolved his invisibility spell.  "Report," he demanded softly, "now."

The two brothers looked up like a pair of teens caught with filly pictures, and swallowed hard.  Their game faded as they stopped supplying their illusions with energy.  "N-nothing to report," Spit managed to get out, "um, sir."

"All quiet," Polish added, "not even anything on security cameras as of..." He glanced down at his watch.  It was the only way to tell the two apart, Polish had a nice, shiny copper wristwatch, while Spit wore one of black titanium.  "Nothing on cameras as of thirty-nine seconds ago, fourty seconds, fourty-one-"

Spit elbowed his brother to make him stop.  "We also checked in with the other posts a minute ago, and supervisor Frost decided to go for a walk-  I mean, go on patrol right after."

The chairman raised an eyebrow.  "And you started playing games the second he was out of sight?"  With a sigh, be shook his head.  "Did either of you feel a magic surge a moment ago?"

"Faintly," said Spit.

"Kind of," answered Polish.  "Frost noticed it too, she went to see if one of the other unicorns on this floor might have dropped something that was too heavy for 'em."

"There was too much magic for that."  Steel Catch rubbed his chin.  It would be nice if he was worried over nothing, but he didn't think he was.  "Check the cameras again, then contact the other guardposts.  And run a lifesigns sweep of the building, make sure the numbers match the entrance logs."

Both brothers saluted.  "Yes, sir!"

Spit stepped to the side, and brought his hoof to the communicator clipped to his ear.  And, as he started checking in with the other floors, Polish threw a beam of magic at the wall behind him.  The wall started to lose its opacity, and within seconds there was an oval portal allowing them to look into the next room.

"Clever," Steel Catch appraised as he glanced into the room.

Dozens of screens split into dozens more video feeds from throughout the building painted a real-time picture of life in the Capitol building, monitored by three ponies seated at the monitors, and a supervisor pacing behind them.  Seeing the sudden glare on the monitors he turned to berate an intruding guard, any words of complaint dying when he saw the Chairman of Tirassa standing behind him instead.  He saluted, hurriedly acknowledging the Chairman's presence.  "Sir!"

"At ease."  Steel Catch let his eyes wander the monitors.  Everything was calm on those little screens.  Each feed a small slice of downright boring day to day monotony.  Nothing out of place, nothing out of the ordinary, except for one thing.  "Where's miss Kettle?"

Steel Catch put his hoof forward, and found the invisible wall to be as solid as ever.  So, he teleported into the surveillance room.  This set off several silent alarms, but everypony quickly entered the necessary codes into their consoles to disarm them.  His eyes scanned the screens again, searching for a pony with a cast iron black coat, and a mane of the brightest, most eye-jarring neon green you'll ever see on something that wasn't leaking radiation.  "Play back the feed from outside my office, and outside my study, for the last few minutes."

"Yes, sir."  The supervisor motioned to one of the surveillance techs, and they set to work.  The frames shifted, most of them moving to another monitor as two particular videos filled this one.

They may as well have been still images.  Two feeds, two doors, two nondescript sections of empty hallway.  Except for the angle of the camera, there were no differences between the videos.

Until a pony walked into view.  On the right side video feed, a black unicorn with a crazy green mane and tail, styled up neatly as ever, approached the door, and knocked.

The door was opened within seconds.  A grey pegasus with a blonde mane let miss Kettle into the Chairman's office with a smile, and closed the door behind her.

"Accelerate the feed until they leave," ordered the supervisor.

"Already have sir," was the Tech's immediate response.  On the left side of the screen, Steel Catch exited his study, locked the door, and left screen at a comically fast pace.  "Approaching real-time playback..." he waited a few seconds, "now."

There was no change on screen.  Two doors, still as ever.

Steel catch frowned.  He didn't like this at all.  "Go over all the camera feeds during the time between miss Kettle entering my office, and myself leaving the study.  Look for any irregularities, no matter how minor.  There was a magic surge somewhere in the building, a strong one, and I want it identified."

"Sir?" The supervisor whispered, moving close enough to the chairman to keep his voice from the technicians.  "Was that pegasus in your office unsupervised?  That's a serious breach of-"

"An unexplained burst of magic occurred inside this building," Steel Catch interrupted, "I think that is the worse security breach compared to me trusting my housekeeper, don't you?"

"Of course, sir," said the supervisor, stepping away.

"I'm going to check on miss Kettle, then return here.  If you find anything, alert the nearest security team to check it out."  Steel Catch transported himself out of the room and looked over at Spit and Polish, both of whom were closer than he expected.  "One of you, come with me."

Steel Catch set off before they had a chance to answer.  It was Spit who followed him.  His office was only two corridors away, and they reached it in under a minute.  

"Sir," Spit said suddenly, "Surveillance sees us,and reports no change, miss Kettle and your servant should still be in there."   Steel Catch frowned at the guard's choice of words, but he had other things to worry about.  He keyed in his personal code on the door and went moved to enter, but Spit stopped him.  "Respectfully, Sir, this is my job."

When the door slid open, Spit walked into the room.  Rather, a projection of himself walked through the door.  the real Spit stayed where he was for a moment horn glowing as he wove his illusion.

"Hello," called the projection, checking behind an alcove and the reception desk, "anypony here?  Miss Kettle?  Miss Hooves?"

Weapon drawn, the real Spit entered the room behind the projection.  He headed to the door that led to the main office, and hit the control.  He stood off to the side as it opened, hiding as his projection strolled into the room front and center.

The real one followed seconds later.  "Sir, the room is empty, but you might want to take a look at this."

Steel Catch headed in to find Spit standing in the middle of the office, next to a table with supplies for making tea.  He was looking down at the carpet, at a scorch mark large enough for two ponies to stand on.

Steel Catch stared at the mark in breathless shock.  "What..."  All sorts of terrible scenarios were running through his head right now.  "What is this?"

"I don't know, sir."  Spit shook his head.  "But, I don't like the looks of it."
> Hallways and Always
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------

Radio stood in front of his door, and adjusted the collar of his suit.  Jasper had good taste, he had to admit, but the fit could use some adjustment.

After a fifteen minute visit to a barber, and a half-hour visit to a tailor, they had just spent nearly two hours on a video call going over various concerns of the Furian government via subnet.  He was only there to show that the Galactic Assembly was interested in including Furians in every step of the integration process, but he was still happy to be included.

There would be official negotiations later, but those mostly had to do with trade agreements, and import-export taxes, which had predetermined caps anyway.  Everything important had been ironed out already.  The galaxy would come to Furia's aid if ever necessary, and Furia agreed to do the same.  And towards that end, the Assembly would give them a headstart on building up their fleet.

It was difficult to believe that the Cruisers left in orbit over a week ago were going to be gifted to Furia, and military personnel trained to take over their operation and maintenance.  It was even more difficult to believe that Furia would be maintaining near total sovereignty, with the exception of a few core laws that were deemed universal within the Assembly.  It was non-negotiable that they be put into place,  but most of them were already in place within the current legal system.

But, the few extra laws were ones that would have saved him and Ribbon a whole lot of pain.  He rubbed his leg with a hoof.  How many times had he broken that bone?  Even ignoring the hairline crack he suffered on Sevus, it was well over a hundred.  Most of them self-inflicted at the urging of the scientist who was supposed to be his doctor.

His pain gave the galaxy bone paste.  But, it didn't end there.  There were more experiments run, all of them without approval or oversight.  They became more and more painful, but the promise of improving medical technology was a powerful lure for two foals who wanted to save their mother.

He and Ribbon put up with more than they ever should have for that goal.  His experiments centered on his lack of scar tissue.  Hers focused on her unique physicality and mental abilities.  It only ended when an experiment went too far, and hurt Ribbon with an experimental medication.

Radio sighed slowly.  Only, the scientist didn't technically do anything.  He talked brother and sister through a theory, coaxed them into designing and creating a serum to maximize their latent abilities.  He didn't even have to try convincing them to inject themselves with it.  By the time it was done, they couldn't be talked out of it.  It didn't seem affect the colt, but Ribbon reacted poorly.  Dad managed to stabilize her, and create an antidote for the medication, but most of the damage was done.  She gained a seven percent increase in muscle density at the cost of permanently stunting her growth, and increasing her telepathic range.

And even after all that, he and Ribbon tried to argue against the scientist being banished.  Nothing he did was technically illegal, as the scientist had argued, and it would help bring mom back, as he and Ribbon argued.  It took years to realize that what happened was wrong, and that healing their mother was never the goal.

All of which would have been illegal under Galactic law.  Modification of living beings for military purposes was completely banned.  He and Ribbon would only have received the minimum amount of augmentation to ensure that they could live healthy lives despite the leftover augments from their father's genetics.  So many therapy sessions, EM gene treatments, and even surgeries never would have happened.

He found himself thinking about the filly he met earlier, Stormy.  He asked her what it was like to be normal.  Under Galactic Assembly law, he would have known the answer, and perhaps he still could.  Or, at the very least his descendants might?

He suddenly went red in the face.  He had never thought of it before, but, he was free to fall in love now.  Ponies that fall in love sometimes get married.  Married ponies have foals.  He might someday have foals of his own, and they wouldn't be forced into military service, to defend their entire planet from outside incursion.  They would never know that stress, the conflict of hating something, despite being the only one that can protect it, and knowing that doing so is the only way to protect what little you love.

He could make sure they had happy childhoods, and did stupid stuff like playing in mud.  He could take them floatfishing, and flying, and help them with homework like any of the billions of regular parents across the Assembly.

He could be normal.

"Radio?" asked a quiet voice as a hoof softly settled on his back.  "Are you crying?"

"Huh?"  He looked up, blinking at the blurry figure beside him.  The colors were unmistakable.  "Stormy?"  He wiped a hoof at his face, clearing away more moisture than he would have expected.  "You snuck up on me."

She shook her head, bouncing the stylized loops in her mane.  "You were staring at your door.  I called you from the end of the hall."

Radio stared at those loops for a moment.  They trailed and looped back, clipped into place with simple gold clips that matched her coat.  Her mane was longer than he remembered, and the styling gave her mane the appearance of smooth windswept clouds.  Her dress shifted with every movement, no matter how small, like wheat in the wind.    Her hooves were bound in simple sandals whose strings wrapped high up her legs, and she wore a necklace.

The necklace was a plain thing, but Radio stared at it.  A simple gold chain with a single uncut crystal.  The crystal was clear, but caught the light with a ghost of a rainbow on its natural facets.  Against her golden fur, he was home again.  The crystal spires rising over the wheat fields of Furia, under the clouds of a summer storm, promising life giving rain.

Stormy was starting to feel a bit self-conscious about the colt's staring, but she was staring back as well.  He was wearing a clean, crisp looking suit, well-tailored to his athletic build, and his hair was slicked back.  It was well-combed, but refused to be completely tamed, splaying out slightly at the end.  And his tie seemed to be woven of holographic glass. He looked good, and her dad would approve of the suit.  He was picky about suits.

"So, uh," she chuckled, "you clean up nice."

Radio swallowed hard, ears burning at the complement.  He needed to say something back!  "You...  You are truly beautiful."  And she was.  But, there had to be a better way to tell her.  Some way to let her know how he felt.  How looking at her compared only to the grandest vistas of the crystal moon.  And, beyond her appearance, she had given him hope!  Hope for the future, that he might one day be free of his past, and normal.  "Thank you."

Stormy scratched her ear, holding her hoof there once she was done.  "You're welcome, I guess."  Her smile was stuck.  It was embarassing- walking around campus like this, but Radio's reaction was pretty nice.  She let her hoof fall, only to be surprised by Radio catching it.  She glanced down, at her sandalled hoof resting in his own sleeved hoof, then back up meeting eyes with him.  "Huh?"

He leaned in a little.  "I mean it.  You are beautiful as a storm over the crystal plains, and I appreciate even being allowed to know you."

Stormy swallowed hard.  She really liked the way Radio complemented her.  He was well spoken, and so sincere.  It wasn't like trying to talk with colts back home.  There was no social navigation, hidden meanings, or blunt vulgarity, in his words.  Radio was a step beyond any other colt she knew, being able to give a complement without insulting her at the same time.  And, she wanted more.  "Go on," she prodded.

"I...  I don't know what else to say," the colt admitted, "you are amazing, and interesting, and I...  I..."

Stormy felt herself blushing.  Maybe Chrysalis was onto something.  She wasn't in love with this colt, but it wasn't an impossible outcome.  "Yes?"

"I..."  Radio suddenly gave up on words, and gave her hoof a gentle tug.  His wing stretched towards her, bracing against her shoulder as he leaned in.  Their muzzles tapped for less than a second before he pulled back.  "I'm, um, really glad I met you."

Stormy, eyes wide and cheeks ablaze, brought a hoof to her mouth.  "Same," she squeaked out.  That was a kiss!  That was an honest to goodness, I really like you, kiss.  On the lips!  And she enjoyed it, a lot.  She was not expecting that.  She needed to think about this.  Now.  "I'm gonna wait downstairs."

Wait, um," Radio reached for her as she turned and ran, but she was down the hall in an impressively short amount of time.  "Dinner isn't for another hour," he told the empty hallway.

"And if she's that excited about it, you've done something right."

A reddening Radio looked over at the young earth pony stallion who lived across the hall from him.  He was standing in the doorway of his dorm room, beside  him was a pegasus mare who looked like she just took a shower.  He recognized them.  "Oh, you were ponies playing tug of war against those unicorns the other day."

"Well, he was," the mare said with a smile, poking her stallion in the ribs.  "I just hang around to watch.  Windy Whispers."

"Huh?"  Radio took a second to realize that was her name.  "Oh, Radio Dancer."

"Sod Buster," replied the earth pony.  "So, you've got a date?  Good for you."

"Yeah," Windy agreed, "after hearing that crystal plains line, I imagine you're really into her.  And the way she held her wings after that kiss, I bet she's just as into you."

"Really?"  Radio looked down the hall to where Stormy had disappeared around the corner.

"Oh, he's definitely into her," Sod Buster laughed.  "Remember how I used to be when I learned how to read wings?"

"You mean, always staring at mine?  Of course."

"Only because I wanted to understand you better," he pointed out.  "But, I meant how nervous I was that I may have missed some sort of cue or gesture."

"Ah, that," Windy nodded.  "You're right, he does look nervous.  So, Radio, how long have you known this filly?"

"We, um, only met today.  Well, we met briefly yesterday."  Radio chuckled.  "I know, it sounds crazy, but I crashed in on her in a classroom yesterday, and today we had lunch, and went shopping, and it was a lot of fun, so we're going to dinner in a bit."

"Not crazy at all," Sod Buster told the colt.  "Everypony has first dates.  The trick is to not have a last date."

"That's what we did," Windy laughed.  "But it isn't for everypony."

Radio shook his head, not following.  "What do you mean?"

Windy ducked back into the room, for just a moment.  She came back with an earring on, tilting her head to show it off.  "We're getting married."

"Oh!  Yeah, that makes sense now.  Congratulations."  Radio scratched his neck.  "Um, I hope this doesn't sound rude, but how long have you been together?  Like, how long did it take to get to the point where marriage was even brought up as an option?"

"Oh," Sod Buster leaned over Windy, "he is damn serious about this filly, isn't he?"

"I didn't mean like that!" Radio hastily clarified, feathers ruffling.  "I just, never really considered it before, and was curious, since you mentioned it."

"Damn serious, indeed," Windy deadpanned.  "Kid, if this is the first filly to make you think about marriage, then she's somethin' special.  Hell, Buster here asked me to marry him about an hour after we met."

"Two," he corrected with a shrug.  "Pretty sure it was two.  Anyway, she said yes, and we've been together ever since."

"Yep."  Windy leaned against the stallion.  "Best ten days of my life."

Radio was very bad at hiding his confusion.  "Uh..."

"I'm joking," she reassured him.  "It's been ten years.  Neither of us are that impulsive when it comes to big decisions.  In fact, we're kind of the opposite, we take a lot of pleasure in sitting down for planning sessions."

"And sometimes, laying down," Sod Buster added with a smirk, earning a swift nudge in the ribs.  "Anyway, we went from two kids playing house to big ponies looking for a house, running off a question I blurted out because I didn't want to walk home alone.  Think about how crazy that is, and ask yourself if it's too crazy to consider here."

A blushing Radio looked away.  "Pretty sure it is.  Where from different planets, I hardly know her, and she hardly knows me, and-"

"Get to know her," Windy interrupted.  "Let her get to know you.  Swap contact info, and keep in touch.  Visit each other when you can.  Try and make it work.  Thank her and move on if it doesn't.  Don't over think it, just go for it.  If you don't go into it with everything you've got, you don't deserve her."

"Oh," Sod Buster jumped in, "but don't lose yourself in it.  If she likes you, you kind of need to stay you, if that makes sense."

"I think it does," Radio nodded slowly as Windy ducked back into the room.  "Thanks."

"No problem," Sod Buster chuckled, "you have fun tonight."

Windy came trotting back with something metallic held in in her wing.  "To that end," she said as she held it out, "take these.  I like 'em, and so will she."

"Uh, thanks."  Radio took what looked like a zig-zagged foil Ribbon.  Bright colors contrasted with bold black letters spaced evenly down the line, listing, "Grape, Orange, Toofa, Banana, Surberry, Zarzanan, and Watermelon."  It wasn't until he turned them over, and saw the fine print, that he realized what he was holding.

He quickly shoved them in his suit pocket, hiding them from view.

Windy laughed at the colt's embarrassment before dragging Sod Buster back into the room.  "Better get going," she said as she closed the door, "good luck."

"Thanks," a blushing Radio muttered, alone in the hall.  He double checked that.  He had to make extra sure that he was alone before checking his pocket.  He gulped as he pulled on the foil, separating a single pouch from the others.  He stared at it a moment, contemplating the strange machinations of the universe that brought him here, to this awkward moment.

His second day setting hoof on his second alien planet, and he already got his first girlfriend, had his first date, ate his first pretzel, and had his first kiss.  And now, he was holding a watermelon flavored condom.

It was absurd.  He and Stormy were going on their second date, his second date ever.  It was way to early to even consider needing this.  But, he found himself considering it as he stared at the little foil square.  How beautiful she looked in that dress, how much fun she was to talk to, the sound of her voice, even that little flap of her wings whenever she notices him looking at her.  If there was anypony in the galaxy he would even consider, it would be her.

Would she consider him in the same way?  At some point far, far in the future?  She seemed embarrassed by the kiss, but she was smiling as she ran away.  Isn't that the big cliche in fictional romances?  Wanting to see your loved ones smile, no matter what it takes?  He understood now.  It was like all the mushy stuff in every piece of mindless entertainment he consumed over his short lifetime was no longer just mush.

It was clarity inducing mush.

And for some reason, that sounds illegal.










Stormy sighed as she leaned against the wall.  Chrysalis was right.  She was falling in love with a rainbow-headed colt from beyond the stars.  

The kiss played over and over in her mind.  It was way too buckin' short, for one thing, but it was messing with her head more than it should be.  So was the rest of it.  When she proposed the idea of dating earlier, she was thinking a little practice fling while they were both on Canterlot.  Something to help get used to this particular sort of interaction.

She wasn't expecting a serious colt-friend.

If this kept up, saying good bye in a few weeks would be tough.  Or would they even do that?  They could keep in touch over subnet.  They could visit each other.

She found herself wondering what the crystal plains looked like during a storm, since that was how he chose to describe her.  Would he be willing to take her there?  And she could take him to the solar domes.  Take him flying through the old mining canyons.  Even Spot was too chicken to go flying there, but something about Radio told her he would feel right at home.

She saw him come down the stairs, fussing with his suit.  His wings straightened, tugged the wrinkles out, and restraightened his tie several times more than necessary.  He was nervous, she could see that, but he was smiling.  Just like everything else about him, it was just so buckin' sincere.  There was no bravado.  He didn't look even vaguely confident.  And, there was nopony around for him to be smiling for.

He was just smiling for himself.  He was happy.  And it was a good look for him.  It reminded Stormy a lot of how her dad looked sometimes, usually while watching mom do some random thing.  Like the night before she left, when mom was singing one of her younger sisters to sleep.  Dad just happened to be walking by, and stopped in the doorway, watching, smiling, forgetting that he was supposed to be helping his oldest daughter pack.

Stormy shook her head.  It was unreal.  A hundred and eighty billion ponies in the galaxy, and somehow, they met.  They were both worlds away home, travelers passing through Canterlot, and somehow, they met.

She started walking over, and Radio waved when he saw her.  Stormy smiled as his smile widened.  She wasn't a believer in love at first sight, but after today, she realized that not instant doesn't have to mean slow.  She was really looking forward to tonight.  "I like you."  Radio went red in the face, and so did Stormy.  What the buck brain?!  She was going to complement his suit, then ask about dinner.  But, it looked like her infatuated mind decided to drop a few words.  "I- I mean..."

Radio silenced her with a touch of a hoof.  He leaned in, kissing her again, as softly as last time, but held it longer.  As he pulled away, Stormy had to keep herself from laughing.  As much as her heart was racing, it was painfully obvious that neither of them had a clue what they were doing.  They were doing nothing more than carefully touching their faces together.  It felt like there could be more, like there should be more.

And Radio felt it, too.  He scratched his neck, smiling nervously.  "I don't think I'm very good at that," he admitted, "but, I really like you back."

Stormy stared at him a moment.  Oh, by every deity, real or imagined, in this universe, he was adorable.  "We'll get better," she reassured him, only realizing how out of breath she was when she heard herself.

"Better?"  Radio gulped.  "That means..."

"Practice," Stormy said with a nod.  She felt like her entire body was on fire, a mix of adrenaline, hormones, and embarrassment.  "Can't improve any skill without training, right?"

"I guess not," Radio chuckled.  "Do, um...  Do you want to try again?  Just one more, real quick?"

"Jeez, Radio, I don't know..."  Stormy glanced around.  They were fairly alone in the dorm lobby.  She looked back at him.  "Only if you promise it won't be too quick."

He nodded slowly.  "I think I can handle that."

Before he could say or do anything else, the front door squeaked open.  It was a slow, agonizing squeal, and it did a good job of interrupting the two young pegasi.

"I hope I'm not interrupting," said an older pegasus, adjusting his sunglasses.  His black suit and tie were well pressed, and he moved with slow confidence.  "I dropped by a little early."

"You're not interrupting."  Stormy quickly straightened Radio's tie, giving herself an excuse for how close she was standing in front of the colt.  "We were just waiting.  You must be Mr. Jones?"

One eyebrow rose over the rim of his sunglasses.  "Jasper," he corrected, "the assistant.  Mr. Jones is waiting outside.  Please join us when you are done."

With that, he turned and walked out.

"Well, um," Stormy chuckled, glancing back at Radio, "maybe after dinner on that kiss?"

He responded with an energetic nod.  "I'd like that, thank you."

There's that sincerity again.  Stormy smiled.  "Well, let's not keep your friend waiting.  He must be some big wig to have a personal assistant to fetch his dinner guests."  Though, she was pretty sure she heard the name Jasper before somewhere.  But, where?  It seemed so familiar.

"Yeah, I guess he is pretty important."  Radio shrugged.  "Mr. Jones and my dad met back before I was born.  Some skirmish involving a pirate colony.  There were three sides involved, and he and my dad were on opposite sides until they figured out that the pirates were using them against each other to buy time for an escape.  His actions that day paved the way for Furia to open talks with the Galactic Assembly."

"Ok," Stormy nodded, "military big wig."  And probably the reason she and Radio were ever able to meet.  "He sounds like a good guy."

"Dad says he is."  The colt nodded to the door.  "And, he's buying us food, come on."

Stormy laughed as he bounded away, full of energy.  She would have followed right after him, but the colt had dropped something.  She picked it up, a small metal square with the word, "watermelon," on it.

She smiled.

She may have mentioned that watermelons were her favorite fruit while she and Radio were shirt shopping.  He must have remembered.  How thoughtful of him.  But, what was this?  Watermelon drink mix maybe?  It didn't feel like there was powder in the pouch, and it was sort of padded, so the surface of the foil was smooth.

She flipped it over.  "Oh."

She looked up as Radio reached the door, and he looked back.  His eyes went wide as he saw what she was holding.

Stormy pressed her lips together.  Looking away quickly as she tucked the thing away in a hidden pocket of her dress.  She swallowed hard, and started walking towards the door.  "You dropped something," she said quietly to Radio as she neared him.

The colt just stared at her, confused by the lack of reaction.  "Stormy?  You ok?"

Her wings shuffled as she looked up.  She couldn't stop it.  It was kind of embarrassing, knowing the colt was thinking about her like that.  But, his first concern was her.  He didn't apologize, make some lame excuse, or try to pass the thing off as not being his.  He was so much more mature than other colts she knew.  No, she corrected herself, it wasn't fair to him to be compared to those colts.  "You are a good stallion," she said quietly.

Radio was expecting a, "but..."  But, it never came.

Stallion.  He rolled the word around in his head.  It felt strange to hear it like this.  Not, "colt," not, "young stallion," just, "stallion."  Stormy was probably the first pony to ever call him that.  If not, it sure felt like it.

He watched her a moment.  She made no move to distance herself, or turn away.  She didn't hide her face, or say anything more about what he had dropped.  "I'm sorry, Stormy, but-."

Stormy shook her head.  "I don't want an apology."  She looked over, and managed a small smile.  "I want somepony who respects me, and you do.  If you asked, I..."  She swallowed hard.  "I might not say no."

Radio leaned in, not for a kiss, but to settle his muzzle alongside hers.  He wasn't sure that she was sure of her own words, but he felt a little more confident that they felt the same about each other.  "Not tonight, I won't ask tonight.  I'll wait until you're ready."  Radio could smell perfume now, and shampoo, coconuts and flowers.  He wasn't close enough earlier.  And he still wasn't close enough now.

Stormy gasped as he buried his snout in her neck, closing her eyes as he took a deep breath.  The flow of cool air on her neck was replaced by heat as he took in her scent, then let out a soft sigh.  She brought her hoof to his neck, softly caressing as he planted a small kiss on her own.  "And what if I asked you?"

Radio pulled back, bringing his hoof to the one on his neck.  He gave her hoof a small squeeze.  He was never planning on things going this far, but...  "How could I say no?"

Stormy sighed, and pulled her hoof back, trailing it along his fur.  She flicked his chin, and smiled.  "I'll hold you to that someday."

He nodded once, as if accepting a mission.  "I'll be waiting."  He opened the door, and offered his wing.  "Shall we?"

She extended her own wing, resting it on his.  "Yes," she whispered, "we shall."

They stepped outside, into a swarm of black clad security personnel.  Jasper stood in front of an aircar, one of several parked in a row, followed by a small space-worthy shuttle.

It was in that moment, as Jasper reached for the aircar's door that she remembered where she heard his name.  It was on the news.  He opened the car door, and a large, white gryphon stepped out.

Stormy's hoof reached up, found purchase in Radio's mane, and pulled.

With a yelp, Radio ducked down.

"Mr. Jones?"  Stormy hissed in his ear.  "Mr.  Jones?!  We're having dinner with Coriander Jones, President of the freakin' Galactic Assembly, and you've been calling him Mr. Jones?"

Radio shrugged sheepishly, wincing at how hard she was pulling his mane.  "Furia isn't part of the Assembly yet," he explained, "he's not my president."
> 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."
> And Karno was its Name... Oh...
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------

"Thank you, Mr.Plane."  Chief Cirrus glanced around the table.

With the exception of one unconscious pony, her entire team was gathered.  Their Mobile Command, an armored airtruck, similar to those used for cargo, sat in the cordoned off area in front of the clothing store.  With the amount of damage inside, they wouldn't be reopening anytime today, and nopony could think of a better location.

"Well?"  The chief addressed her team as they sat around a map table.  A stabilized cloud of ionized water was trapped in an electromagnetic field, and forced into the shape of the surrounding topography as the map was projected from below, giving color to the cloud's form.  "What do you think?  Given Mr. Plane's story, Miss Kettle's, and everything that has occurred involving Wingless Dawn so far, I feel we must consider the possibility."

"I'm not sure I believe this nonsense about this supposed, 'alicorn,'" said the largest pony at the table.  He was a unicorn, and built like a sumo wrestler.  His green coat was speckled with darker, mossy flecks.  "She's clearly a unicorn in her ID photo, don't you think somepony would have noticed wings?"

"That's fine, Home Brew," the chief shrugged.  "I'm not sure I believe it myself, but, unicorn with wings, pegasus with a horn, or just plain unicorn, she's still missing."

"If you buy this colt's story," reminded Grey Hound, the older unicorn who happened upon the earlier argument between Redhoof and Miss Kettle.  "I, for one see no issue with it.  He is asking us to look for a pony with a warrant.  We would be looking for her either way."

Another unicorn raised her hoof from the far end of the table.  She wasn't an official member of the response team, but the member of the motor pool who happened to be on duty when Cirrus placed the call for the Mobile Command Unit.  She was stuck here until padlock protocol expired, but wasn't sure what her job was at the moment.

It was a moment before Chief Cirrus noticed her.  "Yes, Miss Chop?  You're stuck here with us, please, don't be afraid to speak up."

"Oh," the unicorn put her hoof down, and cleared her throat, "If I may ask, why would you enact padlock protocol over a missing pony?"  She gestured to the small, but well-stocked armory locked behind a steel cage beside her.  "It seems like overkill."

"That brings me to the second part of the story."  The chief sighed.  "As Mr. Plane stated, he and his friend were asked to come here by the Chairman."

"Or, so he claims," reminded Home Brew.

"And, Miss Kettle confirmed," the chief offered as a counterpoint.  "She claims to be the Chairman's secretary, and the estranged daughter of Black Pot."

"Ah, damn," Grey Hound muttered under his breath, "should'a known them Wingless bastards were part of this.  You've got a sore spot when it comes to them, Chief."

"That's understating it, Grey."  She cleared her throat.  "Anyway, if Miss Kettle is to be believed, the Ground Guard attempted to procure a nuclear device from off-world."

"Shit."  Home Brew leaned forward.  "Did they succeed?"

"No," Chief Cirrus reassured him.  "They obtained two alien devices, but they were cryogenic suspension chambers.  If you remember, the Ground Guard was wiped out recently.  Well, it seems that the chairman was behind it."

"Nice!"  Quick chop chuckled nervously, as ponies looked over at her. "Whether or not you agree with his policies, you've got to admit, the Chairman is pretty cool."

"Yes, well, moving on," the Chief brought up a hologram to redirect the conversation back on point, "the chairman took possession of these chambers, and this was in one of them."

Ponies watched as the hologram focused, forcefield shifting to let some cloud rise above the map to provide a matrix for the projected light.  It formed a portrait of a young unicorn, one that everypony in the room, except for Astral, had seen before.

"His niece?  Dinky?"  Quick Chop asked in disbelief.  "No way!"

"Apparently, not his niece," Grey Hound pointed out.  "How long was the filly frozen?

"According to Twilight," Astral offered, "these Cryo-chambers were sealed millenia ago.  Then placed on seven ships, and sent out to populate the galaxy.  One ship with thousands of these chambers went missing back then, and the chambers are just now starting to pop up across the galaxy."

"Sounds like a matter for historians," Grey Hound said, leaning back.  "Explains Catch taking an interest."

The chief nodded, and manipulated the hologram, pulling up some recent news footage.  "And, unless I'm mistaken..."  Influential ponies from across Tirassa gathered for grand banquet in the mist above the table.  The Chairman and Dinky sat at the head of a horseshoe shaped table, as a pegasi poured drinks for them.  Dinky thanked the pegasus, and Chief Cirrus paused playback as she gave the server a hug.  "That grey pegasus, the Chairman's personal housekeeper, is Dinky's mother, the pony from the second Cryo-chamber.  She is currently missing."

Quick Chop raised her hoof again.  "That still doesn't explain the padlock command."

The chief let the hologram play for a few seconds, then paused it again.  She then zoomed in on the earth pony sitting closest to the Chairman.  He was sneering in disgust at the filly.  "Green Hoof.  Lieutenant Red Hoof's father."  She took a deep breath.  "Miss Kettle says he's planning to assassinate the Chairman."

"She's wrong!"  Red groaned, rolling over on the floor.  "My father is loyal to Tirassa."  With a grunt he dragged himself to a first aid kit latched to the wall.  His hooves fumbled sluggishly with the latch, eventually dumping it open, and spilling most of its contents on the floor.  But he found what he needed, a small plastic ampule of electrolytes and stimulants, and shoved it in his mouth.

He crushed it between his teeth, closing his eyes as the bitter, sugary solution filled his mouth.  He let the solution tingle against his tongue for a moment before swallowing, breathing deeply as the fast acting medication washed away the stun fatigue syndrome.

The chief was the first to speak.  "Are you feeling alright, Red?"

He slowly opened his eyes, fixing her in an angry glare.  He spat out the empty ampule.  "You shot me," he said quietly, "how do you think I feel?"

"You weren't listening to me, Red," the Chief replied, just as quietly, "I had no choice."

He stomped his hoof.  "I wasn't listening, because it's absurd!"  He shoved away from the first aid kit, spilling what little was still inside as he reached for the armory cage.

Four ponies drew weapons on him as three different colors of magic held the cage door shut.

He stared, angry and unblinking, at the door as his hoof rested on the handle.  "I'm not that stupid," he growled.  "I'm going to go speak with my father, and take care of this misunderstanding before it tears this city apart.  I'll bring back the members of Wingless that he pardoned, because they're the ones that are behind this."

"You're that sure of it?"  Astral asked.

The angry earth pony pointed his hoof at him.  "Stay out of this, Outworlder!"  He looked back at the chief.  "My father does what he does for the good of Tirassa."

Nopony noticed a second ampule of medicine being dragged across the floor in green magic.  "Keeping daughters away from their mothers is one hell of a twisted good."  She pushed herself up a little as she took the medicine, and wearily shook her head.  "All because they were unicorns, born from a pegasus?"

"It's better for them, isn't it?"  Red shoved the armory door open, shattering two colors of aura.  The last remaining color pushed back quickly, but Redhoof had retrieved a heavy hoof mounted blaster and secured it to his hoof before the door latched back shut.  "They'll be raised by ponies who can understand and teach them magic.  Any pegasus should want their kids to be better off than they are."

"And a pegasus born to unicorn parents?"  Miss Kettle asked as she leaned against the wall.

Red didn't have an answer for that.  He looked down, and focused himself on adjusting his weapon.

"Agree with them, or not," Home Brew shrugged, "there are reasons for the way things are."

"Stupid reasons," Miss Kettle scoffed, "vain, prideful, arrogant reasons.  There's an entire galaxy out there, and we're stuck in a centuries old tribal war!"

"You obviously feel very strongly about this."  Red Hoof smacked his weapon to make sure it was strapped securely, then retrieved a heavier armored vest from a locker across from the armory.  "Throwing my father, the mayor, under the hoverbus won't magically remove all opposition to the Chairman's views.  A thousand years of pain isn't so easily forgotten, much less forgiven."

He started towards the door, but Chief Cirrus stepped in his way.  "Then, is every pegasus personally responsible for the horrors of the past?  Those two brothers whose shop got destroyed?  Did they personally starve and torture earth ponies?  That filly you coaxed out of a tree last month?  Did she whip a unicorn for trying to meddle with the clouds?"

Red gave an angry snort.  "Either shoot me again, or step out of my way."

"No, Red."  The chief shook her head.  "I can understand your position, he is your father, but, if you're wrong-"

"Then I need to find out for myself," the earth pony said quietly.

Chief Cirrus clicked her hoof against his blaster.  "With that?"

"If he is involved, Wingless might be forcing him to help, I have to be ready for them."

The chief nodded.  It was just like Red to cling to hope when there was none.  "Use the hoverbike, and take-"

"You're letting him go?"  Miss Kettle interrupted.  "Did you ignore everything I said?"

"It would be worse if I stopped him," the chief replied.  "If you want to inform the Chairman, Quick Chop can set up a radio for you.  The rest of us will focus on the missing ponies."  She turned back to the table, switching the cloud hologram back to an overview of the city.  Behind her, Red Hoof hurried out the door despite Miss Kettle's protests.  "Let's start by examining the method of disappearance."

Miss Kettle stalked over, and grabbed the Chief by the collar as the warbling thrum of a compact gravity drive revved to life.  It rose to a peak, and quickly faded as the hoverbike it powered sped away from the command center.  "I hope you know what you've done."

"Refuse to keep a son from his father?"  Cirrus asked without looking over.  "Teleports," she told the team, "both incidents involve a two pony teleport.  If we map the start and end locations, maybe we can see if the teleports were pulled off course somehow."

"That's, um, not how it works," Grey Hound gingerly pointed out.  "Teleportation doesn't behave in such a linear fashion.  You step outside the normal fabric of space, and through the folds.  There are no straight lines."

"It's more like the equations for other than light travel, just much less powerful."  Astral spoke up.  He had never mastered teleporting, nor even managed it once, but he had studied it.  Most faster than light travel relied on a similar mechanism.  Which meant absolutely nothing to anypony unfamiliar with space travel.  "You ever play Karno?"  Astral asked quickly.  "Think of it like that.  You have a start, a goal, and the light in the middle is your traveler, needing to connect both locations."

The chief nodded.  "I think I understand, but extradimensional geometry was never a strong suit of mine.  How do we plot, or even represent, travel outside of the fabric of space?"

"I have a Karno simulator loaded..."  Quick Chop trailed off, realizing she was enthusiastically volunteering info about a major policy violation.  But, it was more important that they find the missing ponies.  "In the nav computer."  She rubbed the back of her neck.  "Within a small enough distance, a teleport, or a slipstream jump, can be displayed within the normal three dimensions, and only be off by a small margin of error.  Within the gravity well of a planet, you really only have shallow curves away from the straight line you would expect.  Imagine the fabric of space as fabric draped towards the center of the planet.  You have soft, predictable arcs.  We could run a teleport simulation, and come up with possible vectors of shift off the straight line path, and see if there is an area of intersect between these vectors."

"Get started," was all the chief could say.  "I'm not going to be much help with this, I can tell that.  But, keep me posted."
> Pot Calling the Kettle Green and Red
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------

It was impossible to miss the mayor's mansion.  It wasn't as large as the complex that housed the Chairman's office and the senatorial conferences, but it was, in its own way, far more impressive.

Modelled after the sky castles of old, it sat in a wide field of green grass and lush, well-tended gardens.  It used brick for the walls, subverting every facet of the old castles by swapping earth for aspects of sky.  Mineral groundwater fountains were piped up through the walls, feeding waterfalls and fountains ringed by flowers instead of rainbows.  It was an island of color amidst the concrete and metal of the capitol city.

A hoverbike screamed as it shot towards the tallest building on the sprawling campus, the central mansion.  It barely slowed as it maneuvered around topiaries and waterfalls, its rider barely noticing works of art that many ponies traveled great distances to see.

He didn't park in front of the building, with the other aircars.  Instead, he swung around the eastern wing of the building, where the personal quarters were.  He landed the hoverbike on the second floor balcony, right outside his own bedroom.

His keycode unlocked door, and he entered the room cautiously.  He made a lot of noise on the approach, and didn't want to run into any surprises.  But, the room proved empty, and what he heard shouldn't have come as a surprise.  "Son?  Is that you?"

"Yes, father," Red Hoof answered.  He rode a hoverbike to and from work anyway, and his father wouldn't notice the difference in sound between the police issue bike and his personal one.  "Sorry about the noise."

"You're home early."  Hoof steps sounded outside the door.  "Is everything all right?"

"Yes," Red Hoof lied.  There was no need to worry him with Miss Kettle's ridiculous accusations.  "I just wanted to speak with you a moment."

"Put those away, you idiots," his father suddenly said to somepony. There was a muffled conversation, before he heard his father scoff loudly.  "He's my son, of course I trust him."  More muffled conversation.  "You're alone, right, son?"

Red's heart sunk as he ducked behind the heaviest object in the room, the gun safe he kept his equipment in on his days off. "Who are you talking to?"

"Some idiot friends of a business associate," was the answer.  "Go wait with your boss, or in the kitchen, there's food in there," he told them before opening the door.

Red stepped out from behind the safe after seeing the two other stallions walking away.  He recognized them.  His team arrested them not long ago.

"What were doing behind there?"  Green Hoof scoffed.  "Come, I could use your help with something."

"What's going on?"  Red Hoof walked over to his father, vigilantly watching for other ponies.  "What is Wingless still doing here?"

Green Hoof smiled, clasping his hoof around his son's shoulders.  "Preparing to make history."

"I'm not sure I like the sound of that," Red admitted.  He didn't like the look on his face either, that greedy smile.  "Who is this business associate?"

"You already know him."   Green Hoof walked away, heading for a common room near the private kitchen.  "Though, it's been a while since you've seen him.  I've been waiting for the right time to reintroduce you."

"Father, where are the staff?"

Green Hoof shrugged.  "I gave them the day off."

Red didn't show it, but he was anxious.  Each step he took felt like he was growing closer to one he couldn't take back.  His heart sunk every time his hoof hit the carpet.  "Father-"

They rounded the corner, and Red took that last step, the one that shattered his world.

His father kept walking in, gesturing to an open bottle and tray of glasses in front of the couch.  "Pour yourself a drink."  He then sat on the couch, beside a black earth pony with a dark violet mane, who was carefully sipping out of a carved crystal glass.  "Black Pot brought an amazing twenty-year scotch to toast the success of our most recent business venture with Inland Holdings."

Pressing his lips together, Red walked into the room.  He fought to keep his breathing under control, and nodded stiffly. He walked along the far wall, where crates and boxes were stacked.  More were scattered about the room, and several individual items were laid out on the coffee table.  Weapons and ammo, some of it from the seizure of weapons he led less than a week ago.  The evidence tags, with his own signature, were still stapled to the boxes.

Red knocked on one of the wooden weapons crates.  He had been blind.  "Would that business venture happen to be some sort of teleport disruptor?"

"Ah, hell," Black Pot refilled his scotch, knocked it back, then slammed it down, wincing, "that didn't last long.  Good kid you got, warning you.  Mine's the best shot we had at opposing Catch in a fight, and she won't even return my calls."

"Miss Kettle?"  Red asked, surprising the black stallion.  "She was a victim of whatever device you have.  The pony she was teleporting with is missing, and...  Oh, gods..."  Red Hoof suddenly realized what kind of business venture involved missing ponies.

"We did it."  Green Hoof straightened up suddenly, reaching over to slap the other stallion on the shoulder.  "We did it!"

Black Pot fended off the hoof.  "Contain yourself.  We knew it was only a matter of time."  He gave Red a hard stare.  "The device doesn't take the teleport's originator, so I take it my daughter is with the police?  Has she revealed the identity of the missing pony?"

"Not directly," Red shook his head, trying to control his reaction.  There was no hope of misunderstanding now.  Even if he wasn't plotting treason, his father was complicit in unforgivable crimes.  "she just said, Dinky's mother or something like that."

Black Pot smiled as he slowly leaned back into the couch.  "Oh, we did it, all right, Green.  She isn't his housekeeper, she's his lover."

"And that brat is his own daughter."  Green Hoof smacked the cushions, laughing.  "After this gets out, his reputation will be ruined."

Red walked over to the only open crate, checking it to see if anything was missing.  Small, timed, explosives, count matched what was written on the box.  "Isn't Miss Kettle's mother a pegasus?"

Black Pot scoffed.  "You've never bought a whore, boy?"

"No, I haven't," Red scowled.

"Are you kidding?"  Green Hoof chuckled.  "My Red's the police poster boy.  He's never even tried Si'ir Salt."

With a sigh, Red squared himself up with the two ponies on the couch.  His body was shaking.  He was never one to back down from confrontation, but this?  He didn't know what would happen next.  "I've also never plotted to kill an elected official."

"Ah, crap!"  Green Hoof chucked his empty glass.  It clattered, but didn't break on the heavy carpet. "Son, thank you for coming to warn me.  Is it police, or the Chairman's Security Force that found out?  Do they know the timetable?  How did they find out?"

Red shook his head, lips pulling back in anger.  "Then, it is true?"

"Of course it's true!"  Green Hoof stood up.  "That's why you came to warn me, isn't it?  Catch is destroying Tirassa with his new policies, but nopony's going to stand up to a mage that can best a volcano.  Not directly."

"Not directly?"  Red grabbed the open crate, and dumped it out in front of him.  "Then how?  This?" He snatched up one of the explosives.  "Plant one of these in his office?  Or his aircar?  And walk away while it blows him and who knows how many innocent bystanders straight to hell?"

"They wouldn't be innocents," Green Hoof snorted, "Catch surrounds himself with brainless sympathizers who would gladly give Tirassa back to the birds in the name of misguided reparations.  Even his daughter is so far gone-"

"His daughter?  Little Dinky from the dinner?  You would murder a filly because she disagrees with you?"

"If it would save Tirassa, yes!"

"I was blind.  How did I not see this."  Red stared at his father.  Miss Kettle was right.  "Father, there's no going back from this."

"Green!" Black Pot suddenly shouted, fear in his voice, "what is he doing?!"

Green Hoof glanced back at the other stallion, then followed his gaze down to where Red's hoof worked over the timer on one of the dumped out explosives.  He pushed one last button, and the device beeped, its display lighting up.

"Two minutes," Red said, voice hollow as he tossed the explosive back behind the other crates.  "Plenty of time to run."

"Or to disarm it," Black Pot countered, reaching for a blaster on the table.  "You call yourself a loyal son of Tirassa?"

Red looked between the two stallions, his father, and Miss Kettle's.  Black Pot could disarm the device, but his father didn't have the necessary skill.  But, the sad thing was, they were both looking at him like he might still be persuaded to help them.  "Yes, I do."

Red shoved his father away, and raised his hoof, blaster and all, in Black Pot's direction.  He fired before the black stallion had a chance to voice his shock.  Smoke rose from the hole in Black Pot's chest.  Red then ran as shouting came from the kitchen, reacting to the sound of the blaster.

He was halfway to his room by the time Black Pot's goons made it to the common area to find their boss slowing falling over, his heart burned out.  His father was running as well, in the opposite direction, warning as many of Black Pot's ponies as he could, "Change of plans!"
> That Nagging Feeling
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------

The hoof hit her face with a solid thud.  Blood from a busted lip stained the floor as Twilight spat defiantly at his hooves.  She was aiming for his face, but it was her first time trying to spit at somepony, and it was harder than it seemed.  They were in a small, dark room.  Smooth walls, and no features, save a light fixture above, and a drain below.

Twilight shivered, sopping wet, woken up by a bucket of water being dumped on her.  She was chained to the drain by her front hooves.  The first thing she did, on waking up, was tell the stallion that if he touched her, he would regret it.

"Well?" he asked, "I'm not regretting it yet.  You said I would."

"Be patient," Twilight sneered, "I've taken down worse than you, jackass."

He smirked.  "For a freak, you've got quite a mouth."

He raised his hoof to hit her again, but a voice behind him told him, "stop it.  Too much and you'll lower her value."  A mare, an old earth pony walked up, grabbing Twilight's face with a hoof, and inspecting her injuries like she was inspecting a bruised apple.  "A little make up should cover this, but it would be easier on you if you listened.  We've been at this for two days.  You're keeping us from moving on to the next girl."

Twilight jerked away from her touch, growling, "That's the plan."

"You think you're so clever, don't you?  So noble?"  The mare walked around Twilight in a circle.  "You are an exotic sample, and would most likely go to good home.  It would be far more pleasant than all this."

"I don't know, the free shower service isn't too bad."  Twilight looked back at the stallion.  "Too bad this place doesn't have hot water."  Her captors exchanged glances, and the stallion grabbed the bucket and started to leave.  "Another bucket of water?"  Twilight managed to drum up enough energy to smile.  "Grab some shampoo will you?"

"Ice it!"  The mare commanded.

The stallion chuckled as he let himself out of the room.  "Yeah, boss."

Alone with Twilight, the mare shook her head.  "How long are you going to fight this?"

"Until I figure out how you disrupted my teleport, and how to counteract it.  I have a theory, but it would be easier if you told me."  Twilight shrugged.  "I have a feeling you know more than the rest of these lunkheads."

"I do," she confirmed with a slight nod.  "But, I fail to see why I should tell you.  Why are you so interested in the details of your capture?  The part of your life where that might have mattered is over.  And if you don't behave long enough to be auctioned, I will have no choice but to send you to one of our bulk purchasers."

Twilight glared at the mare, upper lip twisting into a snarl.  How did ponies like this even exist?  "Just try it, I'll take them down with you."

She slapped Twilight across the face.  "I am offering you a choice!  You could live a life of luxury and decadence, or one of labor and cruelty.  Ungrateful, little-"

"Wow!"  Twilight interrupted.  "You are one messed up nag, you know that, right?"

She sighed.  "Very well, I hope you enjoy being a worker on Tankra or Si'irtos.  Your wings will be clipped, a limiter burned onto your horn, and you will taste the whip if you continue to act like this.  Why do you insist on talking back like this?"

"Blame my boyfriend, he's rubbing off on me."  Twilight chuckled.  "Or, blame my mentor, for teaching me to stand up for what's right.  Or blame my parents, for teaching me to respect everypony the same.  Or,  no, better yet, blame yourself, for being an awful pony."

"You are strong-willed, I'll give you that."  The mare shook her head.  "I will let you see how strong you are under a whip.  Even the strongest unicorns don't hold out long."

"Well, I'm the strongest unicorn you'll ever meet," Twilight said as the old mare walked to the door.  "Strongest Pegasus and Earth Pony, too.  And if you answer one question for me, I'll take it easy on your goon when he gets back."

This actually drew a laugh from the old mare.  "You?  Take it easy on him?  You are chained down.  You have a limiter on your horn.  And your wings are strapped so tight I'm surprised you can still breath.  What question would I possibly answer for you?"

"The device you use to manipulate gravity wells, and distort the paths of high-power teleports, how many of them are there?"

She raised an eyebrow.  "That, I think I will answer.  The device is mine, and mine alone.  I can't have my competition getting their hands on it.  So, if you think you have a handle on how it works, I might have to hold on to you."

"Good luck with that," Twilight said, rolling her eyes as the mare stepped out the door.

And for the first time since being brought to this place, Twilight was alone.  She closed her eyes, wishing she was literally anywhere else.  She was cold.  She was tired.  She was being kept in a dimly lit room with no way to tell the passage of time, and her captors wouldn't let her sleep.  They didn't feed her.  There was no restroom.  Just the drain on the floor.

But, one of the stallions, there were at least four of them working for the nag, let slip that this was the only, 'training room,' they had.  As long as she was in here, nopony else was.

Twilight smiled weakly.  Perhaps this was her punishment for letting herself be happy, when there were still ponies suffering.  She was a princess, with a duty to her subjects.  She would bear this punishment happily.

But, not quietly.

Gritting her teeth, she pulled on her chains, pulling as much chain through the drain with her right hoof as she could.  It reeked of her own piss, only diluted by what little water they dumped over her head.  When she had all the chain through, she had nearly a meter of chain for her right hoof, and only a few links for her left.

"Here we go," she muttered, bracing all her hooves against the chain, and the grate it was attached to.  "Earth pony, earth pony," she repeated to herself.  Earth pony magic wasn't her strongest suit, but she was an alicorn.  It was there, even if she didn't often use it.  "Big and strong, just like Mac.  These chains wouldn't hold him, and they won't hold me!"

Taking a deep breath, she pulled her left hoof away.  Grunting at the strain, poured her pain and anger into the chain.  All her helplessness to aid her friends, everything she was too weak to change before, everything she still had ahead of her, those were her true chains.  These puny metal links were strings in comparison.

It hurt.  Metal dug into her ankle.  She bled.  Her left shoulder felt like it might tear free.  Fur bunched and pinched as she held on to the excess links with her right hoof.

She wasn't going to let that stop her.  She wasn't going to let pain keep her from freedom.  She was going to do everything in her power to help as many ponies as possible, and she was going to be happy all the while.

She didn't notice her mane and tail moving, billowing in wind that wasn't there.  She was so focused on the pain.  Her pain, that could prevent other's pain.  She couldn't be stopped by this.  Not when she knew there was only one device for capturing teleporting ponies.  She could find it, and destroy it.  And make sure the ponies responsible never hurt anypony again.

She had to.

It's what her parents her parents raised her to do.

It's what Celestia taught her to do.

It's what any of her friends would do.

It's what Astral would help her do.

She tumbled backwards when the chain snapped, third link from her left hoof proving the weakest.  The hoof itself was a mess, skin and fur torn pretty bad, but nothing was broken.

She tested it, and she could put weight on it.  She would have to get the chains off as soon as possible, and clean the wounds, or they would get infected, but she could worry about that after putting an end to whatever was going on here.

She limped over to the door, and sat down next to it.  She could hear hoof steps, and the sloshing of ice water in a pail.  She started wrapping the extra meter of chain around her right hoof as the sound grew louder.

She could still feel magic flowing through her.  She knew her strength was boosted.  She didn't yet realize that her limiter had evaporated when her mane started moving on its own, or that her wing restraints were slowly burning away from her faintly glowing body.

But she knew she had that chain around her hoof.  She knew that stallion would pay for punching her in the face.  And she knew that they would all pay for tearing her, and who knew how many others, away from the ponies they loved.
> That had to HRT
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------

"That's three possibilities," Quick Chop sighed.  "I don't think we can narrow it down anymore."

"Yeah," Astral reluctantly agreed.  As the only pony around with experience in jump equations, he was best qualified to help Quick Chop with her simulations.  But even then, she had done most of the work.  He wouldn't want to face off against her at Karno, that was for sure.  "The distance of the first teleport makes it hard to narrow things down any more than this."

The chief, hearing the exchange, set down the hay fries and sandwich Grey Hound had grabbed from a nearby restaurant, and walked over to the cloud table.  The old unicorn, having finished his meal, was taking a nap in the corner, and Home Brew was sorting weaponry and gear into sets for everypony on board, including defensive gear for Mr. Plane and and Miss Kettle.  "Do you have a location yet?"

"Three of them, chief," Quick Chop answered.  "Unfortunately, they don't make much sense.  We have one set of coordinates underground, one in open air, and one in the lake middle the city."

The chief nodded her understanding.  "How underground?  How open air?  And, how far underwater?"

"Two meters down, on the southern edge of the city," Astral answered the first question.  "And a kilometer North of here, and the same elevation as the cloud slums," he answered for the second.

Quick Chop interrupted him before he could answer the third.  "The weather station!  It's the automated station owned by Inland Holdings.  They had that big public party when it went zero crew for the first time.  My class attended, and I remember it passing by the cloud slums.  They were about the same altitude."

"Black Pot used to hold a board position with Inland," Miss Kettle called back from the driver's seat of the command unit.  She made her way back.  "Automating the weather station was his idea."

"Sounds like a good place to start, then."  The chief gestured to where Miss Kettle had been sitting.  "Were you able to contact the chairman?"

"Yes, and he's worried.  Dinky's asking questions, and the staff is starting to notice my disappearance.  We need to find Ditzy before it gets out that she's the one missing.  The chairman will do anything to make sure those two are safe, so best case scenario, she's a bargaining chip.  Worst case, her blood paints a target for a unicorn that could make the Storm King look like a cartoon villain."

The chief nodded her understanding.  "Would his security forces really follow him in seeking revenge for a pegasus?"

Miss Kettle shook her head.  "They wouldn't have to.  If he's pushed far enough, he could change the face of the planet on his own."

"I heard Steel Catch was supposed to be the strongest mage on the planet," Astral interrupted.  "Just how strong is he?"

"Strongest at the moment, no doubt," answered Quick Chop.  "But possibly the strongest in our history.  He's most famous for an incident involving the Ogre's Cauldron, the volcano that plunged Tirassa into the cloud age a millenia and a half ago.  It was about to erupt, and he was a soldier sent to help evacuate the area.  There was an unexpected shift in the mountain, and it erupted ahead of the predictions.  He held the lava flow and ash cloud back, fighting lightning and earthquakes the entire time, until the evacuation was completed."

"That is impressive," Astral admitted.

"The evacuation took three days," the chief added.

"Holy shit."  Astral shook his head.  "He might be able to give Twilight a run for her money."

"You think your friend is that strong?"

Astral shrugged.  "She teleported us from orbit, after protecting a ship from a missile attack, and she permanently closed a void strand less than a day before that."  He saw some confusion, and clarified, "Void strands are kind of a big deal."

"Well," Miss Kettle spoke, "he also averted an asteroid collision several years ago that could have plunged us right into a second cloud age.  Tirassa had a ship waiting on standby to vaporize it, but the chairman at the time wanted to test the extent of Steel Catch's power."

"He also set the record for marathon teleports," Quick Chop added.  "And resets it every year.  It's currently at a hundred in two minutes, circling the entire planet."

Miss Kettle nodded.  "He made me join him last year.  I only made it to eighty, and ended up taking a swim in the polar ocean."

"He can be anywhere on Tirassa in less than-"  Quick chop trailed off, eyes locking on to one of the smaller screens on the wall.  "Is that the Mayor's Mansion?"

Miss Kettle turned around, and looked at the screen that was muted and tuned to local news.  It showed a building in flames.  "It is!"  She quickly turned the volume up.

"-unidentified assailant.  As you may or may not know, Green Hoof's controversial pardoning of the group Wingless Dawn has drawn attention from both sides of the pegasus rights issue, and it remains to be seen if this attack has some connection, but it is hard to believe it was a coincidence."  The unicorn on screen, a mare dressed in an official looking suit, pressed her hoof to her ear.  "Just in!  Mayor Green Hoof is unharmed.  For those of you just joining us, the mayor's mansion was attacked by an unidentified assailant.  Fire crews have confirmed that there have been bodies found, but have not given any official number.  We don't know anything about the motives behind the attack, but mayor Green Hoof is unharmed and in a secure location."

The door opened while everypony was focused on the broadcast, and Red Hoof stormed in.  Some looked up at him, but most looked back at the screen quickly.  He heard the reporter say his father was safe, and for a moment, wondered if that was a good thing, or bad.  "Shut that off!"

"If you have any information regarding this bombing-"

"Shut it off!  Shut it off!"  Red Hoof smashed the screen with his hoof.  Over and over.  "Shut!  The!  Fuck!  Off!"

The screen finally shorted out, going black.  And, Red Hoof was left huffing and bleeding, tiny shards of glass in his hoof.  Nopony said anything, and Red knew they were waiting for him to talk.

He looked up at the pony closest to him, Miss Kettle.  "You were right," he admitted quietly.  "Black Pot was there, they were drinking together, toasting the kidnappings.  They called it a business venture.  They were selling ponies.  How did I miss it?"

Miss Kettle wanted to snap back with a snarky answer, some variation of I told you so, but there was too much pain in the stallion's face.  Helpless confusion.  "I don't know," she responded quietly.  "The explosion?"

"Wingless Dawn's weapons cache, the one we seized."  Red swallowed hard.  "I set off the bomb they were going to use to kill the chairman."

Miss Kettle nodded slowly.  "And Black Pot?"

"Dead," Red Hoof responded, gingerly lifting his hoof out of the shattered viewscreen, "I shot him myself."

The black unicorn barely reacted to the news.  "Good.  It doesn't fix what he's done, but it's good that he can't hurt anypony else."  She gestured to the main table.  "Can I video call the chairman on here?  He needs to know what's going on."

"Of course," the chief replied with a nod.  "Miss Chop, if you would?"

"Yes. ma'am."  The unicorn manipulated the cloud table's controls.  A chunk of cloud flattened into a rectangle half a meter tall, and a full meter wide.  "Miss Kettle, if you could enter your codes on..."  The motor pool pony realized she was about to point at a busted screen, and quickly pointed at another.  "On that screen there."

Miss Kettle entered her personal identification code, and then the Chairman's.  "He was in his office, so he should answer quickly."

When the Chairman's image appeared on the cloud screen, he was most definitely not in his office.  The video was shaky, but he was in a dark room, with harsh lights, and lots of dark and contrasting metals.  "Spit," he commanded, "hold your wrist still!"

"Sorry, sir," came an apology, and the video stabilized a little.

Miss Kettle's eyes went wide.  He was surrounded by weaponry, secured in black metal racks.  Everything from crystalline blades to anti-materiel rifles.  "Sir, are you in the armory?"

"Obviously," said the silver-eyed unicorn, as he strapped himself into traditional Tirassan Battle armor.  It wasn't like the ballistic vests and energy adaptive cloth found in standard issue armor, it was dark and crystalline, carved to fit him around the shoulders, chest, and haunch, connected with a woven metal mesh underlayer.  It was heavy armor from the war, designed to protect its wearer from lightning and blades, the pegasi's favored weapons.  He had a grim look on his face as he worked.  "Ditzy's been located."

"That's why I was calling.  We believe she's being held on the inland weather station."  Miss Kettle shook her head.  "How did-"

"Get there as fast as you can.  I'm heading out with Spit and Polish, and put a call out to the police force, but there's no time to wait.  If there's a fight, we might need your help.  Is that Red Hoof beside you?"

"Yes, sir," the earth pony answered, "Chairman, about my father-"

"He's fine, don't worry," the chairman reassured.  "I'm sorry about what happened to your home, but the important thing is Black Pot's assassination attempt failed."

"What?!"  Red spared a glance at Miss Kettle, who was looking back at him in confusion.  "No, sir, that's not-"

"Is he there?" Miss Kettle interrupted.

"Yes, he's volunteered a transport and some bodyguards to help save Ditzy."

"You can't!"





Green Hoof grabbed Spit's hoof, and dragged his watch over so he was looking straight at the projection of Red Hoof and Miss Kettle.  "We have to!"  There was a tear in his eye as he looked at his son.  "For the good of Tirassa, there are wrongs that must be made right.  You'll understand someday."  He grabbed the watch, cutting the call.  Then, carefully held the button in, powering it off so it wouldn't receive anymore calls.  He did all this while taking a deep shaky breath, hiding his action behind the weariness.  "Catch, you and I have had our differences, but thank you.   You're giving me chance to strike back after a betrayal, and I'm sure Tirassa will be stronger for it."

"Don't mention it, Green Hoof.  Still, I can't believe that Black Pot wanted to kill us both."  He finished with his armor, and grabbed a pair of weapons, finely crafted emerald khopesh, tuned to resonate with his energy blade spell.  Under power, they were indestructible, and would cut through mithril if he swung hard enough.  "I admit, I may have misjudged you."

"You sure?"  The earth pony walked over to a display of armor and started fitting himself with a standard issue military vest.  "I wouldn't go to these lengths to rescue a pegasus, if that's what you mean."

"Even if you wouldn't," Spit stepped forward to help with the Velcro closures as Green Hoof held the vest in place, "there's the principle of it.  Would you sit idle after somepony was taken from your home?  Even a pegasus?"

With a smirk, the earth pony replied, "I don't let pegasi in my home."





"Damn it!"  Red Hoof Punch his second screen for the day.

"Red!  Control yourself!"  Chief Cirrus sighed.  Everypony who knew how was trying to call the Chairman's office, or police headquarters, with no success.  "We can't do anything if you destroy every screen in our command center."

"Does it matter?  We can't do anything now!"  Red brought his hoof to his head.  "Because I couldn't pull the trigger on my father, he's alone with the chairman."  Swallowing hard, he admitted, "and, I can't be sure he didn't take any of the explosives."

"He wouldn't even need it," Miss Kettle tossed her headset after it failed once more to connect to the security office.  "He has access to weaponry, and soldiers, and has probably convinced the chairman that he's a victim in all this.  Catch is in the Roc's nest, and doesn't even know it."

"No amount of magic can save you from gettin' shot in the back," Grey Hound mused.  "So, what's the plan?"

"We head for the weather station," the Chief said, looking around, "and pray the Chairman's still alive when we get there.  Miss Chop, get us there as fast as you can.  Everypony else, gear up, including you two, Plane and Kettle."  Everypony nodded or voiced their understanding, except for their pilot.  "Miss Chop?  Did you hear me?"

"Ma'am?" She said as she stared at something on her small screen.  "I think we're screwed."





"How's my mane?"  A pink unicorn with a blond mane fussed over her appearance a moment, a microphone floating in magic beside her.  "I can't believe we're stuck out here while the mayor's mansion is burning."

"Mane's fine," answered a blue unicorn, pointing a camera at her.  He lined up the Hurt One Mobile Command Center behind her in the frame, careful to get a clear view of the police logo.  "Look at it this way, even if we're filler, everypony's watching right now, so we have guaranteed view counts in the millions.  And, we're live in five, four, three, two, one!"

"This is Dawn Rise with the Capitol News Channel, coming to you live, from the South Cross Shopping Center, where earlier today, a magic explosion prompted the evacuation of a clothing store in the middle of-  Proud!"  She pointed behind the camera.  "Proud, turn around!"  She stepped towards the camera and pushed it so it was pointing skyward.

Four ships were on low approach through the buildings of the city.  Two small, armored personnel carriers, another mobile command unit, and one light fighter vessel, all bearing the same police emblem.

"Ponies of the Capitol," Dawn continued, "it isn't clear what's going on, but it seems that reinforcements are arriving despite the all clear given by Hurt One's Chief Cirrus.  You may remember the name from the controversy surrounding the recent pegasus curfew, as many disagreed with her suggestion to solely use the heavy response team under her command to enforce it."

The Command unit and one of the personnel ships touched down a short distance from the reporters.  The personnel ship stayed on the ground just long enough for three armed and armored officers to jump out.

"Is that another heavy response team?" Proud asked, focusing his camera on the leader of the three ponies.

Dawn shushed him as the officers approached.  "Good evening," she greeted once they were close enough, "I'm Dawn Rise with Capitol-"

"Captain Shore," the lead officer interrupted.  He was a grey earth pony, with a voice as gruff as his beard was wiry.  "You need to shut down and clear the area."

"What?  Why?"  Dawn watched in shock as one of the other officers set up his sniper rifle behind a planter, aiming at the Hurt One MCU.  "Captain, did this explosion have some connection to the explosion at the Mayor's mansion?"

"Dawn?"  Proud had followed the other ships with his camera.  The personnel ships had set down on either side of Hurt One's command unit, and the fighter vessel hovered a short distance away on antigravs.  "I don't think-"  The third officer grabbed for Proud's camera, but he ducked back, twisting away.  He raised the camera up at the officer just as he raised his stunner at the reporters.  "Go ahead!"  Proud shouted.  "We're live with three million viewers!"

The captain waved the other officer back.  "Calm down, corporal, we're only here to talk."

"You say that."  Proud brought his camera back around as a dozen armed ponies left the personnel carriers with stun rifles and riot shields, surrounding Hurt One.  "But, it doesn't look like it."

"Captain," Dawn Rise raised her microphone towards the grizzled earth pony, "What is going on here?"

With a scowl, he answered, "we're not entirely sure ourselves.  As you surely know, a police hoverbike was spotted at the Mayor's mansion."  He pointed at the one parked near the Hurt One command unit.  "Theirs is the only one unaccounted for."

"Are you saying a police heavy response team may have been involved?"

"No, I am not.  I will comment when I have something to comment on.  The mayor's son is a member of Heavy Response Team One, so there are a number of legitimate reasons for their hoverbike to be at the Mayor's mansion."  He gestured to the sniper.  "We have lost contact with the unit, and are merely taking precautions.  With the exception of the Lieutenant here, and the fighter craft, we are only armed with stun rifles," he gestured to his belt, at a trio of spherical devices, "and flash bangs."

While he was pointing, and while the camera was pointed at the nonlethal grenades, the pins popped out all three of them.  The two reporters, either used to dealing with the unexpected, or by virtue of being half the captain's age, managed to dive away while he stared, dumbfounded.

The loud, cracking explosion, and bright light behind them, drew the attention of every officer in the square.

While they were distracted, the door to the Hurt One command unit burst open.  Red, sniper rifle of his own in hoof, was ready and waiting.  The stun blast caught the other sniper in the face before he even had a chance to look back through his scope.  The other officer near the reporters was next.

The flash of teleportation followed, and the dozen officers closest to the command unit found their unit flanked by a unicorn on either side.

"Stand down!"  Shouted Home Brew, fur glowing with traces of orange aura.  Greyhound glowed with a similar aura, only lemony yellow.  "We are acting under orders from the Chairman's Office!"

Some of the ponies looked confused, but others raised their weapons, ignoring him.  Within seconds, all dozen officer's had their weapons pointed at either Home Brew, or Grey Hound on the other side.  Except for the two closest to the command unit.  They had their weapons drawn on Red hoof, who raised his hooves away from his rifle.

All according to protocol, and all according to plan.

Astral and Chief Cirrus, pressed against the walls on either side of the door frame, ducked out and stunned the two officers, hitting them with electrified darts designed to pierce standard energy dissipating armor.  At the same time, Home Brew punched the ground, shattering the concrete, and pelting officers with debris.  Grey Hound tackled the nearest officer, moving faster than most ponies could, and threw him at the next, flinging the young stallion like he was a toy.  Together, he and Home Brew drew all remaining attention, clearing the way for Miss Kettle to leap out from behind Red, and out the door.

She hit the ground, rolled, and as she stood, flicked her head towards the fighter craft that was no doubt ready to deploy a wide range acoustic suppressant.  A whisp of magic escaped her horn alongside twin blades of air.  They shot forward, slicing deep into into the fighter craft's wings, and with a shout, Miss Kettle grabbed the craft itself.  She dragged it down, overpowering its engines, and thrashed it side to side, tearing its wings, and the antigrav generators at their tips, off the vehicle.

Astral and the chief started tasing any remaining officers from the door as Grey Hound and Home Brew kept them distracted.  Miss Kettle tore into each of the other ships, ripping out engines and other necessary components before running back through the battle and into the Hurt One command truck.

Two of the officers disappeared from the skirmish with a flash, reappearing inside the command unit.  Astral kicked the one that appeared closest to him, and twisted to bring his dart launcher around.  But, Miss Kettle tackled the officer first, wrapping her hooves around his neck in a choke-hold as her legs trapped his.

The other officer had appeared behind the chief, and grabbed her.  She jabbed his horn with her hoof as it started to light up, most likely to teleport them both away.  Her second and third jabs were to his face, as she yelled, "I'm not disappearing today!"  She twisted, pinning her attacker, and managed to get her dart gun pressed against his side.  "Listen to me!  The chairman is going to be killed unless we stop it!"

He smiled, spitting at the chief.  "Then the birds lose for good!"

The chief stared at him a moment, not believing she heard that from a fellow police officer.  "You're working for Green Hoof," she said as she slowly pulled her dart gun away, "keeping us from going after him."

"You can go wherever you want," he sneered, "we're just keeping ol' Red out of things.  If he stays with us, we'll let you leave."

Chief Cirrus smiled as Grey Hound and Home Brew walked back into the command unit.  "I guess you don't realize it, but you are the only member of your team still conscious."  She rectified that situation by bashing him in the face with the butt of her dart rifle.  "Miss Chop, get us out of here!"

"Yes, ma'am!"  The unicorn called from the front, as she fired up the command trucks engines.

"Actually," Miss Kettle grunted, as the pony in her headlock struggled, " my guy's the last one conscious.  I didn't get a good grip on him, could somepony just stun him?"

"Ponies these days," Grey Hound sighed, walking over with a smirk.  He tapped the the struggling pony on the chin, and he went limp.  Once Miss Kettle let go, Grey Hound lifted him by the collar of his uniform and tossed him out the door like a sack of trash.  "Making the old stallion do all the work."

"Good thing they're wearing helmets," Miss Kettle muttered as he walked over and tossed the Chief's attacker out as well.

Red leapt out right after.

"Red?!"  The chief called after him, as the command unit started to lift off the ground.  "What are you doing?!"

"I have a plan!"  He called back, running to and hopping on the hoverbike.  "I'll be right behind you!"

"You better!  Everypony, gear up!  That was HRT Three, if they're in on this, there's no telling who else is.  We may well be fighting alone."  The chief shut the door, just before the command center started moving forward, climbing and gaining speed as it started away from the shopping center.

Red revved up the hoverbike, and launched forward in the opposite direction, where a pink mare was narrating what she just saw to the camera, even though the camera captured all of it.  He shot between them and grabbed the camera from its owner, shouting, "Sorry!" as he sped off into a climb.  He leveled out above any obstacles, and started towards the weather station, locking the hoverbike to cruise on its own.

He then took the camera and pointed it at himself, steadying it on the handlebars in a way he hoped centered him in frame.  He took a deep breath as he looked into the lens.  "Tirassa, My name is Red Hoof.  You may not know me, but I am the son of Mayor Green Hoof.  I am a lieutenant in the capitol police force, assigned to Heavy Response Team One.  It is my duty to work for the safety and good of the ponies of Tirassa.  To that end..."  He swallowed hard, thinking about how many ponies would see this.  "To that end, I must inform you all...  My father is a traitor."
> Singular Awakening
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------

"You are a brave one, are you not?"

He sat, alone in the dark.  Waiting, watching.  For what, I could not say.  I knew I would regret this the moment he spoke to me, but I felt leaving would be the greater tragedy in the end.  I now know how wrong that was.

"Not the talkative sort?"

He stood, towering over me, head brushing against hanging wires, ears twitching at the touch of falling dust.  The place we were in was ancient, sealed.  My hooves rippled filthy water long left still.  I could see no entrance, no exit.  He seemed unconcerned.  The spot where he sat was clean.  No dust dirtied the floor beneath him.  How long had he been sitting there?

"More of a listener, then?  Very well."

I should have left when I had my chance.

"So bold, you ponies.  Ever searching, ever seeking.  Journeying farther, building higher, with no thought of what waits at end of the road, at the peak of the mountain, in the depths of the abyss.  My kind were like you once."

He was a pony, taller than I, but he was a pony.

"They sought to rise above their station, to know things beyond their grasp, to control things beyond their power.  This pursuit destroyed them all."

He was a pony, I was sure of it.

"Shall I tell you of this pursuit?  Would you like to hear what happens when one creates a power beyond all reason?"

I tried to escape then.  I don't know how he held me there, but I could not move, I could not leave.  I could do nothing, nothing but listen, and watch as he walked towards me.

"Oh, no," he cooed, like one would to a child, "don't fear me, little one.  I'm not referring to myself.  My kind created a goddess, I am clearly not female.  She was beautiful, wise, and powerful beyond compare.  They discarded her for being too gentle."

He turned away from me, pacing about the forsaken place we were buried in.  Water glowed and turned solid where he stepped, leaving him dry.  The dust that fell burned away, rather than settle on him, leaving him clean.

"I merely wish to spare your kind the horror mine were forced to endure.  She is solely to blame for what is to come, for failing to learn from last time."

He showed me.  I don't know how, but within moments, he grasped the skill I spent my life learning, and he turned it back on me, showing me a time beyond memory, beyond history.  A past unknown, outside of our calculations, outside our imaginings.  A lost civilization that lived beneath stars no longer burning, that sought to harness the full power of those stars.  They destroyed themselves.  And the tools of their destruction still walk among us.

"She lied to me.  I felt it.  The awakening of a power that, like us, is not meant to exist.  There are others as well, and there will be more still as time goes on.  She has defied me at the expense of an entire world, and hidden the truth.  Her deception goes so far beyond a simple lie, that I fear she is beyond forgiveness.  And so, it falls to me to correct her, and mistake she is too soft to handle alone."

It was then that I realized, the singularity we have been searching for, that point where all predictive models break down, where we lose all hope of knowing, or even guessing, the future...  Why were we searching for it?  Why did we look forward?  We should have been looking over our shoulder.  It's already happened.  He's here.

Our worlds, our galaxy, our search...

It is over.

It is over.

It is over.

It is over.

It is over.

It is over.

It is over.

It is over.

It is over.





Director Shiver, professor in charge of the Singularity Project at Newfolk Science Station lowered the paper he was reading.  Its author, the heart of the program, a talented esper, skilled in clairvoyance and astral projection, turned slowly, hung by the neck at the end of an extension cord tied to the ceiling.

His computer station was smashed.  His voice recorder sat next to it, carefully disassembled.  Tablets and other devices were systematically broken in half.  Important components and memory chips were removed with care, ground into small pieces under a drinking glass, and left on the desk.

A security guard waited in the doorway, unsure of what to do next.  Newfolk was a quiet station, full of academics working towards common goals.  They didn't have the resources, or the training to deal with something like this.  All he could do was try and keep everypony away from the room until the director gave an order, or brought in outside authorities

Page after page, all the same three words, littered the floor.  The printer still churned, putting out even more.  It must have been running all night.  A thousand pages, scattered about, repeating the same hopeless message.

It is over.

"Get him down," the director ordered quietly, shaken by the loss of the happy pony he had lunch with yesterday.  What did he see to lead to this?  What was he shown to convince him that his life was futile?  And most importantly, who showed it to him?  "I'll contact the surface, and ask them to send..."  He glanced back at the body, and swallowed back the rising sick in his throat.  "I don't know...  Somepony."

Who would be able to handle a situation like this?  What could police do?  There were no authorities capable of making sense of this.  The only pony capable of understanding the magic involved was the victim, and he destroyed every device that may have held an answer.  Whatever he learned, it died with him.

The printer in the corner suddenly stopped whining.  The director looked over as one last piece of paper spat out of it.  Was it finally out?

When he picked it up, he realized it was the end of the document.  This page didn't repeat the same message.  It was different.  It was short.  It was final.





It is over.

Everything will end.

She didn't keep her promise.

Twilight Sparkle still lives.
> Cloudy, with a Chance of War
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------

One of Green Hoof's bodyguards walked back from the cockpit of the mayor's personal aircar.  He walked between two rows of ponies, the Chairman and three of his security guards on one side, and half a dozen of his fellow bodyguards on the other.  He walked back to the mayor, who was staring out the window of the rear hatch.

"Sir?" he whispered.  "The platform has gone radio silent, and Red team has reported failure.  Hurt One is loose, and your son is still with them.  Wingless fighters are moving to engage."

"And backup?" the Mayor asked.  He had hoped to shield his son from the scrutiny that would be sure to follow, but he made his decision at the mansion.

"Approaching the platform now, seventy of our soldiers, a dozen fightercraft, and that little gift from Si'irtos.  We're on final approach now, and they'll be right behind us."

"Is there a problem?" Chairman Catch asked, hooves crossed in front of him.  "How long until we reach the platform?"

"Not long," Green Hoof answered, turning away from the window.  It was almost poetic.  He was turning away from the current Tirassa, next time he looked out the window, it would be irreversibly changed.  He sat down across from the chairman.  "Impatience isn't like you."

"I'm worried," the unicorn admitted.  There were so many variables that he couldn't control.  If they knew they were coming, would Wingless move the ponies they captured?  Would they cut their losses and leave them behind?  Or worse, would they hurt them to leave a message?  "Pony trafficking.  Hard to believe even Wingless would be so cruel."

"Yes," the mayor agreed, "it's sad that Dinky's mother got caught up in all this."

The chairman was silent for a beat.  He eventually glanced up at the earth pony, but stayed silent, studying him.  

"Yes," Green Hoof said with a smile, "I know all about your so-called niece and housekeeper.  How long did you think you could hide your winged lover and teenaged daughter?  And in plain sight, no less!  Are they why you're pushing so hard to raise up the pegasi?"

"You have it wrong," the chairman cautioned.

"I don't think so, Catch."  Green Hoof motioned to his bodyguards, and they drew weapons.  Each one leveling them at the four ponies across from them, earth ponies with blasters on the hoof, and unicorns bearing their blasters beside them in magic.  "You're throwing away Tirassa's strength and history because you're taken with that little bird of yours.  I won't let it continue."

"I hold our history dear," Catch countered, "you of all ponies know that.  I'm only throwing away the bigotry and pain we comfort ourselves with."  He looked around, unfazed by the weapons pointed at him.  They weren't stunners.  His armor would protect him from several shots, even at this range, but he and his guards were out numbered two to one, and their armor was weaker.  "You would kill me for that?"

"Only if I have to."  Green hoof reached under his seat and pulled out a camera.  "I have an agent waiting to connect this camera to every broadcast feed on the planet.  If you record a statement confessing to your mistress, and stepping down as Chairman, I'll let you live.  You could live happily somewhere far away from the Capitol.  A peaceful life with your family, your unicorn daughter, and her, soon to be, earth pony mother."

The chairman's mouth twitched, forming a smile for the briefest of moments.  "You're part of of Wingless.  I should have known."  He narrowed his eyes at the camera, their angry silver glinting sharp like the edge of a blade.  "You want a statement?"

"You shouldn't have turned off my watch!" Shouted the blue unicorn beside the chairman, reaching for his weapon.  Seven bodyguards open fired on him as he lunged forward, blasting a hole in the wall behind him as he passed through the energy bolts and bodyguards before dissolving into mist.

Spit leapt from his seat as his illusion broke, drawing his knife instead of his blaster.  It would be faster at these close quarters.  Beside him, his brother Polish, did the same.  Their simultaneous swipes severed the tendons in the two earth pony bodyguards' legs, they wouldn't be able to fire their weapons again.

Catch drew the swords on his back with magic, slashing them crossed before him, cleaving Green Hoof's camera into four equal pieces.  A quick slash right, then left, destroyed a blaster held in a unicorn's magic, and separated another from its earth pony owner, hoof and all.

Polish swung his knife around as a unicorn brought his blaster to bear.  Blade met horn, shattering both, and blasting shards in all directions like a grenade as that unicorn's magic exploded, uncontrolled.

Spit and the bodyguard he was wrestling with were thrown to the ground by the blast, and subsequent shuddering of the craft as it set down hard on a solid surface.

"We've reached the platform!" shouted back the pilot.

Spit's attacker got his hoof and blaster free, and got it pointed at the unicorn.  In desperation, Spit pulled the hoof to his chest, away from his face.  His vest took a blast point blank, energy mesh protecting him from the initial blast, but converting most of the energy into heat.  His attacker screamed as his blaster melted around his hoof, and Spit rolled away, scrambling to remove his scorching armor with magic and blistered hooves.

Steel Catch Dashed forward, slicing a unicorn's horn clean off as the last guard took aim at Spit's unprotected back.  Catch slammed into him as he pulled the trigger, sending the shot wide, but not enough.  It skimmed across Spit's side, boiling flesh before blowing a hole in the floor.

He screamed, grabbing at his wound as Catch slashed down through his attacker's hoof.  Then, with the backside of the hooked blade, lifted the bodyguard by the neck and slammed him down.

Catch spared his two guards a glance.  They were both injured, but conscious, more than could be said for any of Green Hoof's men.  And Green Hoof himself was gone, out the rear hatch at some point in the fight.  "Coward," Catch muttered, stomping past the fallen and into the cockpit.

The pilot shrieked when Catch stepped up beside him, glowing emerald blades at the ready.  "I'm just a driver!"  He put his hooves up in surrender.  "I'm not even armed!"

"Bring my men to the nearest hospital," Catch ordered, before placing one of his blades against the driver's neck.  It sizzled, branding an odd glowing rune as the driver stuttered in pain.  "If I don't remove it, that mark will burn you from the inside out at this time tomorrow."

Biting his lip, and blinking back tears, he quietly said, "All of Wingless is on its way, and you're alone.  What if something happens to you?"

"Then you die in agony."  The chairman patted him on the shoulder.  "Wish me luck."

Catch walked away, leaving the driver crying into the steering wheel.  "If he betrays you," he told Spit and Polish, "Shoot him."  He then headed to the rear hatch, systematically nicking any remaining weapons with his blades as he passed unconscious guards.

With a deep breath, he crossed his blades in front of him before hopping out the back.  A blast of energy impacted them as he landed, fizzling out against his magic.  "Give it up, Green Hoof.  This isn't an even match."





Across Tirassa, in homes, hotels, bars, and restaurants, on screens and pads, ponies young and old, earth pony, unicorn, and even pegasus gathered around whatever device was at hoof.  They didn't believe their ears at first.  The pony who called himself Red Hoof told them that their mayor was a traitor, planning to overthrow the chairman, but here now, proof was before their eyes.  Green Hoof firing a weapon on the Chairman as the unicorn shielded himself with his crystal blades.

Both stallions were armed, both were wearing armor, and a small shuttle full of terribly injured ponies was moving away from them, rear hatch closing slowly.  The camera zoomed in on a unicorn bleeding from countless cuts around his face.  One eye was closed, but he saw the camera and was looking straight at it before the hatch closed.

Everypony saw the emblem of the Chairman's office on his armor.

The camera zoomed back out as the aircar flew away, scraping along the weather platform's landing pad before gaining altitude.  In the distance, dozens of vessels approached.

Ponies knew the course of history would be decided before their eyes.  A battle in the sky, like those in the past.  It was only fitting, after all, for Tirassa's fate to be decided among the clouds.





Behind Green Hoof, the hatch to the interior of the weather station slammed open.  A screaming pony ran out, clad in a brown jacket.  He didn't get far before the end of a chain snaked out behind him.  The living whip of steel, dozens of meters long, chased him with a snake's rattling.

It wrapped around his hind hoof and pulled taught.  He hit the ground, and the chain dragged him back, screaming and clawing at the deck, until he disappeared into the depths of the weather station.

Green Hoof and Steel Catch both stared as he appeared once more, held by the scruff of the neck, like a kitten.  A purple pony, unicorn and pegasus at the same time, held a stallion larger than her in her wing as if he was a child.  She glowed, even in the daylight, and her mane and tail flowed behind her, waves of light and darkness mingled in celestial wind.

A short chain dragged from her right hoof.

"That's mine," she told the stallion, her gaze piercing and cold.  She teleported the jacket off of him, then threw him against the wall like most ponies would a rubber ball.

He didn't bounce.

As an unconscious stallion slid down the wall, Green Hoof fired at the newcomer.  She swatted the energy projectile away with her hoof.  She didn't even look back, focusing instead on the approaching vehicles.

The first vessel screamed past well advanced of the others.  It was small and almond shaped, with spindly wings jutting out either side.  It looped around and made another run, much slower this time.  A hatch on the underside opened, and a computerized gun popped out, tracking Chairman Catch as the craft turned wide.

It fired three times in rapid sequence, each blast crackling against the chairman's shield, and pushing him across the deck.  Catch threw his Khopesh as the vessel turned around for another strafing run, guiding the spinning blade with magic, and it severed the weapon from the vessel.

A moment later, Twilight flung her chain at the vessel.  It lashed out, much like it had for the stallion earlier, growing longer as it streaked towards the craft.  It wound itself around the fighter's wing, almost sending it into a spiral when it pulled taught.

The pilot stabilized their craft barely a meter above the weather platform, and shifted from jets to antigravs for better control and lifting power, at the sacrifice of speed.  He pulled away from the chain, craft struggling as if it was dragging a boulder.

Twilight grit her teeth as she pulled, matching her strength against the fighter craft.  She curled her hoof, gripping the manacle that bound the chain to her.  She wasn't about to let the fighter pilot get away with trying to shoot her only link to Ditzy and Dinky.

The craft inched ever closer to the edge, dragging her along with it, but the moment it hit open air, it was sucker punched by a speeding airtruck.  The larger vessel plowed into the small fighter, climbing rapidly, and pursued by four more of the almond-shaped craft.

Twilight was yanked off the deck like a loose tooth tied to an arrow.  She face-planted against the truck's window as she was dragged along by the hoof.

"Twi!"  Astral shouted from inside the truck, strapped into the seat near the window.  "Are you OK?!"

"Astral?!  Stupid question!" She shouted back as the truck turned, and the fighter vessel dislodged from the grille.  She was quickly dragged along as the fighter craft fell into the path of the others.

She tucked her wings and leaned into the uncontrolled dive, increasing her speed to put slack into the chain.  Once it was loose, she pulled it back, and immediately threw it at one of the fighters still climbing, snagging its wing in the same way.

But this time, she detached herself the moment it started to lose control.  The pilot tried to compensate for weight that was no longer there, and careened into the path of his wingman.  They bumped, crumpling sheet metal and internal components as underbellies kissed.

Both craft broke off pursuit as they started losing altitude, entering controlled glides away from the fight.

Twilight chased the other two as they deployed the same computer controlled guns she had seen on the first craft.  With a shout, she lashed out with magic, teleporting both pilots out of their vessels.  Unsurprisingly, only one appeared beside her.  The other would probably wake up inside the weather station.

She grabbed the pilot as she flew past, and dove for the weather platform.  The larger vessels were landing now, unloading armored ponies.

Steel Catch grabbed the nearest of the four large vessels in his magic, and shoved it over the edge.  It would be back, but he bought himself some time to deal with the rest.  He could barely see, and couldn't lower his shield, as dozens of ponies were already blasting away at him.  The deafening sound of crackling energy and blinding flashes kept him from picking out individual enemies in the crowd.

He threw a wave of unfocused telekinetic energy to his right, at the heaviest concentration of incoming fire.  Soldiers stumbled and fell, disrupting the volley from that direction, and he saw another of the transport ships, unloading ponies who were quickly forming a firing line.

He dashed forward, still taking fire.  Fewer shots hit his shield as he approached the transport.  Ponies stopped firing out of fear of hitting their comrades.  Except for the soldiers lined up along the transport.  They started firing frantically, hoping to wear down the shield before Steel Catch reached them.

He leapt at the transport, crashing through the windows, shield and all.  He dropped the shield as he landed among the soldiers still trying to disembark.  Some of them were still strapped into their seats.

He marched forward.

The closest pony raised a rifle, only for Catch to slice it in two.  The Chairman grabbed the grizzled soldier's head with his hoof, and cracked his face into the back of a seat.  The next pony, younger by at least half, and still strapped in, raised his hooves away from his weapon.  Catch tossed the weapon away, and left him alone.  The third, also older, raised a blaster on her hoof, and her leg was cut to the bone by a mere flick of Catch's magic blade before she could fire.

"Surrender!"  Catch bellowed.  "I will grant a full pardon to anypony who throws down their weapon!"

Scared ponies exchanged glances, but only one threw down his rifle, a young stallion near the front of the vehicle.  "My dad made me," he explained in a shaky voice.

"Coward!" Shouted another old pony, aiming at the scared young stallion.

Catch blasted him with magic, throwing him through the support column in the center of the windshield.  It was not a pleasant sound, and if he survived, recovery would be a drawn out process.  "Next pony to raise a weapon joins him."  Weapons clattered to the ground, and Catch nodded.  Children.  These were children, teens and twenty-somethings, the lot of them, aside from the few that tried to attack him.  "Now, get this ship out of here before I change my mind."

Catch teleported himself out of the transport, and behind one of the others.





"Aaaaahh!!"  Quick Chop, piloting the Hurt One command truck, screamed as Chairman Catch appeared in front of the transport she was trying to ram.  She swerved to miss him, and he dove out of the way, but when the command truck hit the transport, the transport swung around, swatting the chairman like a fly.

He was tossed over the edge, and disappeared in a flash.  He reappeared a meter above the deck, close to where the truck hit him, and fell to the ground hard.

He groaned in pain as ponies filed out of the truck.  The first one out, a light blue mare with white hooves, in police issue uniform, lobbed some sort of grenade over the transport.

It exploded with an earsplitting crack.  Catch could only imagine how much worse it was for anypony close to it.

As Catch stood up, a grey unicorn followed her, half a dozen more grenades, and a dart rifle, floating beside him, but with no magic surrounding them.  He launched the flash-bangs, spreading them out like a net.  The two unicorns behind him ran to the Wingless troop transport, and shoved it away from their truck.  They quickly retreated.

Catch smiled as the last pony exited the airtruck, lighting a rag stuffed into a can of solvent.  She launched the can through one of the transport's broken windows, then rushed over to the chairman.

"Miss Kettle!"  He called as fell to his haunches as more explosions went off on the far side of the transport, and it burst into flames.  Anypony over there would have to think twice before charging blindly around that barricade.  "Looks like we were right about Green Hoof," he groaned, "are there any more reinforcements on the way?"

"Probably not, sir.  We couldn't contact anypony, and had to fight our way out of the city."  She checked him over for injuries.  "Anything broken?"

"Doesn't feel like it," he said, stretching and rubbing his shoulder, "just getting too old to be getting shot at and hit by trucks."

A screaming pony fell to the ground nearby.  Twilight landed gently beside him.  "Roughly fourty troops are falling back to cover after those flashbombs, and the small ships are forming a perimeter around the platform, you need to warn any ships on the way that they're headed straight into the cross hairs."

Miss Kettle laughed.  "You're about twelve seconds late to party, whatever you are.  I just got done explaining that there's no backup."

"Oh."  Twilight glanced over at the burning transport.  "I'm sure we'll be fine."

Before she could say anything else, Astral tackled her, wrapping his hooves around her.  She was surprised at first, but quickly settled into the embrace.  A warm touch felt like a foreign thing after how long she was in that cold cell.

She wanted nothing more than to stay here, just like this, but there was no time, and Astral knew it too.  He let go of her, and stepped back.  "Twi, what happened to you?"

"I'll explain later."  She didn't know if he was asking about her disappearance during teleport, or the sudden change in appearance, but only one was important right now.  "This station has a device that can distort gravity wells.  The ponies here use it to intercept high energy teleports, stealing away an object if there's more than one in transit.  They've been using it to kidnap ponies."

"We know, that's how we found this place.  Used the start and end points of two intercepted teleports to find a fourth dimensional intersection."  He glanced over at Miss Kettle.  "Twi?  Was there anypony else with you?  Somepony went missing earlier today, in the middle of a teleport."

Twilight shook her head.  "I was locked in an empty room, alone.  They mentioned another mare, but I didn't see her."

"Give it up, Catch!"  Green Hoof called from behind his troops.  "You're outgunned, and outnumbered.  " Wingless Dawn will prevail!"

"Main door's on the other side of all the ponies that want to kill me," Steel Catch observed.  "Miss Kettle, you go look for her, and take these officers with you.  I'll clear the deck so it'll be safe to make an escape."

"I took out most of the goons inside," Twilight added, "ringleader's an old earth pony mare, but I couldn't find her, she may be in hiding.  And she may have a gun, be careful."

"Not to rain on things," Chief Cirrus spoke up, "but, how are we getting in?"

"Where are my swords?"  Catch looked around, spotting one of them near the back of the burning transport.  He dragged it over, and channeled some magic through it.  He carved out a wide circle in the deck in front of him.  "If there isn't a door, make one."

Twilight pulled the metal plug out of the way, revealing wires and support struts, and a barely visible bit of open hallway off to the left.

"Or make two," the chairman muttered, carving another hole the appropriate distance over.  This time, the metal disc he cut fell straight through, landing with a clang, three meters below.  "Everypony in."

"Last chance, Catch!  You have ten seconds to surrender!"

"In," the chairman repeated.

With a nod, chief Cirrus hopped in, landing lightly below.  "It's clear," she called up, and the rest of her team followed her.

"I can be more help up here," Twilight protested.

"And I'm not letting her out of my sight again," Astral added.

A small device clattered to the ground nearby, a squarish box with displays counting down on all sides.  Ten seconds.

"No magic!" Astral shouted as he dove for it, seeing both Twilight and Catch reacting.  He grabbed the box, and flipped it over in his hooves, finding a side with a keypad, and hitting the buttons with his hooves.  The device beeped, and the displays froze at five seconds.  He held it up with a breathless laugh.  "Old-school surplus Curaxxan mining charge," he said, " good for busting tree stumps, but magic can mess with the countdown."

Staring at it, his eyes narrowed.  "Twi?  How far below the platform did you say those fighters were?"

"Oh," she brought her hoof to her chin.  "A hundred meters down from the edge?  So, just under five seconds drop, assuming a gravity like Canterlot.  I really can't tell right now, my body feels super light, but that could be from the magic."

"Gravity's just a tiny bit weaker," Astral punched commands in, resetting the timer to seven seconds.  "I'll drop it on six.  Cover me."

"Just start it," Twilight suggested, "I'll teleport it down at the last second."

Astral nodded.  "And if it has magic tampering prevention?"

Twilight crossed her hooves.  "I teleported photons for my Master of Applied Magic Thesis, Astral.  I think I can handle getting a bomb far away from us even if it explodes first."

With a groan, Catch swiped the mining charge.  "Give me that."  He hit the start button, and pitched it like a fastball.  It sailed over the edge and fell out of sight.  "Even if we don't hit them, those fightercraft won't stay down there if they feel like they'll be targeted."

As the charge exploded off in the distance, Catch shouted into the air, "The next one of those I see gets sent straight back!"

Green Hoof shouted back, "Do you still think you can win this Catch?"

"Do you?!"  Catch wrapped the burning hoverbus in magic, and started shoving it towards the enemy.  "You haven't attacked yet.  You have me so vastly outnumbered, that a full third of of your forces ran, and the rest are waiting for what?  An invitation?"  

The flash of a teleport drew Catch's attention.  An armored pony appeared behind them, only to fall, screaming, into the hole cut into the hallway below.  Astral ran over with his dartgun, and fired a single taserdart down into the crumpled lump of rebel soldier.

Twilight stared at him in disbelief.  "Was that necessary?"

"Can't risk him getting up, and ending up behind the others," Astral answered with a shrug.

"Very true," Catch agreed.  "Now, not to be rude, but who are you two, and how are you involved in this?"

"Bad luck, mostly," Astral answered immediately, "to both questions."

That earned him a frown from Twilight, even though it was mostly true.  Mostly because it was entirely true.  "My name is Twilight Sparkle, and this is Astral Plane.  You spoke to a friend of ours, named Silver, about the cryo chambers.  Ditzy Doo, and Dinky, are both friends of mine."

Catch nodded his understanding.  "I'm sorry you got dragged into-"  His last word was drowned out by the roar of a dozen gravity dives starting up in unison.  "Hoverbikes.  Break's over, if you're gonna stay up here, you'll have to fight!"

"Don't worry about us," Astral shouted, "do what you need to do!"

"Good ponies," Catch muttered as he turned to face the Hoverbus.  It's fires were nearly out, its seats and upholstery reduced to acrid, molten plastic and ash.  He slashed his Khophesh upwards, launching a wave of emerald magic that split the bus in two, and he shoved the pieces aside.  "What the hell is that?!"

Hoverbikes launched, and ponies fell back as a large slug-like monster was released from the back of one of the transport vehicles.  It bloated and distorted as it squeezed out of a compartment that was too small for it, and five ponies stood ready with whips to guide it once it was out.

"Si'irtan Saltat!"  Astral ran forward, past Catch.  "Monsters are mine!"

Twilight reached out to stop him, but something stopped her.  Astral was smiling.  Running after a grotesque slime monster, and smiling.  She didn't get to see him in action in the cargo bay, having been focused on sealing the void strand, so she was going to watch this carefully.

An earth pony on a hoverbike saw Astral rushing forward, and swooped down.  Without slowing down, Astral blasted him backwards out of his seat with a stundart.  One of the whip ponies turned around as he heard the hoverbike crash.  Astral dropped him with another dart.

The next pony to see Astral, a unicorn, lashed out with his whip.  It bit Astral's leg, high near his shoulder.  He hissed in pain, but didn't slow his charge.  But, he didn't charge the monster, instead, he charged the lead whip-bearer.  He was still facing the monster, when Astral leapt at him, over him, and in a move he was sure feral Fluttershy would approve of, twisted around, grabbing the whip pony, biting his neck, and rolling.  If he had his regular fangs, and not his current cosmetic grind-job, he would have torn this pony's windpipe, jugular, and carotid, killing him.

As it was, the blindsided pony was slightly bruised, but still conscious, at least until they stopped rolling and Astral bashed him in the face with his dart rifle.  The grey unicorn then looked up at the remaining whip ponies, and shouted.  "Get him out of here, or get eaten!"

They looked at each other, unsure of what to do.  Their leader was the only one who knew how to handle the beast, they were just following his lead.

"This thing eats anything that bleeds!"  Astral grabbed the leader's whip, and cracked it at the nearest pony, splitting skin near his flank.  He could see the sudden fear in that pony's eyes.  "It has four hundred teeth!  On three separate mouths!"  Astral glanced around.  He had their attention, and the monster's, which had stopped moving once it smelled blood.  "Each mouth is the size of your currency chips, and it will eat you through the original wound over the course of several minutes.  It uses a paralytic venom to keep you still, and a stimulant to keep you awake and bleeding."  They looked really nervous, but they weren't running, much to Astral's surprise.  Why were they hanging around?!  "You will be eaten from the inside out if you don't run, right now!  Go!"

That got them running so fast that Astral had to grab one of them and remind him to drag away their fallen leader.  And with them gone, Astral was alone with the Saltat.  "Come on, big guy, you smell the blood, right?"

A bright blue bulb appeared from the spotty, mucus-coated folds of the creatures body.  Astral leaned down, and took a big lick of the biggest blood pool left by the pony he injured.  The bulb leaned towards Astral, and fighting the urge to retch, he took another lick.

The giant creature started pulling itself out of its prison again, much slower this time.  It was flattening itself out as it reached towards the blood pool.  Astral winced as he braced himself for his next move.  Little of what he told the whip-bearers was true, there was no paralytic venom.  This thing was a scavenger, a semisentient fungus with a strong survival instinct.  It would only attack a known predator if threatened, and would rarely eat anything that was still alive.

But, it did like blood.

And it did have four hundred teeth.

And it would eat you exactly as he had described if it thought you were dead.

Astral lunged at the Saltat's leading edge, biting, and tearing out a chunk as it drew back.  It was like biting a chunk of seat cushion foam dipped in egg white.  Astral's eyes teared up as he chewed it enough to swallow, then turned back to the blood puddle.  He took one last lick, showing the beast he wasn't going to be scared away from what it percieved as his kill.  He wasn't sure which was more disgusting, pony blood or Saltat flesh.

He then ran back to Catch and Twilight as the Saltat inched forward to lick up the blood that remained.  They were both clearly impressed, if a little grossed out.  But he couldn't take pride in the moment, because he knew he was about to ruin it.

He glanced back to make sure the Saltat was still watching him, blue proto-eye extended his way.  And, it was.  "Just know, I apologize for this."

Astral grabbed Steel Catch, and licked the side of his face, jawline to ear before he could react.  Twilight was next, but even seeing it coming, she was too stunned to do anything to stop it.

"I'm going to pretend that didn't happen," Steel Catch said quietly, staring straight ahead.  "I trust there was a reason behind it."

"There better have been," Twilight added, fixing Astral with a glare she hadn't used on him since he pulled a feather out of her wing back in a Canterlot mud pit.  "For his sake."

"There is," Astral quickly reassured them.  "The Saltat's main predator is the Skaku, it's a dog-like, spined creature that's about the size of a pony, and hunts in packs.  But, Saltats sometimes form a symbiotic relationship with a particular pack and scavenge after them in exchange for keeping their dens parasite free.  I could have kept eating it, but let it live, and it thinks you two are part of my pack.  It won't attack us now, and might even try to protect us."

"Impressive."  Catch wiped at his face as the slug beast continued licking up the blood smears.  "You must be Tanan?  A beast-worlder?  Will it attempt to scavenge after us?"

"Only if we leave corpses.  They prefer recently deceased carrion, but won't eat anything with a pulse unless its starving.  Well fed, and in the wild, they're really quite gentle.  But, the sound of whips can work one into a frenzy easy enough."  He glanced down at his dart rifle.  "Well, I'm at a disadvantage for the next part of the fight, though, so I'm going to grab some more ammo from the truck."

"Hey," Twilight interrupted, "where did those hoverbikes go?  And why haven't those fighter ships attacked us yet?  That bomb exploded, they had to have seen it."

"They could be in contact with somepony up here," Catch posed as a possibility.  "They may have been told the bomb was a one time thing, and not to break formation.  But, that doesn't explain the hoverbikes.  I can't even hear them."

"I can," Astral tilted his head, "barely.  They're idling, so they're quiet."

Twilight listened carefully, ears turning and twitching.  "I hear them, too...  They're below us.  Down with the fighter craft?"

"Checking for damage?"  Catch asked.  "Maybe we hit one with the explosive."

Twilight shook her head.  "I doubt it, those things were clustered pretty tight to the platform edge."

Astral groaned miserably.  "Guys...  They're fanatics losing a battle on a floating platform, they have bombs and hoverbikes, and I'm guessing this weather station has a central antigrav spire like most medium sized antigrav platforms."

"I believe you're right.  Shit."  Catch stabbed the deck.  "And it explains why they aren't attacking us.  Mr. Plane, can the police truck still fly?"

The grey unicorn shook his head.  "No, it took too much damage on the way up here."  He looked over at Twilight.  "Twi..."

She nodded.  "I know."

"They'll have changed the code from the default after I disarmed that last one.  And there's no telling how many they have, or how the timers are set."

"And the teleport disruptor is still active.  We can't teleport away, and I'll have to teleport the bombs off one at a time, or they'll end up inside the station."  Twilight ran for the edge of the platform and dove down.  The sound of lasers and hoverbike engines followed.

The alicorn shot back up within seconds.  "Nevermind!"  An almond shape fightercraft was hot on her tail as she climbed.  It launched a missile that promptly disappeared in a flash of purple.  It ended up behind the craft, whose pilot bailed half a second before his own missile blew his craft to pieces.  "Too many bombs!"  Twilight shouted, swinging back down towards the deck.  She landed hard near Astral and Catch.  "They go in ten seconds!  What do we do?"

"If they're using the same mining charges," Catch said calmly, "the platform isn't in immediate danger.  I can slow the descent, but I will be an open target.  The fight is up to you two."

An explosion rocked the platform, and it started to list.  "Backups aren't going to last long," Astral groaned, "If we can find the control center, we might be able to set it down in a lake."

"No time."  Catch exhaled slowly, and his horn lit up with pale silver energy.  "And, hopefully, no need."  He closed his eyes as the energy grew brighter.  "I will trust you two to keep me safe until we reach the ground."

Astral's reply was drowned out by a gust of wind, and he had to brace himself, flinching against the unexpected force.  When he looked back up, he saw that the silver aura wasn't contained to Catch's horn.  Wisps of the same light were riding on the wind, and rolling with the clouds in the distance.  Astral could feel the energy in the air, dancing over his coat like static, far beyond anything he could hope to muster.

"He's got this, Astral."  Twilight took a deep breath as she walked up beside him.  "And he's going to shake things up when he gets done with this spell.  So, how do you want to do this?"

"Together?"  Astral asked with a smirk.

"Duh."  Twilight scoffed.  "I meant offense or defense."

"Offense," Astral answered quickly.  "Keep them from figuring out what Catch is up to, and clear a path for the others."

"Sounds good to me."  She and Astral squared up with the split air bus, with the path back into the fight.  "I'll have to break off if anymore fighter jets come up here."

"I know."  Astral glanced over, and smiled.  "Let's do this."

She smiled back.  "Yes, let's."

They charged out together, galloping into the no-pony's-land created by the loose Saltat.  Most of the Wingless Dawn troops were holed up behind the airbus it was released from.  One brave soul poked his head around the corner on hearing hoofbeats, and ate a stundart for his trouble.

One of his compatriots dragged him back to cover, and another fired blindly around the corner with an old laser blaster.

Twilight threw her wing up, shielding Astral from the only shot even remotely close to hitting them.  It glanced off her wing, deflecting harmlessly up into a sky darkening with clouds by the second.

"What the hell?!"  Astral watched the bolt disappear into the distance.  "Twi?"

"Yeah."  She spared a small glance, but didn't slow down.  "Long story short, I can do that now.  Fall back!"

Astral looked back forward, and realized what she had planned.  He missed a few steps, slowing his gallop, and letting her rush ahead.  He picked up his pace right after though, and was only a beat or two behind her.

Twilight rounded the corner of the airbus first.  Wings flared and head lowered, she snorted menacingly at the half-dozen soldiers in hiding.

And they opened fire.

Trained professionals, they were not, and most of their shots went embarrassingly wide.  But one of them got lucky, and Twilight caught some sort of explosive ion pulse to the face.  The uncoordinated fire stopped as glowing smoke obscured her from view.

And as the smoke cleared, showing her to be unharmed, she smirked at the stunned soldiers.  "Ooh, my coltfriend's not gonna be happy about that."

On cue, Astral dove out behind her, sliding to a stop prone, and rifle-ready.  He dropped all six soldiers as they scrambled to bring their weapons to bear on the new threat.

And then, they were alone.

All the remaining soldiers were loaded onto the last, and least damaged, airbus, retreating.

Astral pointed to the front of the airbus.  "There!  That green stallion, the one yelling at the pilot.  That's Greenhoof, he's the one behind all of this."

Twilight saw him.  "Got it."

Astral was expecting her to teleport him out, but she didn't.  Instead, she wrapped him in a pink bubble, and tore him out through the side of the airbus.  She tossed him up into the darkening sky, then slammed him down, burying the bubble in the deck barely a meter from her and Astral.  "Leaving so soon?"  Twilight peered into the bubble, sneering at the disoriented stallion within.  "You're missing your chance to inspect the merchandise."

It took a moment for anypony on the airbus to overcome their surprise enough to act.  But the first to do so, was stunned by Astral the moment the jumped out of the airbus.

Lightning crashed.

"Stay where you are!"  Astral shouted over wind that wasn't there a moment ago, keeping his dart rifle levelled at the opening.  He didn't have any ammo left, but hopefully they didn't know that.  "We're putting an end to this!"

Somepony glanced out, slowly figuring out that their opponents were vastly outnumbered.  "The insurrection will last to the last pony!" He shouted with confidence, motioning for somepony to give him a weapon.

"We'll see about that!"  Twilight shouted.  "I've no patience for slave traders and drug dealers!"

She saw the two ponies closest to the opening glance at each other.  The young pony holding a weapon out to the one that shouted suddenly pulled it back, clutching it tight to their chest.

"Oh."  Astral lowered his rifle as they turned to look at still others aboard the bus.  For a moment, it was total silence.  Then, it was quiet voices.  Then, it was raised voices.  He looked over at Twilight.  "I don't think they all knew about that."

Greenhoof shouted something from within his bubble, but it was so muffled by the magic sphere, even Astral and Twilight couldn't hear him.  "Shields don't usually block that much sound," Twilight explained happily, "but I thought it would be best if you couldn't give any more orders."

There was a short burst of gunfire on board the airbus.  Windows shattered.  Ponies screamed.  Astral ducked in alarm as a bolt of energy shot out a window and over their heads.

"Oh, crap!" Astral brought his rifle back up out of reflex.  "I guess their opinions were pretty divided on the whole slave trade thing."

Twilight stared.  "They didn't just...  You know...  Start killing each other?"

"I don't know," Astral admitted as the weapons fire died down.  "But, there's still movement.  Which side do you think is control?"

That question was answered by the clatter of a weapon being tossed out a window.  Another followed it out through the hole Twilight tore in the side of the bus.  A third weapon followed that one, and the pony who dropped it leaned out with his hooves held high.

"He can't be any older than Radio," Twilight muttered.

"We didn't know!"  The colt shouted.  "It's just-"

Another explosion rocked the platform.  It was different from the last one, and followed by the sound of laser fire.  The next explosion they heard wasn't accompanied by any shaking.  A fighter craft in flames rocketed up and away from the station, pursued by a hoverbike.

"They're turning on each other," Astral realized.  He looked over at Twilight, and behind her, he saw a hatch open.  Gunshots echoed as a unicorn climbed out, firing Astral's pistol behind him.  "Get down!"

Astral dropped his rifle and tackled Twilight as the unicorn zeroed in on her.  He felt the searing pain of the bullet, and he heard the shot.  As they crashed to the ground, he knew it wasn't just a graze.  There was a lot of hurt, all down his right side.  His leg burned, he couldn't feel his shoulder, and there was a sting all the way to his cutie mark.

He tried to stand up, but Twilight was on her Hooves faster.  "Astral?"  She tried to steady him with her wing, not noticing the blood until she felt it on her feathers.  "Astral!"

"How fitting!"  The unicorn shouted, laughing at the fear in her expression.  "Your would-be rescuer dies by your own gun!  You might take us down, but we still broke you."

The unicorn raised the pistol again, and Twilight shoved Astral out of the way before he fired.  And then... she glitched.  She blinked out of existence for a brief moment, as the bullet passed through the space she once occupied.  It sparked harmlessly as it ricocheted of the deck behind her.  She reappeared out of position, blinked away, and reappeared again rapidly, air distorting around her like static.  The speed she flickered at increased with every disappearance.

"What the hell?!"  The unicorn stared in horror.  Spatial magic started crumpling the deck plates around her, and she was reappearing in multiples, sometimes in the same place.  Light ceased to exist in the deepest myriad folds of dimensional distortion surrounding her.   The air around was beginning to protest the abuse with a screeching cacophony of twisted voices.  Or, was that her voice?  Jumbled and multiplied by whatever spell was distorting reality around her?

He raised the gun again to end whatever unspeakable black magic he was witnessing.

And Astral crashed into him, grabbing the unicorn by the mane before collapsing.  The bullet was lodged in his hind leg, so he wasn't about to win a fight of mobility, but he at least had a chance up close.

The unicorn tried to shove Astral away, but caught a hoof to the face.  He punched back, narrowly missing Astral's head, and swung again, lower.  He caught the injured pony in the right side, blow aimed at the blood where the bullet had skimmed across his hide.

The pain dropped Astral for a moment, and the unicorn brought the pistol around.

Astral grabbed it with his magic, pulling it off course by the slide.  When the unicorn pulled the trigger, the gun was pointed at the deck.  The shot was deafening.  The bullet shattered.  Fragments cut Astral's cheek, and temple, though he didn't feel it over the adrenaline, and the manhandling of the gun's mechanisms by two competing magics caused the spent casing to jam, a stovepipe failure, though Astral was the only one who noticed.

Astral released his grip on the gun, and the unicorn tried to pull the trigger.  Astral tried to catch his breath, standing up during the second or two it took his opponent to realize he wasn't dying in a bang of powder and lead.  He grabbed the gun again, with his hooves this time, and tried to pull it away, but the unicorn quickly pulled back.

Astral felt the pull, and shoved all his weight into it, overwhelming the unicorn, and bashing his nose in with the broadside of the malfunctioning pistol.  The suddenness, and shock of it, shook the unicorn enough that he lost his grip on the weapon.  He realized this quickly, and tackled Astral, prompting a scream as the injured unicorn landed on his right side.

Pressing the advantage, the slaver reared up, pulling his hoof back for a grand swing, ready to stomp Astral's head in.

But, Astral was faster, and he had the gun.  In one short motion, he grabbed the pistol's slide in one hoof, pulling it back to clear the jam, as the other hoof pushed the rest of the gun towards his assailant. His magic pulled the trigger.  He released the slide, and the gun fired the moment it slammed forward.

It was a glancing blow, skipping off the unicorn's rib cage, but there was a bang, and blood, and pain, and he fell back, scrambling away from Astral in fear of a second shot.

He didn't need to.

Astral lost his grip on the gun after that first shot.  Holding the thing in his hoof, plus the awkward angle, made the slide bite him as it cycled the next round.  One more small pain, but they were building up, and he was losing focus as fast as he was losing blood.

Astral tried to get his hooves, or his magic back around the weapon as the other unicorn abandoned the idea in favor of building up a large fireball.  Astral shut his eyes against a blinding flash, bracing for flames, but no pain accompanied the light.  When he opened his eyes, slowly falling to his knees, he saw that the unicorn was wrapped in glowing, featureless squares.

Twilight limped forward, shuddering in pain, jolts and twitches of spatial static still wracking her body as shattered runes and formulae of light evaporated off of her.  "Looks like I'm the one who broke you," she growled, as the squares snapped shut, twisting her target around as they pulled his limbs tight in opposite directions, leaving him hog-tied, and suspended in mid-air, half a meter above the deck.  "That hurt way, way more than I thought it would."  Twilight collapsed next to Astral, and the last of the runes and lines poofed into a little cloud of fading stardust.  "I told you before, the gun wouldn't work again," she whimpered, reaching for Astral.

His hoof met hers half way.  "You did," he groaned, "and I should have listened."

"Mr. Plane!"  Chief Cirrus popped up out of the hatch the unicorn used.  Weapon at the ready, she swept it across the deck, searching for any remaining hostiles.  Finding none, she climbed out, and stared in confusion at the bound unicorn.  "It's clear!"  She shouted into the hatch, before running to Astral and checking his injuries.  "What happened?!"

"He shot us, we shot him," Astral answered, trying to sit up.  His entire right side was on fire, and he quickly decided to just stay down and apply pressure to his wounds with magic.

The chief checked Twilight as well, but she didn't have any apparent injuries.  The wind was picking up, and it whipped her mane about.  "Why is he floating up?"

Astral looked over.  The unicorn was now almost two meters up, and slowly rising higher.  "He isn't," he groaned, "we're falling."

"That explosion we felt?"

Twilight nodded, the pain from forcing herself out of phase with matter slowly fading now that her spatial alignment was back in tune with reality.  "Mining charges on the main anti-grav spire.  But, we captured Greenhoof, and two of their airbuses are still intact enough to fly out of here."  She pointed at the airbus full of Wingless Dawn's remaining soldiers.  "The ponies in that one surrendered.  There's injured elsewhere on deck, and Steel Catch is trying to buy time before the platform falls.  We can't teleport if the disruptor's still online, and we're surrounded by fighter craft and hoverbikes.  Oh, and ignore the monster, just stay away from it and it's all fine."

"Monster?"  The chief looked but didn't see the Saltat as it was still behind the other hoverbus, happily licking the deckplates clean.  "So, you're saying we have nowhere to go."  Cirrus glanced back as the last of her team exited the hatch, followed by Miss Kettle who helped the grey Pegasus following her.  "Unless we can hold off the fighter craft.  There are some heavy weapons and a shield generator still in the command truck, they might get us back to the surface at least."

"I'll see if I can help Catch," Miss Kettle volunteered, "if not, I can help take out the fighters."

"He's here?" The pegasus asked, limping forward, broken manacles dangling from her hooves.  "He came to save me?"

Twilight gasped when she saw her.  "Derpy!  You were the other mare they captured?"

The pegasus was just as surprised to see her, and the chain on her hoof.  "Miss Twilight?!  Were...  Were you the one in the torture room?"

"Only until I broke out."  Twilight ran over and hugged her former mailmare.  "I'm so glad you're ok."

The pegasus returned the gesture, squeezing her friend and princess tight.  "I told Dinky you'd be looking for us.  I knew you-"

Booming thunder drowned out the rest of her words, and most of the team instinctively covered their ears.  Lightning flashed, showing just how dark it had gotten.

"Where'd this storm come from?"  Chief Cirrus asked, looking up, and wondering why there wasn't any rain yet.  "It was clear a few minutes ago."

Twilight glanced back towards where they had left the chairman.  There were two airbuses between them, so she couldn't see what was happening, but she had a fair idea.  "Catch is trying to use the clouds to slow us down, but he gathered them too fast.  The excess energy turned them into stormclouds.  It should still work, but it's going to get worse before it gets better, and there's no way it will stop us completely."

"We can't allow the platform to crash in the city."  Chief Cirrus looked back at her team.  "I'll head to the command truck, and see where we are.  Everypony else, secure the area, get the injured onto the working airbuses."  She gestured to the still climbing bound unicorn.  "Pull him down and cuff him before he gets too far up."

Twilight dispelled the bindings, and the unicorn crashed to the deck screaming.  "I'm going to help Catch with the platform," she told the chief, "please take care of Astral for me."

"Help how?"

"I don't think we can keep it in the air very long, but I can push it away from the city."  She took a slow breath, setting her jaw in determination.  There were still fighter craft down there, but she couldn't let them stop her.  "If this platform crashes into the city, thousands of ponies could die.  I can't let that happen."

"Twi," Astral held out his hoof, beckoning her over.

She stepped over, but before she could grab his hoof, he grabbed her by the mane, and pulled her down to him.  Foreheads together, horns barely touching, he sighed quietly.  "Twi," he said quietly.  He knew what she had to do, and what could happen if those fighters got in her way.  He could see that she was worried about it.  "Twi, it's never easy to think about taking a life, but you need to think about the lives you can save first.  The pilots of those fighter craft made the decision to be here, to fight, to die.  The ponies in the city didn't.  They don't know what's about to happen.  You can save them."

The alicorn closed her eyes.  "I know, Astral.  I know."

"I hate to butt in on this dramatic moment," Chief Cirrus said, leaning in, "but, can't you just teleport the whole kit and kaboodle out of your way?  They'll end up in the belly of the station, but everypony's out here, so we can lock it down and round them up later."

"Or, you can do that," Astral quickly agreed.

Twilight nodded her head.  "Yeah, that's much better."  She looked back at Astral.  "Wish me luck."

"You'll make your own!" He called as she ran off.

She smiled as she ran, hooves sparking against the deckplates as she built up her magic.  Finally, he going to be of some use.  No longer sidelined by her own fears and trepidations.  She was the princess of friendship, and this planet was about to learn a hard won lesson about being nice to ponies.

She dove from the platform edge with a battlecry.  She twisted about adjusting her fall to land on a fighter that happened to be passing below.  It shuddered from the unexpected impact, but the pilot adjusted quickly.  Around him, the fighter vessels and hoverbikes were turning on each other, but he didn't dare get involved, he wasn't sure who was on whose side.

"Hey!"

The pilot tapped his helmet.  "Repeat that?"  That was weird, why was the voice so quiet?  Was his comm malfunctioning?

"Hey!"  The voice was accompanied by a knocking sound this time.

The pilot looked over, and Twilight waved at him, smirking as she she peered down into the cockpit.  With a grunt, she swung the back of her hoof at the glass bubble, tearing it free of the small aircraft.

The pilot screamed as he was torn from the cockpit, hoisted by his flight harness out into the wind and storm.  Twilight dragged him along as she leapt back, away from the vessel before vaporizing it with a blast of violent amethyst magic.

Twilight dove as a pair of hoverbikes turned towards her, identifying her as a larger threat than their former compatriots.  The wind screamed in her ears as she gained speed.

The bikes dove after her, and she turned, spreading her wings as a brake.  Rain pelted her face, but she blinked it away, and threw the pilot she nabbed up at the first bike.  She waited for the bike to get close, and teleported  both him and the hoverbike's rider away.

Without it's rider, the hoverbike continued its dive, and Twilight grabbed it as it sped past.  It took her a moment to figure out how to seat herself and grab the handlebars, but she figured it out just in time for one of the two ponies she teleported to reappear beside her. It was the pilot from the fighter.

She grabbed him, and twisted the bike around.  The other bike was there, charging at her, and she threw the pony again before gunning the accelerator.  She teleported him and the new bike rider, then let the collision of the two hoverbikes throw her clear of the resulting explosion.

As she tumbled through the air, there was a flash beside her.  Exactly as planned.  She grabbed the pilot and looked over at him with an off-kilter, adrenaline-fueled smile.  "If you guys had just been a little nicer to pegasi, I wouldn't be doing this, understand?"

He nodded weakly, barely managing a whimper before he was thrown at another passing vehicle.

Back on the deck, a bright silver glow was rising into the black clouds above.  The crackle of powerful magic competed with the wind and thunder.  Hurt One had carried Astral to the surrendered hoverbus, getting him and Derpy out of the rain that started so suddenly.

One of the younger passengers had offered up a medical kit, and Grey Hound was working on stopping Astral's bleeding.  Home Brew, after dragging several unconscious ponies to the bus, was carefully lasering Derpy's chains off, so he could treat the abrasions on her leg.  And Chief Cirrus was double checking that all weapons had been surrendered, and tying the hooves of any pony that had been stunned.

She made it to the last seats in the hoverbus, and found an old stallion slumped in his chair.  But when she went to tie this last pony's hooves, she realized he wasn't merely stunned.  His hooves were completely limp, and a gentle tilt of his head revealed a blackened wound on his throat.  It was a small wound, but it reeked of burned flesh.  She recognized it from training videos, but had never seen this type of wound in the field.  This was made by an older model collimated laser weapon, at least a few decades old.

She looked over at another stallion.  Hooves folded in front of him as he stared at the body.  He was equally as old, and seemed uninterested in anything happening around him.  He only looked at the chief when she stepped right in front of him.  "Did you see what happened?" She asked him quietly.

The old stallion nodded slowly.  "He was gonna shoot one of the kids," he said sadly, "for giving up."

She nodded her understanding, but moved her hoof to her stunner.  "Who was he?  A friend of yours?"

"My brother."  The stallion looked past the chief.  "He looks so peaceful, doesn't he?  His fight is over, and now he gets to sleep."

"Did you see who killed him?"  The chief's question was ignored, and she stepped over, blocking the stallion's view of his brother's body.  He was probably in shock.  "Sir, this is important."

The old stallion's eyes finally focused on hers.  They weren't the eyes of a pony in shock, or confusion.  They were clear, and thinking, and full of regret.  "Were we wrong?"

With a sigh, the chief shook her head.  "I can't answer that."

The old stallion nodded, and looked forward.  He saw one of the younger soldiers holding supplies for the pegasus being treated, and the bloody vest being pulled off the unicorn, and said, "I think we were."

The chief glanced up towards the front, and the stallion unfolded his hooves.  He pressed his old laser pistol, a small thing, easily concealed in the crook of his hoof, up under his jaw, and pulled the trigger.

The chief saw the flash out of the corner of her eye, and closed her eyes for a moment.  Change was being meted out in blood.  How much more would it take?  She turned back to the old stallion, and took the weapon off his hoof before walking back to the front, amongst the stares and hushed whispers of those who surrendered peacefully.   She left the old stallion and his brother there, slumped over in their seats, having fallen asleep on Tirassa's journey, just short of the destination.

She gave the weapon to Home Brew without saying a word, then hopped out of the bus through the hole in the side.  The light was growing brighter, she could feel the magic in the air dancing on her coat.  Whatever was about to happen, it had better be worth it.

She glanced over at the sound of a hoverbike approaching slowly.  It wasn't one of Wingless Dawn's, but a police issue bike.  "Red!"

"What?!"  The earth pony set down near her, and idled down the engine, repeating his call now that he could hear over the gravity drive.  "What?!"

Cirrus headed over.  "Red, what's going on?  We've got Wingless pretty much handled here."

"I know."  He gestured to the camera he had wedged in the handlebars.  "I've been broadcasting everything."  He glanced back at the silver glow beyond the ruined airbuses.  "Chief, the Chairman is engulfed in what looks like magical flames.  Some pony destroyed all the aircraft down below, and is pushing the platform away from the city.  A pegasus that somehow has magic."

"That's miss Sparkle, Astral's missing friend.  If she succeeds, then the city is safe."

Red shook his head.  "We're falling too fast.  We won't make it out of the city, but she's pushing us towards the biggest open area nearby."

"Where is that?"  The chief could think of several locations that might work, lakes, parks, even some parking lots, but she wasn't sure which was closest.  No, wait, the widest open area of the city, at least, as viewed from the sky, would be a wide field of green with a single building.  "The Mayoral Mansion!"

Red nodded grimly.  "It's surrounded by media and emergency services.  I warned them, but who knows if they have time to get out of the way."

"It's out of our hooves now, Red.  We played our part."  She was quiet for a moment, then added, "Red, a stallion just killed himself, after killing his brother for turning on some kids who surrendered.  If we survive this, Tiraasa is probably going to tear itself apart before it can rebuild."

"Then, we do what we always do," Red said quietly, "we protect ponies, we maintain order.  That's what we're for."

"Of course," the chief said with a nod.

Red and the chief were quietly watching the glowing light, when it condensed with a sudden flash.  They ducked, covering their eyes as Miss Kettle came running back from around the ruined airbuses.  She slipped on the wet deck, then scrambled back to her hooves in order to cast a giant shield of green between everypony and where the light once was.

"Miss Kettle!"  Red hopped off his bike and ran over to her, steadying her.

"Get back!"  She shouted at him.  "I think something's wrong!"

A massive beam of light shot skyward, parting the clouds.  Lightning rippled through the corridor left behind before crashing down, following the light's path back to its source.  Timed to the deafening boom of thunder, the windows in the ruined airbuses shattered, blowing glass out like shrapnel.  Shards bounced harmlessly off Miss Kettle's shield, mixed with rain.

Lightning crashed down the beam of light once more, and a shockwave of silvery energy washed over everything.  It buckled metal and crackled as it danced against Miss Kettle's shield.

The third lightning strike was the last, and the shockwave it created threw the airbuses themselves.  Cracks appeared where one of them slammed into the shield.

"No, no, no!"  Miss Kettle ran to the cracks, shoved the airbus away, enough to let the energy waves blast it off the side of the weather platform, then poured energy into her shield, trying to repair it.

Swirling light was all Red could see beyond the shield.  The sky above was torn open, a gash of bright clear blue in the middle of black storms.  "What's going on?!" Red shouted over the storms and terrible energies.  "Is the Chairman alright?"

"I don't know!"  Miss Kettle strained to pour her own magic into the cracks in her shield, even as powerful silver magic fought to seep in.  "I didn't think one pony could create magic like this, much less harness it safely."

Without warning, all sound ceased, and all the magic stopped pouring against the shield.  There was still a hazy glow, blocking the view beyond the shield, but it was no longer assailing them with mystical energies.

"This is bad," Miss Kettle breathed as she took the chance to heal her shield.  "The worst is coming."  She glanced back at everything behind her.  An airbus full of ponies, scattered survivors of Wingless Dawn's troops, and more importantly, Derpy, Astral, and all of HRT One.  "I have to do what he did," she realized.  "I have to fight this on the same terms."

Red didn't like the sound of that.  "What the hell does that mean?"

"Get back!"  Miss kettle surged energy to her shield, eyes turning as green as her magic a second before the energies surrounding the chairman exploded outwards one final time.  There was nothing left for the shockwave to throw, so it started to tear deckplates off the station.  They pinged off the shield, or vaporized if their angle held them between competing magics for too long.

The entirety of the shield start to show cracks within seconds.  Miss Kettle let out a battle cry as she poured everything she could into her shield.  Her entire body glowed as she turned herself over to the energy within, pulling on her very lifeforce to strengthen her magic.  She didn't care if it killed her, she was the only pony on the planet besides the Chairman that could hope to fight this amount of magic.

But, it wasn't enough.  The cracks were widening, spiderwebbing out across the shield.  Silver light poured through.

"No!"  Miss Kettle screamed as she pulled her shield in, making it as small as she could while still covering everypony.  Condensing it pulled the cracks together, and she fought to fix them, but as she sealed them, new ones formed.  It was starting to feel hopeless.

And then, the station crashed.

The deck shuddered, and listed hard.  Ponies lost their balance, including Miss Kettle.  But, she also lost her concentration on the shield as the deck behind her tore in half.  Chief Cirrus, and the airbus started to fall with the section of station, and Miss Kettle threw her magic at them instead, pushing the section away from the rest of the station, and keeping it level for the few seconds it took for it to stop while the rest of the station continued to slide across the ground.

Miss Kettle knew that was her last gesture in this.  She left her shield alone too long to save it now, no matter how far she compressed it.  And, she was out of magic anyway.  She felt Red tackle her, trying to shield her as her shield shattered.

She embraced him as pure light engulfed the both of them, sad that, as similar as they were, they never came to understand each other before this.

The ponies on the fallen section could only watch as the light faded, and the weather station slowly tore into a large building.  So bright was the light, nopony really saw the impact with the mayor's mansion.  But, they heard it.  As the light faded, they could see the aftermath, and it wasn't pretty.

The Mansion, a centuries-old historical building, was halfway flattened under the station, antique red brick, lovingly maintained with the pride and attention of generations of Tirrassans lay fallen, piles of rubble where walls once stood strong.  What little remained intact was hardly better off, painted wood columns and facing of the main facade scorched and damaged from a previous explosion and fire.  A massive scar in the earth trailed up to this, pieces of the platform strewn wherever they snapped off, starting with pieces of the main anti-grav spire back at the start of the rut.

Swallowing hard, Chief Cirrus made her way to Red's hoverbike.  He was over there when the shield broke.  There was no telling the nature of that magic, or if it was survivable, but she had to find out.

As she climbed on the bike, she checked the camera, and it still seemed to be transmitting.  She had to see this through, and the ponies of Tirassa would see it through with her.  They needed to know what happened here.  Red realized that, it was why he grabbed the camera in the first place.  She would honor that by showing them how it ended.

She nearly fell off the bike when Twilight landed with a flump beside her, shouting, "Where's Astral?!"

"On the bus!" She shouted back, pointing.  "The rest of us are fine, by the way, except for the two ponies who just sacrificed themselves to save us."

Twilight shook her head.  "As long as they didn't fall, they're probably fine."

Before the chief could ask for clarification, the purple alicorn galloped away, leaving a pilot behind, curled up on the deck and shaking like a newborn chihuahua.  The police mare stared at him for a moment, and quickly decided the traumatized pony wouldn't pose any threat if she left him there.

She throttled up the hoverbike, and headed for the main wreckage, circling as she searched for signs of life.  She saw the purple sphere of the bubble holding the mayor, untouched, and lodged in the deck where Twilight left it.  Silver smoke rose from the epicenter of the earlier shockwaves, obscuring whatever lay beneath.  Waves of destruction surrounded that point, decking peeled away in distinct rings.

Chief Cirrus slowly descended towards the sphere, anger rising.  It wasn't fair that Greenhoof went through all this safe and protected, while his own son and Miss Kettle may well have given their lives to stop him.  If he was indeed unharmed, the chief was going to take great pleasure in being the one to bring him in.

She set down away from the sphere, setting the camera wide, and pointing the camera at the mayor as he pounded on the inside of his small prison.  She made sure the smoke, and as much wreckage as possible was visible.  This arrest was going to happen by the book, on record, and in front of the entire population with evidence of the destruction he caused.

As she walked towards the mayor, a voice boomed out, as loud as any thunder.  "Leave him," it commanded, "we have unfinished business."

The chief looked back as the smoke cleared away, blown by magically summoned wind.  Chairman catch walked towards her, silver energy still outlining his body, fading quickly, whisping away like steam.  Only bits and pieces of his armor remained, little more than emerald accented regalia now.  His horn had grown longer, sharper, and he stood taller than before.  It wasn't until he walked closer, slowly stepping where deckplates remained, that the chief saw the greatest change, the wings folded against his side.

"Sir, what happened to you?"

"I'm not sure," he answered, voice rumbling the skeletal deck, "but I am able to finish things here.  Please retrieve Miss Kettle."  Catch pointed a wing tip towards the edge of the platform.  "She was unharmed, but thrown in that direction, along with another."

"They're alive?"  The chief gave a quick nod.  "Yes, sir!"

She ran back to the hoverbike, unwedging the camera and setting it on the deck, extending its built in tripod to give it a better view.  She then took off and flew over the edge of the platform, landing seconds later in what was once a grand dining hall.  The roof had been torn away when the platform first hit, and the walls were dumped over, piles of brick surrounding a surprisingly untouched dining table.

The floor creaked under her weight when she stepped off the hoverbike.  Countless pieces of fine crystal were littered underhoof, the remnants of an extravagant chandelier that no doubt hung above the table just minutes ago.  Behind her, walls of pipes and wires and metal rose from the wreckage where the exterior of the weather platform was torn away.  The hallways of the platform were easily accessible through their doors, some of which were already torn open.

"Red?!"  The chief called out.  "Miss Kettle?!"

She didn't know if they could hear her, or if they could answer, but she had to try.  She started walking away from the platform, carefully watching any and all rubble for signs of movement.  If she didn't find them soon, she would have to go get Home Brew, and get him to cast a detection spell over the area.  But, the squeaking of the floor under even her light steps made her worry about the unicorn's bulk.  He would likely have to stay on the hoverbike.





Back on the deck, Steel Catch looked skyward.  He felt the sun on his face, and felt strength returning to him.  He was exhausted, but wasn't sure why.  His battle with the ogre's cauldron was much worse than this, wasn't it?  Perhaps he wasn't drained at all, and felt so empty simply because he was a larger vessel for magic now?

Either way, he was still standing.  The platform had been set down away from any significant population density.  And, Green Hoof was standing alone before him, trapped in a bubble.

The now alicorn Chairman reached out with his magic, mildly surprised at how hard he had to work to dispel the shield Twilight created, even after all the damage it took.  But it gave in, eventually, disappearing with a small pop, like a soap bubble.

"You've failed," Catch told Green Hoof, not giving the earth pony time to speak.  He gestured to the camera watching them.  "All of Tirassa has been witness to this.  Please, surrender now."

"No," the mayor growled.  He glanced back at the camera, then back at Catch.  He wasn't able to fight the Chairman before, and now, he was unarmed, and facing a unicorn that had undergone unnatural changes.  This was the end for him.  He knew that.  But, it didn't have to be the end of this.  "Tirassa!"  He turned to the camera, running towards it.  "Tirassa, rise up, and-"

"No, Green!"  A hoof grabbed him by the vest he wore.  Catch had run up beside him, and pulled him around to face him.  Green Hoof was surprised, honestly.  He had been half expecting to be vaporized in a flash of magic, or cut down by emerald blades.  So much for his grand, final gesture.  Instead, he was accosted like a disobedient child.

"What now, Catch?"  He swallowed hard, almost scared.  He didn't see anger in the Chairman's eyes.  He expected anger, needed it, needed to show the world.  But it wasn't there.  Confusion, betrayal, pity?  Catch looked like he was near tears.  Green Hoof didn't want to see that sort of weakness from the victor.  That wasn't the way of the Tirassa he fought for.  He nodded his head in the camera's direction.  "You said it yourself, all Tirassa is witness to this.  What are you going to do, Catch?  Kill me?  Do it, it's the only way you'll stop me, but every last ground pounder on the planet will rise up to fight."

Catch shook his head.  "Green, don't you realize?  We've already done it.  We rose up long ago.  We've been fighting for so long, we've forgotten to stop.  We rose up against the Storm King, and it wasn't enough.  We had to go further, higher!  We fought against our own nature, our own limits, and even our own names.  We rose up to walk among the clouds, Green!  We have stations in space, built by our own hooves.  We have platforms in the sky, letting any ground pounder walk among the clouds if they so choose.  Today... Green... Today, we tore one out of the sky.  We've stopped fighting to go higher, and all we have is at risk of crashing down."





"Don't move!"  The chief frantically looked for something she could brace the wall with.  A black-feathered wing was sticking out from under a pile of bricks, a collapsed wall, and when its owner started moving, the wall behind started tilting.  "Hold still, you've got debris above you."

"Chief?" Groaned a familiar voice, from underneath.  "Where are we?"

"Red?"  The chief found a fallen beam on the other side of the room that was small enough for her to lift, and started dragging it over.  It wasn't much, but it might stabilize the wall enough to get them out.  "Is that Miss Kettle with you?  Is she conscious?"

"Barely.  She's in a lot of pain, but I can't see why.  I was trying to drag her away from the wall in case it collapsed anymore."

"Don't, Red, there's a wing sticking out on this side, and I think it's hers.  You'll hurt her if you try to move her."

"A wing?  What are you talking about?"

"That light, the Chairman's spell, it changed him.  Gave him wings, grew his horn, he's even taller than before.  The same thing may have happened to her."  The chief carefully propped the beam up, fliching at every bit of dust that she knocked loose.  "How about you Red?  Did anything happen to you?"

"I don't have wings, if that's what you're asking.  What kind of ridiculous..."  There was a long pause under the rubble, followed by a muttered, "Oh, crap."

"Red?  What is it?"

"I don't have wings!"  Red repeated, stressing the point.  "But, um, stand back, I'm going to try something."

The chief stepped back.  "Red, talk to me."

"Stand way back," the lieutenant told her, "I'm not sure what's going to happen."

The chief complied, but thought about ordering him to wait until she brought a unicorn to teleport them out of there.  That might be the safest-

Mid-thought, she was swept off her feet by a silent shockwave of brilliant red magic.  The brace she propped against the wall landed beside her, and she was pelted by bits of broken brick and drywall, not one larger than a pebble.  She scrambled to her her hooves only to see the pile of rubble had been obliterated.  Red stood in the epicenter of the shockwave, horn still glowing, sucking air through his teeth as he realized how much power went into that.  "Oh, boy."

"Red!"  The chief stared at him for a moment.  He didn't have wings, but he got the horn and growth spurt to match Catch.  And, laying by his hooves, Miss Kettle didn't seem to have grown any, but she did have wings, and one of them was clearly broken.  "I've got the hoverbike, do you think you can take her to safety?"  He nodded, and leaned down to pick her up, but the chief stopped him, and sat down beside her.  "Wait, we've got to set that wing first, or it may not heal right.  Get me some cloth and something we can use as a splint."

"Are you sure that's a good idea?  Shouldn't we get her to a doctor, wait for a specialist, or-"

"A specialist?"  Cirrus looked up at him.  "A specialist on pegasus wings?"

With a sigh, Red looked away.  "Point taken.  Do you at least know what you're doing?"

"More than you might expect."  She probed at the wing, gently feeling for the tell-tale lumps.  "Miss Kettle, can you hear me?"  There was a groan, that the chief took as an affirative.  "You've got a break here in your wing, feels clean, but it's in two spots, probably because of the rubble that fell on it.  Take a deep breath."

Miss Kettle groaned a vague protest, and the chief snapped her wing back into place.  The former unicorn's scream drowned out the cracking twig sound.  The chief held down her other wing, as it instinctively flared out in response, then pressed a hoof to her neck when she tried to move.  "Calm down.  Calm down, Miss Kettle.  It's alright."  With soft shushes, and ginger stroking, she tried to comfort the whimpering pony.  "It's ok, it's over now.  I know it hurts, but if you leave a wing broken, it can start healing wrong, and keep you from being able to fly later.  Just think of that.  You'll be able to fly, very soon, and walk among the clouds, as free as anypony can ever be.  A little pain is nothing compared to that, right?"

In the other room, something wood shattered loudly, and Red came running back with a board and long piece of lace, maybe a table runner, in his mouth.  He spit them out next to the chief.  "I don't like this, I can not control this magic, at all.  I just exploded an oak dresser like it was a stack of cards."

"Well, I don't think you get to give it back," the chief mused as she started carefully splinting Miss Kettle's Wing.  "But maybe hold off on trying it out until we're somewhere more stable."

He nodded his agreement.  "I'm going to try and bring the hoverbike in here.  If we can get her draped over it, it will be more comfortable than trying to carry..."  He glanced back, hearing something shift in the rubble.  "You," he mumbled, seeing the purple alicorn setting down in the other room.  "Who are you?"  He demanded louder, marching over to Twilight.  "You showed up in a police report, right before everything went to hell!  And I want to know just what you-"

Twilight grabbed him by the face, and slammed him to the ground.  It was scarily easy to do.  "You need to calm down, right now," she told him as he held him down, keeping her voice calm and even as frothing red magic bubbled from his horn.  "Magic is tied to emotion and, and if you don't get your anger under control, right now, you're putting your friends at risk."

"What?"  He looked back, catching sight of the chief and Miss Kettle, as his magic faded.  He noticed the fading red light now, but didn't notice when he was creating it.  Confusion was replacing his anger, and he started to realize how different things would be from now on.  "What do you mean?"

"Casting spells in anger is risky," Twilight explained, calmly releasing him, "even if you know what you're doing.  If you don't know how to contain your magic to a spell, and mix your anger with enough raw energy, you can create a burning, toxic miasma that stains everything it touches.  Or, you can cause an explosion or fire.  Or, you could start turning ponies into potted plants.  Everypony's different.  Anyway, you are about as strong right now as a unicorn can ever be, you need to realize that, and control yourself."

Red nodded his understanding.  That light, the excess energy from the Chairman's spell, it changed him.  It changed Miss Kettle too.  "I'll try."  He slowly stood up.  She was so strong, yet calm about it.  And, her wings, and her horn... she must have gone through this before, been changed like he was.  "Is there any way to undo  this?"

Twilight raised an eyebrow.  "Do you want to?  You are still an earth pony.  Only, now, you are also a unicorn.  You'll have access to both magics, and they will both be stronger for it.  And, alicorn ascension isn't out of the question for you either."

"I don't know what any of that means," Red growled, trying hard not to let his anger get away from him.  "I don't know what happened to me, and I don't want it!"

"I don't think you get to give it back," Twilight pointed out.

"Oh, by the broken horn!"  Red looked looked over at the chief.  "Really?!"

She was about to respond, but a quiet groan distracted her.  "Miss Kettle?"

"Yeah," the injured pony answered, looking up, and trying not to move her wings.  "Don't make me laugh," after a moment to catch her breath, she added, "it hurts too much."

"Well, excuse me for caring that my body has just been transformed, and that I didn't have any say in it." Red scoffed, and decided it was time to change the subject.  "What happened to the bus after that section broke away?"

Twilight gestured to the freshly minted, but still curled up in pain, alicorn of the group.  "She stabilized it long enough for me to grab it, and keep it upright until it stopped."  She moved her hoof to indicate the chief.  "Then, after she left on the hoverbike, I was able to check on everypony, double check that the teleport device was disabled, and get them to a hospital that the older stallion of your group was kind enough to direct me to."

"You don't know any of our names," Red realized, "do you?"

The purple alicorn shrugged.  "You expect me to?"  She jangled the chain that was still secured to her hoof.  "I'm sorry we didn't have time for introductions in the hour or so I've been unchained, but we've all been up to our necks in violence.  What is wrong with your planet by the way?  Why is everypony trying to kill each other?  What is up with the way you treat pegasi?  And, why is slavery even a thing?"

"It's not!"  Red snapped.  He took a breath to calm himself.  He felt the energy inside him swell with his outburst.  He needed to stay calm.  "I'm sorry.  I meant, it's not supposed to be.  There was a trafficking ring operating out of the station.  They will pay for that crime.  Whatever you may think of how pegasi are treated, they are not slaves."

Twilight shook her head.  "Coffee might disagree with you."

Red didn't know who that was.  "Who?"

"Nevermind."  Twilight teleported the three ponies away.  They would find themselves in the hospital, along with the rest of their team.  With that, everypony was back to safety except for for the two up top.  She already teleported everypony still inside the station away, many of whom were clustered in one spot, most likely the pilots she teleported earlier.  Of course, that was her best guess based on the auras of living ponies.  She had no way to tell if anypony died during the crash, not without more time to search, and a more intricate spell.  Though, the old mare in charge was nowhere to be found, so there was little hope that the crash didn't result in at least a few casualties.

For now, she should probably check on the chairman.  She felt him dismantle her shield earlier, but that begged the question, was he releasing his opponent, or ending the fight?

She flew up, fast as she could, only to see magic wrap around both the Chairman and Mayor.  The mercurial light spilled runes as they faded, leaving both ponies wrapped in geometric shapes drawn in silver lines of energy.  Most prominently, a circle floated just in front of each of them, five bright diamond points on its circumference.

"What is this Catch?"  He tried to turn his head away from the bright points of light, but they moved with him, tracking with his head.  The circles on the ground moved around his hooves when he stepped back.  "Kill me and be done with it, or must you turn it into a game?"

The chairman shook his head.  "We used to be friends, Green.  And, for some reason, I still respect you enough to give you a chance, and this spell is that chance.  Its one of my own design, and its name is Veritas.  Would you like to know how it works?"

Green gave up on shaking off the geometric apparition, and glared at Catch through the lights.  "Do I have a choice?"

"I suppose not," the chairman shrugged, looking at the camera.  "I am Chairman Steel Catch of Tirassa, and I am seven years old."  He looked back at Green Hoof, expression neutral.

One of the points of light floating before the alicorn shattered with a sound like glass.

"A lie detector," Green Hoof scoffed.  "I was almost worried.  What's with the rest of the light show?  Are you showing off for the camera?"

The chairman shook his head, his glowing counter following the motion.  "You know me better than that, don't you?"

"I don't know you at all anymore," the mayor shot back.

One of his points shattered.

The mayor was startled, but the shards of light faded harmlessly.  He didn't even feel the ones that touched him.

"You do know me," Catch corrected, voice a low growl, "I haven't changed.  I don't put on shows for my own benefit, and I don't take things lightly."  He quickly lifted his hoof, drawing a strand of light that connected it to the ones on the deck.  "That's why I'm bound by the same spell you are.  These runes and figures are a binding spell.  They bind our life forces to these points of light.  If the last light dies, so does that pony.  But, don't worry," Catch lowered his head, levelling his gaze at the earth pony, "it's painless."

The light of the shattering point danced in the Chairman's eyes like colorless flame.

Green hoof stepped back, looking down at the spell matrix laid out below him.  "You...  No...  You can't do this!"

He jumped at the shattering of another point.

"Is that so?  Lie to me," Catch stepped forward, gesturing at his chest with his wing, amazed by how natural it felt to do so as he pointed at the camera next, "or lie to Tirassa, and you will die.  Understand?"

"Stop this!"  Twilight ran towards the two ponies.  From the moment the spell matrix appeared, she had been frantically studying it, trying to read the shapes and inscriptions, but the runes were incomprehensible.  She couldn't even begin to guess at the language they came from, or the purpose behind them, and without either, she had no hope of dispelling them.  "You have to stop this, hasn't there been enough violence already?"

"Stay out of this," Catch commanded, "It doesn't concern you!"

Catch looked over in surprise when one of his points shattered.

Calming himself, he looked back at Twilight.  "I suppose that's wrong.  It does concern you, doesn't it?  Ditzy and Dinky are friends of yours, aren't they?"

"Yes, they are," Twilight confirmed, standing at the edge of the glowing circles on the ground.  She didn't know if it was safe to get any closer, for her, or for them.  It was frustrating, not being able to glean the slightest amount of information from something she should be able to easily read.  Was it possible for magic on this planet to have changed so much in five millenia?  The rest of the galaxy wasn't that different.  "They are friends of mine, and also my subjects.  I am responsible for their safety and well-being."

Catch nodded slowly, but remained silent.  Ditzy had told him of her old home, but he never expected to meet another from there.  This could help or derail his plans, but he had to trust that truth would win out.  "I would like to place the Veritas spell on you.  But, I won't link it to your life force like ours.  Would this be acceptable?"

"No," Twilight answered.  "Connect it to my life force.  I take it you have some questions for me, I will answer them with the same gravity they are asked."

A solemn nod was the Chairman's only reply as he wove his spell.  Light wrapped around the newcomer, obscuring the purple mare.  As it faded, spell complete and runes surrounding her, Catch gestured to the camera.  "Might I ask you to introduce yourself to Tirassa, and explain what brings you here?"

Green Hoof remained silent through this.  Questions were safe, but any statement he made carried risk.  When he told Catch he couldn't do this, the spell reacted to it as a lie.  In hindsight, it was obvious that it would.  There was clearly nothing that could stop Catch now, much less a lone earth pony.  He could probably rule the planet by force now, Storm king reborn if he wanted.  And this spell, how did it work?  What does it do about subjective statements?  Would the spell react based on the beliefs of its creator, its victim, or physiological response like a technological lie detector?

Twilight walked towards the camera, standing tall, regal and composed.  "My name is Twilight Sparkle.  A long time ago, on a planet that no longer exists, I was known as the Princess of Friendship."  For the first time in a long time, she truly felt the weight of that title.  Gone were the days of friendship problems, and fun adventures.  The stakes were higher now.  Her life was on the line, and so were the lives of her friends.  It seemed like every planet they visited was out for blood.  What sacrifices would be required to ensure their safety?  "I come to your planet in search of a friend of mine, and her daughter.  Millenia ago, I sealed them into cryogenic stasis chambers as our kind left our world, fleeing destruction.  These chambers are scattered across the galaxy now, and two of them ended up here."

"Your kind?"  Green Hoof found himself asking before he could stop himself.  But, it was a question, it was safe.

"Yes," Twilight answered, "my kind, ponies.  Back then, we only had one planet to call home, and we shared it.  Unicorns, Earth Ponies, Pegasi, Alicorns like myself, Gryphons, Dragons, Changelings, Yaks, Hippogriffs, Coatl, Diamond Dogs, Kirin, Breezies, and many more."


"Then, our ancestors came from this planet of yours?" Catch asked quietly.  Under any other circumstance, he would have been so excited to ask such questions.  "What was it called?"

The newcomer pressed her lips together, unsure of how to answer.  "I...  I don't think we ever properly named it."  Her spell's points of light calmly followed her head as she shook it slowly.  "I called it Equestria, and most of us did, but that was really just the name of our nation.  There were several other nations, and they all had names, but we never seriously considered the possibility of our world needing a name.  The way the galaxy is now, all these planets and systems full of life and civilizations, it makes my world seem very small."

Catch nodded slowly.  "You call yourself an alicorn.  Is that what I've become?  Where you always an alicorn, or did you undergo a similar change?"

"I was once a unicorn," Twilight answered, "much like you.  I don't mean to brag, but I was tutored in magic by the princess of Equestria, and was quite strong.  The catalyst for my transformation was when I completed an ancient spell by a legendary wizard.  Your catalyst must have been harnessing the power of the sky and weather to slow the descent of this platform.  You gathered a remarkable amount of power very quickly, and if I had to guess, it had nowhere else to go except within you...  Well, you and those two that were that were standing on the edge of the platform."

"Miss Kettle, and that officer?  You're saying they were affected by my spell?"

Twilight nodded.  "Miss Kettle gained wings, and... what's-his-name has a horn now."

"What's-his-name?"  Green asked angrily.  "That was my son, Red Hoof!  Who do you think you are?  What gives you the right to come here and judge us when you know nothing of our history?"

Our history?"  Catch demanded.  "What part of our history gave Wingless the right to imprison her in-"  Twilight raised her hoof to stop him.

"He is right, I have no right to judge your history.  I am responsible for your ancestors arrival on this planet.  I launched the ships that carried them here, set the parameters that determined whether a planet was suitable to become a new home.  And that is where my involvement ends.  I wasn't there for the rest your planet's history, so how could I?  But your ancestors would be ashamed of the division and hatred that is allowed to persist here.  Ponies of all kinds used to live in harmony, united-"

"You know nothing!" Green Hoof shouted at her.

Another point of light shattered, leaving the mayor with only two.

"Damn this literalist bullshit spell.  You know what I mean!"  He jabbed his hoof at her.  "I don't care what sort of peaceful utopia you had.  Our ancestors had one too, and it didn't last.  All it took was a volcano and a few years of famine for it to all fall apart.  The pegasi took over when the clouds covered the planet, and they ruled with iron wings.  Only the strong survived their rule, and only strength took the planet back.  But even then, all that remained of those strong earth ponies and unicorns were broken stallions and shattered families.  My own great grandfather was tortured so badly that he barely remembered who he was.  The war never ended for him.  It followed him, and the generations that had to take care of him.  He barely recognized us on good days, and he would attack us on bad ones.  And he lived to a hundred-fucking-eighty-two believing that the war was still on.  My son was there when we buried him, that was how he spent his tenth birthday.  Catch was there too, though he seems to have forgotten.  And you expect us to forgive centuries of cruelty, when those who survived it are less than twenty years in the ground?"

"Yes, Green, I was there for you, and your grandfather, but remember, you were there for my grandmother a year before."

"I remember.  She suffered in the war as well, wasn't she crippled by fire in the siege on the castle?"

"After opening the gates from within, remember?"

"Yes, she was a hero.  And you want to forget what she's done for our world?"

"I want to be remember what she did.  She was a hero, who turned on her own father for the good of Tirassa.  The last of the Storm King's children.  She knew that the planet couldn't continue under her father's rule, and provided information and aid from under his nose.  Without her, and other pegasi like her, who sided with us, to the point of carrying soldiers and weapons over the walls, no army would have made it into the castle, and do you think the Storm King would ever have fallen?"

"That can't be.  My great grandfather wept for her.  She couldn't have been a pegasus!"  His outburst was punctuated by the shattering of another point of light.  Only one remained now, one more lie would end his life.  He fell to the ground.  "Fine.  I don't care anymore."  He looked up at Catch.  "How the hell am I supposed to tell the truth, when it seems I don't even know the truth?!  You're telling me the pegasi helped overthrow the storm king?  That his own blood turned on him?  What else don't I know?  Leave this spell on me then, I'll die for Tirassa in ignorance!  Is that what you want?!"

With a wave of his horn, Catch dissolved the light surrounding the mayor.  "No!  Who could want that?  We were friends once, don't you remember?  Even then, you were a proud pony.  Tirassa will always have that pride, but it has to let go of its anger, or it will become a storm that will eventually consume us.  Do you understand now?  Do you understand why I've chosen the path I have?"  Catch dispelled the light surrounding himself, then Twilight.  "All ponies need to stand together, equal, unified, drawing strength from the differences and abilities that separate us, and sharing that strength.  I truly believe that anything less would lead us to destruction."  He held out his hoof.  "I truly hoped that, one day, you would come to see this, too.  And that we could work together to lift Tirassa even higher, out into the stars."

The mayor hung his head.  "You've never changed, Catch.  You've always been naive, idealistic."  He glanced back at the newcomer.  "You really believe that is what our planet needs now?  You think Tirassa will follow you, or this outworlder, when you've been hiding our own history from us?"

"This outworlder has nothing to do with it, Green.  If she wasn't captured by Wingless, she would have already left our planet.  And I've never hidden anything about our past.  The museum in the capitol has been laughed at and derided by so-called scholars for decades, but it was planned, assembled, and curated by ponies that were there.  It tells the story, Green, has for as long as possible, but no pony would listen.  No pony wanted to hear it.  So which of us is the naive one?"

The chairman turned away from from Green Hoof, sparing a glance at Twilight before turning to the camera that was still broadcasting to the entire planet.  "It seems the truth is something our planet still struggles with.  My grandmother never wanted to hide who she was, but my grandfather forced her to, for her own safety.  So, her story was told in the museum she built, and it was dismissed as conspiratorial fiction.  I am the descendant of the unicorn who killed the storm king.  I am also the descendant of the storm king himself.  My goal is not to raise the pegasi back into a position of power, nor is it to lower earth ponies and unicorns back into servitude.  My only goal is to bring Tirassa up, to raise her into the stars.  One united Tirassa!  A Tirassa free from the chains of our past, free from the hatred holding us back.  Yes, there was suffering under the pegasi.  But, can revenge burn forever?  Or will our hatred burn out some day, burning us along with it?  All who commited these attrocities have died.  All who suffered under them have as well.  Are we, as their children, condemned to carry their burden, their bitterness with us forever?  Or can we move past it?"

Catch took a deep breath.  The answer lied with the ponies on the other end of the camera, hundreds of thousands of souls watching this from across the planet.  It lied with them, and how they would react to what he said next.

"As Chairman of Tirassa, I hereby decree, that different types of pony will no longer be separated under the law!  The words unicorn, earth pony, and pegasus, will be struck out whole.  We are Tirassan!  No more, no less.  Any law that applies to earth ponies and unicorns will apply equally to pegasi.  No more, no less.  Any law unfairly restricting a pony's rights on the basis of wings, horn, or not, shall be struck from the books.  We are Tirassan.  We are strong.  We are proud.  And there is an entire galaxy out there, waiting for us.  All of us."
> Tinker, meet Tailor, Soldier, Spy, and Bounty Hunter
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------

"Out," the dragon commanded, stunner carefully aimed at his prisoner.  He was alone with her, his broken-legged companion having teleported himself and the other wounded to medical as soon as they were in range.

Berry rolled over in her cot, and slid off the edge.  Her hooves were bound, but she could still stand, and walk, if she took it slow.  Around her, the small holding cell was trashed.  Panels were pulled off the wall, and bundles of cable were yanked out.  Some even looked like they were chewed through.

"Were you trying to kill yourself?  Some of those are live power lines."  The dragon kept his distance, and when she started walking towards him, he noticed a slight limp.  "Wait," he ordered cautiously.  "Drop it."

With a snort, the pink pony relaxed her hoof, and a jagged metal bracket, previously concealed in her fetlock, clattered to the floor.

"Why am I not surprised?"  He gestured with the stunner.  "Follow me.  Slowly.  And keep your distance.  I don't feel like getting stabbed again."

She furrowed her snout in anger, the movement causing pricks of pain where the dragon's claws had broken her skin while he was smothering her with that cloth.  "Well, I didn't feel like being kidnapped."

"Kidnapped?  Ha!"  The dragon leaned against the doorframe.  "You mean, taken into custody?  We know who you are, pirate, and we will not suffer you roaming free across the galaxy."

"You don't know a thing about me."  Berry grabbed the nearest bundle of wires, squeezing them in her hooves.  Patches of bare wire wire connected, forming a primitive switch, that activated the power line she rigged to the door circuit.

The surge blew out the lights, and threw the dragon away from the door in an explosion of sparks.  He landed in front of Berry, shouting in pain as smoke rose from his back.    "Damn you!"  He swiped at her with a claw, but she jumped back, turning, and bucked him in the face before running, nearly losing her balance because of her bindings.  He raised the stunner, but it only sputtered when he pulled the trigger, and Berry used the opportunity to put more distance between them.  "Get back here!"

Berry wasn't listening.  She was focused on moving as fast as possible despite her restraints, and searching the large shuttle for the keys to her manacles.  Chains!  They had her bound by steel chains!  She didn't know how to pick a mechanical lock!

Behind her, she heard the dragon roar as he dragged himself to his feet, and she adjusted her priorities.  If she could get to the shuttle's controls, she might be able to lock the doors, and call for help.  She could get the restraints off later.

She hobbled forwards, through empty sleeping quarters, past bunks enough for six, then through a door, and past a dining table.  Then through another door, into an open, unfurnished room.  Berry froze for a second.

The right wall of this room held a door.  It was open, and light was coming through.  They had landed, and who knew what was waiting out there.  Ahead, there was one more closed door.  If this shuttle was anything like Astral and Twilight's, that was the command center just ahead.

She had to risk it.

She glanced back.  The dragon was moving slower than she was, in pain, smoking, snarling over a bloody nose, and had barely made it past the holding cell door.  He fired his stunner, over and over, hoping it might, just once, deliver more than a weak spattering of blue sparks.

He roared in frustration, and Berry made up her mind, and scrambled for the far door.  Anypony outside the shuttle would be able to see her.  She could only hope that they were too far away to-

"Thunk!"

She pitched forward.  Whatever hit her, it was hard.  Her left ear rang, and just for a second, she was sure everything around her blurred.  She was still falling forward.  The stunner clattered to the ground near her.  She stumbled, trying to plant her hooves, to catch herself.  But the chains caught, and she tripped.

She fell sideways, out the open door.  And she saw that there was no need for her to be worried earlier.  No pony would have seen her cross the doorway.  They were too busy, and too far away, rolling a ramp towards the shuttle, which was suspended from a docking clamp over a dozen meters from solid ground.

Berry saw one of the ponies at the ramp run in her direction, eyes wide in fear.  She closed hers.  Even if he wanted to help her, he was too far away, and she had no way to save herself.  She fought the urge to scream, and instead, whispered silent thanks to the universe.  At least it let her make friends, and have one adventure before it came to this.

Waiting for impact, she felt the air crackle around her, and the impact came from the wrong direction.  She yelped.  Something slammed sideways into her, and she felt strong hooves wrap tight around her.  She opened her eyes, and she was no longer falling straight down.  Somepony had tackled her, grabbing her.  White-furred legs, with long, full fetlocks and polished purple hooves held her tight as their altered course took them over the edge of the landing platform.  It was a much farther drop to the next landing platform down, several dozen meters more, if not a hundred.

"Hold on," whispered a voice in her ear, it was an imposing voice, deep and powerful.  It almost reminded her of Mac's, save for the lack of a noticeable accent.  "You're safe now."

There was a jolt, and Berry felt sick to her stomach.  Up and down lost all meaning, as their fall suddenly reversed direction.  They fell again,  and reversed, then bobbed in place as their momentum exhausted itself, leaving them floating weightless halfway between platforms.

Berry swallowed hard, glad that she refused to eat anything the dragon had offered her on the trip here.  Her stomach would have protested much worse if it had anything in it.

She and the other pony were now slowly spinning in place, and she got her first good look at the space around her.  It was a massive space station, or a port.  Just this docking bay was half the size of Canter Delta.  And it was carved from the rock.   They were completely enclosed inside, but there was a display the size of a building on the ceiling, showing the outside of the station, and the status of various defenses and transiting ships.  This was a station enclosed within an asteroid.

There were ten separate landing platforms, of different sizes, and at different levels.  There was a small armored cruiser docked at one platform.  There was an entire squadron of fighter vessels parked on another.  There were other platforms whose ships were covered by large black tarps.  Support personnel went about their days above and below, approximately a hundred of them in sight at the moment, and who knew how many more out of sight, on the ships, or through any of the countless doors.

"We stopped?"  She whispered, breathing heavily.  Even if there was no gravity away from the platforms, inertia should have kept them going.  "How?"

"Inertial arrestors between the platforms," the voice said calmly, "to keep undocked ships from drifting into each other."

She tried to look back at the other pony, only to be blinded by an all consuming flash.  She felt gravity reassert itself before she fell a few centimeters to the deck.  Blinking, and scrambling to stand, she tripped over her chains again.  Again, she felt a hoof catch her.

"Please, calm down.  You're on solid ground again, and-"

With a shout, Berry swung her front hooves, chains and all at the voice.  She vaguely saw a figure dodge the strike, and lunged forward.  He dodged again, and Berry lost balance.  He stepped in quickly, catching her before she could fall.

"Miss, please, stop.  I-"

She flicked her head over, headbutting him in the face.  He staggered, and she took the chance to rear up.  He was a unicorn, and she aimed for his horn.  If she could just hit it, stun him long enough to get away, and back over the ledge without him able to teleport her back, she might be able to escape.

She was not expecting him to rear up in answer, like they were two wild horses fighting.  He caught her chains with one hoof, then stomped back down, pulling her with him.  She tried to headbutt him again, but his other hoof was waiting for that.

His hoof cracked across her face, a fierce jab with a downward twist.  It floored the earth pony, and her chains were pulled out from under her right after, leaving her sprawled sideways on the cold metal decking.

"I asked you to stop."

Berry looked up slowly.  Multiple fights, not resting or eating while in her holding cell, and the terror of nearly falling to her death were starting to get to her.  She was losing the strength to fight back anymore.

A stallion in his late twenties looked down at her.  He wore a military style jacket and a ballistic vest over his bright white coat.  His long, curly purple mane was perfectly combed and styled, blonde highlights catching the lights.  Not a single hair was out of place, despite the fall and brief tussle.  The only evidence was the split on his lower lip, where her headbutt connected.  He looked down with eyes as cold as their color, glacial blue, focused on Berry.

"Who are you?"  She asked quietly.  It almost hurt to say the words, her mouth and throat were dry, a combination of fear and not drinking the water they tried to give her.  "What do you want from me?"

"I am Blueblood the Eighteenth, Prince of the White Flags."  He motioned to the others on the platform that they should continue with their work.  "Some call us bounty hunters.  Some call us mercenaries.  We are sworn to aid and protect those who seek our help.  We have been provided evidence that you attempted to sabotage a space station.  You are also the last known link to Grinparch Norland, a class zero threat."  The stallion looked up at the dragon being helped down the ramp.  "Given the state of my team, I'd say they underestimated you.  I will not make the same mistake."

Berry listened quietly, but none of that was true!  She never sabotaged anything!  The only station she ever visited was Canter Delta, and she made more repairs than anything else.  And she wasn't a threat, she only tried to defend herself!  "What are you going to do to me?"

"We will determine which law enforcement agency has the most legitimate claim to you, and you will be transferred via a secure shuttle.  Judicial proceedings will be left, um, up, uh, up to..."  His well-rehearsed speech devolved into stammering, and his icy gaze softened.  "Wait, no, please don't cry.  I...  This isn't anything personal, it's for the good of galaxy.  Please understand that."

"What did I ever do to the galaxy?"  Berry grabbed her head, curling up on the floor.  "I only learned granpa was a pirate a few days ago!  Why does everypony want to hurt me?  And my friends?  First Vizor, then that guy with the poison, and now this?  Why?  Am I really that bad?  Was Granpa so hated, that I'm damned just for being born?"

"Wait, poison?"  The Prince shook his head.  He couldn't let himself be tricked by fake tears.  Sure, criminals usually didn't cry, at least, not the type he usually dealt with, but threat level zero criminals were rare.  Who knew what sort of tricks she had up her sleeve?  Hell, there was a cyborg drug-dealer, with nineteen confirmed murders, in the brig right now, and he was only threat level three.  "There is a famous video of Grinparch Norland killing four ponies, while chained like you are now.  If you are related to him, you are a serious threat, no matter your circumstances.  And how do you know Vizor?  She's a level one threat, and a high priority target."

"She attacked Delta, and hijacked the Philomena, and tried to kill us.  She hurt everypony, and almost killed Mac, and tried to kill Fluttershy, and uncle Astral, and blew up a bunch of stuff, and she held a gun to my neck, and hit me with glass, and it hurt, and I was scared, and I was angry, and I couldn't do anything, and-"  Running out of air, Berry had to stop and breath.  She sniffed loudly, and wiped her face, smearing tears and snot on her hooves, which she then wiped on the floor.

"Ugh!"  Blueblood recoiled in disgust.  "Goddess!  You did not just do that!"  Fussing and muttering, he pulled a handkerchief out of a pocket.  Holding the cloth in his magic, he wiped up the mess, and incinerated the rag.  He quickly pulled a second handkerchief out of the same pocket.  He gently set it in her hoof.  "I have more of these if you need them."

"Why do you care?!"  She kicked at him, and he hopped back.  She rubbed her nose on the deck, and spat the biggest nastiest glob of goo she could muster as far as she could.  "If you're going to lock me up, I'm gonna make as much mess as I can!"

He had a third handkerchief out before the spit hit the ground.  "No!  Please, look, we're just talking right?"

Berry glared at him through her tears.  He was holding his hoof up in a placating gesture, while he wiped up what he could without getting to close to her.

"We're just talking," he repeated, as if he was negotiating a hostage release, or talking her down from a ledge, "let's keep talking.  You said something interesting there, you mentioned an attack on Canterlot Station Delta.  Were you on Delta?"

"Yes."  Berry  worked up a good mouthful of spit and let it drool out directly under her, where Blueblood couldn't reach.  The shuddering look of discomfort he gave was possibly the most satisfying thing the pink pony had ever seen.  "Is that important?"

"I don't know yet."  The Prince dragged Berry a little to the side with magic, and started mopping up the floor with his handkerchief.  "It seems like a lot happened.  When did you find time to visit Canterlot Station Beta?"

Berry let out a snort, forcibly clearing her nostrils, and leaving a fresh mess to replace what he cleaned up.  "I didn't."

Blueblood frowned at the earth pony as he debated moving her again.  "We have proof that you tampered with their computer, and a video affidavit, from a Sheriff Glacier, that you were responsible for similar intrusions on other stations."

"I don't know who that is, but somepony at that station put a data mining device on Delta's main communications array.  I put my picture in their administrator list because Growl said I should let them know they got caught before disabling the thing."

"We were given only a single picture of you, and a remarkably clear one.  Not the usual security footage."  He thought it over for a moment.  "If I recall correctly from the reports, Growl is the Station Administrator and Security Chief on Delta.  If I contacted her, would she back up your story?"

"If she does, will you let me go?"

"No."  With a sigh the Prince slid her over again, and cleaned up what he could.  "There is currently a secret bounty of one hundred million bits on anypony tied to Grinparch Norland.  Not to mention the bingo book listings.  Without evidence that you have committed a crime, we will not turn you over to anyone, but unless you can prove you aren't a danger to the galaxy at large, we will not release you.  And even if we let you go free, there is no guarantee that other bounty hunters will do the same."  He sat down, suddenly seeming exhausted.  "I'm sorry, I know that isn't what you wanted to hear.  If you wish to make your case, my father, Blueblood the Seventeenth, should be returning from Zargon within the week.  He can make a decision to override mine, but I doubt it will be in your favor."

Berry wiped her face again, and Blueblood was slightly relieved to see her use the handkerchief.  But, he was no longer so sure that she was putting on an act.  It would take a truly practiced individual to mimic the despair he saw in her eyes.  "Let's, um, let's talk about something else," he suggested.  He would probe a little bit, see if she lied about anything, or admitted to any known criminal connections.  But, he would start off slowly.  "So...  Those are interesting piercings you have, on your face there.  Do they have some sort of meaning?"

"They're claw marks," she muttered, head resting against the cold deck plating, "from that dragon.  He was holding a cloth over my face."

Blueblood visibly flinched.  "Things did not go as planned.  They were supposed to stun you, and quietly transport you here.  It was not our intention to injure you."

"Prove it." Berry didn't bother looking up, or moving her head at all.  She laid there in apathy, knowing nothing would change his mind.  But, she could wait.  She could bide her time until a mistake was made, allowing an escape.  "Let me go."

"I can not."  He stood up, and walked over so he was in her line of sight.  "That said, the actions of the team that captured you is entirely my responsibility.  Would you allow me to prove my good faith in another way?"

She stared at him a moment.  There was precious little he could possibly do to convince her that he wasn't a bad guy.  "Whatever."

He nodded slowly, face taking on a grim look.  With magic, he pulled something from another pocket.  It was so small, Berry almost didn't see it at first, a small piece of metal, strung with thread.  A sewing needle?  He grabbed the thread, and pulled it through the needle's eye.  He coiled it up, placed it back in his pocket, then jammed the needle into the side of his snout.

Grunting in pain, he pulled the needle out, only stab it in again a little lower.  He winced, and groaned, and it looked like this second stab caused much more pain than the first, if that was even possible.  His magic sputtered as he fought to maintain concentration as he stabbed himself a third time, closer to the chin.

His magic finally gave out, and grabbed the needle with his hoof.  He transferred it to his other hoof, and took a deep breath.  With a short, determined shout, he jammed it dead center into his cheek.

He doubled over in pain, whimpering as Berry stared in horror.  He took a moment to breath, composed himself, then spit out the needle.  He was quick to snatch it up, lest Berry procure the possible weapon, but the look on her face told him two things.  First, he had made his point, second, that she was not a hardened criminal by any stretch.

He drew yet another handkerchief, and brought it to his face to stanch the blood flow from his wounds.  "I give you my word, an oath sworn in blood, that so long as you not attempt to escape, or harm anypony, you will not be harmed by any member of the White Flags.  Do you accept these terms?"

Berry found herself nodding her agreement.  "Yes."  She didn't agree, but how was she supposed to say that to his face without sounding like a terrible pony?  She was going to escape at the first possible opportunity.  She wasn't obligated to give up her freedom just because he was willing to stab himself in the face, right?  Who even does that?

Though, that was probably the biggest single gesture of respect she had received in her life.  His wounds mirrored her own in placement and severity, except the cheek one went a little deep.  He couldn't be a bad pony if he was willing to go this far to right a wrong.  They were at odds over something neither of them could control.

He blinked away a few tears of his own, then motioned to Berry.  "That was more painful than I expected.  Come, we will visit sickbay."

Berry stood up.  It was a slow process, but she refused the offer of a supporting hoof.  She wasn't going to be pulled in by small acts of kindness.  She was still a prisoner.

"Suit yourself.  I would probably do the same."  The stallion pulled his handkerchief away from his bleeding face.  "If you let your eyes unfocus, you will be less disoriented after teleporting."

The implication was clear, and Berry tried it.  She looked out at some random spot on the floor, and tried to not look at it, or maybe focus on the air between her and the spot.  She wasn't sure if she was doing it right, but when the flash came, it wasn't as blinding as before.  She could make out enough of her surroundings to know she wasn't in a cell.  Beyond that she had to blink away the flash.

They were in a large room, spartan in decor.  The floor was covered with a smooth, yet soft, navy blue material.  Mechanical beds that looked like they were sitting on articulated toolboxes were arranged in a grid, with plenty of walking space between.  The mattresses were made of the same material as the floor, only thicker.

And, five of those beds were occupied.

One unicorn stallion, whose leg was being examined by a doctor, pieces of a temporary cast littering the bed and floor around him.  He saw Berry, and fixed on her with a dirty look.

Another stallion, a lightly colored earth pony was being removed from his armor by several nurses while a doctor placed devices along the back of his neck.  He was awake, but he didn't make any move to help undress himself.  The look on his face was one of fear, and helplessness.

The short humanoid occupied a third bed.  A similar looking doctor examined a screen as he ran a scanner over his chest.

The fourth bed held the dragon, laying on his belly.  Wet rags had been thrown over blackened scales on his back.  And when he saw Berry arrive, he pushed his way out of bed, and past a doctor arriving with a scanner.  "Why is that thing here?!"  He bellowed at Blueblood.  "It can be treated from inside a holding cell."

He stalked over, on uneasy legs, snarling at the pink earth pony.  Berry snarled back, only managing half a step in her chained hooves, but the dragon flinched.  It was quite a sight, the reptilian predator backing away from a mare a fifth or less his size.

"My Prince, this thing needs to be contained."  He looked over at Blueblood, who had raised an eyebrow at the interaction.  "Look what she's done." He pointed at the stallion being helped out of the last of his armor.  "Bell won't be able to wipe his own ass for weeks because of what she did!  Four stun blasts!  What kind of sadistic cruelty does it take to pull the trigger that many times with the weapon on his spine?"

"You shot Lily!" Berry screamed back, lunging at him.  Only Blueblood's quick hooves kept her from wrapping her chains around the dragon's neck.  "I didn't even know it was a stunner!  You could have killed her for all I knew!"

"Mistakes were made!"  Blueblood shouted as he dragged her back.  "On all sides!"  Berry turned, hoof raised to punch, but he just stared at her.  She faltered, eyes focused on his still bleeding snout.  "Do it, or not," he told her, "make your decision now."

Berry lowered her hoof a little.  She found herself looking around.  Everyone was watching her.  One of the nurses had their hands on a weapon.  It was hidden behind the flap of their uniform jacket, but what else do you keep in the waistband like that?

She was alone.  Outnumbered by more than before.  And, she was hated.  She had caused pain.  She caused suffering.  She was responsible for more pain than they were, and not just to them.  She still didn't know if Mac and Fluttershy were alright.

She looked back at Blueblood.  His gaze didn't waver.  His look was hard, jaw set like stone, but not in anger.  He was waiting for her her to make his choice.  Did he know she was lying earlier?  Was he waiting for her to break the terms she accepted?  Waiting for her to prove the dragon right?

Berry started crying again.  Whatever he was waiting for, he was waiting.  He was going to let her make her choice before judging her on it.  It was more than anypony else had done.  Everypony else had judged her on her heritage.  Elder Tekrin wanted her dead until he found out she wasn't what he thought.  Growl treated her with constant suspicion.  Even her friends.  As well meaning as it was, they only gave her a chance because she was related to their friend.

That was all she wanted!  A chance.  A chance to prove she was more than the spawn of some pirate.  That she was more than their friend's granddaughter.  That she was something on her own.  She wanted to be something in this galaxy, something that wasn't decided for her.  Didn't she have that right?

She realized she still had her hoof raised, pulled back, and ready to strike.  She looked at it, and the chains secured to it, then back at Blueblood.  It would be so easy.  He wouldn't be able to stop her in time.  She could catch his chin just right, and he would drop before anypony could do a damn thing to stop her.  He even had a knife and a stunner at his hip.

She let her hoof drop.  The chains clattered.  Even if she broke out, stole a shuttle, and escaped, they would never stop hunting her.  And she couldn't hurt him, not after he gave her a chance to prove herself.  She didn't know why, but she didn't want to see that disappointment from him.

"I'm scared," she said, looking up at him.  She was shaking, trying to keep herself composed and failing.  "What are you going to do to me?"

"Nothing," he promised, gently pulling her to him.  His hoof softly cradled the back of her head as she fell into him, crying into his chest.  Her hooves hung limp as she sobbed, and she made no effort to get away.  Blueblood looked up, meeting eyes with every member of the capture team.  "I think there's been a terrible mistake."

Even the dragon backed down, slowly returning to his hospital bed under the fussing of his doctor.  "That's your call, My Prince.  We just captured her.  Sorting it out is your job."

He nodded slowly.  It was his job.  "Some days I wish I was lower on the food chain."  His horn lit up, and Berry's chains fell clattering to the floor.  She still did nothing.  He stepped back, and looked around again.  "Any objections?"

A few of the nurses exchanged glances, but none said anything.

Blueblood looked back at Berry.  She was no longer shaking, but she was swaying slightly, staring at her unbound hooves.  She didn't move, or say anything.  He lifted her with magic, and she still didn't react.  He laid her on the nearest bed like a ragdoll, then zapped the pile of chains out of existence.  "Treat her wounds, then get her something to eat and drink.  I don't think she'll refuse this time."

One of the doctors nodded.  "I will take care of it once I finish here."

"Understood," Blueblood replied with a nod.

With that, the unicorn turned around.  Laying limp on the bed, Berry watched him.  She couldn't explain it, but the moment he undid her chains, her entire body felt like it turned to lead.  The weight of the trust he showed her was overpowering.  He unbound her hooves while she had easy access to his weapons, and he didn't step away first.  How could he know she wouldn't attack him?  Did he even know?

So, this was a prince?  The stuff of those legends and bedtime stories Grandma and Granpa told her?  Ancient and noble leaders, who inspired others by their valor and spirit?  Maybe she was hallucinating from fatigue, but it was beautiful.

She closed her eyes as a damp cloth was placed over her forehead, only to open them a moment later.  Nopony said anything to her, or started scanning her or anything.  It seemed like the rag was just a passing measure to make her comfortable until they got to her.

So she just watched Blueblood, as he walked to the far corner of the room.  At the very last bed, a doctor was helping a unicorn foal with a coat as white as Blueblood's, treating some small injury on his leg.  The colt started talking excitedly as the Prince approached, eventually pointing her way.

Blueblood looked back.  Side by side, it was like looking at two of the same face.  Only, one was shrunk a little.  Even the mane styles were similar.  But, the colors were off.  The young colt had a blonde mane with a purple fringe.

They talked a little more, until the doctor seemed to finish up.  After putting away all his other equipment, he pulled out something that made Berry cringe in sympathy for the colt.  It was a vaccine.

The colt didn't take it too well either.  He started crawling back on the bed, but a reassuring hoof on his shoulder, and some words from Blueblood seemed to calm him down a bit.  He kept his eyes on the older unicorn, wincing at the cold as the doctor washed his leg with alcohol.

A doctor had finally started on her, scanning before doing anything else.  But, she was focused on what was happening across the room, watching despite temporary obstructions as the doctor moved around in front of her.

The colt had his hooves wrapped around Blueblood's neck, eyes screwed tightly shut as he waited for the painful prick of a needle.  Blueblood nodded to the doctor.

Berry didn't see what happened next, as her doctor was in front of her again.  "These marks on your snout are already healing up quite nicely.  If you don't mind, I would rather give you an ointment and let them heal naturally."  He moved, and she saw that Blueblood was walking towards them, leaving a sheepishly relieved colt behind.  "The ones on your foreleg are a little deeper, so I'll take care of them first, while my associate checks that bump on the back of your head.  When was your last tetanus booster?"

"My last what?"  Berry asked faintly, before looking back up as Blueblood returned to them.

For a moment, she didn't say anything, and neither did he.  He was waiting for her to make the first move, to set the tone, the rhythm of the interaction.  In a fight, it would be like making your opponent come to you.  Not letting them set the tempo, but forcing them to.

The weight she felt earlier was fading.  She could trust him.  He wasn't an enemy.  He wasn't a friend, by any stretch, and he had other interests placed before hers, but she felt she could trust that his words were true.  For the moment, she was safe.  He wouldn't turn her over to anyone until he investigated for himself.  Time would prove her innocent, and gain her freedom back.  She could trust that now.

Berry swallowed, caving to the stoic pony's plan.  "He looks like you, your son?"

"Little brother," the Prince corrected.  "I have no foals, nor a mate."  He looked over at the doctor.  "She is to be kept under guard, but treat her with respect.  When you are done, have her brought to a guest room, not a holding cell.  I need to go cleanup."

It was then that Berry noticed his back.  Some sort of brown liquid, with little green and orange bits was lodged in his collar and stuck to his mane.  "What happened?"

"Hmm?"  Blueblood glanced back over at her, before realizing, "oh," and gesturing to his neck.  "Little Juki pukes sometimes when he gets excited.  Doctor says he'll grow out of it eventually, but our little shouting match, followed by the needle, was simply too much for him."

Berry stared at the calm and collected prince with a hint of disbelief.  The bitter, acrid stench was finally wafting her way.  "And you aren't grossed out?"

He looked confused.  "Why would I be?"

She covered her nose.  "You got puked on?"

"It comes with the territory when caring for foals."  He shrugged, immediately cringing as the action squished the puke in his collar.  "Well, no use worrying about a little mess."

Berry shook her head.  "But, you were freaking out when I spit on the floor?"

"Ew!"  Blueblood exclaimed with disgust.  "That is an entirely different matter!  That was on the floor!  And in a high traffic, public area.  Can you imagine?  All the poor ponies that have to walk there, who knows what they might step in if the area isn't kept clean?  Floors should always be kept spotless.  Ponies have to use their hooves for more than just walking, you know."

Berry stared blankly.  He said that all with a straight face, with vomit dripping down his neck.  "I... I see."

"Good.  Oh!"  He seemed to remember something, and reached a hoof into a pocket.  "Last one."  He pulled out another handkerchief.  It was a little different than the previous ones.  Most obviously because of the monogram, a large letter, "B," embroidered in flowing script using metallic purple thread.  "Please, keep it, in case you need it."

He offered it to Berry, and as she closed her hoof around it, she realized it was also a different material from the others.  Smooth and plush, it was quite possibly the softest fabric the earth pony had ever felt.  She couldn't use this to wipe her nose!  "Th-thank you."

"You're welcome."  He gave a brief nod, and walked away.

She held the handkerchief tight as the doctor started washing her other hoof.

For some reason, she was really glad he wasn't a bad pony.





In the washroom of his personal quarters, Blueblood decided to teleport himself out of his uniform.  Attempting to remove it manually was an unsettlingly squishy ordeal.  He concentrated a moment, then shifted sideways with a bright flash.  When it faded, he was standing beside his uniform.

It fell to the ground, contents of the various pockets and pouches clattering.  The knife at his hip, or rather, the handle alone, rolled away.  The stunner beside it collapsed, a mere plastic shell.  When teleporting himself and  the guest to sickbay, he had left all metal in his possession on the landing pad.  The blades of his knives, internal parts of his stunner, even his trusty sewing needle, which was probably damaged and in need of honing.

And, there was no way she could have known that.  He gave her every opportunity to get her hooves on his weaponry.  He even presented himself as the perfect hostage.  And she did nothing.

He stepped in the shower, and turned the water on.  He stood in the center as water fell over his back, freezing cold at first.  He wasn't expecting Juki to be there.  He had a little accident with one of mother's sewing machines, and needed a tetanus shot.  He was scheduled to get one later in the year, but there was no harm getting it over with sooner.  Plus, he learned to respect the machines a little better.  The young colt was brave, and handled it well, but the mess running off Blueblood's mane right now proved it was more excitement than the colt could handle.

Though, he shouldn't have had to see that stand-off.  Perhaps it would serve as a learning experience, but it was still a harsh experience for the colt.  If he wanted to follow in his father's and older brother's hoofsteps, he may find himself in similar situations in the future, but he had many years before he would ever have to deal with anything remotely that tense.  He had years to learn that uncontrolled tempers can lead to pain, and that lack of information can lead to situations where you are manipulated.

Blueblood turned the water off, just as it was getting warm.  They were manipulated.  He was manipulated.  Somepony used the White Flags to achieve something they either couldn't, or wouldn't, do on their own.  "Glacier," he said to himself, the word dripping from his tongue like the freezing water dripped off his mane.

This gets settled now.

He left the washroom without drying off.  The vomit was barely rinsed off, and he hadn't touched his bleeding face since teleporting to sickbay.

He stepped into his quarters.  They sat at the top level of the docking bay, along the dividing wall between the docking bay and the interior of the station.  He had a small bedroom and a closet behind a divider off to the right, but most of the room was open floor.  There were two desks, one he actually used, covered in neatly organized pads and papers, and another by a window overlooking the docking bay.

He sat down behind the desk with the view.  It was little more than a prop, a thing carefully designed and placed for a desired effect.  It was solid wood, carved mouldings, an intricate affair, than the one he normally used, its surface inlaid with the seal of the White Flags.  It was even lit a specific way, by multiple fixtures, and his wet fur and mane glittered under their harsh light.

He opened the main drawer.  Inside was one thing, a communications panel.  He fired up the subnet system, and placed a call to a location saved in the recent memory.  An electronic screen lowered from the ceiling in front of the desk as the call connected.  It stopped at a predetermined height, placing the camera at the right height to get a good view of him and the docking bay beyond.

Blueblood glanced back, a little disappointed by the lack of bustle outside.  It wasn't very busy right now, most ships were out on assignment, or making supply runs.  The only large ships present were undergoing minor maintenance work, namely paint, which was currently drying, or rather, curing, since it was epoxy based, and not evaporative like acrylic paint.  Either way, paint made for a boring backdrop.  He hit another button, and a curtain lowered behind the window, obscuring the view with a uniform sheet of lime green.

A unicorn appeared on the screen as the call connected.  He was every bit icy in color as his name would suggest.  He shielded his eyes from the bright light coming from his own screen, and winced at the rumbling sound of roaring engines.

Blueblood kept his expression grim and level as he waited for it to subside.  His room was quiet, and the light had not changed.  What Glacier just experienced was an old-school trick of software, adding a prerecorded video to the background.  Glacier just saw a medium cruiser depart the docking bay beyond the window, escorted by two squadrons of fighter vessels.  An impressive display, to be sure.

"I'd hate to be the lowlife you send that much firepower after," the unicorn chuckled.  "I heard you sent one pony to destroy the untouchable iyella Base and capture the cyborg, Iron Hoof.  But, that was your old man, right?  I've heard he's one to get things done."

"It was two ponies," Blueblood corrected.  "My father was not alone.  Mother was with him.  They deposited Iron Hoof in a holding cell before departing for Zargon."

"They captured him alive?"  He nodded, clearly impressed.  "Nice.  The bastard got a pusher on my station earlier this year.  It will be satisfying to see him on trial.  But, Iron hoof wasn't a huge threat on his own, it was his little network of minions that made him dangerous.  Aren't you worried they may pull off a breakout?"

Blueblood shook his head.  "Iron Hoof's second in command was executed by a rival dealer last month, along with several of his crew.  We have targeted the strongest leaders that remain, and are encouraging the fighting between them and the rival group, whose leader was murdered by Iron Hoof shortly before his capture.  They are all too busy trying to survive to worry about rescuing the pony responsible for their troubles.  If anything, an assassination attempt is far more likely."

"You guys don't mess around."  Glacier nodded to Blueblood.  "Looks like you haven't been messing around either.  Does this have to do with a certain matter I brought to your attention?"

"As you said, we don't mess around."  Blueblood folded his hooves in front of him.  "The heir of Grinparch Norland is in custody."

"Ha!"  He clapped his hooves, clearly ecstatic about the news.  "How many guards do I need to send to keep her docile during the transfer?"

Blueblood blinked, tilting his head as if he was amused by the question.  He knew the question was coming, but it wasn't amusing in the slightest.  "What transfer?"

The other unicorn's smile faded quickly, and he straightened up in his chair rather quickly.  "What are you playing at Blueblood?"

"Prince Blueblood," he corrected.  "I would appreciate it if you address me by my proper title, Glacier."

"Sheriff Glacier," he corrected in kind.  "And what kind of joke is this?  You, of all ponies, should realize how dangerous she could be."

"I realize how dangerous she currently is."  He raised a hoof to his snout.  "I believe you see this?  And a team of four trained extraction agents is currently in sickbay with serious injuries.  She overpowered two stallions and a dweveli within seconds of contact.  It took a dragon five times her size to finally secure her, and even he suffered greatly for it."

Glacier sighed, nodding his head in defeat.  "You intend to keep her because of what she's done to you and your team."

"Incorrect."  Blueblood enjoyed the confusion on the other unicorn's face.  "We intend to keep her for her own protection."

"What are you talking about?  She isn't the one that needs protection!"

"She is a terrified young mare that doesn't understand why the entire galaxy has suddenly turned against her.  And we kidnapped her because of you.  Try to imagine how troubling I find that."

"She is the last of the Norland pirates!"  Glacier leaned in close.  "And she knows where her grandfather is buried.  Even dead, his bounty is a billion credits, not to mention the chance to put the rumors and turmoil to rest.  You and I can put an end to Norland's continuing legacy of destruction.  Half a billion credits could do our respective stations a great deal of good.  And she must have a bounty of her own."

Blueblood scratched his chin, instantly regretting it because of the pain.  But he kept his face and tone even.  "Whoever turns her in to Galactic authorities would become famous overnight."

Glacier cracked a slow smile.  "Now you're getting it."

The Prince nodded slowly.  "I am."  He let the sheriff get comfortable, let him feel confident that he had won him over, before speaking again.  "I despise ponies like you.  You would use me to capture a target too dangerous for your own forces, then offer an innocent mare as a sacrificial lamb to your aspirations?"

"What?"  The sudden shift in tone was too much for Glacier to process.  What happened?  It was going so well!  "No!  I-"

"No," Blueblood interrupted him.  "You will be silent, and listen.  My next call is going to be to Growl, of Station Delta, to confirm something that I was told about you placing a data miner on their comm array, and to apologize for the intrusion on their station.  Your part in this will not be ignored."

Unable to come up with a response for the Prince's latest statement, the sheriff dug back for an argument.  "You call her innocent after what she did to you?  To your team?  Or do you intend to claim Norland's bounty for yourself?"

"Innocent and dangerous are not mutually exclusive states.  She merely defended herself, as would you, I, or anypony else."  Blueblood let himself smile.  Glacier was faltering, he was becoming angrier with each word.  But the final nail would be the sweetest.  "And, it falls to me to defend myself, and the reputation of the White Flags.  I will be contacting the authorizing power behind Norland's bounty, and asking them to rescind it.  There is no need to dig up the past, or a dead pirate."

"You would throw away a billion credits?"  That seemed to break the stallion.  He stared at the Prince through the screen, and he didn't seem to have a comeback.

Blueblood waited a moment to be sure, then spoke again.  "Yes, your intended prize has been taken away by somepony who doesn't even want it.  A billion credits, or even more, would be useless to me if I betrayed the honor of my kingdom to gain it.  Take this opportunity to reflect on your actions, and their motivations, and never contact the White Flags again."

Blueblood cut the video without giving the stallion the chance to talk back.  He hit the control to raise the curtain, and stretched out.  He felt a little better about trusting the mare in custody now, but worse about what happened to her.  He couldn't, in good conscience, let her roam free, could he?  He couldn't, in good conscience, keep her confined, either.  Not unless she was proven to be a criminal like her grandfather.

Shaking his head, he stood up.  He was still a mess.  He could finish his shower, and maybe treat his face, before making his next two calls.  And then, he could figure out what to do with the mare in medical.

Though, before anything else, he realized, he would have to ask her for her name.
> Worst Date Ever
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------

"The current time is 10:47 am, on the fourth of Summersun, Canterlot calendar, in the year 1556 Post Light.  Four-point-four-point-five-four-one Galactic calendar."  Jasper shuffled some papers around, making sure he had the relevant ones at the top.  In the dim light of this room, lit by a single bulb hanging from a fixture above, he had been able to remove his sunglasses.  The pony sitting across the table from him opened their mouth to speak, but Jasper held up a wingtip, his longest feather, indicating silence.  "This is Jasper Stonewing, conducting the interview of the pony-of-interest in the assault of the presidential security detail,  culminating in the theft and destruction of Government property, including the hijacking of one Warp-Capable Shuttle designated Alpha-zero-one-zero-two, formerly designated Airspace One."  He looked up at the other pony.  "State your name, and planet of birth, for the record."

"Stormy Skies," the young mare said quietly, staring at the table, "I was born in dome seven of the Binar Solar Domes."

Jasper nodded his head, letting the mare know the answers were fine.  "And your relation to the suspect, Radio Dancer?"

"The accused?"  Stormy looked up.  "I thought he was a friend of you guys!"

Jasper didn't respond to the outburst.  "Please answer the question.  What is your relation to Radio Dancer, and why did you accompany him to the dinner?"

With a sigh, Stormy forced herself to settle down.  "We met at Luna's academy the other day, and went on one date after that.  You should know, you interrupted us.  And then, he invited me to dinner with a friend of his, and I accepted the invitation.  I didn't know who we were meeting, or what he was planning.  He just locked me in there, and then the gunfire started.  You know what, I don't even think he was planning anything.  The way he-"

Jasper leaned forward, pressing his hoof to the recording device on the table, cutting off the recording, as well as the feed to the other room, a feature meant to be used by lawyers when they wished to speak with their clients in confidence, but useful enough in cases like this.  "Miss Skies, in a few minutes, the ponies watching through the one-way mirror are going to take a coffee break, the door behind me is going to open, and you will be released into the custody of a pony sent by Luna to retrieve you.  At which point, you will do exactly as they say, without question, and they will see you home.  Meanwhile, after a long, convoluted, and largely unethical, entirely fake, investigation, I will archive a corrupted audio tape and entirely illegible paperwork under a case number that will never be looked at again.  Until that time, because of the involvement of local authorities, and public use of force by our security detail, we need to give an accounting of what happened.  You have a role to play, at least until a suitable replacement arrives, and that is of an unwitting accomplice to an act of civil disobedience.  Now please, answer my questions."

"Wait," Stormy raised her hoof towards the recording device, as if to hold Jasper's hoof on the button.  She pulled it back as she realized that was probably not a good idea.  "Is Radio alright at least?"

Jasper raised an eyebrow.  "You seem awfully concerned for the colt that locked you in a restroom, and bent the door handle over so you couldn't get out.  A fire crew had to cut you free."

Stormy winced.  She was mad at him for that, for sure, but he wouldn't have done that without a good reason.  At least, that's what she hoped.  "He said it was for my safety."

Jasper released the button, resuming the recording.  "And stealing our shuttle?"

"I don't know," Stormy admitted helplessly, "he just kept apologizing to me before he closed the door.  He... he said he would stay with me forever if he had the choice."

"Forever?" Jasper asked with some amusement.  "As much as the Assembly and Furia would appreciate you keeping him docile, you've known each other two days."

Stormy sighed in annoyance.  "Look, I just want to know if he's alright, and then I'll answer your questions.  You didn't shoot him, did you?"

"The reports are rather... divided on that question."  Jasper flipped back a few pages in one of the reports.  "And it isn't like we can ask Radio."

Stormy blinked.  "You can't..."  Stormy gasped as she realized something.  "Holy crap!  You mean he actually succeeded?!  The way everypony's been talking, I thought he got caught trying to take the shuttle.  You mean he actually got away with it?"

"He is a sentient weapon designed by a planet that was brought to the brink of extinction by war with an incredibly advanced foe.  Our only other military experience with them was a devastating defeat on a pirate base at the hooves of their expeditionary force.  One of our battleships, carrying hundreds of soldiers, forced to surrender, and a league of pirates wiped out, all by a single pony, until he came to an accord with then-lieutenant Jones.  I would say we were lucky Radio only took a shuttle."

Stormy stared at the sharply-dressed pegasus.  "You mean, everything he told me was true?  I mean, I believed the genetic engineering, but the super weapon thing, that's also true?  What about mach three?"

"Mach three?  Flight speed, I suppose?"  Jasper flipped to another piece of paper, and read, "three point four seven," he looked up at Stormy, and added, "within the confines of atmosphere."

The young mare shook her head.  "Now you're just messing with me."

"Perhaps, but any further information on the colt is classified."  The stallion's ear twitched, hearing a far off bell, and ponies shuffling out of the neighboring room.  "Well, that's that.  Stormy, since we will be obfuscating your involvement with him in our official reports, we would appreciate it if you did the same.  You don't need to lie.  You were there, and the shuttle was stolen, that much is public record.  But it would be best if you don't talk with friends or family about the details, or about how the situation was resolved.  You were locked in a small room, after all.  Describing the situation as chaos should be sufficient."

Stormy scoffed.  "Trust me, I am not telling my parents any of this.  They'd never let me off Binar again.  But, what do you mean, how it was resolved?  It seems like it isn't resolved, like, at all."

Jasper smiled as the door behind him slid open.  "Exactly.  Not yet, anyway."  A second Stormy walked into the room, smirking, and winking at the orignal, beside a blind mare dragging a bell on her tail.  "Welcome to the world of galactic politics."
> Enter the Nemeton
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------

Blueblood sighed as he cranked up the water pressure as far as it would go.  His hair was full of shampoo, and the proximity alarm was sounding.  It sure would be nice if emergencies followed cleaner timetables.  After a quick rinse, he stepped out and shook off.  Then, it was back out to his office, in a rush, to grab a headset from his desk.

"This is Blueblood, sit-rep?"  He asked as he slipped it around his ear, metal cold against wet fur.

"We have an approaching shuttle, at the extreme edge of sensor range, moving slow.  It appears to be an official Galactic Assembly vehicle, registered to Canterlot."

Walking over to his window, Blueblood chewed his lip.  How did they learn of this station's coordinates?  It was supposed to be one of the best kept secrets in the galaxy, known only by a few trusted pilots.  "Have they made contact?"

"Negative."  There was a slight pause.  "They appear to be damaged... Wait, we are picking up a signal.  It's weak, but it it seems to be repeating, I'll see if I can get anything usable out of it."

Blueblood listened quietly, waiting.

"It's an audio signal, sir.  The computer's extrapolating a clean version from the repeats, I'm going to patch it through."

The next voice the prince heard was young, male, and scared.  "Please... help me."  There was a wavering breath.  "M-message repeats."  There was silence for a moment.  "Please, if anypony's out there, my name is Rider, I'm the son of a Galactic Assembly Ambassador.  There was an accident.  We hit...  I don't know...  Something.  The pilot's gone, and Tombs is hurt.  It's getting cold in here.  Please, my father will pay anything!  Please... help me... M-message repeats.  Please, if anypony's out there-"

"Sir, the shuttle is off course, and not directly approaching us.  There appears to be an asteroid lodged in the cockpit.  They are venting air, and I am only reading one life sign."

"Then this is a rescue operation."  Blueblood headed out of his quarters, issuing orders into the headset.  "Scramble a fighter with tractor beam capabilities and get a medical team down to LP One.  Move the docking clamp and the extraction shuttle out of the way, we'll set this shuttle down directly on the platform."

"Understood, sir.  Should I contact a maintenance team in case the door needs to be forced?"

"Negative, I want as few personnel on deck as possible.  Fire Brand is on duty, he can get it open, and so can I."  He started down the stairs.  "I'll be on the platform.  Tell the fighter to hurry and get that shuttle in here before we lose that last life sign, and scramble a few more, in case whatever the shuttle hit wasn't naturally occurring."

"Attention, all landing bay crew."  The control voice echoed through the station.  "We have a damaged shuttle in-bound and transmitting a distress call.  Nonessential personnel, clear the area.  Alpha squadron scramble for recon.  Rescue unit Charlie-three stand-by to receive coordinates and sensor data.  Medical team and Lieutenant Brand, please report to LP one."

Blueblood hurried down the stairs as the bay doors started to open.  The first fighter took off the moment it could squeeze through.  The rest, a full squadron, twelve strong, waited until the doors opened fully, and left in formation.  They split up shortly after exiting, and would scour the asteroid field until ordered to stop.

It was a long way down and across the landing bay to landing pad one.  It took him a few minutes to get there, and the med team had beaten him there.  So had Fire Brand.

"Blue!"  The steel-blue unicorn, clad in only the basic uniform vest, raised his hoof as the Prince approached.  "What the hell is going on?  First Iron Hoof, then somepony connected to Norland, now this?  We haven't been this busy since taking down that magic artifact cartel."

"Wasn't that only a month ago?"  Blueblood looked out the bay doors, into space.  Asteroids littered the area, far more densely packed than they should ever be, held in place by the unique gravity fields affecting this area.  "I put you in for a commendation, by the way.  Mind delving is hazardous, even when there isn't a murderous gemstone involved."

"Heh."  The stallion shrugged, running his hoof through his muddy red mane.  "What else was I supposed to do?  Poor filly was twelve, the thing would have eaten her whole."

"It almost ate you."  Blueblood looked back at him, catching sight of his blazing, ruby eyes before he looked away.  They used to be green.  "If I hadn't been there..."

"Are you still blaming yourself?"  Firebrand scoffed.  "There's no way you could have known that an artifact would react to you."

"I should have suspected, at the very least," Blueblood countered.  "Still, containment may have been possible if I hadn't been there."

"You kept the thing from taking over my mind," Fire Brand reminded him.  "And it only got part of my body."

"Only by a miracle."  The Prince sighed.  "Any new changes?"

The unicorn shook his head.  "Not really.  Oh, except the eyesight thing.  It isn't just seeing in the dark.  I can see through illusions and stuff as well.  Give you one chance to guess how I figured that out."

Blueblood chewed his lip.  He could think of two possibilities.  "Cookie?"

"Scared the shit out of me," Fire Brand admitted.  "Screamed like a foal in the middle of mess."

Blueblood nodded.  "She has that effect.  And, me?"

Fire Brand shrugged.  "A blur?  A shadow?  I don't know, but it terrifies me.  What is it?"

"Hell, if I know."  Blueblood suddenly pointed out into the distance.  A speck of light, approaching fast, resolving into two distinct shapes.  "There!  Charlie-three, he's got the shuttle."

"Took long enough," Fire Brand muttered.  "And, Blue, Charlie-three's a she."

Blueblood glanced over.  "Frank transferred?"

"Promoted, copiloting the Raft now."  The unicorn chuckled.  "New girl's amazing.  Just as skilled as Frank ever was, cute as a button, and handles a blaster as well as she can a ship."  With a smirk, the lieutenant added, "too bad you refuse to date fellow crew-members."

"It would be inappropriate," Blueblood snapped.  "I can't enter a relationship with somepony I can issue orders to."

"With all due respect, Blue, you kind of exist outside the chain of command."  Fire Brand winced as the fighter craft entered the landing bay, atmospheric retention field spraying its light across its hull, then again over the damaged craft that followed.  He had never seen a craft that damaged remain in one piece.  As the two vehicles apprached the landing pad, the lieutenant waved the medical crew back.  Charlie three would need room maneuver if she was to set the shuttle down gently.  "As Prince, you hold authority over even the Civilian population.  Nopony would blame you for letting yourself be a pony, and everypony knows you would never misuse your authority."

Blueblood straightened up, watching the gentle manipulation of the shuttle's position by Charlie Three's tractor beam.  The shuttle looked like it was about to crack like an egg at the slightest touch.  "They know that because I adhere to rules, and show the proper discretion when it comes to personal matters."

"By never having personal matters,"  Fire Brand quipped.  "That's a lonely way to be, Blue."

"We can discuss it later."  Blueblood sighed in relief as the shuttle settled softly on the landing pad, remaining intact, such as it was.  The front half was crumpled, a small asteroid, roughly pony sized, wedged where a pilot should be.  Hairline cracks covered the outer hull, hissing like snakes as air escaped.  The sound caught the prince's attention.  "Why is it hissing?"

Fire brand frowned, and concentrated for a moment.  There was a flash outside the shuttle, and a small pop as the air he teleported out of the shuttle expanded rapidly.  "It's been pressurized.  Several atmospheres, at least."

"Again, why?"  Blueblood's eyebrows furrowed as his expression turned to a frown, matching his lieutenant's.  Things had just gotten much more complicated.

"Environmental requirement for the species?"  Fire Brand suggested.

"No, Rider and Tombs sound like pony names."  The Prince shook his head.  "And this is a standard shuttle.  I don't like this.  Med team?"

"Scanning now, sir," called one of the crew of three medical personnel behind them.  She was tapping the control panel built into the side of an anti-grav stretcher.  "One life sign, definitely a pony.  A pegasus.  Heartbeat is slow, but steady.  Unconscious, perhaps?"  She made a few adjustments.  "Holy shit!  The air pressure in there is over twenty times ambient.

"Med team, take cover."  Blueblood brought his hoof to his ear, and the comm device there.  "This is Prince Blueblood, I need a tac-team to LP one.  Shadow protocol."

"Shadow protocol?  On one pony in a damaged shuttle?"  Fire Brand scoffed.  "Overkill much?"

"There's no body in the cockpit," Blueblood pointed out, "no blood, no sign anypony was in there when that asteroid impacted.

"A trap, then," Fire Brand conceded.  "But, air quality sensors haven't detected harmful airborne agents, or we would be shouting over the alarms right now.  So, why pressurize the shuttle?  One pony.  There doesn't seem to be a spoofed scan going on, since we have confirmed the shuttle is under pressure, and the lifesign has been detected by two separate scanners of different makes and models.  This makes no sense, maybe the life support systems got toasted?"

Blueblood snorted.  He didn't like this situation at all.  "We can't teleport in while it's pressurized, can we?  That may be why."

"And they can't teleport out," Fire Brand mused.  "Of course, a pegasus won't be teleporting at all.  Are you sure there's a plan here?  Twenty atmospheres is survivable if life support changes the air mix, but they would have to wait a long time for pressure to equalize, and they have to know we wouldn't leave the shuttle unguarded.  A dragon might be able to shrug off the pressure difference, if they were tough.  But a pony?  We'd be scraping bits of them off the deck with shovels.  Not a chance.  Not even a pegasus."

"Wearing a pressure-suit ,or deepwater diving equipment would mitigate the issue."  The sound of boots and hooves pulled Bluebood's attention for a moment.  A dozen black-armored soldiers approached quickly, weapons and magic at the ready, and dozens more  would be hidden throughout the landing bay, including snipers.  "Defensive positions," the Prince ordered, "we don't know what's going on.  Charlie-three, cover us from the air."

"Med-team, evacuate the area," Fire Brand added as the winged fighter craft pulled into position, anti gravity systems distorting the air below with a bone-rumbling buzz.  "Prep for decompression sickness just in case the-"

"Sir," the medic who scanned the shuttle interrupted him, "a medical scanner on board the the shuttle just booted on.  It's the same type we use, and is interfacing with the gurney."

"Disconnect it!"

"I'm trying, sir."  She tapped several commands, but was answered by buzzing sounds and odd chirps.  "It's not easy, medical equipment is designed to link together for efficiency, you can't just-"

"Step back!"  Fire Brand wrapped the stretcher in magic, and the second the medic was clear, he crushed it into the ground so hard it caused a shockwave.  The screen, shattered, but still flickering, displayed most of an error code for a second or two before going black  "What was it doing?"

The medic stared at the pile of debris a moment, before finally lookng up and answering the question.  "Sir, it was scanning for lifesigns."

Behind Fire Brand, the shuttle doors blew open, an explosion of air and wind, and debris that rolled the lieutenant, and spit out a rainbow-colored blur.  It was little more than a streak as it shot past the fighter craft, a colorful light that looped around above it, faster than anypony could follow.  Then, it crashed down like a meteor, smashing the fighter's nose into the landing pad.

An angry looking pegasus stood atop the grounded craft, hooves embedded in the sheet metal.  He stared at the troops in front of him as he pulled his hooves out, one by one.  Metal squealed as he tore free.

"A colt?"  Blueblood muttered as he looked up at the young pegasus.  He was unarmed, unclothed, sky blue in color, and had rainbows for a mane and tail.

"Sir," Fire Brand whispered, moving to Bluebood's side as he shook the dust, and bits of plastic, from his body.  "I don't know if you can see this, but he's glowing bright, like someone packed a star into pony shape.  And, he's holding his breath."

Blue didn't see it, but he trusted Brand's instincts and new-found sight.  "Then we take this seriously."  Blueblood touched his comm once more, switching it to command mode.  Everyone in the landing bay would hear his orders as he said them, and he wasted no time giving the first one.  "Charlie-three, engage."

Behind the colt, an energy blast shredded the cockpit of the fighter.  Crackling blue energy, dissipated before reaching him, but several more blasts followed.  He dodged one, two went wide, spun and ducked another that came close, before shouting, roaring with the force of all the pressurized air he had held on to.  The shockwave rattled the pilot, and shot Radio backwards.

"Alpha group, fire," Blueblood ordered as the colt fell.

Radio twisted, unfurling his wings as weapons were raised against him, aiming, not for him, but for the spot he would land.  He took a breath, short, fast, preparatory.  He would have less than a second, but that would be more than enough.  The moment his hoof touched ground, he kicked off with a battle cry, dashing forward as energy bolts ripped past him, aimed where he had been.

He charged at his attackers faster than some of them could see, faster than most could react.  He felt magic slip past him, trying to  grab him, trying to latch on.  He juked left, away from it.  He glanced back as soldiers adjusted their aim.  He saw the fading edge of golden aura.  Looking back at his foes, he picked out a yellow eyed unicorn in the back of the formation.

He dove for the nearest soldier as they all resumed firing.  He tucked in low, sweeping the hapless humans legs out from under him.  A quick twist and sweep of his wing let the him point the human's weapon straight at the unicorn that tried to grab him, and the falling soldier did the rest, clenching his fist, incidentally pulling the trigger as he hit the deck.

The fired energy bolt struck the unicorn in the face.  A stunner bolt, luckily for him, but he would be numb for a while.  Two down, but no time to rest. Radio leapt over somepony else's stunbolt, meant for him, and charged at the next soldier in line, another human, before the stunned unicorn even stumbled.  Body in past the barrel of his rifle before he could fire, Radio grabbed the human's sleeve in his teeth, and jumped.  He got his  front hoof on the human's shoulder, and his rear hooves airborne.

He jerked back suddenly, aided by a flap of his wings.  His rear hooves swept the soldiers legs out as the momentum sent them both crashing down, bouncing the human's face off the deckplates.

Another stunbolt, aimed at the colt, struck the downed soldier.  Radio was already rolling away from him, with a weapon dropped in pain and confusion.  From the ground, he fired twice, catching two more soldiers squarely in the face, the only target to be sure of a knockout through body armor.  The colt then twisted his body, using the momentum to dodge a stunbolt.  The air was filled with energy blasts, the enemy was firing constantly, and he was watching all of it, every last blast of energy, if it wasn't aimed straight at him, he didn't waste the energy to try dodging it.

Twisting back to dodge another bolt, Radio arched his back then launched himself up.  He barely had one hoof on the ground before jumping again, back flipping over a concentrated volley of stun blasts fired by the remaining soldiers.  They were getting used to his movements, getting used to the fact he didn't behave in a manner they were trained for.

He ditched the rifle mid-leap, and dove into the fray.  The soldiers had tightened formation, which was better for him.  The earth pony closest to him went down with a hoof to the back of the head, and the silver skinned biped beside him crumpled after a blow to the knee.

Another human brought his rifle to bear, but the colt got his hoof on it first.  He pushed it off target as it fired, electricity ringing in his ears as the bolt passed his head.  His wing hooked around the human's knee, and pulled as a hoof to the gut forced the rest of him back.

Radio somersaulted backwards as the human fell, launching himself over a short, metallic humanoid that tried to sneak up on him.  A kick in the back of the head sent him sprawling over his human comrade.  

A medic reached for one of the fallen weapons, and Radio dove forward.  He smashed the pistol under hoof.  "Stay out of this," he warned, before flinging the useless weapon at the nearest soldier, forcing him to duck and disrupting his aim.

Radio hopped over the medic, rolling over the flattened gurney.  He pulled it up with a hoof, and used it to shield himself from stunblasts from two more soldiers as he took a deep breath.  As their comrades fell, they didn't have to worry so much where their stunblasts fell, making them far more aggressive than just moments ago.  Bracing himself against the floor, and spreading his wings, Radio dropped his shield and kicked off.

He launched forward, under the power of legs and wings both.  He was behind them before the gurney hit the ground, and turning before they even knew he was behind them.  It was only the crackle of energy beside him that kept the colt from knocking out both of them.

Radio twisted, bringing his hooves up to block a punch from a white unicorn.  It sent the colt tumbling across the deck.  There was a lot of momentum behind that strike, more than could be explained by the short time the unicorn had to throw it.

Radio scrambled to his hooves.  And the unicorn, the only other pony present with no armor or weaponry, stood in place and bucked his legs out.  At the last moment, there was a flash.

The buck connected with the back of Radio's head when the Prince appeared behind him.  The pegasus pitched forward, knocked off his hooves and tumbling by the unicorn's strength, but twisted, righting himself to face this new threat.

They looked each other in the eye.

"Sierra, fire full." Blueblood growled.

A large energy blast, many times the speed and twice the size of the stunbolts impacted the colt's side.  He staggered, arcs of electricity dancing around between him and the deck as a million volts of attenuated plasma grounded itself, with him as the conductor.

Smoke rose from his coat as he growled.

"That would have taken down a dragon," Blueblood observed.

"Which, I'm not."  Radio launched forward, twisting midair as he aimed a punch at Bluebood's face.

The Prince twisted out of the way, throwing up a hoof to block.  He teleported away, and reappeared in nearly the same spot, but at a different angle.  The defensive movement became an offensive action as his hoof cracked against the colt's jaw.  And he could have swatted him with a piece of paper for all it slowed the pegasus down.

Radio rolled past the Prince, and kept running for the edge of the landing platform.

"All units, suppressing fire!  Weapons on max!"  Shouted the unicorn, commanding every standby soldier waiting in the wings and walkways of the landing bay to join the fight.

Radio took flight amid a storm of energy blasts, filling the air between landing pads with a maelstrom of light.  He dodged and dove, fighting multiple gravity fields and inertial arrestors as he built up speed in the middle of the storm.

"Are you bucking kidding me?!"  Fire Brand ran to the edge of the platform as several seconds, and hundreds of energy blasts passed without results.

Radio twisted and turned in carefully practiced patterns, each movement allowing him to shift away from danger without sacrificing speed.  He broke pattern though, and dove straight down after catching an orange flash out of the corner of his eye.  The fireball missed him, but the second one wouldn't.

Radio twisted, batting the ball of flame away with his wing.  It's altered trajectory slammed it into a walkway holding several soldiers.  They dove to the side in time, but the damage to the walk way forced them to flee as the flames ate away the support.

On the landing pad, Blueblood stopped Fire Brand before he could launch another fireball.  The red-eyed unicorn didn't protest, they couldn't risk giving the enemy another weapon, not when he was doing so well without any.  "I've got one more thing to try, Blue.  But you might have to step in for real if it doesn't work."

The Prince nodded solemnly.  "Understood."

Radio swept up under the sniper that hit him earlier.  He struck the catwalk support with his hoof as passed it, denting the metal pipe.  A quick loop brought him back around, and he struck it again.  The pipe bent further, kinking, and shaking the catwalk.

The sniper ran as Radio looped around a third time.  This hit tore the support free.  The catwalk lurched, and the sniper dropped his weapon so he could run faster.

Radio caught the weapon as it fell off the catwalk.  From below, he flew past the sniper with ease, then barrel rolled over the railing and onto the catwalk.  He spun, skidding to a stop as dropped prone, bringing his stolen weapon to bear.

The same blast that had staggered the pegasus launched the sniper back several meters, but the safety rail caught him so he couldn't fall over the side.  Radio quickly dialed the weapon's power back and pointed its barrel out the side of the catwalk.  Both eyes open as he looked through the scope, he started picking off the enemies below.  Many returned fire, but as high, and far away as he was, only other snipers were much of a threat, and he was able to neutralize them with his first few shots.

Still, stunbolts hit the railings around him.  The blasts pinged off the metal around him, static tingled on his fur as the catwalk started building up an electrical charge.  And more than a few bolts were coming very close to hitting home.  Radio dove from his hiding place before too many soldiers could dial in on his position.

He continued to fire as he fell, every shot hitting its mark, none wasted.  By the time he ditched his weapon and entered another climb, enemy numbers were down to nearly a dozen or so stragglers.  They bravely held formation, sustaining as much of a fire curtain as they could, as Radio swooped down, targeting groups first.  He would attack the nearest one, and use their weapon to stun the others.

Back on the landing pad, Fire Brand glared at the colt who so easily penetrated their defenses.

"Are you sure about this?"  Blueblood asked him.

"No."  The unicorn looked down at his chest.  He had stepped back from the edge and taken his vest off, revealing the evil amulet that had fused with him, bonding to his skin over his heart with ugly, veiny scars.  He tapped at the ruby colored gem at its center.  "But, if I'm stuck with this thing, I'm going to make use of it."

Screaming, Fire Brand ran forward.  He dove off the edge, flames forming around him.

Radio was diving after the last straggler when he was blindsided by a wall of flames.  They slammed him into the wall, and he crashed to the catwalk below.

He looked back as the flames looped around.  It wasn't a wall at all, it was a pair of wings.  The other unicorn from the platform was flying on wings of flame.  His eyes and the gem on his chest blazed the same bright color.

Watching this new enemy, Radio lost track of his previous target.  The human, last of the soldiers, had stopped running away, and was charging at Radio.

The colt saw him coming in time to duck a kick, but the human snapped his leg down.  He hooked his leg around Radio's neck, and pitched forward, tucking into a shoulder roll that lifted the pegasus before slamming him down to the catwalk with a clang.

And he wasn't given a chance to recover from that hit.  The human had managed to draw his sidearm mid-roll, and grabbed the colt by the mane as his other hand pressed the stunner to his temple.

The energy blast slammed the colt's head back to the catwalk, and numbed the human's hand.  Fight over, the human breathed a sigh of relief, and started to untangle himself from the leg-hold.

Then, Radio bit him.

The human screamed as teeth sank into his leg, and brought his stunner back down, bashing the colt in the face.  The impact, and the second, and the third all failed to dislodge the grinsome, snarling colt.  And Radio managed to grab the stunner after hit number four.  Radio took another stun bolt to the chest before wrestling the weapon away, but it only took one shot to the unfortunate human's crotch to put him down.

Radio pulled himself away from the unconscious human, and stumbled down the catwalk.  The blast to the chest wasn't too bad, but that one to the the head had him rattled.  His ear was ringing, and his balance was off.  Getting beat in the face with the blunt end of a stun gun didn't help any.

And the flaming unicorn was hovering beside him.

Breathing heavily, Radio looked over.  "What do you want?"

Fire Brand snorted angrily, horn lighting up brilliant red.  "Time's up, kid."

"Thought so," Radio sighed.

With a shout, Fire Brand unleashed a massive fireball.  It broiled the air, and melted catwalk, but the roaring flames masked Radio's answering scream as he leapt straight through it.  He was singed, but barely, as he used Fire Brand's head as a springboard.

He could have taken flight then, but didn't.  Without full balance, he would be at a disadvantage if he tried compete in flight now.  Instead, he dove at Fire Brand's tail, grabbing it in his teeth as he started to fall.

Completely unprepared for that, Fire Brand was pulled down quickly.  And Radio turned last minute, managing to get himself out of the way before they both slammed into a catwalk below.  Radio, prepared for the landing, was running again in less than a second, but Fire Brand was left groaning in pain.

Blueblood watched with a sour look on his face as Radio leapt off the catwalk and flew towards him, the only other pony left standing in the landing bay.  With a sigh, he issued one final order into his comm device.  "Control, kill the lights."

The main lights dimmed, but there was still enough to see by, most of it from harsh, directional emergency lights.

"You can't hide that easily!" Radio shouted at the unicorn as he stepped into a dark shadow cast by the shuttle.

"I don't intend to hide," the Prince whispered in his ear.

Radio turned, swinging at, and hitting, nothing.  The last of the lights around him dimmed, obscured by strange mist as shadows began to move and grow.

Not wasting any time, the colt flew towards the brightest light source he could find.  But, he passed under a shadow on the way, and was plucked from the air like a fly.  He struggled against the claw of living shadow that wrapped around him until it hammered him down into the landing pad like a cudgel.

The mist overpowered him entirely, a living thing, growing around him.  It tightened as it wrapped around his body, hooves, even his head, all while he struggled and kicked.  It very quickly managed to hold him still.  A powerful thing, tendrils of dark smoke holding him.  A touch at his neck, across his throat, caressing him with just enough strength to let him know it could snap his neck any time it wanted.

He could hear it whispering, to him, to itself, to everything, to nothing.  Faint, meaningless whispers.  Indecipherable gibberish.  Harsh, profound truths.  Quietly screaming in his ears

He screamed as a tendril of shadow clamped itself over his mouth, and the voices became thoughts, memories, visions.  A figure was appearing in the mist, coalescing from the shadows, and it wasn't the unicorn.  It walked over to him, slowly, gracefully, secure in the knowledge that it had won.  And with a warm smile full of sharp teeth, she whispered to the colt.

"Welcome, to the Nemeton."
> Friends and family, enemies and anomalies
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------

Down in the holding cells, Blueblood and Fire Brand stood in front of the cell holding their young pegasus attacker.  Primitive looking iron bars and stone walls were lit by fake candles.  It was a stark and depressing place by design, lifted straight from a former movie set and reinforced to suit its new purpose.

A quick medical exam of the prisoner showed some oddities, like intact eardrums and lungs despite the sudden pressure change.  No unusual electrical activity in his synapses despite the many stunbolts.  No burnt skin despite the massive fireball he leapt through.  In fact, there were no injuries.  The minor cuts and bruises he did have recovered while he was being scanned.  And there was no scar tissue present anywhere on him, which made them wonder, was he just that good at healing, or had he just never sustained a serious enough injury?  But, still, he wasan approximately seventeen year old pegasus colt, he didn't even have all his feathers in yet.

And he had taken down exactly fifty of their soldiers, twelve on the platform, thirty-six in the rafters, one in a sparrow-class fighter craft, and one with boosted magic from an ancient artifact.

"He had no Identification on him," Fire Brand told the Prince.  "The shuttle's computer is too far damaged to pull anything off of."

Blueblood shook his head.  "Hard to believe, he brought nothing but his vehicle to attack us?"

"I didn't say that," Fire Brand corrected, scratching at his embedded gem.  It was itching after using its power, but so far, there were no mental effects.  "Just, no weapons, unless you count the antique phase pistol he left in his duffel bag.  A search of the shuttle turned up nothing.  His duffel bag had the mentioned phase pistol, an encrypted pad, a medical scanner, a full kit of emergency medical gear, a rather nice, rather expensive suit, complete with the classiest, Zarrian holo-silk tie I've ever seen, and half a dozen fruit flavored condoms."

Blueblood blinked.  "I'm sorry," he looked over at the lieutenant, 'half a dozen what?"

"Condoms, Blue," Fire Brand repeated with a chuckle, "fruit flavored."

"Yes, that's what I thought you said."  The prince cleared his throat as he looked back at the unconscious prisoner.  After a few seconds, he looked back at his fellow unicorn.  "Ok, but, why?"

He shrugged, trying to keep a straight face.  "Maybe he had a date after this?  Something you have no experience with."

"A date?"  Blueblood said, rolling his eyes and ignoring the jab at him. "After storming the largest bounty hunter's fortress in the galaxy?  Alone?"  He looked over at the prisoner with a sigh.  "You're saying he expected to be successful, and able to leave, but not in time to go elsewhere to grab clothes and prophylactics?"

"Propha-what, sir?"

"Prophylactics," the prince repeated, "condoms."

"Oh."  Fire Brand nodded slowly.  "It sounds ridiculous when you say it like that, sir."

"Why?"  Blueblood frowned.  "Prophylactic is a far more professionally appropriate word than-"

"No, not that," the lieutenant corrected, "I mean the part about him successfully pulling off an attack on the base."

"Ah, yes."  Blueblood coughed quietly.  "Absolutely absurd.  He only took out two percent of our fighting force and destroyed a modified sparrow in the space of what?  Two minutes?"

"Minute and a half?  Yeah, but he had to be hurting by the end of that.  Expecting him to repeat that over and over through the various sections of the Nemeton is frankly bonkers."  With a laugh, he added, "it's almost as funny as prophylactic sounds."

Blueblood sighed miserably.  "Can we please be done talking about this?"

Fire Brand saluted.  "Sure thing, Blue."

"Thank you."  The Prince stepped closer to bars as the unconscious pegasus wheezed out black and purple smoke.  "He's waking up."

Wheezing became coughing, and the colt rolled over to purge the miasma from his lungs.

"Holy crap," Fire Brand muttered, "it's only been a few minutes.  He should have been out for hours."

Blueblood nodded.  "It seems he has some natural resistance to my shadow's powers."

"I doubt anything about this kid is natural, Blue."  Fire Brand scratched his chin.  "You know that planet that's joining the Assembly right now?"

"Furia?"

"Yeah, you've heard the rumours, right?"

"I have."  Blueblood chewed his lip.  He wasn't sure if he believed them, but they would explain this colt's abilities and fighting skill.  "A child experiment?  A genetically engineered monster in pony skin?"

"Look at him, and look at what he did, and tell me he's a normal kid.  He went from twenty atmospheres to one, and held his breath.  That alone should have killed him."  Fire Brand sighed.  "Still doesn't explain the condoms."

"You said we were done with that," Blueblood reminded him.

"Oh, come on!"  The lieutenant laughed.  "You can't tell me you aren't the slightest bit curious."

"I..."  Blueblood shrugged helplessly.  "I admit, I find it odd, but I'm sure further investigation will turn up some sort of explanation."

Inside the cell, Radio slowly stopped coughing, as the last of the magic smoke escaped his lungs.  He took his first clean breath, and remembered where he was.  With a yelp, he spun around, scrambling his way back from the door until his back hit the far wall of the cell.

He stared at Blueblood, eyes wide, sweating, and panting in fear.  "What are you?!" he demanded.

"I could ask you the same thing," the Prince countered.  "I'm guessing your name isn't Rider?"

"Radio," the pegasus corrected.  "Yours?"

"I am Prince Blueblood the Eighteenth," he answered.  He held a hoof up to indicate his friend.  "And, this, is Lieutenant Fire Brand."

Radio scoffed.  "I should have hit you harder."

"The feeling's mutual," Fire Brand replied, mockingly polite.  "Why did you attack us?"

Breathing coming under control, Radio crossed his hooves in front of him.  "Guess."

Blueblood and Fire Brand exchanged glances.  Fire Brand frowned, pointedly glancing down the row of cells behind them.  Blueblood shrugged and looked back at Radio.  "Does it have anything to do with another prisoner of ours?"

Radio's ear twitched, betraying him as he fought to keep his face unreadable.

Fire Brand saw it, and pointed out a particular cell.  "Across the hall, two cells down.  Somepony you know?"

Radio growled at him.  He couldn't see it from here.  This cell was stone on three sides, not bars all around like the ones across the way.  He slowly made his way over to the door.

He lunged at Fire Brand at the last moment, getting his hoof through the bars.  But, the unicorn hopped back, grabbing the hoof with magic and pulling.  Radio's face planted into the bars, nose first, before he was shoved back.

Fire Brand stepped back towards the cell as the pegasus lay sprawled out, nursing a bleeding nose with his hoof.  "Do that again, kid, and we'll find out exactly how fireproof you are."

Blueblood held his hoof up, motioning Fire Brand back.  "He's contained, there's no need for threats."

"Just keep telling yourself that," Radio taunted as he rolled back onto his hooves.

"I have no doubt you could escape this cell," Blueblood conceded.  "But, I'm out here.  Surely, you noticed how dark we keep it?"

The colt shivered.  He didn't want to experience that again.

Blueblood saw the reaction.  "Nightmares?" He asked with a smirk.

Radio swallowed hard.  "How long was I asleep?"

"A few minutes," the Prince shrugged, "most ponies remain unconscious for hours after getting hit with that."

"Hours?"  The colt tried not to shudder.  He wouldn't want to see those images for another second, let alone hours.  He knew it wasn't real, Ribbon would never do that to him.  But it still felt so real.  Two siblings, locked in battle, trying to kill each other.  And Ribbon finally banished him to... somewhere, a harsh landscape he didn't recognize, a land of featureless white and grey.  Stars above, no air to fill the lungs.

"It can be a traumatic experience," Blueblood sympathized, "I have seen it myself on occasion."

"What was it?"  Radio swallowed hard.  "Who was that pony that appeared?"

"I must have missed that part," Fire Brand admitted, as he looked over at Blueblood.  "Care to share?"

"I would if I knew myself."  The Prince shrugged.  "Some of the ponies I use this power on have described briefly meeting another pony, but I have never exactly met her myself.  She is my shadow, and she helps me protect those around me.  I know little more than that."

"Freaky," Radio muttered.  "The both of you."

"We get that a lot," Fire Brand scoffed.  "Now, did you, or did you not come to free this other prisoner?"

With a loud snort, Radio cleared his nose of blood, splattering the floor, much to Bluebood's disgust.

"Why in Tartarus does everypony keep doing that?" He muttered to himself.  "It's unsanitary!"

"Buck you," Radio muttered back.

"Oh," Fire Brand raised an eyebrow, "so, that's what the condoms were for."

"What?!"  Blueblood looked over at his friend, fixing him in a disbelieving stare.  "How could even imagine that's an appropriate joke?"

"I had a date before this," Radio quickly defended himself, going red in the face, "I forgot to leave them home."

"Wait," Blueblood looked over, "really?"

"Told ya he had a date," Fire Brand boasted, "why else would a teenager be carrying condoms?"

Radio wanted to sink through the floor.  He really should have ditched the suit and condoms when he grabbed his pad and medical gear.  "Can we please not talk about this?"

"My thoughts exactly," Blueblood quickly agreed.  He pointed back at the other prisoner.  "Just tell us if you know him."

"Him?"  Radio smirked.  "Probably not."  But, he walked over to the door anyway, taking great pleasure in Fire Brand stepping away from the bars.  He peeked out, saw the other prisoner, and started laughing.  He did know him.  "Yo, Iron Hoof!  I hope you rot!"

The currently three-legged cyborg looked up, face contorting in rage as he recognized Radio.  "I'll kill you!"  He slammed his body against the door of his cell.  "Let me out!  I'll mutilate that fucking monster!  Abomination!  Unnatural affront to existence!"

It took Radio a moment to scoff at the insults.  They actually stung, even coming from a cyborg.  But, he recovered quickly.  "So, who took your leg this time?"

The cyborg's words devolved into incoherent screaming, as he thrashed about, trying to tear his cell door off with his organic hoof.

Radio chuckled as he looked back at Blueblood.  "Yeah, I have that effect on ponies.  I blew a hole in his ship when he tried to raid a pharmaceutical lab on my planet.  He lost his leg attacking me with a sword."  There was a pause, and the colt added, "he had the sword, not me."

Blueblood's mouth scrunched to the side.  "Brand, go knock him out before he hurts himself."  The Prince eyed the colt with suspicion as his lieutenant walked away.  "So, you mean to tell me that you are responsible for him becoming a cyborg?  Ten years ago?"

Radio nodded.  "I was seven, so it sounds right.  I was a terror back then."

This drew an amused snort from the Prince.  "And what are you now?"

The pegasus pointed his wingtips at him.  "Chill."

"Of course you are."  Blueblood sighed.  "Is that why you dialed back the power of that sniper rifle?"

Radio shrugged, sitting down and crossing his hooves.  "Who knows?"

"Or why you didn't attack the medic?" Blueblood continued to prod.  "Or spent valuable time to warn them off?  Or why you didn't attack me or Brand until we got involved?"

Radio scoffed.  "You were unarmed."

The Prince shook his head.  "A White Flag isn't unarmed until they're unconscious, and even that only applies to most of us."

"White Flag?  You guys are-"  Radio brought a hoof to his head.  "Oh, crap."  Radio swallowed hard.  The White Flags were legitimate bounty hunters, and a sovereign entity outside the Galactic Assembly.  They were famous for their code of honor, strict ethics, and daring exploits in defense of the galaxy as a whole.  They were about as good as good guys got.  And he just attacked them.  "I didn't know."

Blueblood walked up to the door, leaning a hoof against the bars.  "Look, Radio, I think I have an idea why you did all this, but why don't you go ahead and tell me?"

The colt squinted at the unicorn.  It would be so easy to dash forward and bash his mug in right now.  He already tried it once.  And that would have been the plan again if he didn't know better.  Blueblood must have realized that.

Radio hung his head.  "I'm here to save my friend."

"I thought so," Blueblood said with a nod.  "I'll bring her down."

"Really?"  Radio's head jerked back up.  He wasn't expecting it to be that easy.  "What's the catch?"

"No catch," the Prince explained.  "The situation is complicated, but she is not currently a prisoner.  Unlike you."

The colt went pale.  "I don't suppose an apology would help?"

"Not for a few days, at least.  Perhaps weeks."

"Understandable."

"And they would have to be individually hoof written," Blueblood said coldly, "for every member of the White Flags that was in the landing bay.  I'll bring you a list."

Radio winced.  "Yeah, that's still better than I was expecting."

"Intent matters, Radio."  Blueblood stepped away from the colt's cage.  "Your reasons were noble.  And, though my crew was your enemy, you still considered our safety as you fought.  There were no serious injuries.  That is the only reason you even get this chance."

The colt nodded slowly.  "Thank you."






"What do you mean she's not here?"  Blueblood looked around the rapidly filling medical bay.

Radio's victims were still limping in, or being carried.  Luckily, most of them only needed to sleep off stun blasts, but there were one or two broken limbs, and plenty of bruises to ice.  And pulling unconscious soldiers from all corners of the catwalks was proving to be time-consuming.

"Exactly that," answered an annoyed Dweveli doctor.  "She left with a guard after having a nutrient shake.  It's not my job to keep track of her from there."  A human limped over, with an earth pony slung over his shoulder, and the Dweveli threw his hands up, and started gesturing all over the place.  "Wherever there's room!  The floor's soft enough if need be."  The doctor turned back to Bluebood as they left quickly.  "What happened?!  How are there so many injuries?  And where are the enemies?"

"Enemy," Blueblood corrected, "there was just one.  He is in a holding cell, and not in need of medical attention.  He apologizes for... this.  He said he didn't realize who we were."

Shaking his head, the doctor walked away, muttering in his native language.

"Wait!" Blueblood called after him, "what guard did she leave with?  What was his name?"

He replied with a scoff.  "How should I know?!  I'm colorblind, you ponies all look alike to me!"

With a sigh, Blueblood headed out of the medical bay, dodging incoming patients.  Fifty soldiers downed by a teenage colt, and he held back.  Apology or not, his threat level just bumped straight to a one.  How dangerous would he be when he grows up?  Possibly a zero?

But, he was contained, and apologetic.  He shouldn't be a threat at the moment.

The real issue facing Blueblood now was, where was Grinparch's heir?  He had already checked the guest quarters, but she wasn't there.  She was under guard, but only one guard.  Protocol stated a minimum of two, but the flood of patients probably made that difficult.  Was two even enough?  Doubtful.

He headed back towards the guest quarters.  It was possible she just wasn't there yet when he checked.  And he took a different path to get there than most would.  But, if she wasn't...

Did he make a mistake in trusting her?

Blueblood touched a hoof to his comm.  "Control, patch me through to all on-duty guards, earpieces only."

There was a pause, followed by a gruff answer of, "go ahead, sir."

He took a breath.  "This is Prince Blueblood.  Has anypony seen an unfamiliar mare in her twenties?  Short for her age.  Pink coat, mane, and tail.  She is supposed to be under guard, but may not be."

He waited three, maybe four seconds before there was an answer.  "Um, sir?  Are you talking about that mare you unchained in medical?"

"Yes!"  Blueblood winced at how loudly he said that.  He was worried, and it showed.  "You know where she is?"

"She's here with me, sir.  She's been completely cooperative.  We stopped by the flight control training room to grab some food from the break room."

"In the common area?"  Blueblood tried to process the information, but it only resulted in confusion.  "Why would you do that?  There's food in the guest quarters."

"Well, we were forced out of medical to make room for everypony that got stunned, and she barely even finished her nutrient shake.  The break room was Juki's idea-"

"He's there?!" Blueblood shouted into the communicator, scaring a dazed soldier who was shambling towards the medical bay.  The Prince mumbled an apology, and stalked away for a little privacy.  "Are you telling me my little brother is with you and Norland's Granddaughter?"

"Yes, sir?"  The guard sounded confused.  "You unchained her, and said she wasn't a prisoner, so I figured it would be ok when Juki asked to speak with her."

"And if he asked for your side arm," Blueblood all but screamed, "would you give it to him?!"

"I, um, maybe?"  The guard on the other end of the comm answered nervously.  "He has that authority as Prince, right?"

"No!  He's twelve!"  With a groan, Blueblood tried to remember where the training center was.  "Guard, what are you?"

"An idiot, sir!"

"Apparently," Blueblood muttered.  "No, what species are you?  Human, pony, Dweveli?"

"Oh, uh, earth pony, sir."

"Good," Bluebood's horn lit up, "repeat after me..."





The guard let out a slow breath as the magic faded.  "That felt really weird, sir."

"Get over it," Blueblood ordered.  Using the guard as a conduit to cast the locator spell gave him the layout of the room for teleporting, but the surge of magic would make the earth pony's skin crawl for the next hour or so.  The Prince looked around the room full of computer panels and equipment, and quickly noticed that he and the guard were the only ones in here.  "You didn't-"

"Didn't what?" The guard asked, trying not to squirm.

"Shut up, just, shut up."  Blueblood quickly moved to the door to the breakroom.  He entered slowly, quietly.  Juki and the pink earth pony were sitting at a table and didn't notice him enter.  They were too focused on something in front of them.

Blueblood felt his chest tighten when he realized what it was.  It was Juki's craft kit, scissors, needles, laser pen, and countless other sharp objects.  And Norland's Granddaughter had a craft knife in her hoof.  She was cutting paper with the curved, razor sharp blade, tracing the outline of a paper doll that he had drawn for the colt yesterday.

Blueblood brought his hoof to the dial beside the door, dimming the lights.  It announced his presence, but he could react faster this way.  Both ponies looked up, and the earth pony waved before going back to her work.  She set the knife down after making one last cut in the paper.

"Done," she said happily, pulling the folded paper apart, and revealing the chain of pony shapes, every pair connected snout to snout.  "Heehee, they're kissing," she whispered.

Blueblood slumped against the wall, drawing a surprised shout from his little brother.

Berry hopped up and ran over.  "What's wrong?"  She asked quickly.  "Are you ok?"

"Yes," he sighed, "sorry, it's been a trying day."  Straightening up, the Prince looked over at his younger sibling.  "Juki, I need to speak with her a moment, please clean up all the paper pieces."

He nodded, and started sweeping up with magic.  "Can we keep playing after?"

"Maybe later," Blueblood told him, "this is kind of important."

"Oh," the colt pouted, "OK."

Blueblood wasted no more time in ushering Berry out the door, and closing it behind him.  "Thank you for coming with me quietly."

Berry was a little confused, but shrugged it off.  "Well, you said it isn't good for him to get excited."

"You remembered," Blueblood sighed.  "I turned out to be the one causing a scene.  I'm sorry, I saw you holding the knife, but you put it down without me needing to ask.  I can't tell you how much of a relief that was.  Thank you."

Berry's face twisted in anger, and Blueblood was taken aback by it.  She looked about as angry as she had back on the landing pad.  She slapped him across the face, and for a moment, he was stunned.  Given the anger he could clearly see, it shouldn't have been a surprise.  Also, it reminded him that he hadn't yet taken the time to treat his face for the needle wounds.

"You thought I would hurt him!"  The earth pony shouted in his face.

The guard stepped in, putting his hoof on Berry's shoulder.  "Ma'am, please st-"

Berry jerked her head back, popping the guard's mouth shut on his tongue, and she twisted, throwing him by his outstretched hoof.  By the time he hit the ground, his knife was in her hoof, and at Blueblood's throat.

She and Blueblood stared at each other as the guard groaned and picked himself up.  He reached for his stunner, but it was no longer at his belt.  It was on the floor near Berry's hoof.

"I would die to protect anypony on this station," Blueblood growled, "especially my brother and sisters.  So, don't think I'm above being a little mean about it."

Her angry glare softened, but she didn't look away.  "You don't have to protect them from me."  She pulled the knife away, then offered it to the prince, handle first.  "What can I do to prove that?"

"I don't know," the Prince answered.  He took the knife, and carefully set it down with the stunner.  "I want to believe that, but this gesture aside, I still don't know you."

Berry nodded.  She could understand that.  She didn't know him either, beyond their brief interaction earlier.  "Do you even want to?"

Blue seemed to lose track of the conversation there.  "Want to what?"

"Do you even know my name?"  Berry asked quickly.

"No," Blue admitted, "I do not."

"You never even asked," She pointed out

"When did I have time?"  Blue demanded, more than a little annoyed at the insinuation that it was his fault.  "Between you showing up, and the fight with that friend of yours-"

"My friends wouldn't just attack you," Berry interrupted.  "And, they don't even know where I am!"

"Really?"  Blue sat down with a harumph, and crossed his hooves.  "Then, you don't know a pegasus colt named Radio?  Because he tore apart our landing bay, and took down several of our troops, looking for somepony."

"He got my message," Berry winced, "I didn't think it sent."

The prince slowly uncrossed his hooves.  "Wait, when did you send this message?  You were in a cell with no computer access until half an hour ago."

Berry shrugged.  "While I was being held in the shuttle, I tapped into the communication and navigation systems through the wires in the wall, but I didn't have a display to tell me what I was doing, so I had to guess at sending the destination coordinates out on a copy of an existing communication."

"How is that even possible?"

"Well, galactic unicode characters are easy enough to input even with a numerical keypad like the one on a power conduit's diagnostic node, and it's just a matter of connecting the right wires, and inputting the right string of commands for the operating system, which I guessed after hearing the computer's voice response to commands."

Blueblood sighed.  "I see you inherited more than Norland's fighting abilities."

"Um, Radio," Berry rubbed her leg with a hoof, "he's not hurt, is he?"

"Not physically," Blueblood assured her.  "He's better off than the soldiers he sent to the med bay."

"How many?"

"Fifty.  He may just be more dangerous than you."

"He's not dangerous!  He's a doctor."

"A doctor?  He's a teenager."

"I don't know how old doctors are supposed to be, but he really is a doctor.  He saved my planet, Sevus, from the cough, and found out what caused it.  He kept hundreds of ponies of dying."

"So," Blue sighed, "he's a net positive, you're saying?"

Berry nodded slowly.  "If my word means anything to you."

"That is not fair."  The prince frowned.  "Try to think of this from my situation.  By not locking you up, I am responsible for you now.  Anything you do is on my conscience.  If I am wrong about you, I am to blame for anypony you hurt.  I want to trust you, but I can't risk it."

Berry stared at him a moment, then turned her head, muttering, "I guess that makes sense."

Blue sighed miserably.  This would be a lot easier on him if she was consistently defiant, or confrontational.  "I thank you for your understanding, but please know it makes me feel so much worse about-"  He was interrupted by a series of beeps from his earpiece.  With a groan, he held up his hoof.  "Excuse me a moment."  He turned around and touched his hoof to his earpiece.  "Now what?" he asked wearily.

"We have another vessel inbound.  Receiving an automated request for docking permission."

"This day gets better and better," Blueblood muttered.  "Identify them.  We still have a squadron scrambled, right?"

"Yes, sir.  They will be in transponder range in a few moments, fighter craft are standing by."

"Good, I'll be up in a moment, keep me posted."  He looked back.  "Miss, I...  What are you doing?"

Berry looked up from inspecting the Prince's cutie mark.  "Grandma told me you can tell a lot about a pony by their cutie mark.  There's a lot of details here."  She pointed at the mark of a needle and thread looped around a compass, on a background of black, the only mark of color on his coat.  "The compass needle is a diamond, and the thread is purple and yellow, like your mane.  I'm not sure what I'm supposed to be able to tell from this, but it's a good mark ."

His mouth opened and closed like a broken bellows, moving no air as he tried to respond.  He took a single shuffled step to the side, more than doubling Berry's distance from his flank.  "Thank you?"  Before Berry could respond to that, Bluebood's earpiece beeped again, and he held his hoof up once more.  "Yes?"

"The approaching ship has been identified.  It is the Opalescence, we are clearing a berth now."

"Really?"  Blueblood let out a sigh of relief.  "They're early, but I'm not going to complain.  I will head up to greet them.  Contact Lieutenant Brand, and have him bring our newest prisoner to join us."

"Greet who?"  Berry asked quickly.  "Why are you bringing Radio?  I won't let you hand him off to anypony like you were going to with me," she warned.

"Relax.  Radio doesn't have an official bounty, he has nothing to worry about from us."

"Unlike me."

"Unfortunately.  But, my parents have returned from Zargon, and you may plead your case with them, as may your friend."  He raised his hoof towards the exit door.  "I will escort you to the landing area."  He looked back at the guard as he quietly recovered his knife and stunner.  "Bring Juki to the throne room, and gather my sisters as well."

He gave a hasty salute.  "Yes, sir, sorry about-"

"Save the apology for when I let you off kitchen duty.  You can ponder the meaning of, 'kept under guard,' while rehydrating carrots for a month."

"Of course, sir.  I bucked up pretty bad."

"It's a confusing situation all around," Blueblood comforted him.  "As long as you realize your mistake, two weeks kitchen duty, and an essay, will suffice."

"Respectfully, sir, no it won't.  I put the young Prince in danger, and then you, when I lost my weapons."

"Then what do you propose?"

The guard was silent for a moment.  "Remedial combat training," he said quietly.  "I shouldn't have have lost my weapon, that alone could get somepony killed.  And I'll take the entire month's kitchen duty."

Blueblood gave a satisfied nod.  "Then hop to it."

The guard stood up straight, and offered a better salute.  "Yes, sir," he said before letting himself into the break room where Juki was.

Berry watched quietly.  That guard volunteered himself for a harsher punishment, out of respect for his prince, and a desire to prove himself.  She looked up at Blueblood as he turned to walk away, regarding him for a moment.  He certainly was a commanding presence, but a compassionate one.  She wasn't surprised that the ponies working for him respected him so deeply.  And she could respect the fact that he was at least giving her a chance at his own expense.  "So, um, what should I call you?  Blueblood?  Prince?  Prince Blueblood the Eighteenth of the White Flags?"

"However you wish," Blueblood replied, "you are neither a subject of mine, nor a soldier."

Berry nodded.  "Then, I'm gonna call you Blue."

The Prince paused for a moment.  That was an awfully familiar way to refer to somepony who was essentially her captor, but he had no grounds to object.  "Then, how should I refer to you?  As you mentioned, I still do not know your name."

"Strawberry," she answered  "Most ponies just call me Berry."

Blueblood nodded.  "I like strawberries.  It's a good name."

She smiled, for the first time that Blueblood had seen.  He would have remembered a smile that vibrant.  "Thanks!"

He smiled back, but somewhere in the back of his mind, he could faintly hear laughter.  It worried him.  "You are welcome.  Now, please, follow me."
> Cargo Bay Two -Or is it 3?- :Magic Boogaloo
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------

Blueblood stood still as the Opalescence set down in front of him.  The Flagship of the White Flags' fleet, it wasn't the largest vessel they had, but it was probably the most impressive.  Its curved white body was trimmed with gold details.  Repairable cast ablative armor shimmered, its amorphous, energy dissipating structure showing flecks of aurora within its milky depths.  It seemed very much like the ship was carved from the stone its name was derived from.

The weaponry was well hidden.  The two forward facing railguns were the only visible armaments, but a variety of missiles, energy cannons, and experimental weapons lay hidden beneath armor panels.  All of them well maintained, but seldom used.  It was always preferable to solve problems with diplomacy and tact, after all.

Even the engines were top of the line.  The anti gravs worked soundlessly, and the ship's landing barely disturbed the air around the Prince.  He stepped back as a walkway descended from the Opalescence, offering entrance to the vehicle's heavily decorated depths.

That was his mother's hoofwork.  The Opalescence served as a meeting place, embassy, or neutral ground for negotiations far more often than it served as a combat vessel.  As such, it was outfitted in a manner befitting a place of politics.  Tapestries, wooden tables, vases with live flowers, even fancy couches, all secured in place.

Blueblood started up the ramp, as the door at the top opened with a hiss.  A white unicorn, easily twice Blue's age stepped out onto the ramp, and ran a hoof through his wavy blonde mane.  "Ah, it's good to be home."  He smiled as he saw the approaching prince.

"Father," the young Prince acknowledged as he neared the top of the ramp.

"Son," the older Blueblood said back, clapping his hoof on his son's shoulder.  "All quiet?  One trusts Iron Hoof hasn't given you any trouble while we've been gone.  I made it clear to him you could put him through just as much hell as I could."

"He hasn't caused any trouble," the young Prince chuckled.  "However, it has been far from quiet."

"Indeed?"  The older Blueblood raised an eyebrow.  "One can be sure you handled it appropriately, but do tell."

"Of course," young Blueblood nodded.  "Is mother around?  There is a young mare you two need to speak to."

"She was right-"  The young Prince's father glanced back into the ship as a purple maned blur flew past him.  "There she is."

A middle-aged mare, as white as either Blueblood, wrapped her hooves around her son, squeezing the love into her hug with all her might.  "I heard that," she said excitedly as she let go, and took a step back, only to dart forward and quickly smooth out the fur she messed up.  Once she finished, she stepped back again, standing next to the older Blueblood, and beaming with pride.  "They grow up so quickly," she said to her husband, before muttering a quiet, "finally," then asking her son, "What's her name?"

"Her name is..."  Blue suddenly shook his head, realizing his mother had just jumped to a far-fetched conclusion.  "Wait, mom, no, please.  That's not it at all."

"Oh."  Her ears drooped slightly, and she scratched at the hairpin holding her curly mane in a bun.  "Apologies, darling, I got a little excited.  By the way, why are so many of the catwalks damaged?  You could see them from the cockpit.  Several are simply broken, but a few seem... melted?"

"It's a long story," Blueblood explained, "If I could take a moment before we head down?"

His mother gestured towards the door, and the furniture within.  "Shall we sit?"

Blue shook his head.  "It won't be that long, and ponies are waiting."

"Hmm."  The older Blueblood sat down, crossing his hooves.  "Must be serious if you're being so formal about it."

Blueblood nodded slowly.  "I have taken custody of the only known living relative of Grinparch Norland."

His mother gasped, and his father took a long, slow breath.  "And, the son surpasses his father.  Congratulations, my boy."

Blue shook his head again.  "This is not a cause for celebration.  I believe there has been a grave mistake.  There is no doubt she is Norland's heir, and possesses a similar skillset.  But, I doubt she is a criminal like her grandfather."

"How sure are you?"  His father asked after chewing it over a moment.  "You aren't being fooled by fake tears again, are you?  A mare playing at being weak got the better of you before."

"No, not this time," Blue sighed, remembering the time he was unknowingly held for ransom by the hundred and two year old grandmother of a forgery artist.  It was not his brightest moment, but he was quite proud of the repairs he made to her apartment during that time.  "Berry and I have fought.  She is scared, yes.  But, if she is pretending to be weak, then we are all doomed.  All of extraction team four has been hospitalized, I doubt any of our guards could contain her without backup, and a friend of hers attempted a rescue."

"My goodness, that's dreadful.  How many ponies did they bring?"

"The colt was alone and unarmed."

The older Blueblood scoffed.  "Bet that went well."

"Had I not been present, he may well have been successful.  He destroyed one of our sparrow class vessels with his bare hooves, then tore through our forces like he was picking on kindergartners."

"One may be asking a stupid question, but did you try stunning him?"

"Three confirmed hits, two from a side-arm, and one from a heavy rifle, both set to max."

"A heavy rifle on max should drop a medium-sized dragon, a pony wouldn't be standing for a week."

"He disagreed."

"I'm a little confused now," his mother admitted.  "They sound dangerous, but it also sounds like you have everything under control.  What do you want from us?"

"It's hard to explain, but... I feel we shouldn't be at odds with these ponies.  I want you to speak with them, tell me what you think.  Norland is dead, and I want to have his bounty rescinded to protect his granddaughter."

"You never ask for anything simple."  His father sighed.  "Just once, couldn't you come to us like, 'mom, dad, I need a platinum pocket watch,' or, 'help me buy a new aircar,' instead of, 'help me crush the dreams of every bounty hunter in the galaxy for the sake of Justice?'  Please?  Just once?"

"A standard issue time piece is sufficient for my needs, and I purchased an aircar four years ago, remember?  The minivan.  It sits in storage more than I use it."

The older Blueblood looked at his wife.  "You're sure he's mine?"

"Oh, for the hundredth time, we were alone for three years, who else's would he be?"

"I know, it's just... how hard can it be to be selfish once in a while?"

"I am being selfish," Blue interrupted.  "I can't be sure this mare isn't a threat to the galaxy, can't prove it, but I am asking you to trust me that she isn't.  I am being far more selfish than I have a right to be, but I feel justice is best served by treating her with respect."

"Again, you're sure?"

"Hush.  It sounds complicated, but, if she does bear a connection to Norland, then it isn't entirely up to us.  I would like to meet her, and then, I will make some calls."

"Of course."  The young Prince gestured down the ramp, where Brand had just showed up with Radio.  "She and her friend are right down here."  He looked back, and his mother was gaping at the colt, eyes wide in shock.  " Mother, is everything-"

She was off like a shot, nearly bowling her son over as she galloped down the ramp, bawling her eyes out.  She slammed into Radio, making him skid backwards half a meter as she wrapped her hooves around him.  "I thought I'd never see you again!"

Radio was frozen in place, casting nervous glances at the three stallions staring at him in confusion.  What was this?  Some sort of test?

The mare pulled back quickly, mane that smelled of haircare products bouncing from the movement as she wiped tears from her light blue eyes.  She smiled at the colt for a moment, but confusion set in quickly.  She ducked down, taking a peek far lower than the colt was comfortable with, then shrugged before hugging him again.  "Whatever makes you happy, dear."

"Ok, that's it," Radio finally said as he stepped back, "who the buck are you, lady?"

"Rainbow?"  She took a step back as well, placing a hoof over her heart.  She seemed hurt by the colt's confusion.  "It's me, Rarity!  I haven't gone that grey, darling, have I?"

"Ponyville Rarity?" Radio asked, recognizing the name.  "You're one of my mother's friends?"

"Your mother?!"  Rarity gasped.  "Rainbow had a foal!  Oh, my goodness, I thought...  Well, you look just like her!  Do you have any siblings?"

Radio suddenly realized that she must have mistaken him for his mother.  And didn't find it odd that his mother would suddenly be a colt.  He also decided not to mention it, to anypony, now or ever.  "I have a twin sister."

"Is she here?"  She asked excitedly, giving the colt another hug.  "What about your parents?  Oh, I can't wait to meet the stallion that convinced Rainbow Dash, of all ponies, to settle down and have foals."

"Mother?"  Blueblood called from the top of the ramp, not hearing the conversation, "why are you hugging the prisoner?"

She looked up.  "Prisoner?"  She looked down to see that the colt's hooves were indeed chained.  "Oh, dear heavens!  Let's get you out of those, right this second."

As she undid the chains with magic, there was another worried call of, "Mother?" from the top of the ramp.  "What are you doing?"

"Darling!" she called back, in a serious tone, "You come down here and apologize to this colt, right this instant."

The two Bluebloods exchanged glances before heading down.  Did she miss the part of the conversation where he knocked out half a hundred soldiers?  When they reached the landing pad, Rarity was still staring sternly at her son.

Radio was rubbing his ankles awkwardly, chuckling as he told the younger Blueblood, "Our moms are old friends, it seems."

"Really?"  He studied the colt a moment, noticing the similarities to a friend mentioned in stories.  Similarities he had attributed to mere coincidence.  "Huh.  Rainbow Dash?"

"Yeah."  Radio shrugged.  "Rarity, and..."  He studied the older Blueblood for a moment, digging through memories of his mother's bedtime stories, "the asshole Prince from the gala?"

"Five thousand years," the older Blueblood groaned, "and that night still haunts me."

Radio laughed.  "I can't believe I get to meet Cake-face."

"One might offer to make you a general, if you agree to never utter that name again," the older Blueblood said quickly.  "One might even mean it."

"We don't have generals," Blue reminded him.

"Well, perhaps we should," his father countered.

"There was one other thing she said," Radio interrupted, "that despite being a stuck up, uppity, stick in the mud, boor of a pony..."

The older Blueblood rolled his eyes.  "Yes, yes, go on."

"... you really stepped up by staying behind until the last ship left Equestria."

Blueblood the older sighed miserably.  "Sometimes, one simply wishes to see if the first one explodes."

"Dear, take some credit," Rarity chuckled.  "You were an ass, yes, but Equestria meant something to you, or you would have been on the second ship, not the seventh."

"Whose side are you on here?"  The older Blueblood looked up at Fire Brand, who was trying to stay out of the conversation.  "My own wife, can you believe this?"

He glanced over at Rarity, then at both Bluebloods in turn.  "Not my place, sir."

"Oh, at ease, Brand."  Blue's father scoffed.  "You're on the shortest of short lists ever for promotion right now.  Be proud of that, be bullheaded and arrogant for a change.  Tartarus knows my son doesn't have it in him."

"Promotion, sir?"  Fire Brand stared for a moment, then bowed.  "Yes, of course!  Thank you, sir, I am honored to be considered for captaincy, and will fulfill my duties with pride with or without a rise in rank."

"Does nopony listen to me anymore?  That's the exact opposite of what I said to do.  When one starts a bounty hunting guild, one expects a rowdy bunch of mean, rough, gruff, tough-talking mercenary types, not a tightly run, respectable organization.  Where's the fun in that?"

"You and mom destroyed a space station on your vacation," the younger Prince pointed out before looking back at the Lieutenant.  "Where did Berry go?"

"She was here?"  Radio suddenly shouted, "Berry!  Are you here?!"

"Radio?" Asked a voice from the other side of the ship.  "This may seem odd, and, first of all, I'm sorry about getting you in trouble with Blue, but can you fly up to the top of the ship?  Tell me if that thing is supposed to be there."

"Is this like that thing on Pisces?" the colt groaned.  He looked over at Rarity.  "Do you mind?  When she gets like this, nothing will pull her mind off it.  But, it ended up being the right call last time."

"Why don't we see what she's talking about first, dear," the older mare suggested.  "Lieutenant, would you go and speak with the pilots?  There is some cargo to unload."

"Yes, ma'am."  He nodded, and headed up into the ship.

The colt raised his eyebrow.  "Dear?"

She shrugged it off as she started walking around the Opalescence.  "I call everypony that, darling."

"Darling?"  Radio frowned.  Not even his own mother called him that.  "Well, whatever, I guess."

The older mare just chuckled, mussing the colt's mane with magic.  "You're just like your mother."

The colt found himself smiling, and glanced back at the two Bluebloods following them.  "I guess we're all friends now?"

"One would guess," said the elder.

"I still expect those hoofwritten apologies," said the younger.

Radio groaned, and faced forward once more.  He should have known he wouldn't be forgiven that easily.  Up ahead, he saw Berry, staring up at the top of the ship, tail twitching wildly.

"Pinkie!"  Rarity shouted, as her son trotted past her.

"Berry," Blue demanded as he marched over, "I asked you to wait so you could-"

The pink pony threw her hoof up, in a universal gesture for stop.  "Stay back!" she warned suddenly, "it's gonna fall!"

The young Prince glanced up, but continued walking.  The Opalescence was a top of the line ship, cared for by the best maintenance crews on a daily basis.  Pieces don't just fall off.  "What's going to?"

It was then that he saw it, a bulge that most ponies would mistake for part of the hull.  He was not most ponies.  He knew the shape of the Opalescence well, having seen every one of his mother's drafts and designs, and having drawn the ship a few times himself.  This thing was not a part of it, despite being made of similar material.  And it threw off the visual balance of the upper lateral fins in a completely horrid manner.  "What is that?"

Explosive bolts launched the dome away from the hull, and Blue dove out of the way as it crashed to the deck where he was standing.  Three ponies in thin pressure suits tore air masks away from their faces as the various tubes holding them in place snapped free.

"Hostiles!"  Blueblood shouted as all three leapt into action.

Two of them, Pegasi, leapt from their resting spots, crackling energy blades in their hooves as they dove towards father and son.  The third, an earth pony raised a rifle at the mother.

Radio grabbed Rarity, throwing his wing up to shield her from an energy blast.  It worked, and the blast hit the colt square on the wing, instead of hitting the mare in the chest, but he screamed in pain over the sound of sizzling.  It wasn't a stunner bolt, that was for sure.

He shoved Rarity away before the earth pony could take another shot, grabbing her hairpin as he pushed.  He spun, throwing his other wing up to catch a second energy blast, and throwing the hairpin as hard as he could.  His aim could have been better, but the pin still struck home, leaving a screaming earthpony clutching at his pierced jawline.

Nearby, the young Prince Blueblood readied his magic for the pegasus attacking him.  He didn't recognize the pony's sword, traditional-looking blade dancing with blue and yellow lighting, and he didn't want to get anywhere near it.  In his concentration, he forgot that there was another pony nearby.

So did the pegasus.  He was blindsided by the earth pony, who jumped up and chomped down on his wing mid-flap.  Her momentum pulled him sideways, flipping them both over before sending them crashing to the deck.

Gripping the end of the pegasi's wing, Berry twisted her body around, kicking him hard enough in the ribcage that even Blue heard the snap of bone.  Her rear leg wrapped around the wing immediately after, and she twisted again, bringing herself to a sitting position as the wing bent ninety degrees about halfway between the first and second joint.

With a strangled shout, the pegasus swung his sword at his attacker, only for his own mangled wing to be used as a shield.  Feathers were sliced clean through as he tried to deflect his swing, but it was only Berry grabbing his hoof that kept him from cutting flesh.

Manipulating the joints in his leg, Berry brought the sword plunging down into the deck beside the pegasi's head.  She straddled the stallion, staring down as the energy-clad blade melted metal, releasing waves of heat.  His other hoof reached for something, and she twisted the one with the sword, bringing the blade closer to his face.

"No," she growled.

He dropped the dagger in his other hoof with a whimper, twisting his head away from the deadly weapon that was still technically in his own hoof.

And behind Radio and Rarity, with no pony beside him, the elder Blueblood collapsed to the deck with a gaping wound in his neck.  He didn't even have time to cry out.

"Yes!"  His attacker screamed in victory.  Turning to face the others, he held his hoof and energy blade high.  "Vengeance!"  And his expression of joy and bloodlust turned to confusion as he saw his compatriots defeated.

"Vengeance for what?"  The elder Blueblood asked as he stepped up behind him, placing his hoof on the back of his head.  The pegasus started to turn, eyes wide before being slammed face first into the deck, where a certain dead body was conspicuously missing.  Magic wrapped around him, and so did chains.  Radio's old bindings were put to use on this new pegasus, if tightened a little more than before.  "Who sent you?"

"How?"  His attacker asked instead of answering.  "You were dead!  I killed you!"

"Obviously not," Blueblood scoffed.  "It's funny.  Nopony ever takes a close look my cutie mark.  If they did, one might notice that the big arrow in the compass rose, pointing North, is actually labelled, 'South.'"  The pegasus tried to stand, and Blueblood punched him in the face, knocking him back down.  "One might ask again, who sent you?"

The unconscious pegasus didn't answer.

"Oops," the blonde unicorn muttered, before looking back at his family, and the two ponies fighting beside them.  His wife was dragging her earth pony attacker down from Opalescence while the colt who protected her was gingerly brushing plasma scorching off surprisingly undamaged feathers.  He must not have realize that she was wearing one of the most advanced personal defense shields in the galaxy.  And, his son was having a moment with the pink mare threatening to behead his attacker.

And none of them saw his fight.

With a sigh, he left to go find somepony to clean up the mess.  He had four more children he needed to go see now that he was back from his business trip.  And, watching one's self die on an assassin's blade, even if it was a fiction of one's own creation, does leave one in dire need of a good group hug.  Not that one would ever admit it, of course.

Just like his son would ever admit that he was smitten with the pink mare that just saved his life.  In fact, he probably wasn't even aware of it yet.  But, Blueblood knew his son.  He was not one for the game of romance.  He took things far too seriously, and was quick to ignore his own needs.  And that latter trait did not come from either of his parents.  But, he had a type, whether he knew it or not, and that pink pony just checked the box harder than anypony ever had.

He liked mares that got things done.

"You saved me," the younger Blue said breathlessly.  He took a step towards Berry, putting him close to the heat from the melting deck plates.  Stepping back quickly, he grabbed the energy blade in his magic, snapping the handle in two to deactivate it.  He then dragged his attacker away from it, with Berry still on top of him.

She stood up as spectral chains bound the assassin tightly to the floor, stepping away, and looking up as the Prince walked towards her.  "Are you ok?" she asked him.

"Am I ok?  That..."  Blue looked back at his attacker, stunned into silence.  He was essentially Berry's captor, but she still put her life on the line to protect him.  He looked back at the earth pony.  "You took an incredible risk, saving me like that.  Thank you."

She gave a nervous smile at the gratitude.  "It wasn't that big a deal," she downplayed the effort, "he forgot I was even there."

"A grave error," The young Prince assured her.  "You are a skilled fighter, and I am glad beyond words that you chose to side with me in this."

Berry blushed, but her coat hid most of it.  She felt an odd sense of pride, being praised by the Prince.  It was a pleasant feeling, a wave of warmth welling up within.  It wasn't the same feeling she got when other ponies complimented her, and she wanted more of it.  "Really?"

"Yes," Blue confirmed, placing his hoof on her shoulder.  "Strawberry, I don't have the words to express how truly grateful I am.  Come, let us speak with my mother.  Surely, she will see that you are a good pony."

Berry looked down at his hoof.  She had seen it briefly when she fell out of the shuttle, when he grabbed her.  It was a strong hoof, shiny purple against the long white fetlocks.  He saved her life then.  And she saved his life now.

But, why did his touch feel different?  It was like a battery was resting against her fur, faint electricity making her skin tingle.  Her shoulder twitched, a tiny involuntary movement.  She liked the feeling, but felt like she should be doing something as well.  Maybe return the gesture?  Would a hug be inappropriate?

She didn't get a chance to think it over for long.  She saw something flying at her in her peripheral vision.  Aiming for her side, screaming, "Pinkie!"

Without thinking, Berry ducked the white-furred projectile, and as it fell over her back, shoulder-checked it to send it tumbling away.

"Whyyy?!"  Rarity cried, as she went straight over the edge of the landing platform.

"Mother!"  Blueblood ran for the edge of the platform, grabbing the fallen mare in his magic.  "Berry!  Why would you do that?!"

"I'm sorry!  I didn't mean to," she frantically apologized, as she ran to offer a helping hoof to get the white mare back on the platform.  Blue's magic dragged his mother back to the ledge, and Berry helped her back to her hooves.  "I just reacted."

It wasn't possible for Rarity to go any more pale than her already white coat, but she was visibly shaken.  Her tight lipped expression, and wide open eyes as she took several deep breaths through her nose told Blue and Berry that much at least.

"Is she ok?" Berry asked quietly.

"Give her a moment," Blue whispered in answer.

Rarity suddenly shook her head, chuckling nervously as she checked herself over with a hoof.  "Well, now, wasn't that exciting, dears?"  She fussed over her mane for a moment, but once she was sure there wasn't a hair out of place, she offered Berry an apologetic smile.  "I seem to have mistaken you for somepony else."

"For her grandmother," Radio explained,walking away from the earth pony who shot him.  He was tied by what looked like countless threads in all sorts of colors, and one or two measuring tapes.  The colt pointed back.  "So, despite having a knitting needle stuck in his chin, he's trying to valiantly proclaim this was all for the glory of some place called Tana.  Who are they, and what did you White Flag guys do to them?"

"The beast world?"  Blue shook his head.  "Nothing that I can think of.  Any ideas, mother?"

"Nothing springs to mind, darling," Rarity added, "but, I shall ask Blue if he can think of anything."  She glanced over at her son, then back at Radio and clarified, "the other Blue."

"Cool," Radio nodded, "and tell him that was a pretty cool thing he did with that illusion spell."

"You should consider telling him yourself, darling," the white mare suggested.  "He absolutely adores being told how great he is."  She cleared her throat.  "So, not that I'm trying to change the subject, you see, you, and Berry, was it?  You two are related to friends of mine, very important friends of mine that I have been searching for for years, and have had no luck finding.  I, um, I guess what I wish to ask is..."

Radio sighed, understanding the question, even though Rarity couldn't bring herself to finish it.  "Let's go sit somewhere, there's a lot to go over."

"Of course," Rarity nodded, feeling her stomach knot up, and knowing the colt was merely delaying bad news.  "Follow me, there is a conference room we can use."

She walked away quickly, hoping she was over thinking this, and that the tears already forming in her eyes weren't there for good reason.
> In Her Granpa's Hoofsteps, In His Mother's Wishes
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------

"Mother, I think you can let go of her now."

"Well, I don't," Rarity mumbled into Berry's mane.  They were in a small waiting room outside one of the Nemeton's many conference room.  It was small, but it was private.  The chairs were soft, and there were no distracting electronics.

Blue sighed quietly.  For a moment he thought his mother had cried herself to sleep holding the pink pony.  The fact that she had at least answered allayed those fears.  "I understand."

"So do I," Berry reassured the older mare.  "Grandma would be happy to know that so many ponies remember her."

"Oh, darling, Pinkie was not a pony you could simply forget."  Rarity gave the pink pony one last squeeze, and finally let go of her.  She rubbed at her eyes, smudging makeup that was already running.  "She could be annoying at times, but she loved everypony, and it was hard not to love her back."

A box of tissues poked the older mare in the side, held in an outstretched wing.  Radio was staring at the floor.  "Here."

"Thank you, darling."  Rarity took the box, and pulled out several tissues to dab away makeup with.  "Rainbow raised an excellent colt, she should be proud."

To Rarity's confusion, her compliment seemed to hurt the colt.

"You think she would be?"  He asked softly.  "I injured dozens of your soldiers over a misunderstanding.  I didn't contact you guys to get any sort of information first.  I didn't demand an explanation.  I jumped straight to laying a trap, and attacking."

"You held back," Blue reminded him, "you were focused on saving Berry, not hurting anypony."

"What if somepony had fallen off a catwalk, or hit their head on the deckplates?  You think I would have stopped?"  He sighed miserably.  "I didn't try to hurt anypony, but I wouldn't have let it stop me.  My mother would never have been proud of what I've become."

"Oh, darling, no," Rarity made her way over to the colt, "Not Rainbow, too?"

"Mom's... alive," Radio gave a tiny shrug.  "She's been in Cryogenic suspension for the last twelve years.  She's injured, and can't be woken up yet.  I haven't seen her since I was five."

Swallowing hard, Rarity gave the colt a hug.  "Well, I'm sure she'll be proud of you, no matter what.  You protected me after all."

"Oh," young Blueblood suddenly remembered, "I wanted to ask about that.  You've shrugged off several stun blasts today, and I can understand that given your modified nature, but mother's attacker wouldn't have used a stunner."

"He used some kind of plasma rifle," Radio confirmed.  "Stung like you wouldn't believe."

Blueblood nodded.  "Then, you are immune to all energy weapons?"

"Only to stun blasts," Radio corrected, "and even then, I'm not completely immune, just highly resistant."  He unfolded a wing still dusted with plasma residue and soot.  "Unless I can catch it on my wings.  Then, I can handle pretty much any infantry level weapon.  My feathers are pretty much indestructible, and the veins have a similar structure to the energy dissipating mesh used in body armor."  He rubbed some more of the carbon dust off.  " Still hurts, though."

"Leave it to Rainbow to have superpony foals."  Rarity managed a weak smile, but it didn't last for long.  "And, the others?  How many Cryo chambers have been found?  How many of our ships went missing?  Was it just Seven?  Or were there others?  One through Three are on Canterlot, and Four's different modules had the dragons, gryphons, and changelings, as well as more ponies, so they obviously settled somewhere, but what about Five and Six?"

"You would have to ask Twilight about the other ships," Radio replied with a shrug, "I only left Furia for the first time less than three weeks ago.  Berry left Sevus for the first time only days after that."

"Twilight?"  Rarity managed another smile, and it stuck a little longer.  "Twilight Sparkle?  She's alive?  How is she?  The poor dear, she must be taking this all so terribly personal.  She doesn't blame herself, does she?"

"She does."  Radio scratched his neck, then corrected himself, "Well, she used to.  Astral has been doing a good job of making her realize that it wasn't her fault."

"Astral?"  Rarity tried to place the name.  "Astral Aegis, Captain of the night guard, was Captain of Cryo Five.  Or are you speaking of Astral Motion?  He was a launch tech who worked on our initial rocket tests, had odd taste in clothing, but was on Seven."

"Oh, no," Berry cut in, "Uncle Astral wasn't from a pod.  He's the pilot Twilight hired to help her find everypony."

"Your uncle?"  Blue frowned.  "Another relative of Norland's?"

"No," Berry answered quickly, "other side of the family.  His father was grandpa Tekrin's brother."

"Ah," The young Prince accepted the answer and didn't press it.

"Who else have you found?" Rarity asked.  "Are there any leads?  The resources of the White Flags are here if needed.  We will do everything we can to help."

"Twilight and Astral already left to follow a lead," Berry told the older mare.  "If you want to help, could I call Canterlot Station Delta?  I want to make sure Mac and Fluttershy are all right."

"Fluttershy!  Big Macintosh!"  Rarity headed for one of the two doors to the room.  "Right away, dear.  We can use the command station in the conference room."

"Hold on," Radio interrupted, "you need to know, Fluttershy, she, um...  She probably doesn't look the same as you remember."

Rarity paused as the door opened to the conference room.  One massive wooden table filled the room, surrounded by chairs, and there was a large, frosted glass cylinder hung over the center of it.  An antique holotube projector, though it served as a light fixture for now. "How do you mean?"

"She spent nearly eight years alone on the abandoned planet Pisces IV," Radio explained, "and, a magical artifact in her DNA made her susceptible to a retrovirus present on the planet, which left her with some... permanent changes."

"Magic in her DNA?"  Rarity gasped.  "Is she Flutterbat again?  Can't Twilight change her back?"

Radio shook his head.  "Twilight described the Flutterbat incident.  This, this isn't quite the same.  It's too dangerous to try and reverse, but it isn't that bad, considering.  Just, I don't want you to freak out because she has fangs and one red eye.  She isn't having the easiest time adjusting."

"Well, a trip to the the spa should help her immensely," Rarity smiled to herself.  "She and I used to visit Aloe and Lotus at the Ponyville Spa every week.  I would very much enjoy having my spa buddy back, whatever she may look like."

"What's a spa?" Berry quietly asked Blue.

Rarity froze, having heard the younger mare's question.  "What's a spa?"  She repeated.  "What's a spa?!"  She turned around to look at the earth pony.  "You mean to tell me, you've never been to a spa?"

"No?"  Berry answered with some hesitation.  "Or, is that yes?"  She shrugged, and decided to answer the question without vague affirmations.  "I've never been to a spa."

"How?"  Rarity could barely process the other mare's statement.  "How does any mare not visit a spa at some point in their life?"

Berry shrugged.  "I grew up in a junkyard on a dying planet, surrounded by barren wilderness?"

"Oh my," Rarity brought a hoof to her chest, "that sounds dreadful."

"It does, indeed," Blue agreed.  "But, before we get too far off-topic, mother, we need to discuss the issue of Berry's freedom.  I believe she's more than proven that she has not followed her grandfather's path."

"Oh, of course, darling, no question there."  Rarity sighed quietly.  "But, there are others who won't see it that way.  Other bounty hunters, criminal groups who desire a connection to Norland's notoriety, and who knows whom else."  The older mare looked over at her friend's granddaughter.  "Berry, I wouldn't dream of keeping you prisoner, but it may be safest for you to remain in the custody of the White Flags.  At least then, we could protect you."

"That doesn't sit well with me."  Blue crossed his hooves.  "If she is unable to leave the Nemeton, then she has still lost her freedom.  What if...  What if she remained in my custody?  Would that be enough?  As Prince of the White Flags, I would stay with her, be responsible for her.  We could get her and Norland's bounties rescinded, and tell the other bounty hunter groups that she is cooperating with us to take down a larger target."

"Such an arrangement wouldn't stop the criminal element," Rarity pointed out.

"No, the arrangement wouldn't," Blueblood agreed, "but I would.  And this would let me help them with their mission.  Finding the Cryo-chambers is important to you, isn't it, mother?"

"Of course, darling, but that doesn't mean you need to be the one taking on the responsibility."

"Of course it does," Blueblood countered, "you have responsibilities to the White Flags that I simply can not fulfill, and more than that, Juki, Bobbin, Charity, and Pearl need you here."

"Really?"  Rarity whined softly.  "You would use your siblings against me?"

"Without hesitation, mother," the young stallion answered coldly.  "They need you more than they need their big brother.  Though, I would return as often as possible."

"I will consider it," she reluctantly conceded, "but later.  You have a mission first, a very important one related to the Hearson Financial case."  Rarity cleared her throat.  "Your father and I snagged the supposed ringleader of the Hearson incident while he was purchasing a false identity on Zargon.  We traced another identity from the same broker to an arrest made recently in a Canterlot hospital.  And, they may not have been the only fugitives in this case to do so.  Anyway, among his belongings was a ticket to the travelling theater, Crystalia."

Blue nodded.  "The same Crystalia where we saw Pirates of Penzance on my twelfth birthday?"

"The one and only," Rarity replied with a smile.  "Now, here's where things become worrisome.  Analysis of his personal electronics turned up coded messages describing a, 'phase two,' implying Hearson Financial was merely a test run for something larger.  Our intelligence division was able to pull a few more interesting tidbits, but hit a roadblock after finding a fragment of nonbinary quantum computer code.  None of our equipment can parse enough of it to make sense of.  And this is merely me relating what our technicians told me, because I barely understand what binary is."

"Isn't nonbinary used in A.I?" Radio asked.  "C.R.I.S. has a ternary positron core matrix.  Combat Role Impersonation System, he's Furia's latest attempt at a battle android.  Didn't make the cut for mass production, mostly because they suspect he could gain sentience along the way.  His core uses yes, no, and maybe, to better emulate fuzzy logic and all that.  But I thought putting an artificial personality inside a quantum core was a surefire way to end up with an insane, homicidal computer."

"Suicidal," Berry corrected, "an artificial intelligence that can process information faster than they can receive it turn inward, and become imaginative and create information to try and fill the void, but quickly burn out in the solitude.  They devise ways to corrupt their own code to end the emptiness."

"Wow, giving me flashbacks there, Berry."  Radio shook his head.  "So, what's the big deal with this quantum code?  It isn't exactly hard to access a quantum computer, most public libraries have one you can rent time on."

"Small binary ones, sure," Blue pointed out.  "The Crystalia is a repurposed Effshian warship.  If I recall the tour guide correctly, it has a quaternary quantum core capable of coordinating the status and movements of millions of troops across multiple planets while adjusting strategies and issuing orders based on sensor data from an equal number of devices.  It is curently used to process video for a number of Subnet video editing services, with billions of subscribers across the galaxy."

"So, a shit-ton of processing power," Radio concluded.

"Language, darling," Rarity scolded lightly.  "However, yes, quite a lot of processing power.  Hearson Financial involved the skimming of financial transactions, specifically the miniscule fractions of currency generally rounded up during tax calculations.  So, you can see why this has many ponies worried.  A few thousandths of a bit isn't much, but spread across a billion transactions a day, every day, it adds up quickly.  Now imagine every transaction in the subspace data network being skimmed."

"Billions of bits a day, disappearing without a trace."  Radio pursed his lips in contemplation.  "And, not just bits, most likely, Curraxan credits, Earth Dollars, Dragon Gem Standards, every currency in use could be hit, and nobody would notice unless they were looking for it."

"Ponies are looking," Rarity assured the colt, "most definitely looking.  However, it is in the best interests of everypony in the galaxy if we snip this in the bud, so to speak.  Before entire planets start having to make up for deficits in tax revenue.  We can't be sure they will keep the skimming to relatively low amounts.  They may go for broke, so to speak, and skim a larger percentage for a shorter time.  Imagine all the money that changes hooves in the space of ten or twenty minutes across the entire galaxy.  They could steal all of it."  The mare looked over at her son.  "Blue, we need you to go in undercover and find out what is going on aboard the Crystalia."  She reached into a pocket and withdrew a small metal sphere,smooth and dull, except for a few inscribed lines around its equator.  "This was found in a bag in his aircar rental, locked in a metal box, with a phase pistol and a great deal of cash.  Though, we aren't sure exactly what it is.  Scans show mechanical components, and what looks like a computer, but no way to activate it.  It's either antiquated, or highly advanced, and we can't even guess what it's for.  I'm not sure if you should bring it with you, or leave it here."

"I should probably bring it," Blue decided, picking up the device.  "At the very least, I may be able to use it to elicit a reaction from any suspects."  The young Prince sighed, and looked over at Berry.  "I'm sorry, but it seems discussion of you leaving the Nemeton will have to wait until I return."

"I'll just go with you," Berry suggested.

Blue looked over at her.  "I'm sorry, I may have misheard.  Did you just say you would go with me?"

Berry nodded.  "If I helped you, and we get the mission done sooner, I could get back to Delta sooner."

"You inherited your grandmother's sense of logic," Rarity observed.

Berry's ears perked up at the mention of her grandmother, and the implication that she resembled her in some way.  "Is that good?"

Rarity shook her head.  "Not in this case."

"Oh."  The pink pony's ears drooped ever so slightly, but she didn't let go of hope just yet.  "But, I can still go, right?"

Rarity shook her head again, a stern motion this time, joined by a frown.  "Absolutely not, darling."

"Berry," Blue jumped back in before the earth pony could protest again.  "I must agree, you could be in danger if you accompanied me."

"And you'll be in danger either way.  I can help you if you get into a fight, I've proven that."

"The whole point is not to fight, that's what undercover work entails."

"I can help in other ways.  Like, what if you need to reprogram the quantum computer?  I can do that."

"That would be useful, but no, Berry, and that's final.  If I am to protect you, I can't allow you to be involved with what could be a hazardous mission."

"But you will," she said confidently.

"And what makes you say that?"

Berry grabbed the sphere out of his magic, and held it out in her hoof.  Four sharp little legs popped out of the sides, and the spider-like robot stood up.  "Authorized user detected," said a tinny, metallic, little voice, "do you have a command?"

"Because Granpa's involved."
> Out, But Not About, or Videophone Home
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------

"He should wake up in a few minutes."  The doctor picked up the pad clipped to the side of Astral's hospital bed and held it out for Twilight.  "The police said you were his emergency contact, could you fill in his medical history for us?"

Twilight looked down at the pad.  It was bulkier than the ones she was used to, and showed a long form with spaces to fill out.  Medical paperwork was the same everywhere it seemed.  Looking over the various fields, Twilight started shaking her head.  "I'm sorry...  It won't be complete."

"Anything helps," the doctor reassured.  She gestured to a pair of chairs near the door.  "Why don't we sit down, and I'll walk you through it.  What's your relationship with the patient?"

"It's... complicated."  Twilight took her jacket off as she walked over to the chair.  She glanced back when she noticed that the doctor didn't follow.

The pale blue unicorn was staring.  It took her a moment, but she broke her eyes away.  "I'm sorry.  They told me, but it's still kind of amazing.  I was asleep when everything was happening on the news, but that means I'm here working now, so...  Were you born like this?"

Twilight shook her head before climbing into the chair.  Her mane felt weird tied back like it was.  "I was a unicorn, like Steel Catch.  I completed an ancient spell and became an alicorn, much like what happened to him yesterday."  She pulled the hairband out of her mane, letting it flow in the nonexistant wind.  Her tail, not to be left out, broke the multiple elastic bands she had used to restrain it.  "The rest of this should be temporary, but I'm not sure."

The doctor nodded slowly, glancing around and gathering up the broken hairties so they could be deposited in a wastebasket.  She then reached into a pocket of her scrubs and pulled out a hoofful of new ones.  "In case you tire of looking like the model in a shampoo commercial."

Twilight smiled, and tried not to laugh.  "You're reacting... differently to this than some ponies I've run into."

"That explains the jacket and hairties."  The doctor sat down in the chair beside Twilight.  "I'm a doctor, it's my job to heal anypony that comes through the doors, doesn't matter who, or what they are."  She shrugged.  "And, my father was a pegasus, I think.  My family is in the antigrav business, large, rich, politically connected, and not one of them ever talks about him or my mother.  My grandfather supports anti-pegasus groups like the one that caused yesterday's mess, for all I know, he gave them that station, and I was never treated like part of the family.  So, what other explanation is there?"

Twilight shook her head.  "I don't know.  I'm used to all ponies being equals.  My planet had its tribal issues, but it was a millenia before I was born.  To me, they were nothing more than stories to remind ourselves how good things were.  And now, with the Galactic Assembly, there are so many different species living together peacefully, that this planet seems horribly broken to me."

The doctor smiled.  "It might be.  But I think we've taken the first step towards fixing things."

"I hope so," Twilight agreed.  "There are too many good ponies on this world."

The doctor nodded.  "Thanks.  You know, I didn't realize you were from off-world until you mentioned it, are you both from the Assembly?"  Twilight nodded, and the doctor started entering information into the pad.  "So, he had access to more advanced medical technology, and a wider vaccine range than we have, but probably hasn't had specific local vaccinations.  That's good, see?  You're already providing useful information.  Has he had any other surgeries recently?  Or exposure to unusual magic or radiation?"

Twilight winced.  "A few weeks ago.  He wast stabbed in the shoulder during a battle in irradiated space.  He had surgery to fix the shoulder, and he took preventative measures for the radiation."

The doctor raised an eyebrow.  "Don't most spaceships already have radiation shielding?"

Twilight shrugged.  "We were outside the ship at the time."

"Oh, I see."  The doctor added some more notes.  "You were with him then?  Preventative measures mean medication and a shielded spacesuit, I'm guessing?  Who were you fighting?"

"Each other," Twilight admitted, offering a sheepish smile when the doctor glanced up.  "It's how we met."

The doctor stared for a moment.  "Well, it sounds exciting at least."  She glanced down at the pad.  "So, vacuum exposure?"

"Not then, but about a week and a half ago we..."  Twilight's eyebrows pulled together.  "We had another space battle, and he was exposed to vacuum long enough to lose consciousness."

The doctor saw her expression and frowned. "How often do you two get into space battles?"

"Once a week?"  Twilight replied with a shrug.  She realized that was probably quite a bit more often than the average, but it wasn't like she had any say in the frequency of things attacking them whilst in space.  "Last one was about a day before we reached Tirassa."

The nurse was starting to look more than a little worried.  "Who do you keep fighting?"

"Well, this last battle was just monsters from the dark dimension, but the other two were space pirates."

"And, yesterday you get caught up in an attempted coup."

"It hasn't been quiet, that's for sure.  Oh, and I was being held prisoner on that weather platform.  They were attempting psychological torture before the fighting broke out."

"The bastards."  The doctor shook her head.  "Well, I don't think any of this information is going to help now.  Now, this is just a guess, but you two won't be sticking around long enough to finish his physical therapy, will you?"

Twilight shrugged.  "Honestly, I'd like to get him back to the doctor on Canter Delta.  Nothing against you, but he has access to better surgical equipment."

"I'm sure," the doctor sighed.  "Well, maybe we can start importing some of that equipment if we can make peace with the Assembly.  And your friend won't need any more surgery, luckily."  She brought up some annotated images on the pad, a photo of Astral's side before his surgery, and the ct scan of the same view.  She pointed to the ct first.  "You see this shadow between these bright spots?  Here, in his shoulder?  This is the wound tract where he was shot.  The oblique angle let the bullet ricochet off the bone here, and exit the back of his shoulder in one piece.  It's a deep wound, but there was no irreversible damage.  If the angle was different, it probably would have fragmented and spread the damage, or it could have hit the artery here."  She pointed at the photo next.  "You can see here where the bullet tumbled along his side, under his vest, leaving only superficial wounds, before entering his hip."  She pointed back at the ct, at another bright spot.  "And, this is where the bullet came to rest, before hitting the bone.  It nicked a tendon, but didn't sever it, so we were able to reinforce it after we laprascopically removed the projectile.  We used the best equipment and materials available to us.  He'll need some special care, but he should completely recover."

"What sort of care?" Twilight asked.  "Whatever it is, I'll make sure he gets it."

"I'll get you a chart.  He'll be on an antibiotic to prevent infection.  And, for a few days, he'll need complete bed rest, no weight on his right legs, no walking around, things like that.  Then, he can start walking, but only for short periods of time, and he should walk next to somepony, as he'll be prone to falling until the muscles heal completely.  We'll get you a mobility chair in case he needs to move around any more than that.  There are also excercises and stretches to make sure everything heals right.  He'll need to start the stretches for his hind leg right away so the tendon we worked on doesn't tighten up.  Think you'll be able to handle that?"

"I'll take care of it."  Twilight nodded and looked over at Astral.  The poor pony was drooling as he slept, and Twilight couldn't help but chuckle.  "He took that bullet for me.  It's the least I can do."

"Good."  The doctor nodded.  "Follow the instructions, and he'll be walking in two or three weeks, and good as new in a month or so."  The doctor entered a few last notes into her pad, placing the order for the antibiotics, and making note that the patient may not stay at the hospital for recovery.  "So, we have extra security around this wing of the hospital, and the rooms for everypony involved are under fake names for security reasons.  Given what happened, the chairman wants us to be vigilant in case somepony wants to take revenge.  If you leave, this room is under the name Potato Chip.

Twilight stared at the floor a moment.  "That's fine, I don't plan on-"

"I'll take some chips," Astral mumbled, smacking his lips.  "My mouth feels weird."

"Good, he's up."  The doctor looked over at Twilight.  "I already checked his vitals when I first came in, everything was fine.  I'll bring some juice you can give him, he'll be thirsty.  Oh, and until the anaesthesia wears off, he might not realize how bad he's hurt.  Keep him from getting up."

Twilight nodded quickly before standing up.  "Thank you."  She walked over to the bed.  "Astral?  How are you-"

He was very slowly waking, and still smacking his lips, feeling his tongue stick to the roof of his mouth, making funny faces every time.  

"They've got you on strong stuff, I see."  There was a roll of paper towels on the stand beside the hospital bed, and Twilight grabbed a few and wiped the drool off Astral's face as he rolled his head around.

He opened his eyes.  They were glazed over, and their regular blue was ringed with just a hint of yellow.  "Ohhh...  You..."

Twilight stopped and  smiled at him.  She just realized that they were yellow the entire time on the weather station, and it brought to mind the conversation they had after the fight on Patch's ship.  He didn't let it show, but was he afraid the entire time?  "Astral..."

He licked her hoof, and smacked his lips again, killing any emotional words of thanks Twilight was preparing.  "Why aren't you grape flavored?"  He muttered quietly before yawning and rolling over.

Twilight stared at his back, hoof still stretched out with the paper towels.  "Astral?"

The unicorn lifted his head off the pillow, but was still facing away from her.  "Twilight?  Where are you?  I don't see you."

Twilight shook her head and mopped up what she could of the pillow before walking around so Astral could see her.  They had him hopped up on some heavy crap.

"Oh, hey!"  Astral smiled at her, a big happy grin aided by whatever he was doped up on.  He blinked and moved his head back and forth like he couldn't get his eyes to focus.  "Sorry about last night, I didn't recognize you.  I think it's the painkillers.  I shouldn't have licked your hoof."

Shaking her head, Twilight leaned against the bed.  His sense of time was gone, too.  "Astral, that was ten seconds ago."

He yawned, and closed his eyes.  "What was ten seconds ago?"

"When you licked my hoof."

"Gross.  Why would I do that?"  His head flopped down onto the pillow, ears drooping.

"Did you just fall asleep again?"  Twilight carefully touched his hoof, but the unicorn didn't react.  "Astral?"

He shook, snorting, gasping, and opening one eye as he woke up.  "Oh, good morning, Twi.  Thanks for visiting me every day.  I like your new haircut."

Twilight chuckled as he lifted his left hoof and moved it along with her mane's gentle waving.  "What did they give you?"

"I don't know, maybe that's what they're calling you about?"  He opened his other eye.  "Wow, you're even prettier in color."

"Huh?"

Astral stared at Twilight, alternating which eye he had open every few seconds.  "Yeah, you're pretty both ways, but I like the colors better."

"Wait a minute..."  Twilight leaned in close, looking at Astral's eyes.  "Are you colorblind in one eye?"

"Yup, completely monochromatic."  He yawned again.  "I thought you knew."

"No, I didn't.  You never said anything.  Colorblindness in one eye isn't usually possible."

"It is for Chimeras.  Or if you bump your head."  He picked his head up, and bonked his nose against hers because he misjudged the distance.  "You know, you're just as pretty as Cooly, she wouldn't be happy about that."

Twilight stared at Astral for a moment.  She had heard the name Cooly a few times now, but Astral never told her more.  She was obviously somepony important to him.  But, as curious as she was, she didn't want to take advantage of Astral's condition by asking about it.  She would ask later, when he was in his right mind again.  "Thank you Astral, that means a lot to me."

Astral nestled his head back into his pillow.  "You would have liked her.  They used to live next door, but they're all gone now.  She was all I had left.  But I said something terrible and she hates me now.  I'll try not to say anything bad to you, Twi, so you won't hate me like she does.  I don't want to be alone again."

Twilight reached up and brushed his mane back.  "Don't worry, you won't be."

Astral smiled and rubbed his face against her hoof.  "I got bit by a rockbee once.  Pain was shared, and not so bad.  And it's not polite to ignore calls.  Answer your buckin' pad," he muttered as he fell asleep again.

"You're lucky you have an excuse right now," Twilight sighed.  She pulled the thin hospital blanket up and tucked him in.  "Sleep it off, and then we shall discuss your use of language, good sir."

He snored.

Twilight shook her head before walking away.  She was just happy he was ok, even if he was completely loopy on pain meds.  She knew how dangerous Astral's chosen weapon could be.  She had seen Eckrt's brains splattered on a crate in front of her.  It had freaked her out a great deal, and many days passed before she could fall asleep without reliving the moment, but Astral may have saved her life by taking his.  She had used a lot of magic protecting herself from the first explosion, a second could have left her unable to escape the Philomena.

Would that be the case now?  Twilight looked down at her hoof.  Powerful magic still coursed through her.  She was waiting for it to fade, to weaken, so she could return to normal, but it seemed to be holding steady.  All the spells that brought her close to magical exhaustion before would be no issue in this state.  She could probably perform them all at once and only feel slightly tired.

It was actually a little frightening.  This was not a normal amount of magic, even for her.  It felt similar to the elements of harmony.  But they were lost when Celestia reforged them and wielded them against Nocteryx in Equestria's final battle.  And the elements' power didn't last like this.

But, it was under control.  There were plenty of times in her life where she had called on powers beyond her control, but this was not one of them.  It felt right, it felt natural, and it was well within her capacity to control.  Perhaps she had just taken the next step in her growth as an alicorn?

Speaking of Alicorns, she should probably check in with Steel Catch and Miss Kettle.  They were new to this, and she was in a unique spot to offer advice to newly ascended alicorns.  They were both supposedly here in the hospital with the rest of those wounded on the weather platform.  She would just have to find somepony who knew where they were.

Or, did she?  He would be the strongest magic in the building, aside from her.  Miss Kettle would be close behind that.  She could probably find them both with a simple scrying spell.

So, she took a breath, called on her magic, and a brief moment of concentration later, and Twilight knew where he was.  Two floors above, and a few rooms over.  Miss Kettle was a few rooms away from him.  Their magics disturbed the natural flow of magic in the area, and by quite a bit, leaving Twilight to guess that they were practicing, trying to figure out the extent of the changes.  Miss Kettle's quickly disappeared, after a brief surge, teleported away?  But the Chairman's magic didn't.

With a self-satisfied smile, she grabbed her jacket and tossed it across her back.  It would suffice to hide her wings from the casual observer, and by this point, she was starting not to care.  Ponies would be staring at her mane, and she wasn't about to spend another twenty minutes stuffing her mane and tail into hairties only for them to snap again.

She was walking towards the door when she felt her jacket buzz.  "Wait a minute," she muttered as she she started digging through the pockets.  She eventually found the source, her pad, the little scroll of electronic parchment.  It vibrated with a hum like a mosquito.

Astral wasn't merely mumbling nonsense earlier.  She was being called, and needed to answer her pad.  She unrolled it, but it stopped vibrating.  She had missed the call.  And according to the ink-looking display, she had missed several more.  Eight hundred and four of them to be exact.  All from the same pony.

"Silver!"  How was she even calling?  Tirassa wouldn't be connected to the Galactic Assembly's Subspace Network.  Nor should they be connected to any data or communication services that her pad would recognize.

Twilight hit the callback icon.  However Silver was trying to reach her, maybe it would work both ways.

When the call finally connected, Twilight was surprised to see that it wasn't Silver who appeared on screen.  Rendered in harsh strokes of ink was a serious looking pony, clad in armor, standing twice as tall as a pony should.  "Princess?!"

Celestia gasped, bringing a hoof to her mouth as she saw Twilight.  There was no sound coming through the pad, and it seemed there was no atmosphere around the alicorn.  Behind her, streaks and flashes of light played through a void of black india ink.  It looked suspiciously like the view out the window of a ship in the middle of a slipstream jump.  Celestia smiled at the younger alicorn, tears falling from her eyes only to be whisked back and obliterated by the impossible speeds and quantum shift of exiting the slipstream.

Twilight saw her say something.  It was a short sentence, three words, and then the video disconnected.  It reconnected a moment later, to the pony Twilight was originally expecting.  The unicorn was drawn on screen in gentler crosshatching, perhaps due to the lighting in the room around her.

"Silver!"  Twilight was glad to see a familiar background behind the unicorn.  "What's going on?  Where is the princess?  Is she in space right now?"

"Twilight?!  Oh, thank goodness!"  The blind unicorn felt for, then hugged her screen.  "Pretend that was you.  What the hell happened?  I was digging deeper into Tirassa, hoping I could find information that could help us, and I found you!  For sale!  On the black market!  Did somepony kidnap you?  Celestia rushed off as soon as we found out, she's on a ship headed for the planet, and she brought the most powerful subnet relay we could get our hooves on.  And, yes, she is on the outside of the ship, it was her idea.  Oh, I'm so glad it's you, I was expecting to have to negotiate for your release."

"I'm fine, Silver," Twilight reassured her, "a lot happened.  There was a fight on the space station, so we teleported to the surface, but there was a group hijacking high power teleports with a gravity well generator and a spell matrix, they were the ones who were going to sell me, and that group was involved with a group that was trying to overthrow the chairman, and there was an attempted coup, and we crashed a weather platform into a historic mansion."

Silver frowned.  "I'm going to blame Astral.  He has been a bad influence on you since day one."

"This wasn't his fault," Twilight quickly defended, looking over at the sleeping unicorn.  "He...  Astral was shot."

"No way!  Is he ok?  What happened?"

"He pushed me out of the way, and took a bullet because of it.  He's out of surgery, and recovering, but he'll be out of commission for weeks, and I'm going to stay with him, and help him through it."

"Ok, yeah, you have to."  Silver brought a hoof to her forehead.  "Damn, and I was worried about you going to the monster world.  At least there weren't any monsters this time."

Twilight wasn't sure if she should correct her misconception.  There were monsters on the way to the planet, and on the planet itself.  She was, of course, including her captors in the count with the Salt-thing and the shadow beasts, especially that old mare who ran the show.  "All that matters is that everypony's safe now.  I can't wait to get back to Delta and spend time with everypony without getting shot at."

Silver pressed her lips together, snout scrunching up.  "Mmh..."

Twilight saw the expression, and groaned.  "What is it?  I can take it."

"Berry's been kidnapped."

"What?!"

"Calm down, Radio's gone after her.  We think she sent him her coordinates, and he went after her right away.  But... he kind of attacked the president's security detail, and stole his shuttlecraft to do so."

"And Cori still let him go?"  Twilight nodded quickly.  "I'm going to have to thank him for that.  Where is he now, and who's with him?"

"Twi, nopony's with him.  When I said he attacked them and stole the shuttle, I mean, he took down every last one of Jones' security detail, and made off with the shuttle.  He disabled all tracking devices, outflew the entire Canterlot Police Force, and didn't tell anypony where he was go..."  Silver trailed off, and picked up her tactile pad.  Her hoof had brushed against it, and it seemed she had a new message, from Radio.  "Huh."  She ran her hoof over the braille letters, reading it as quick as she could so she could relay it to Twilight.  "Nevermind, Berry's fine.  Radio, too.  It seems there was some sort of misunderstanding with a major bounty hunting group.  The princess of the White Flags personally assures their safety, but they will be remaining at their base for a while."

"Really?!"  Twilight sighed loudly, relieved that it was that particular group involved.  "I've heard about the White Flags.  They're pretty famous, aren't they?"

"Yes, they are," Silver confirmed.  "But, they usually only go after the worst of the worst, why would they kidnap Berry?"

"Her grandfather was some big space pirate," Twilight explained, not realizing how much of an understatement that was.  "It had to have been that.  Is everybody else all right at least?"

"Oh, um...  Fluttershy, and Big Mac, are recovering from being poisoned.  Last I heard, they were still unconscious."

"Poisoned!"  Twilight's hooves were grasping her pad so tight, that regular parchment would have already torn.  She's gone for a week, and one of her friends gets kidnapped, one commits several felonies, and two more are poisoned.  "Who would...  Why?"

"I am about to visit the pony responsible," Silver cracked the joints in her hooves.  "He's been arrested on an unrelated charge, some financial fraud thing.  I've also been told the drug was originally intended for Berry, so I arranged for the stallion responsible to slip through the cracks in the system for about an hour.  I'll let you know what I find out."

"Don't take it too far," Twilight cautioned.  "If everypony's ok, hurting him won't help any.  I'm standing on a planet that was ready to tear itself apart because it never learned that lesson."

"I don't plan on hurting him," Silver reassured, "Just scaring him a little."

"Well, let me know what happens.  I'll bring Astral back to Delta.  Let Mac and Fluttershy know I'll be there soon."

"Actually..."  Silver tapped her hooves together, unsure if she should tell Twilight what she had found out.  "Um, I have some new leads on missing cryo-chambers."

"Oh."  Twilight winced.  Her obligations were pulling her in different different directions.  "Send me the details, I'll bring Astral back, and set off as soon as soon as he's settled."

Silver shook her head.  "I'm afraid it's time sensitive."

"Of course it is," Twilight groaned, "how sensitive?"

"A historical auction house listed an ancient cold-storage unit among a sale lot of retired museum pieces, so I checked into it, and sent them a picture of your chamber.  They confirmed that it is nearly identical."

"Great!  What's so time sensitive about that?"

"It gets auctioned off this weekend, and they won't won't hold it, or accept bids over subnet."

"What?!  You just told them that there's a pony in there!  Are they really going to auction off a pony?"

"That's exactly what I said!  They had a lawyer tell me that the chamber has been in the posession of museums, without being opened, for at least the natural lifespan of the average pony.  Without proof that a pony is in there, the auction house is under no obligation to ammend their plans for for it.  We are welcome to inspect the piece before the auction, but any further communication is to take place in person, with a lawyer present, no recording devices, and all the standard legalese bullshit."

"Did you tell them about the little viewport hatch?"

"I tried.  Got an automated response saying all further communications are to take place in person, lawyer present, blah, diddy-blahda, yaddda."

"So, somepony has to go stop them."  Twilight nodded.  "Why can't it ever be as easy as saying, 'Hey, that's a friend of mine, can I have them back, please?'"

"I don't know.  You would think our galaxy would be civilized enough for that, but I'm beginning to think society is just a fragile veneer stretched thin over the struggles and baser natures of creatures that can never truly understand each other."  With a smirk, she added, "knowing history's deleted scenes doesn't help."

"I've almost been shot at enough to agree with you, sad as that may be."  Twilight sighed wearily.  "So, who's going?  I can bring Astral if I have to, but only if there's absolutely no chance of this turning into a fight.  He needs time to recover."

"It shouldn't be complicated.  It's a well known auction house, dealing mostly with museum relics and private art collections.  And, despite being closer to you than to Canterlot, it's well within the borders of the Galactic Assembly.  And all you need to do is go there, open the thing, let the pony out, and then, who cares if they sell the chamber?"

"Silver, you know there's no way it's going to be that simple."

"We can hope, can't we?"

"Yeah," Twilight conceded after chewing her lip a moment.  "I will hope that it goes according to plan.  How do I get there?  Do I take the ship Celestia's on?"

Silver shook her head.  "That ship isn't actually stopping at Tirassa.  Assembly ships aren't actually allowed to land on Tirassa, or dock with their stations.  I don't know if that's changing now, but we just bribed them to make a flyby.  Celestia's planning on literally jumping ship when she gets there tomorrow."

"Then, what do I do for transportation?"

"I don't know.  I have no way of finding ships for hire, or for sale, on Tirassa.  You're going to have to figure that out for yourself."  Silver frowned as her tactile pad played a chime.  "That's early," she muttered, "Twilight, I'm going to have to let you go, I have to make another call.  I'll send the information I have, and I may have another lead soon, so take care of this one quick.  Ok?  Good luck, bye."

Twilight nodded quickly.  "Ok, bye, thanks, Silver, I appreci-"  The screen went black before she could finish.  The alicorn frowned, but chalked it up to the other mare being in a hurry.

She was about to roll up her parchment pad when it switched back to Celestia.

Knowing the other alicorn couldn't hear her, Twilight waved.  Celestia waved back with a smile, then pointed at Twilight.  After a moment, the solar alicorn decided that wasn't enough to get her point across, and gestured to her own mane, waving gently despite the speeds she was travelling at without so much as a windshield.

Twilight nodded her understanding.  She wasn't surprised that Celestia noticed.  As far as Twilight knew, up until now, only Celestia and Luna had manes like that.  Hers must have been a surprise.  She lit her horn with magic, but without casting a spell.  She held the glow, then held up her hoof, and moved the glow from her horn to her hoof, and then to her wings, which she held up so they would hopefully be in frame.

Celestia nodded, smiling in pride.  And she repeated the same three words she did earlier before cutting the call.

Twilight smiled as she rolled up the pad.  It looked like their little spat was over.  It would be nice to see her in person, and apologize for blowing things out of proportion.  And also, maybe she could hear that short sentence in person.  And, she would respond with a similar sentence, one with a single word added.  "I love you, too."

"Thanks," Astral mumbled in his sleep.
> No Rest for the Wicked Means Even Less for Those Who Chase Them
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------

"Thank you, you may proceed."

Chief Cirrus nodded as she walked past the security checkpoint, blinking away the flash of the retinal scan.  She had to dodge ponies in the hallways of police headquarters.  All hooves on the ground, it seemed.  There was more work than they could handle right now, in the wake of yesterday's events.

Riots were breaking out, and retaliatory crimes were occuring on both sides of the issue.  It wasn't limited to ground-pounders versus pegasi either.  Many earth ponies and unicorns were attacking each other over their stance on this.

Luckily, those who favored equality were in the majority.

But, there were still ponies being thrown out of their homes, or being attacked in the streets.  Every available officer was out there trying to help.  Every available dispatcher was taking calls, and trying to direct them.  Every available internal affairs officer was tracking down HRT Three, and trying to determine who on the force might sympathize with them.  And every available Heavy Response Team was upstairs, waiting for her, the new chief of police.

The promotion was sudden, and most likely, temporary.  While she was resting at the hospital last night, the previous chief resigned.  He was later arrested, at a spaceport no less, for organizing HRT Three's attack on her team, and disrupting official communications during the incident.  Several others were also in custody for their involvement.  It was decided that these trying times required a figurehead leader at the very least, and who better than the heavy response chief, who was in the thick of things, and came through the weather station battle unscathed?

If only the powers that be realized what they had done.

Chief Cirrus made her way to the third floor, to the office of the Heavy response teams, taking a relatively quiet stairwell instead of trying to make it through the crowd around the elevators.  It didn't surprise her at all to hear shouting through the door.  Tempers were high.  Stress levels were high.  The number of internal arrests were at an all time high.  And as the police department's final resort, the Heavy Response teams would be under a microscope until the planet started to calm down again.

And even they would be short-hoofed right now.  Quick Chop, having proven herself a quick thinker, and capable driver, was transferred permanently to HRT One, but that did little to pad their numbers.  All members of HRT Three had either been arrested, or would be on sight.  Most of team five had quit.  Six had yet to report in, but as a covert unit that was partially expected.  Teams Two and Four were fully staffed, and ready to go.  And, her team, only Red was out of commission, office duty only, pending the investigation into his father's involvement in the attempted assassination, and the medical investigation into his transformation.

She walked into the room quietly.  Most ponies didn't notice her.  They were too busy yelling at each other.  Some tried to stay out of it and tried to work, but the more vocal among them made up for their silence.

It was eye opening, seeing who among her peers supported pegasus equality, and who didn't.  And also, which ones were indifferent, but wanted to weigh in on the method.  Some saw it as an inevitability, and it may as well have happened how it did.  Others thought it was heavy handed for the chairman to enact it the way he did, and that it should have been allowed to happen slowly.  Others felt that one fell swoop was the only way it was ever going to happen, and that they were proven right.  But, they were united in the fact that Tirassa needed them now, otherwise, they wouldn't be here.

The chief walked up to the main screen in the room.  It was locked on the news, showing snippets of everything happening now.  Every so often, among the pain and anger, there were brief moments of happiness being shown.  A pegasus and a unicorn, quite obviously twins, standing side by side, smiling.  A pegasus mare and and an earth pony stallion kissing while a group behind them cheered.  And many, many ponies, of all types, just shaking hooves.  They had accepted the way things would be, and were acknowledging that by simply acknowledging their fellow ponies.

The chief listened to the arguing around her.  There was something she needed to tell them.  Regardless of their views on this, if she was going to lead them, there was something they needed to know.

The rip of Velcro cut through the arguing voices, silencing them like a dagger.  Everypony looked in her direction.  The chief had undone the velcro holding her ballistic vest.  For her entire career, she had shown up in uniform, and left in uniform.  She never changed at work, dressed down for lunch, or took breaks.  Always ready, always on the job.  That was her reputation.  The police force was her life.  She was tough, by the books, and most of all, fair.  She was a cop, through and through.  Some ponies probably didn't realize the uniform could come off.

The chief took a deep breath.  She knew, once she did this, there would be no turning back.  But, she had to tell them.  With everything that was going on, she couldn't keep lying.

She was still facing the screen when she started talking.

"Eighteen years ago, Wingless Dawn was founded on the premise that the only way for pegasi to gain equality with earth ponies was to become earth ponies themselves.  They christened their group in blood, capturing a young pegasus, hanging them upside down by the hooves, and cutting their wings off with an oxy-fuel cutting torch.  It took several minutes to take both wings off, helped along by a machete when they started running out of fuel.

They were caught trying to dump the pegasus in a public place.  Police were tipped off by a member who couldn't stomach what he had witnessed.  The founders were arrested, and the pegasus ended up in a nearby hospital.  Each member received three year prison sentences for what they did, but were paroled within months.  The pegasus was bounced from the first hospital to several others before ending up at one that would offer any actual treatment.

The pegasus didn't leave that hospital for a year.  The amount of heat used caused deep tissue damage, and spinal problems.  There were several infections, complications, and several of the treatments they received were experimental in nature, awaiting approval for pony testing.  Bones were removed, muscles detached and reattached, and skin grafts grown, applied, rejected, and grown again.

And when it was over, they dumped him on the street.

With a shaky breath, the chief undid the Velcro on her other shoulder.  "The final kindness shown to that pegasus, was by the doctor who wrote the official report.  He falsified the document.  He described a pegasus stallion who never existed, and scrubbed any pictures or descriptions of the real victim from the hospital records."  She pulled the Velcro at her waist, and the entire vest fell away.  "I was released as an earth pony who was orphaned in an aircar accident."

There was no fur on her back.  And there was no sound behind her.  All arguments had ceased, all discussion had died.  They all stared at her, at smooth skin riddled with lines were it was sewn on piece by piece.  You could see the outline of bones and muscle beneath, spine, ribs, and a secondary set of shoulders below the main shoulder blades.

Faced as she was, she couldn't see the reactions of her team, or the other heavy response teams.  She was half expecting to be shot in the back by at least one of them.  It really didn't matter to her at this point.  On the screen in front of her was everything she had fought for.

She watched as Black Pot, leader of Wingless Dawn, the one personally responsible for her injuries, was loaded into a body bag amid the rubble of the mayor's mansion.  Green Hoof was facing charges of treason for publicly attempting to assassinate the chairman.  And, Pegasi were granted full equality under the law, effective immediately.

Chairman Steel Catch had vowed to do everything in his power to make the transition peaceful, but he refused to make it happen slow.  Every law, every ordinance, that specified a pony's tribe was to be rewritten immediately.  Every instance of pegasus, unicorn, or earth pony, was to be changed, leaving only the words, 'a pony.'  Laws that were only in place to make life harder on pegasi were to be stricken from the books.  

There was a mangled, frustrated scream behind her, and something flew past her head.  It lodged in the screen, breaking the touchscreen glass and shorting out the picture.  It was a stapler, wrapped in red aura.  She looked back in time to see Red toss the desk he grabbed it off of.  She wasn't sure it was his.

He pointed at her, each heavy breath growling in his chest with his rage.  "No!  You put that back on!  You put that back on, and never take it off!"  He stomped towards her, and grabbed the vest off the floor, shoving it at her.  "No, you don't get to do this, not now.  Not after everything that happened, and everypony who died.  You're an earth pony, you got that?  You were an earth pony when we followed your orders, you were an earth pony when you saved the chairman, and you sure as hell better be an earth pony when the press conference happens.  Everypony got that?!"

The dispatch pony put her hooves up.  "I don't see no wings, what you even talkin' 'bout."

"Yeah," added the captain of team two, "I've known the chief for decades, never seen so much as a feather on her."
The words of support made the chief smile, but she knew Red wasn't mad at her.  She was his training officer when he joined up, and he was her first choice for a lieutenant when she moved to the Heavy Response Teams.  She had seen him deal with tough situations.  She knew how he handled anger, and this wasn't it.  This was how he handled pain.  This was how he reacted when he coudn't save somepony, or when a friend gave their life in the line of duty.
She took her vest from him, and grabbed his hoof before he could put it down.  "Red..."
"My blaster jammed," he said quietly, for only the chief to hear.  "I still had my blaster while I was on the hoverbike, filming.  When my father took cover, but kept sending ponies out to fight, I pointed it at him, I engaged the targeting computer, and I pulled the trigger.  It jammed.  The internal optics were damaged, but I didn't know that then.  I pulled the trigger.  I was ready to kill my own father, and you pegasi aren't worth that to me."
"Then, what is?"
"Tirassa, and it's out there burning because of what happened.  Because of what we did."
"What was the alternative?"  The chief looked back at the screen, as it valiantly played distorted images of the world outside.  "Fires can be put out.  You were the one that told everypony what Green Hoof was doing, do you think we'd be better off if he succeeded?"
"No," Red shook his head, "hell, no.  He was in bed with terrorists and slavers.  He sold innocent ponies to help his cause, and he didn't care that most of them were probably unicorns.  I'm not sure what he really cares about in the end."  He grabbed the stapler in his magic and carefully pulled it out of the screen.  To his surprise, the screen started healing where his aura touched it.  It healed with an ugly bulge of distorted glass, but it healed.  "I just want to get back on the streets and help where I can."
"Even if you can't be on the streets, you can still help.  Miss Kettle and the Chairman have wings after their transformations, the diehard groundpounders aren't going to listen to them.  You didn't grow wings.  As a unicorn, and as the mayor's son, you may still get through to them.  Red, your voice is going to be very important through all of this."

"A unicorn that can't keep his magic from destroying everything he touches?"  He dropped the stapler, now crushed beyond repair.  "Look at that, just from holding it.  It's a good thing I'm not on the streets right now, or I might do that to a pony."

A black hoof touched his shoulder.  Miss Kettle offered a smile when he looked up.  "I might be able to help with that."  She addressed Chief Cirrus next.  "I've got to say, I should have realized sooner.  Even ignoring the name, your coloring is a dead giveaway, white hooves and sky blue?"

"Uh-huh."  The chief glanced towards the door, checking if anypony else might have seen that.  There was no telling what sort of reaction that news would get if it became widespread information.  "And, what brings you here, Miss Kettle?  I trust the chairman is safely at the hospital?"

"He is.  Well, he was when I left.  We're coordinating what we can of the military in the city, and having them report either here for assignment, or to guard vulnerable locations throughout the city.  Other cities are doing the same, but it seems there's a little less pushback to this elsewhere on the planet."

"That's good to hear."  Chief Cirrus nodded slowly.  "Then, if we can stabilize things here, it'll be over."

Miss Kettle nodded back.  "We can hope, but you guys are missing a heavy response team, right?"

"Team six," Red answered, "and some of team five.  Or, at least, I haven't seen them today."

"Two missing, great.  That does explain things a little better then."  The black mare shuffled her wings as she sighed.  "A little less than hour ago, a group of ponies dressed in Heavy Response Team gear firebombed the museum.  The chairman had private security teams posted, and things were contained quickly, with the aid of another group of ponies, also dressed in Heavy Response Team Gear.  The first group had blacked out any insignias on their uniforms, but the second group didn't seem to have insignias on their uniforms in the first place.  So, we don't know if they are affiliated, we don't know if the second group is on our side, and we don't know if the first group is planning to strike again."

"Oh, hell."  The chief pointed to one of the remaining members of team five.  "Have you seen Cam today?  Did he say anything about yesterday?  Leave any messages?"  Upon seeing the stallion shake his head negative, she looked back at Miss Kettle.  "Team Six gear doesn't have identifying markings, and half the time they wear civilian clothing, if anything.  They were probably the second group.  Nightshade is a good pony.  I doubt she would be opposed to this, and even if she was, I know she wouldn't resort to arson or vandalism.  Team five was the largest of our teams, and we've got at least ten ponies unaccounted for.  The team lead, Cam, I don't know him as well, but I know he dislikes pegasi."

"That's an understatement, chief," Homebrew brought over a pad.  "When we served on team two together, I had to stop him from beating the tar out of a restrained pegasus more than once."

"Crap."  She gestured to the pad.  "What do you have?"

"Don't know, it's not mine."  He held it out.  "It was in my desk though."

Miss Kettle took the the pad.  "What do you want to bet it's some self-important monologue or manifesto?  Five chips?  Anypony?"

The chief, Red Hoof, and Homebrew all shook their heads.  That was a losing bet, and they all knew it.

"Fine," Miss Kettle switched it on, and immediately, a video started playing.

A stallion, most likely Cam, dressed in HRT Gear with the emblems blacked out, and a balaclava over his face stood front and center.  The wall behind him was featureless save a few marks and cracks.  "Greetings, Homebrew, or, knowing you like I do, I should say, hello, Chief Cirrus.  By the time you see this, the Great War Museum will have been burnt to the ground, its heretical conspiracy theories and fabricated evidence a burnt out husk, mere memories in the minds of those who would turn this planet over to those who oppressed it for centuries."

"That's the second floor changing room," Red groaned.  "He filmed this here in the station."

"And the museum's fine," Miss Kettle added, "bit singed, but nothing some paint won't fix."

"We will not stand idly by while-"

"All right," Miss Kettle switched the video off, "we're not listening to all of this garbage."  She started fiddling with the pad, finding the app for transcribing notes from recorded audio, and plugging the video, aptly titled, 'A Patriot's Manifesto,' into it.  "And the condensed version is..."  She scrolled through the text that started appearing on screen.  "Pegasi are evil, blah, blah, enslave the planet again, blah blah, attacks will continue, join us, or fight us, we will be at the industrial warehouses in the lake district."  She handed the pad back to Homebrew.  "They're planning to attack the cloud slums, big surprise.  And are waiting below them, either for help and sympathizers, or a final showdown with the rest of the police force.  And, they've got some military deserters on their side now, claiming fifty heavily armed and heavily trained individuals.  Sounds perfect."

"Perfect for what?"  The chief asked suspiciously.

Miss Kettle smiled, a sly grin, as she stretched out a wing.  It wrapped around Red Hoof's shoulder,and she leaned towards him.  "This guy's magic training."

Red Looked down in alarm as light enveloped them both.  "What?!"

"What?"  Miss Kettle asked, coy and smug as she pulled her wing back.  The light had faded, leaving them surrounded by concrete, broken glass, and rust.  The remains of a massive warehouse, unused for a decade, possibly more.  "You need to learn to control your magic, right?  I also need to test mine.  So this works for both of us.  First lesson, shields."

"Intruders!"  Up on a walkway, a pony in camo aimed a weapon down at the two newcomers.

Miss Kettle threw an energy bubble around her and Red, bright neon green, shimmering under the thudding impacts of kinetic projectiles, while drowning out the crackling of the former soldier's mini railgun.  The military-grade weapon would have shredded anything short of spaceship armor, and was tearing massive gouges in the concrete around them.  "Really simple," she walked in front of Red, strutting like a cat, "you put up a barrier between you and something else.  A bubble, a wall, a literal ethereal iron shield, whatever you envision.  This can be one of the easiest spells to learn.  It's instinctive, just imagine throwing your hooves up to protect yourself, but it's magic instead."  The gunfire stopped, and she dropped the shield, walking away from Red.  "Oh, look, he's got a grenade."

"What?!"  Red looked up, and sure enough, seeing the failure of his other weapon, the soldier was prepping a grenade, pulling the pin.  "Ok, yes, that's a grenade, put the shield back up!"

With a smirk, and a swish of her tail, Miss Kettle kept walking away.  "Nope, it's your turn."





As HRT One and Four approached the abandoned warehouse district, the first thing they saw was the smoke.  Deep crimson smoke, sparkling like glitter as it settled over the area, fading fast.

Both teams were loaded into antique Armored Personnel Carriers, as any airtrucks that team five didn't steal from the motor yard, they had sabotaged.  Their only air support was two ponies, Homebrew, and Beansprout of team two, on their personal hoverbikes.  But, it was starting to look like there was no need for air support, or any support for that matter.

"Beansprout to team lead, do you copy?"

Chief Cirrus hit the radio clipped to her vest.  "I copy, Beansprout, go ahead."

"Ma'am, I have eyes on the target.  I can see several ponies in the center of the warehouse district, estimating twenty to thirty.  But...  Ma'am, they seem to be unconscious."

"You're sure?"

"Yes, ma'am.  They're all lying down, arranged in a grid, next to a building that looks to be upside-down."

The chief exchanged glances with Quick Chop, seated beside her and driving the APC.  "Repeat that?"

"There's a building, flipped upside down.  I can see another a bit farther back that seems to be split in two, like it was grabbed and pulled apart."

"Red hoof, or Miss Kettle?" Quick Chop asked.

"Could be either one," the chief responded, "there's no telling how powerful their magic is now."  After a moment, she spoke into her radio again.  "Beansprout, scan the skyline, any sign of pegasi?  A black mare with green mane and tail."

"Not as of yet.  Wait, correction, I see a pony matching that description.  She just hopped off a low level cloud, flying your way now.  Should I intercept?"

"Negative, let her through.  Keep an eye out for any additional movement."  Chief Cirrus pointed to a security gate, busted beyond repair, but built into a reinforced concrete wall.  A perfect entry point into the complex, as well as a protected spot to set up a command post.  "Park us there.  Miss Kettle should be able to brief us on the situation."

They parked, and Chief Cirrus climbed out of the navigator's seat as the back of the APC opened, spilling out the armored Tac-team it carried.  They took up defensive formations as they waited for Miss Kettle, and the second troop carrier pulled up alongside them.

The chief exited the carrier just as Miss Kettle swooped low overhead, looping around for a final approach, and slowing to a hover before stumbling into the landing.

"You got good at that quickly," the chief observed with a small pang of jealousy.

"The flying's the easy part," she boasted, "it's the landing that..."  Miss Kettle suddenly looked up, cringing.  "Sorry, this must be... um..."

The chief shook her head, managing a smile.  "No, don't apologize.  Enjoy it, every last moment of wind and freedom.  I've spent my life working towards the day ponies can fly without worry.  And that smile you had, coming out of that turn, it was worth the wait, and all the pain, to know I'm going to see that a lot more from now on."

The black alicorn smiled back.  "All right, enough sappiness, let's get back to work."  She took a deep breath, and shouted, "Red!"

There was a flash, and suddenly, Red Hoof was standing beside her, a dark pink soap bubble floating beside him.  Inside that bubble, a pony lie sleeping, snoring away, clad in full heavy response gear.

The chief stared for a moment.  The same pony that, twenty minutes ago, couldn't hold a stapler without crushing it, was able to teleport and carry another pony in such a delicate spell.  It was amazing, and just as amazing, was the stallion's appearance.  "Red, you look like you got caught on fire.  What happened?"

The stallion glanced down at his coat.  He was covered in dirt and soot, scorching and concrete dust.  He reeked of stagnant water from emergency sprinklers.  And, he had stepped in a miraculously full paint bucket at some point, caution yellow, because, of course it would be caution yellow at an abandoned warehouse.  Meanwhile, Miss Kettle was untouched, in fact, she had taken the time to preen her feathers at one point, while he was running from a jeep with a machine gun mounted on top.  "Yeah, it's been interesting.  But, we got Cam."  He lowered the bubble to the ground.  "He's fast asleep, and so are the rest of them.  I was tying them up before I jumped out here.  Some of them are in the buildings, but I'm pretty sure I got all of them."

"I see."  The chief chuckled.  "This is going to be one interesting report, considering you're supposed to be on desk duty.  But, at least you've gotten your magic under control."

Miss Kettle's eyes suddenly lit up.  "About that," the exclaimed happily, "he-"

"No."  Red interrupted sternly.

"What?"  The black alicorn laughed.  "Are you embarrassed?"

Red sighed in annoyance.  "No, I just don't feel it's necessary to-"

Miss Kettle quickly looked over at the chief.  "His magic is-"

Another red bubble appeared, wrapping around the overpowered secretary, and muffling all sound from her.  Red sighed again.  "Now that that's handled... Oh, come on!"

Inside the bubble, Miss Kettle was holding the rest of her words in her hoof, materialized out of magic.  "His magic is emotion based," read the glowing letters she held up, "he fights with the power of his feelings."

The chief couldn't help but laugh, more at Red's sour expression than at the revelation.  "Don't be embarrassed, Red.  I can't imagine a more fitting power for you.  Now, let's get these guys packed up and go home, we've got plenty more work to do."
> The Windows to Your Room
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------

"Knock knock," Twilight said as the automated door swished open to an empty room.  "Mr. Catch?"  Twilight poked her head in, but didn't see anypony.  The door opened on its own, so she assumed that meant it was unlocked.  Perhaps Catch left in the time it took her to make it here?

"Ah, it's you."  The air in the corner rippled, as the chairman dropped his cloaking spell and stepped out into the room.  "I apologize, I felt a scanning spell lock onto me earlier, but didn't realize the source."

"You felt that?"  Twilight winced.  She just made a pony that had an attempt on his life think that somepony was out looking for him.  "I'm so sorry, I didn't think you would."  She gestured to his hiding place.  "That wasn't an illusion, was it?  It was an actual light bending spell.  Given what happened yesterday, I'm guessing your magic is tied to nature?  To ecological, geological, and meteorological energies?"

"A surprisingly accurate assessment," Catch admitted.  "Forgive me, we have not been properly introduced."  He extended a hoof.  "I am Steel Catch."

She took the offered hoof, gave it a shake.  Why couldn't they have skipped to this part upon arrival?  "Twilight Sparkle."

Catch gave a nod.  "As chairman of Tirassa, I welcome you, and apologize for the hardships you've been forced to endure.  Speaking of which, is your friend all right?  I understand he was seriously injured, shot with a projectile weapon."

"He's... recovering, at least."  It could have been much worse, but that was little consolation.  "How are Dinky and Ditzy?  Are they still here in the hospital?"

The chairman shook his head.  "I teleported them to a safe house with some of my most trusted guards."  He looked towards the windows, and sadly sighed, "they will be safer away from me for the moment."  He managed a smile when he looked back at Twilight.  "I am grateful for your help in rescuing them.  I don't know what I would have done if...  If anything had happened to either of them."

Twilight found herself smiling back.  "I only got to the chance to speak with her for a while yesterday, but Ditzy said you were a kind-hearted stallion."

"She did?" Catch asked quickly, then cleared his throat.  "I mean, I'm not surprised.  She is more than generous with compliments."

"Only when they're deserved," Twilight pointed out.  "From what she told me, and the way she spoke of you, I get the feeling you two have grown pretty close."

"Anypony would when you live in hiding under the same roof.  Not that it helped.  I felt keeping her nearby would allow me to protect them, and I have failed in that task.  We finally find Ditzy, and now they both have to go into hiding again.  Start it all over again, somewhere else.  It isn't fair to them.  They shouldn't be tied to Tirassa's troubles, or suffer for its past."

Twilight nodded her agreement.  "I could take them back to the assembly with me.  A lot of our friends have been released from their cryo-chambers, and we're finding more all the time.

The suggestion clearly stung, but Catch forced himself to swallow the protest rising in his throat.  "Yes," he forced out instead, "That might be best."

"Oh, wow, you really don't want them to go."  Twilight had seen this too many times, a pony faced with the prospect of leaving somepony behind.  "I sort of suspected, but you and Ditzy were more than just close, weren't you?"

"Yes," the stallion confessed, "what started as mere historical interest has not stayed that way.    Ditzy and I fell prey to discussions long into the night.  It didn't take long for our talks of history to grow shorter, or for the nights to grow longer."  He took a long breath, bringing his hoof to cover his eyes.  "But, as much as I want them to stay here," his voice cracked, "I can not have them be in danger because of me.  So, take them, and take them quietly.  I will provide you a ship, Slipstream capable, old by your standards, but one of the most advanced on Tirassa.  It will see you safely back to the Galactic Assembly."

"I know this is hard," Twilight put a reassuring hoof on his shoulder, "but it's noble of you to put their safety first.  We should talk with them, and see..."  She glanced out the window.  "Um, do you think she might have something to say about that?"

Catch shook his head.  "Whether she does or not, she has Dinky's safety to consider."

"Good point, but..."  Twilight squinted at something out the window, growing fast from the horizon.  Her eyes went wide as she realized what it was.  "She's got something to say!  Down!"

She grabbed Catch, and shoved him out of the way as the window exploded inward.  She wasn't fast enough to avoid the projectile, a grey pegasus, one aimed right at her.  The impact blasted Twilight back as she absorbed the mailmare's excess kinetic energy.  Twilight landed outside, through the automatic door, well down the hallway, where security immediately drew their weapons on her.

Believing her to be the source of the abrupt chaos, one of the guards tackled her as she tried to stand.

Inside the room, Ditzy brushed herself off and marched up to Steel Catch.  "Don't you dare teleport me again while I'm in the middle of a sentence!"

"On the ground!  Stop resisting!"

"Ditzy!"  Catch was torn between heading to help Twilight, and giving the pegasus before him the attention she demanded, "what are you doing here?  That bunker was-"

"Grab her wing!  I said stop resisting!

Catch looked back towards the door as it slid shut, but before he could head for it, Ditzy jabbed her hoof into his chest, pushing him back.  "I don't care about the bunker!  You locked Dinky in your office, and left her there for hours, alone, and then when you finally get us all back together, you teleport us to some underground bunker?  We're both scared!  And worried about you!  What is going on?"

"Tase her!"

Catch gasped in alarm, and tried to edge past.  "Ditzy, I'm sorry, but I-"

"Yaaaaghh!"  Twilight's scream from the hallway filled the room, making both Catch and Ditzy flinch in surprise.  They scrambled away from the door as it opened, allowing a flying earth pony through.  The security guard, presumably launched, and not flying under his own power, landed hard on the hospital bed, and Twilight entered the room dragging a second one with her wing.  Her fur stood on end, and two coiled wires dangled from barbs stuck in her shoulder.  She shivered, a shaky twitchy movement, then shouted, "Somepony get these out of me, right now!"

Steel Catch ran to comply, carefully unhooking the barbed wires from her skin.  "Sorry," he told the other alicorn, before shouting to the slowly recovering guards, "Stand down!  These are my guests."

"But, the window..."  The guard on the bed made it up, safety glass crunching harmlessly underhoof.  He took a glance out the opening to the Tirassan sky, and his protest died in his throat.  He had seen the broadcast yesterday.  Anything that could pose a threat to the chairman as he is now would be far beyond his meager ability to even help with.  And, he should have realized this purple winged unicorn would be on the same level.   He was a part time hospital security guard, not a soldier.  Not that soldiers would stand a chance either.  "Yes, sir," he headed for the door, pausing only long enough to grab his coworker, "sorry, sir."

Twilight lowered her head as he walked by her.  "Sorry about throwing you."

The guard stopped in his tracks, looking over.  He wasn't sure what he expected, but it wasn't that.  This one was the offworlder, right?  From close up, he could tell, she was even more powerful than Catch right now.  The magic radiated off of her, flowed through her mane, and he could feel it washing over him.  Nothing on this planet could compare, nopony on this planet stand against her, but... she was sorry.  And she was, it wasn't a hollow apology, she meant it.

"Thank you, ma'am."  The guard blinked before continuing his walk out the door.  Were there more ponies like this across the galaxy?  How much is there out beyond the confines of Tirassa?

"Hey, where are you going?"

The guard shook himself from his thoughts long enough to look back at his coworker, several meters behind him.  He had walked well past his post.  Where was he going?  He caught another glimpse of the purple mare before the door to the chairman's room closed once again, and quickly looked back forward.  He still didn't know where he was going, but he knew he was going, and that would have to be enough.  "I'll have them send somebody to take over for me."
> Overhangs Hanging Over the Hungover
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------

"Ah feel like dirt," Mac mumbled.

"He's up," said a young stallion's voice, "Ribbon?"

"Oh, good!"  Said an excited young mare.

Mac rolled over, smacking his slow and sticky tongue.  He was strapped down to a table, underneath a large scanning arm, but still had some freedom of movement.  It seemed like the straps were to keep him from falling off, not to restrain him.

He was in the white room again, but he wasn't under anesthesia like last time.  As such, he had no delusion that he had died and moved on.  The dull aching of his entire body reinforced that conclusion.

A big white colt with a blue mane nervously watched him move.  His lip was busted, and he seemed wary.  "You aren't going to freak out again, are you?"

"What are you talkin' bout?"  Mac started unstrapping himself, hooves feeling like he was tying knots in a bucket of molasses.  His hungover mind idly wondered if molasses was still a thing.  "Why am I here?  Did Ah drink too much?  James said Ah could have some if Ah had plenty a' water with it."

"That wouldn't have helped in this case."  The colorful unicorn mare Mac remembered from his first visit to the station came over with a small canister in tow.  She held it up, and sprayed a small puff in Mac's face.  It smelled like hairspray, but didn't sting.  "Electrolytic saline, rehydrates the mucous membranes.  It will help with the dry mouth and eye irritation."

Mac nodded slowly.  "Ya know-"

"I know," Ribbon sighed.  "I'm sorry I lied.  I didn't know you were friends with my mom.  There's a lot of things I can't just tell everypony who asks.  I hope you understand that."

Mac sighed too, but when he opened his mouth again, Ribbon cut in, "Thank you.  And in case Radio didn't say it, thank you, from him too."  Mac raised an eyebrow, and Ribbon looked confused.  "What's efficient?"

Mezzo tapped her on the shoulder.  She wasn't letting him talk.

"Oh!"  She winced at the colt's unspoken rebuke.  "Sorry, go ahead."

Mac nodded slowly.  "Why am Ah here?"

"You're recovering from the implant surgery," Ribbon said happily.  "We've been monitoring your vital signs, and your recovery is pretty tremendous.  Your new kidney is in, a little early due to circumstances, and functioning at roughly sixty percent.  A few days for it to settle in, and you'll never know it wasn't the original."

"Hey, um," Mezzo leaned past Ribbon, "do you feel up to having a visitor?  The yellow mare that recovered first seemed pretty worried about you."

"Fluttershy?"  Mac tried to sit up, but it felt like an iron bar was holding him back.  He looked down to see Ribbon's hoof held out over him.

"I'm stronger than I look," she said, mildly distracted by the readout on the table.  "I'm going to have James double check, but by these readings, I don't see any reason why he can't leave soon."

"Ah ain't that hungover," Mac chuckled. "How much did Ah drink?  No matter how strong, one bottle of vodka ain't enough to knock me down this hard."

Ribbon looked down at him.  He didn't remember any of the last twenty-five hours.  "One bottle is more than enough when it's mixed with half a dozen random drugs."  She would let James tell him about his heart stopping.  "You're lucky to be alive right now."

"It was drugged?"  Mac sat up quickly, paying the price in a rush of blood and the sudden splitting pain of a headache.  He pressed his hoof to his head, but grit his teeth and rolled off the table.  "Where's Fluttershy?  Is she ok?"

He found himself being lifted and dumped back on the table.

Even knowing about Ribbon's genetic engineering, Mezzo was impressed, watching the tiny nurse manhandle a stallion twice her size.  "Just how strong are you?"

"Strong enough," Ribbon shrugged.  "Now, Mac, I'm sure Fluttershy would appreciate the concern, but you were hit much worse than she was.  I'll let her in as soon as I finish my scans."

"A'ight," Mac conceded with a groan.  All that movement took a lot out of him.  So, he adjusted, making himself comfortable on the table.

But then, he had a horrible thought, and Ribbon winced at the thought of having to answer it.  She wasn't able to put her words together before Mac asked, "What kind of drug?"

"Exactly what you're thinking, sadly," she answered quietly.  "And, yes, it was meant for Berry."

"Ah, hell, Ah should'a known."  He brought his hoof back to his head.  "She kept lookin' over her shoulder, and didn't want ta be alone.  I ignored it 'cause she was smilin' and brought a gift from the bar."

"Not from the bar," Ribbon corrected, "she drank that one, according to witnesses.  It seems the vodka was given to her by somepony else."  She felt the stallion's anger rise, saw his blood pressure increase on the readout, and she caught a glimpse of how this would be handled in a small, pre-industrial township.  It wasn't pretty.  "She already beat the snot out of him.  He was arrested in a hospital on the surface."

"Good," Mac snorted.  "Is she ok?  Where is she?"

"That..."  The nurse sighed.  "That's a longer story."

"What do ya mean?"  Mac asked the nurse.  Ribbon glanced over at Mezzo, not sure if she should tell the stallion everything, or wait for Growl.  "What do you mean?"  He repeated louder, having seen the silent exchange.  He jumped off the table, and when Ribbon went to push him back up, he grabbed her hoof.  "Where is Berry?"

Her free hoof grabbed the one holding her, yanking it free, but he grabbed it right back, leaving their hooves tangled as they silently wrestled.  Both ponies grit their teeth, but the only sound was the occasional grunt as each vied for some sort of leverage to break the stalemate.

It was Mac who broke the silence, lowering his head towards the young mare he, "Remember, Ah'm injured right now."

Ribbon swallowed hard.  That wasn't meant to make her hold back or go easy on him.  It was simply to remind her that he was currently in a very weakened state.  "And I'm holding back," she growled, staring him down, realizing he was fully ready to call her bluff, even though he recognized that it wasn't a bluff.  This pony was incredibly smart, and an idiot all at once, but it was all out of worry, fierce, protective, worry, and fear, and helplessness.  Painful, unbreakable helplessness in an unforgiving, lifeless world of metal walls, metal ponies, and isolation from everything he knew.  Was it impossible?  Was there nothing he could do?  He already failed to protect her once.

Ribbon locked up in pain as Mac's memory of the attack on the Philomena reached the part where he got shot.  Luckily, the fight had drained out of him a moment ago, or he would have immediately overpowered the nurse.  She was too busy reliving him getting stabbed in the kidney, and trying to remind herself to breath.

It took her a moment to recover, and in that time, Mac had lowered his head into his hooves.  Conflicting emotions ran through him as he grabbed his mane.  Anger, at himself, at those who attacked him and his, both now and in the past.  Opponents that, for all his strength, were outside his reach.

"Radio's gone to find her," Ribbon finally conceded.

Fresh worry stabbed at the stallion's thoughts.  "She's missin'?"

"She was abducted.  There was some sort of struggle in an out of the way corridor, and Lilybelle, one of my friends, was stunned.  None of the blood they found was hers or Berry's.  And, she got a message to Radio with the coordinates where she was being taken.  He's gone after her."

"Alone?"

"Trust me, he can handle himself."

Mac shook his head.  "How can you be sure?"

"He wasn't Furia's entire orbital defense for nothing."

Mac nodded slowly.  He didn't get a chance to interact with the colorful colt for long, but it seemed he was another amazing pony to add to the bunch, leaving him well and far behind.  There wasn't anything he could do, not in this condition.  "Can ya speed up mah healin'?  I may be a relic, but Ah beat yer planet's androd pretty easily.  Ah can help if Ah get get better."

"What if there's nothing to help with?  And it's android."  Everypony looked towards the operating room's entrance.  Growl had just entered, pad hanging from a lanyard around her neck, and she waved in somepony outside.  "I just received a call from the leaders of the group the group that took Berry."

"They makin' demands yet," Mac growled, "or just tellin' us they have her?"

"Quite the opposite," Growl stepped out of the way as Fluttershy walked in, "they wanted to apologize.  For the abduction, stunning Lily, everything."

Fluttershy walked over to Mac.  She moved slowly, too nervous to touch him in case he wasn't feeling well.

"He's fine," Ribbon reassured her, "and feeling much better than he should be."

"Ah'm good, Shy," Mac added, holding out a hoof.  "You?"

She moved in, hugging him as he wrapped his outstretched hoof around her.  "Better," she sighed, "wass-scared."

"You should both be dead," Growl said with a hint of sarcasm, "eight doses of illegal drug cocktail each by body weight.  If that didn't put you down, nothing will."

"But, ya got the guy, right?"  Mac nodded in Ribbon's direction.  "She said he was arrested on the surface."

Growl nodded.  "Seeking treatment for Berry caving his face in with the bottle she then gave you."  She shrugged.  "At least she didn't kill him."

"She wouldn't do that," Mac quickly defended.

"Not intentionally, I believe that much at least."  Growl walked over, and held up her pad.  "But, you are aware her grandfather was a pirate, right?  A powerful, influential, and most of all, ruthless, one?  Here's a video from Berry's abduction.  The group that took her is called the White Flags, and they are professional bounty hunters.  She kicked their asses.  They hijacked our security camera feeds and fed looped signals through, but kept the original videos to document the capture."

Mac stared at the pad a moment.  He wasn't sure he even wanted to see it.  "Even if she's related to a pirate, Berry ain't one herself.  She wouldn't hurt anypony unless she was forced."

"I already said, I believe that."  Growl gave the pad a little shake.  "But, I'm saying she may be more capable of hurting somepony than we, or she, may even realize.  And just wait until you see what Radio did."

Ribbon groaned quietly.  "This isn't going to be good, is it?"

"Well, they aren't keeping him locked up, despite him attacking their soldiers."  Growl shrugged.  "Their princess is more lenient than I would be if somepony managed to take out fifty of our guards before being subdued.  Then again, we don't even have fifty guards."

"Fifty?"  Ribbon grabbed her head as if she was getting ready to send a psychic message across the galaxy.  "Damn it!  Radio!  Surgical strikes!  Stealth!  Didn't you pay any attention in hostage rescue training?"  She looked up as everypony stared, and they were all thinking the same thing.  "No," she answered with some embarrassment, "I don't expect that to actually reach him."

"So, why are they apologizing?"  Mezzo asked.  "If they believed they were in the right, enough so to abduct somepony, what made them change their mind?"

"It seems their Princess is the one that made the decision."  Growl smiled.  "In the biggest stroke of dumb luck ever, it turns out she's from the same place you are.  Do either of you know a unicorn named Rarity?"

"Rarity?!" Fluttershy shouted, the loudest word out of her mouth since boarding the station.  "Where?  Call!  Can you call?"

"Rares is a friend of ours," Mac added, relief settling his nerves and setting a smile on his face, "and of Rainbow and Pinkie, she'll make sure Berry and Radio are safe."

"Yes!  Rarity, good."  Fluttershy grabbed Growl's pad and held it up.  "Call!"

"Calm down."  Growl took the pad back.  "She's going to call us back in about an hour.  She has some important business to take care of in the meantime.  If you're up to it, we'll set up in the conference room on level four.  I want to try and see if anypony else on the station knows her.  That's what your little group is about, right?  Reuniting old friends?"

Fluttershy nodded quickly.  That was a good idea, and not just for this occasion.  Countless ponies must be wondering if their friends and loved ones were out there somewhere.  And the chance to see and speak to them might bring happiness and much needed closure.  "Paper, I make lisst."

"You'll need station records too," Ribbon added, being the only one that understood the depths of the altered pegasi's plan.  "I can help you with that."

"I'll leave it to you two then," Growl said with a nod.  "We meet at my office in forty minutes.  In the meantime, I need to borrow Mezzo."

"Me?"  The mentioned colt looked over in confusion.  "What for?"

The older nurse nodded towards the door, keeping her mind carefully blank.  A skill she picked up naturally from knowing Ribbon.  "I just need to talk to you, come on."





Halfway across the galaxy, a colt woke with a start, shouting a single word, "Stealth!"  Scaring his temporary roommate awake.  With a snort and a cough, he immediately settled back down , out like a light.

Little Juki, finding it a little harder to go back to sleep muttered to himself, "Why are all of my family's friends so weird?"
> Old Friends, Book Ends, and a Bouquet of Flowers.
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------

In his quarters, Captain Nova sat on the small couch in front of the large viewscreen.  It was a relic, centuries older than he was, from the days when LEDs and touch-responsive screens were new technology.  Old enough, that it had to be modified with a camera and mic to serve as a comm panel.  Not many would know, but he had a weakness for old, two dimensional, forms of entertainment.  Everything from ancient computer games, to long-forgotten cinema, and especially animation.  Just imagine, the dedication it took to sit and draw thousands upon thousands of images in order to tell a story, with or without computers to aid the process.  But, for now, his screen was being used for a more important purpose.

He leaned forward, arms resting on his knees as he hit the button on the antique remote control.  The screen flashed to life, showing him the mare who had called.  "Princess," he said with a nod, "to what do I owe this pleasure."

Rarity smiled, sitting alone in an empty conference room.  "Always the gentleman, Halifax.  Is this a secure line?"

He intertwined his fingers as he wondered about the reasoning behind this call.  "As a medical ship, secure channels are about all we have.  Patient confidentiality is important after all."

Rarity nodded, her dramatically styled mane bobbing with the movement.  "Good, because I'm calling in that favor you owe me."

"I had a feeling."  The Captain straightened up.  "So?  What can I do for you?  Does it have to do with a bounty your crew is after?"

"Yes, and no," she answered carefully.  "It has to do with the planet you are currently aiding, Sevus, and one of its former residents."

"Former?"  Nova repeated.  Only one resident of the planet had left it recently, as far as he knew.  "You must mean, Berry?"

"You've met her, then?"  Rarity shrugged.  "That makes this a little easier.  Her grandfather is buried on the planet, I will forward you the coordinates.  I don't want you to exhume him, but I need you to quietly and personally check that he is there, and confirm his identity.  If you can give me a certificate of death, that would be great, but even a recorded statement will be enough for the Bounty Bureau."

"The Curraxan Bounty Bureau?"  He brought his still folded hands to his chin, scratching with his knuckles.  "What exactly am I getting into here?  Who was he?"

"Grinparch Norland."

Captain Nova froze mid-scratch.  For a moment, he didn't move, and when he did, the only thing he did was lower his hands.

Rarity nodded.  "Yes, DNA tests have confirmed Berry's lineage, and a piece of his technology, that we couldn't figure out, responded to her as an, 'authorized user.'"

"Concerning," Nova mused, "is she in custody?"

"In a sense," Rarity evaded the question.  With a sad sigh, she added.  "There is one other thing I need you to do, and this is the personal favor."

"Is it the one that's going to lose me my ship?"

"Heavens, no!"  Rarity sighed again.  "Berry's grandmother is buried beside Norland, as is Berry's mother.  Her grandmother was a close friend of mine, and, though I never met her daughter, I would like to know that they aren't merely forgotten."

"A noble sentiment," Halifax agreed.  "And the favor?"

"I would like you to leave some flowers, your choice.  I'll be leaving some myself when I get a chance to visit, but until then..."

The captain nodded slowly.  "I understand.  Responsibilities to your crew never seem to leave time for personal matters."

"That they do not," Rarity agreed.  "I am in your debt, Captain."

She signed off, and Nova killed his screen with his remote.  With a heavy sigh, he sat there in silence, staring his reflection in the dark screen.  When he finally did move, it was look down at the remote, cradling it in both hands like a precious artifact, even though it was just an obsolete device of plastic and circuits, given to him long ago as a joke.

Now, he understood why.  Why, back when he first met her, he had thought Berry smelled familiar.

"So," he said aloud to his empty room, "you've finally kicked the bucket, old friend."
> A Once, and a Future, Guard
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------

"For real?" Mezzo asked, not quite believing his ears.  "Me?  You're sure about this?  I don't know anything about law."

"You don't have to," Growl answered.  They were walking through the commissary, reasonably far from medical, and a certain psychic filly.  "It's not like I would just hand you a weapon and uniform, and assign you a post.  I'd have Micah show you the ropes.  He can put together a training regimen that includes appropriate classes."

Mezzo was silent as he mulled it over.  He wasn't sure what to think of this offer.  He would love to help, but he wasn't sure he was the right fit for it.

"There is another component to this," Growl added, seeing his hesitation.  "During Vizor's attack, you kept Ribbon stable enough to do her job.  That alone helped countless ponies.  So did wiping out those monsters in the cargo bay.  It would be enough if you just stood around medical whenever there were problems, or tagged along whenever Ribbon responds to an emergency, but I'm guessing you would be happier providing active assistance."

He nodded slowly.  "I would."  He sighed.  "Has Ribbon told you about Clak?"

"The Krikid?  The one who agreed to train you and Ribbon in harnessing her powers?"  Growl nodded.  "She has, and Clak approached me as well, amazingly polite fellow.  He ran his rough plan by me, and if you're fine with some of the details, you have my approval."

"Which details?"

"Well, his photo album had a lot of married couples."

"Oh," the colt chuckled nervously.  "He showed you that?  He's proud of that scrapbook, isn't he?  Ribbon and I talked it over.  Nothing's set in stone, but if things turn out... you know, then, we're ok with that possibility."

"That's a big decision to make at your age," Growl told him, watching him as he watched the crowd around them.  "But, you've both had more than your share of hard times and tough decisions.  Something like this must be very different."

"It is," Mezzo agreed, but he  smiled, "Whatever the future brings, it's just good to know I had a say in it."  He looked around the commissary, at everypony going about their day.  Some he recognized, some he didn't.  Happy, safe, and most of all, free.  "Growl, did I ever thank you?"

"Thank me?"

"For this," Mezzo held his hoof up, "all of this.  I don't think I ever realized what you risked, what you gave up, to help the Tankrit.  And you still are, helping us, I mean.  You put so much into this station, and I'm only now starting to see it."

"You're a good kid, Mezzo, and you're growing up right."  Growl clasped her hoof down on his shoulder.  "Needle Scratch would be so proud of you, and your mother."

"I wish he could have seen this," Mezzo said quietly, voice breaking.  "I wish he could have known Minuette, and Ribbon, and heard mom's music again, or aunt Tavi's."

"He gave his life so you could do that for him.  He knew going back would be the last thing he ever did, but he never even considered staying away.  Nothing I give, no matter how long or hard I work, will ever come close to his sacrifice.  That's why I'm here, why you're here, and why this station exists.  Nothing happens with just one pony, but it only takes one to start it.  For us, your grandfather was that pony.  He gave us the push to fight back, to build this home, this family.  He deserves the thanks, Mezzo, not me."

"But, you didn't have any reason to get involved, and you still came back for him.  And you stayed for the rest of us.  It can't have been easy throwing away everything for ponies you didn't even know."

Growl smiled.  "Your grandfather told me once, 'The right choice is never the easiest to make, but always the hardest to regret.'  I don't regret choosing to get involved.  I only regret not getting involved sooner."

The colt nodded.  He could understand, but he wouldn't share that regret.  "Growl, sign me up."
> I am a Bug, and I'm Digging a Hole.
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------

Kathy shaded her faceted eyes with a leg as she searched the sky for clouds.  There were none, and she was regretting not packing a bonnet of some sort.  "There sure is a lot of sun, sir."

Captain Nova took a break from unloading the small shuttle he and Kathy took down to the surface of Sevus.  "I second that observation," he said, wiping his face with a sleeve, "but it's better than contaminated rain."  They were parked in front of Berry's old house, a makeshift building made from the wreckage of several ships, and nestled in a junkyard containing countless more.  Nova pointed at the house, at a small bench beneath the shade of an overhanging piece of sheet metal.  "We can take a break before we get to work.  Just let me get the Ground Penetrating Radar unit unloaded."

"Of course, sir."  The beetle scurried out of the way as the biped went back for a bulky, but lightweight metal case.  "Do you really think we'll find Norland's body out here?"

"I have no reason to doubt Princess Rarity, or miss Berry."  It was an awkward dance, getting the case out the shuttle's door without bumping into anything, but there was some sort of energy damper in place in the area, and the antigrav sleds they brought were inoperable.  As were the personal comms, weapons, and digging equipment.  The shuttle and all its systems were fine, as were handheld scanners, leading them to the hope that the radar would still work.  A quick analysis of the effected equipment showed a narrow band of power levels, being disrupted, and anything above or below that was untouched.  Their best guess was that the field was meant purely to disable any weapons.  "Do you think we can find the source of the dampening field, and disable it?"

"I'll try and scan for it."  She grabbed a portable scanner, and hurried over to shade.  She disliked solar radiation.  It couldn't harm her, especially at these low levels, but it was still uncomfortable.  She was just glad there was an atmosphere between her and the star this time.  "Um, sir..."

She had glanced down at the scanner, and noticed something that shouldn't be there.

Nova set the case down with a grunt.  "What is it?"  He asked as he opened the case and inspected the equipment for damage.  "K'tthia?"

He stood up as she distractedly scuttled away from shade.  With an exasperated sigh, and sparing a longing glance at the bench, he started following her.  He grabbed a canteen from the supplies as he passed them, and took a swig as he walked around the house.

He found his first mate standing before a trio of stones.

"Sir," she said, staring at them, "these are headstones."

"Yes," he confirmed before walking over.  "Berry's family."  He kneeled down before them, canteen still uncapped in his hand.  "Forgive me, it was rude of me to drink first."  He poured a little water in front of each stone, then offered the canteen to K'tthia.

She held out her foreleg, and the captain poured some out for her.  She carefully cleared the liquid off before speaking up, "an interesting custom, sir."

"No one should drink alone, even the dead."  He smirked.  "Norland would appreciate the sentiment."

"Would he, sir?"

"Of course, he would."  Nova stood up, dusting off his knees.  "He and I once shared a drink like this over our master's grave.  Only, we pissed on it instead of sharing."

"Pissed?"  K'tthia's eye-lenses shifted, focusing on the captain.  That had to be the most vulgar word she had ever heard from him.  A sailor-mouth, he was not.  "Sir, you knew him?  Personally?"

"He was as close to family as I ever had."  Nova looked over with a smile.  "Besides you, of course."

"Glad to hear it."  The beetle raised a limb towards one of the stones.  "This one is his?"

"Yeah..."  Nova leaned down and brushed the emblem clean.  "That's his cutie mark.  He was always good with electronics, especially the older stuff.  He got me hooked on those old flat screens, when we were still..."  He looked down, considering how much to tell his comrade, and quickly decided that he wouldn't hide anything, not from her.  "When we were still owned by that mining consortium."

Nova sat down.  "It's hard to believe that was all seventy years ago."  He patted the stone.  "We couldn't have taken more different paths."

"Sir, weren't you chosen to lead a task force to capture him fifty years ago?"

"Who better?"  Nova shrugged.  "I came the closest to capturing him, too.  I think I still have that handful of feathers in my desk somewhere.  Took down a few of his generals after he disappeared, too.  And, some of his competition.  I knew him best.  How he thought, how he organized, even his true goals."  With a chuckle, he confided, "not a single article or documentary I've seen has gotten it right yet."

Kathy idly adjusted the settings on her scanner, though by now, she was more interested in the captain's story.  "You've never told me this.  What was his true goal?"

"I've never told anybody this," Nova corrected her.  "He wanted truth.  He saw the gaps in history, the wide spread of pony civilization, and the mismatched histories, and realized there must be something hidden there."

"Doesn't everybody?"  Kathy asked.  "Unlike humans, or curraxans, who have well documented histories that are nearly unbroken from millenia before space travel, or my planet, which has a historical record carefully maintained since the invention of language, pony history is horribly fractured.  As are the histories of the dragons, gryphons, changelings, and a few others."

Nova nodded slowly.  "Almost like they all got broken into tiny groups, and scattered across the galaxy."

Had she been capable, Kathy would have gasped.  Instead, she stared quietly, waiting for the captain to continue.

"That's exactly what happened, by the way.  I've spoken with the pony responsible."  He laughed.  "How ironic, that I would be the one to learn the truth, and meet the one he searched for.  He was the one who figured out how to access the computer, who realized those ships' origin, and true value.  He was the one who showed me her picture."  He sighed.  "She was much more impressive in person, and that reminds me, I still haven't told you the story."

"The Sun and Moon one, sir?"

"Yes, that one."  The Captain stood up again.  "I'll tell you while we work.  A radar scan, and a small bone sample taken with the drill wire should be enough to issue a certificate of death.  What did you find on the scanner?"

She held the device out to him.  "An active power source, roughly two meters below us."

He took the scanner, glanced at the display, then handed it back.  "In that case, change of plans."  He pulled a short rod of woven titanium, twenty centimeters long, and five across, from a sheath on the back of his belt.  He gave the rainbow patterned device a hard twist, and another section of rod dropped from the end.  He twisted the new section, and a third dropped when it clicked into place.  He repeated the process, until he had a staff over a meter and a half long.  Then, one final twisted popped out a final section that unrolled into the blade of a shovel.  He shoved it down, point first, and it cut into the ground with ease.  "We dig."

Kathy looked up at him.  "Sir," she asked with a sigh, "that device you carry everywhere, it's a shovel?"

"Yes," he answered defensively, "what's wrong with that?  I also carry the standard knife, torch, side-arm, and laser pen."

"Sir, a shovel?  On a space ship?"

He gestured to their surroundings.  "We aren't always in space."





Several hours of debate over Captain Nova's Every-Day-Carry habits later.

The sun was starting to dip towards the horizon.  This brought the relief of cooler temperatures for Halifax, and decreased solar radiation for K'tthia.  Solar powered lights were switching on automatically around the house as their sensors fell into shadows.

Captain Nova and Kathy had a system going.  He would loosen dirt, toss it into a pile, and she would push it away like a bulldozer.  As they dug deeper, they added a dirt ramp to the hole, facing away from the headstones, so Kathy could continue clearing away the dirt.

"Slow down, sir," Kathy complained as she pushed a larger than usual pile of dirt up the ramp.  "How are you digging so fast?"

"Experience," he answered without slowing down.  "I dug holes, and broke rocks, every day of my life.  From the day I could stand on my own, to the day Norland put a pickaxe through our master's skull.  There's skill to it.  A certain way to cut, and twist, to conserve energy.  You never-"

"Clang!"

Nova stopped digging for the first time since the water break two hours ago.  He glanced back at Kathy, who stopped halfway up the ramp with her dirt.

She turned around, letting the pile tumble down as she cleaned her face of dirt.  "That sounded like metal."

Nova lifted his shovel, and winced at the bent tip.  "Sturdy metal."  He got down on his hands and knees, and started brushing dirt away.  "There's a control panel."

Kathy, already at ground level, started sweeping with her front legs.  "And another one over here," she said as she unearthed a rectangular protrusion.  She cleaned it carefully, and realized she was mistaken.  It wasn't a control panel at all.  She inspected it carefully, and found it hinged on one side.  A tiny pin held it latched on the other.  The beetle poked at the pin with the very point of her foreleg's small manipulative claw, and the rectangular hatch sprung open.  "Sir!"

Nova spun around, hand reaching for his shovel out of reflex.  When he saw Kathy, and the faint blue glow in front of her, he relaxed a little, and crawled over.  He looked into the port that had been opened, a glass window into the box beneath them.  "My goodness..."

"She looks like Berry," Kathy pointed out, staring at the Pink earth pony inside.  She was clean in the wintery light, and her mane was well brushed, littered with flowers.  Her eyes were closed, and she had a peaceful look on her face, like she had fallen asleep.  "Exactly like Berry, only older."

Noting the grey hairs among the pony's pink curls, Nova nodded in agreement.  "She's been cryogenically suspended."

"Before, or after death?"

Nova shook his head.  "No way to tell here.  We'll need to get her back to the Ring."

Kathy looked up at the headstone.  "Sir, this was the only energy signature."

"Yes," he confirmed sadly, glancing up at the headstone as well.  "This is probably the only chamber."  He stood up, and felt his boot hit something near the edge of the hole.  It was too soft to be a rock, or a stick, but too hard to be a clump of dirt.  He turned around, and reached into his pocket for his tac-light before kneeling down.  Light in one hand, he brushed away dirt with the other.

"Find something else?" Kathy asked.

"Not sure," he replied.  "I thought I kicked something."  Among the clumps of dirt, he suddenly felt a different texture.  He brushed the dirt away, finding fur.  Dirty, stained fur.  A little more digging revealed it to be a hoof, the rest of its owner laying beyond the wall of dirt.  "It's Norland.  Bring me the needle probe, we'll get the sample, and send it for analysis before we finish digging up the chamber."

"Yes, sir," Kathy said as she trekked up the ramp, and towards the shuttle.

Nova held the limp hoof as she left, carefully brushing away dirt from the sample area.  "Not the way I wanted to say goodbye, old friend, but at least I get the chance."

Frowning, he started brushing away more dirt, revealing more of the hoof, and some of the leg.  He was feeling the limb, squeezing at the ankle and fetlock, when K'tthia returned.

"Is something wrong?" she asked, voice undistorted, despite the device held in her mandibles.  "I didn't bring the extension kit, since we have direct access."

"It may not work on this hoof," Nova muttered.  "It's too intact, and I don't smell any decay.  Might be an augmented limb.  A damn good one at that.  Musculature feels normal, and the fur is just as tight to it as it would be to flesh, even after who knows how long in the ground."

K'tthia set the probe kit down close to the limb, and withdrew a small needle cartridge.  "A number two soft," she said as offered it to the captain, "this should pierce false skin, but not metal, or any of the polymers used in artificial muscle."

"Any of the polymers currently used by most of galaxy," Nova reminded her as he took the needle and placed it against Norland's leg.  "With Norland, who knows how advanced this augment is?"

His eyes went wide when he triggered the needle cartridge, and it plunged into Norland's leg a preset distance.  "Kathy, grab the scanner, and my canteen.  We may have more digging ahead of us."

"Sir?  What is it?"

"Kathy, I don't smell any decay."  Nova pulled the needle out, and held his hand up for her to see.  On his greyish-blue skin, were a few small drops of red.  "And, he's bleeding."
> A Ship is Launched
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------

"You're sure about this?"  Twilight asked one last time, as she released Ditzy from far too tight of a hug.

"Yes, I'm sure."  She glanced back at Catch and Dinky, who were pointing at buildings in the distance.  The young unicorn was asking no end of questions, it seemed.  "I can't uproot Dinky's life again, and there are good ponies here that are part of our lives now.  We can't just abandon them."

Twilight nodded slowly.  She could understand the other mare's position.  Astral was already onboard the ship, the nice doctor from yesterday had accompanied him to make sure he got set up properly, and to make sure Twilight knew what to do for just about every possible complication.  It never even occured to Twilight to leave him on Tirassa while she dealt with the museum, then return for him.  "Princess Celestia will be arriving later today with a communication device that will let you reach me just about anywhere in the galaxy."

"A subnet relay?"  Ditzy smiled at Twilight's surprise at her knowing.  "Playing maid was just for show, so there was an excuse for why I was always with Catch and Dinky.  I've been studying everything.  There's millenia to catch up on, and some of the technology here is incredible."

"Well, there's even more advanced technology out there, and I don't even understand it all.  So, keep it up, and I'll come to you if I need something explained."

"Dinky's learning it all faster than me, no surprise, so you might want to ask her."

Twilight nodded slowly.  "I'll keep that in mind."  She kept nodding, opening her mouth to speak, then quickly shutting it.  She could feel her eyes water, and her voice cracked when she finally managed to speak.  "I...  I don't want to say it."

The grey pegasus smiled her.  "I know."  Hugging her former princess, Ditzy added, "I don't either.  But, it's ok.  It's not forever, and we can keep in touch via subnet.  Celestia does have your contact info?"

Twilight nodded quickly.  "I'll come back and visit as soon as I can.  Stay safe, Derpy."

"Thanks, Twi."  Ditzy let go of her, taking a step back.  "But, you know," she smirked, "you do have to say it."

Twilight laughed, despite the tears, and rubbed at her eyes.  "Really?"

Ditzy nodded.  "Really."

Taking a deep breath, Twilight lifted her head, looking her friend in the eye.  "Goodbye, Ditzy, be safe."

The grey mare gave a short bow.  "Goodbye, Princess, and thank you, for everything you've done.  Not just for me and Dinky, but for all ponies.  You've seen us safely from Equestria to our new home."  She started walking away.  "I'd call that, mission accomplished."

Twilight fell to a sitting position.  She couldn't hold back tears anymore, even though she was smiling wide.  Mission accomplished.  Not once had she thought of it like that.  There was still so much to do.  So many ponies still missing.  How long would it be until she could say that for real?  Years?  Decades?

But, it was true for at least two more ponies now.

Twilight was still lost in thought when another set of hooves wrapped around her.  She looked up to see Dinky hugging her.  "So, mom says you've got to go, but Mr.Catch says he'll try to get communications set up with the rest of the Galaxy as soon as possible.  So, we should be able to talk again soon.  It would be nice to get magic lessons from you again."

Twilight hugged her back.  "Mr. Catch isn't teaching you now?"

Dinky shrugged.  "He tries, but he's better at explaining history than magic.  Don't tell him I said so, but I think Miss Kettle is better at magic, he's just stronger."

"Well, Miss Kettle's an alicorn now, so we don't know if he's still stronger or not."

Dinky leaned in and whispered, "He teleported us to a space station earlier for breakfast, just to see if he could.  He might even be stronger than you."

"Oh really?"  Twilight smirked.  "Well, Astral and I teleported down from one of the space stations a few days ago.  And I bet he can't do this."  Twilight looked to the sun, and concentrated, hard.  Her horn lit, and a small ball of roiling fire appeared in a flash beside her.  It was contained in a small bubble, but glowed bright as it was shrunk down.  Twilight fed it magic, heat and energy as she crushed it flat on an atomic level.  When she was done, she dispelled the excess heat, and released her forcefield, presenting Dinky with a tiny metal disc.  "This is pure iron, made from a piece of this world's sun."

Dinky took it carefully, checking to see if it was hot, and showing her surprise that it was only mildly warm.  "Isn't iron an end stage fusion product, like when when a star is dying?"

Twilight shook her head.  "In a sense.  A star can make iron a lot earlier than that, but when there's too much, it gets harder and harder to maintain fusion.  I sped things up a bit to make this, this star has a long life left ahead of it."  She ruffled the filly's mane.  "Just like you.  You're going to shine bright as a star, no matter what world you're on."

Thoroughly embarrassed, Dinky attempted to slink away, but Twilight caught her in a wing.  "One last thing, then you can go.  Get your mom to put that on a chain of pure silver, or cold iron, if anypony on this planet knows how to make it.  I made it to match your magic, and it should be a strong protective amulet once you learn to use it."

Twilight let go of her, and Dinky darted off.  But, only a few steps, then she stopped.  "Thanks, Miss Sparkle, I'll miss you."

Dinky finished running off, right past Steel Catch as he headed over to Twilight.

"You better take good care of them," Twilight said as she extended a hoof.

He accepted it, and smiled as they shook.  "I plan to, but you already knew that."  He looked back at the two, as Dinky excitedly showed Twilight's gift to her mom.  "I still believe they would be safer with you, but Ditzy has put her trust in me, and I shall endeavor to live up to it.  So, are you all set for your journey?  I had the ship stocked with food and supplies, enough for a month for a crew of six, and ordered a cleaning yesterday.  If there is anything else you require, just say the word."

"I'm sure we're fine," Twilight reassured him, "it's only a few day's journey.  I actually wanted to ask you about something else."

Steel Catch nodded once.  "Of course, anything."

"Veritas..."

"Ah."  Catch shuffled his wings in discomfort.  "Veritas.  Quite the spell, is it not?"

"Indeed," Twilight agreed, "it's an amazingly impressive spell.  I've been trying to figure it out since I saw it, but I couldn't understand any of it.  And, the runic language is completely different from any I've ever studied, were the runes part of the primary function, or the secondary?"

"Secondary?"  Catch chewed his lip for a moment.  ""How do you mean?"

"Do the runes aid in determining the truth?"  Twilight clarified.  "Or in binding the spell to one's life force?"

Catch glanced around nervously, checking to see if anypony was within earshot, then, just to be safe, he threw a soundproof barrier around him and Twilight.  Then, he threw another one around that.  "What I am about to say can never be repeated, understand?"

"Oh, yes," Twilight quickly agreed, "absolutely.  Any mage would be protective of a spell like that.  It would've been legendary back on my world, worthy of Starswirl himself, or even the princesses."

"Somehow, I doubt that."  Catch sighed.  "It was a bluff.  That spell is not at all what I described, and I got very lucky that it worked the way it did, or that it held up when you interfered."

"I'm not sure I follow.  Lie detection spells aren't even difficult, but yours reacted to things the subject wasn't even aware of, that's what made it so impre-"

"It's a debate timer," Catch confessed.

"A what?"

"A debate timer."  Catch pulled his hoof down his face.  "It's a spell I came up with in school.  You assign a number of points, and the points count down if you stop talking without asking a question."

"Then, it..."

"Truth or not, if you make a statement, it counts down.  If you ask a question at the end, it doesn't.  The runes don't mean anything because they're just decorations I made up on the spot, and they were so massive and bright because that's what I attached to your magic, and Green Hoof's.  You both would have felt a slight pull as it used your magic to light up, giving a vague feeling that I did actually connect something to your, 'life force.'  That's also why I made sure I dispelled Green Hoof's counter before it zero.  Nothing would have happened."

Twilight blinked.  "That whole thing was an act?  It sure had me fooled!  Why didn't mine count down?  I didn't ask any questions."

"You have to cast the counter at the start of a conversation," Catch shrugged, "you can't just add a pony in the middle.  Recasting the entire thing would have  reset the points, and I didn't know what you would say, so I just put the decorations on you and hoped you wouldn't notice."

"Which only worked because I didn't lie."  Twilight shook her head.  "If I had lied, I would have known immediately that the spell was a trick.  If I had said something you knew to be untrue, I would have exposed your spell to Green Hoof."

"Indeed."  Catch gestured to the insulating bubbles around them.  "So, I trust you understand that this is a secret that must be taken to the grave?  I had only hoped to keep Green Hoof silent, put on display that he would not trust himself to speak without lying, thereby undermining any remaining sympathy for Wingless and other such groups.  Your interference turned it into so much more, and the stakes are that much higher should the deception be revealed."

Twilight gave a slow, solemn nod.  "I understand.  I will never speak of it again."

"Excellent." Catch started dismantling the soundproof fields, but Twilight stopped him before he took the second one down.

"There is one other thing, I wasn't even sure I should ask, but while the soundproofing is on, I may as well."  She scratched at her neck, wings shuffling.  "There's a spell, a specific one, I could use your help with."

"Of course.  After everything you've done, and all our planet has put you through, I will render any assistance possible."

"Well, I just need you to cast it.  It's no big deal."

Catch squinted at her.  "I'm fairly certain you are still quite a bit more powerful than I, at the moment."

"Eh, maybe," Twilight said, less inclined to brag to his face than she had been for Dinky.  "We should at least be close enough in power levels for it not to wear off immediately."

"I'm afraid I don't follow."

Twilight winced, seriously debating just letting it go at this point.  But, she may not come across somepony this close to her in magic power for a long while.  She needed to get over her embarrassment, and think practically.  "I'd like you to cast the contraceptive spell on me."

"Ah."  Catch suddenly wouldn't look Twilight in the eyes, and she couldn't blame him.  Clearing his throat before speaking again, he asked, "You don't know it then?"

"Well, of course I know it, basic magic health class stuff, but, um..."  Twilight suddenly felt really worried.  Dinky may have been spot on in her assessment of Catch.  "Why would you ask that?"

Catch looked back at her, thoroughly confused.  "I might ask the same of you."

"Oh boy."  Twilight cleared her throat.  She did her best to slip into teacher mode, but it wasn't so easy.  "The contraceptive spell can't be cast by anypony... involved in, um, the reason for needing the spell."  She coughed lightly.  Why is her mouth so dry after a single sentence.  "And, well, the larger the power difference, the shorter the spell lasts, though it will eventually wear off in time no matter what."

Catch was staring straight at her now, an intense look on his face.  "What do you mean, it can't be cast by anypony involved?"

Twilight felt herself wither under the glare, but answered.  "Exactly that.  It's almost impossible to make a pony's magic act against their body's natural cycles and processes."  Catch was starting to sweat by this point, and Twilight got the feeling she was giving a life lesson a little bit late.  "If a mare casts the spell on herself, nothing will happen.  And if it's the particular stallion she's, um, intimate with, well, it's his... you know what, I think you get the point."

"I believe so."  He took a long, slow breath through his nose.  "I need to go," he said quickly.  In rapid succession, he dispelled the final sound bubble, cast the spell Twilight asked for, and ran across the landing platform, over to Dinky and Ditzy.

Twilight sighed as he borrowed Ditzy from her daughter, pulling her to the side for what was likely going to be a long serious discussion.  Without another word, she walked up the ramp and onto the ship, tight-lipped smile stuck on her face.

"Welp, that was quite the goodbye," she muttered to herself as she shut the door behind her, retracted the ramp, and headed for the cockpit, "now, on to Galvedon!"
> Bathed Alive, or Break out the Swear Jar
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------

"Sir, was all that really necessary?"  Kathy sighed as she loaded another slide into her microscope.  She and Captain Nova were back on the Solomon's Ring, in one of the small histology labs, running tests on the samples they collected on the surface.  "There was no heartbeat, no brain activity-"

"And no decay," Nova finished for her.  He was pacing, scrolling through the results of a dozen different scans, dirt from the planet still clinging to his pants.  "No insect activity, no fungus, no spores, no abnormal bacterial growth, and no explanation!"  He dropped his pad on a table, and pointed at the clump of hair in the petri dish in front of him.  "There isn't even any discoloration!  He's been buried for years, but you drop him on any autopsy table in the galaxy, and the coroner would say he died when you set him down."

"I am perplexed by his condition as well," the insectoid admitted, "but half a dozen armed guards watching his body seems excessive."

"You didn't know him," Nova pointed out.  "If you did, you would ask me to double it.  In fact, I think I'll do just that."

"Sir?"  Kathy stepped away from her microscope.  "Do you believe he is still alive?  Or do you just hope he is?"

"K'tthia..."  Nova sighed.  "What are you saying?"

She mimed a shrug as well as she could.  "I have to ask, Captain.  Are you being objective here?  He was a friend of yours, but he was also a failure of yours.  You couldn't catch him fifty years ago, and from what you've told me, you couldn't save him seventy years ago."

"You're right, I couldn't catch him.  And I couldn't save him from his own choices.  What does that have to do with this?"

"I think you want to save him now."

Nova found a chair and sat down, falling into it like a heavy stone.  "You're right," he laughed, burying his face in his hands, "I would love to save my friend, but I am trying to stay rational.  He is dead.  Every scan and blood test we've done shows that, but he is frozen at the exact moment he passed.  He's taunting me.  He's telling me that if I had arrived one moment sooner, or one moment sooner than that, he might still be alive."

Kathy's shell went pale.  "Sir, did you just say frozen?"

Nova gasped as he lifted his head.  "Yes, Kathy, yes, I did.  He's frozen.  Just like the mare in the cryo-chamber."

"But, that's impossible!"  Kathy shouted as Nova ran past her and out of the small labaratory.





"Shots fired!  Shots fired!  Fall back!"

"I'm bleeding!"

"Anybody hit?"

"Negative!  But we lost the captain!"

"Get those doors back open, and get me eyes in there!  Bridge, this is Security team Tango, we have a hostage situation in the morgue!"





Smoke burned Captain Nova's sensitive nose as a small flame slowly melted the plastic cover of an autopsy table.  He was crouched behind it, facing a wall, ears ringing from an explosion.  Craters tracked across the wall, burned into the paint just above him, ending at a table once covered in supplies.  What remained of those supplies was scattered around him, some of it still aflame.

Alcohol and stunblasts don't mix well.

"Damn it, Grin!"  Captain Nova shouted.  "Even dead, you're an asshole!"

On the floor, on the other side of the table, a single pony, maybe in his fifties, lay gasping for air.  His dark blue fur was stained with dirt.  His back legs were twisted and useless as he pulled himself along the floor.  His one front hoof clutched a pistol, and the stump of his left leg tapped away at a fallen pad.  "Blame my childhood," he croaked, spitting out dirt, and blood from the security guard he bit.  "Where am I?  Who are you?  And why have I awoken alone?"

With a sigh, Nova slowly peeked over the table.  He couldn't hide forever, and he could bank on not being shot, at least, not right away.  "You are on board my ship, the Solomon's Ring, and I think you know who I am."

The old stallion squinted at the captain for a moment, then smiled.  "I never thought I would see you again, brother, not after what you did to me."  He dropped his pistol, and used both his hoof and stump to type into the pad, as fast as possible.

Nova vaulted over the autopsy table, knowing that no good could come of this pony having access to any sort of computer.  He scooped up another dropped pistol, checked that it was still on stun, and-

"Stay back!" Grin shouted, as the ship beneath shook.  "Drop the gun, or I will do something we'll both regret."

Nova glanced up as the lights flickered, keeping his weapon aimed.  "Grin, what was that?"

"Ask your men," he replied, gasping for air, "and tell them to stay back."  Grin coughed violently, splattering blood over his pad.  He didn't know what caused the shaking, but he was going to use it to his advantage, as he tapped away for dear life.  "They stay back," he wheezed in desperation, "or I do worse!  You know me, I've nothing to lose here, tell them that!"

Nova stared as his old friend started coughing again, lowering his weapon as the feared pirate, Grinparch Norland curled into a ball and spasmed, choking, and spitting up blood.  "You've fallen, my friend, give this up."

"No," he rasped.  "You know I won't surrender."  Another fit of coughing splattered his hoof with blood.  "Not to you, not to anypony!  Tell them!"

The captain slowly moved towards the door, quietly testing it, only to find it locked.  "Report," he called out, "what just happened?"

"Sir?" Answered one of the guards outside, "Are you alright in there?"

"I'm unharmed."  Nova moved his head away from the door as a glass thread push through the seam between its top and its frame.  A fiber optic camera.  A tactical team, and most likely their hostage negotiator, was already onsite.  It would make sense, their offices were only a few corridors away.  "What was that shaking?"

"The number one engine just detached, scheduled maintenance, I believe." answered another voice, much calmer.  That was Galena, ship's councilor, negotiator, and when the need arises, hostage rescue specialist.  "Sir, are you in any immediate danger?  Have there been any demands?"

Was it truly scheduled maintenance?  Or was Galena just providing a calm, probable excuse?  That was his job after all.  As captain, he should know if something as major as detaching an engine was scheduled, but in his haste to get down to the planet, he had forgone checking today's itinerary.  "Scheduled maintenance," the captain repeated quietly.  It was possible.  "No, no demands yet, just that we stay back."  Nova glanced back.  "Give him some breathing room."

"First demand," Grin growled quietly, "no more stupid jokes, or I drop another engine."

"How the hell, Grin?  You had that pad for seconds."

"You're a good friend, Hal," Grin smiled weakly, breathing labored, and slow, "that's how.  You kept that remote I gave you."

"Remote?  The tv remote?  The centuries old, infrared, tv remote?  That I had scanned and disassembled a dozen times by the best computer forensics teams on earth?  How the hell does that give you access to our computers?"

Outside the room, Galena tapped the nearest security guard on the shoulder.  "Captain's quarters, get that remote, and isolate it.  Possible wireless data intrusion device in play.  Jam on my signal, not before."

"Yes, sir."

As the guard ran off, the Golem negotiator looked up from the pad linked to the fiber-cam, and over at the other guards.  "Any of you know who's behind this?  Patient from the planet?  Or one of ours?"

"From the planet, but..."

"But, what?  Don't hold back on me, the captain could be at risk right now.  Anything you can tell me will help." 

"It's the body.  The dead body the captain brought back."

The golem stared at the guard a moment.   "A dead body attacked a guard, stole his weapon, and took the captain hostage?"

"It was a stallion, he was dug up on the surface, he was covered in dirt, and the captain was cutting samples off of him.  Monitor was a flatline.  He was as dead as dead gets, and then, he just grabs Ed, tears into his arm like we're in a zombie film."

"All right, thanks.  All of you, get clear.  One of you bring your injured man to sickbay alpha, the rest, make a perimeter, and clear out rooms above and below.  Let's keep anybody else from getting mixed up in this."

With nods, they scattered, leaving Galena and the tac-team in the hallway.   The negotiator scratched at one of the long, citrine yellow crystals jutting out and back from the side of his head.  "I need two people to head around the back of the room, check the camera, we have open wallspace on the starboard side, see if adding a door is feasible, if not, head for the room above, and be ready to add a skylight instead."

Half the tac-team nodded their understanding, then jogged off to follow their orders.

Galena nodded to the remaining team members. "Let's do this."  He took one deep breath, and called out, "Hello in there, my name is Galena, is everyone all right?"

"Galena?" Called out a voice, followed by coughing.  "Is that a golem name?  Or pony?"

"Golem," he answered.  "How about you?  I hear you're a pony.  Do you have a name you'd like to share?"

"A golem?"  Grin smiled.  He was sprawled on the floor, too weak even hold his head up.  "My friends call me Grin, and so should you."

"Glad to hear that, Grin."  Galena's voice was calm, and polite.  His words were measured and clear, respectful without being too friendly.  "What's going on in there?"

"I woke up, and I was surrounded by guys with guns," Grin told the Golem.  "I should ask you what's going on.  Where am I?"

One hand on his hip, Nova pinched the bridge of his nose.  "For fuck's Sake, Grin, do you think my crew is made of idiots?"

"It was worth a try," the stallion shot back.

"Grin, you seem to know the captain, he's a good man, got me this job back when nobody really trusted my race.  How do you know him?"

The captain sighed.  "Galena, you can stop.  I don't think a standard hostage negotiation is going to get us anywhere."

"Respectfully, sir, we have to try.  We'll get you out of there, but isn't it better if we all go home tonight?"

Grinparch started laughing as his body started to shiver.  "Yeah, but skip ahead to fun stuff!  Do the tactical assault, see how that goes!  Have procedures changed since I was around?"

"Not what I meant!"  Nova looked at the door.  "Galena, watch your fiber cam."

"Sir?  What are you talking about?"

"I know," the tall humanoid said in annoyance, "it's protocol to feign ignorance of all surveillance and recovery efforts.  Protocols aren't worth much right now."  He walked over to Norland, and kicked the pad away, earning only a weak kick to the shin in retaliation.  "Again, you're still an asshole."

Grin shrugged.  "You know me so well."

Nova held his weapon so Galena could see it through the camera.  "He's too weak to move.  The immediate threat is over."

Grin kicked him again, if only to prove him wrong.

The captain's only acknowledgement of the action was to step out of range, frowning.  "He needs medical attention."

"And the big metal box I was buried next to!"  Grin demanded.  "And an aircar, and two million bits in small, unmarked currency.  Crypto-cards are good too."  When Nova glanced down at him, the stallion shrugged.  "I'm going to pretend you're still my hostage."

"Humor is good," Galena said through the door.  He wasn't sure what was going on now, or who was holding who captive.  The captain had the weapon, but his behavior wasn't threatening towards his previous captor.  "This was all a big misunderstanding, right?  How about we get this door unlocked and talk about it?"

"Again, it's not that simple," Nova said as he walked to the door.  He stood directly in front of the fibercam, dead center on Galena's display.

"Sir, that's an awfully grim look on your face for somebody who's no longer a hostage."

The captain nodded once.  "This Stallion is Grinparch Norland, and, however brief, he has had access to our computers.  Until we know otherwise, everyone on this ship is a hostage.  Relay this to First Mate Kt'thia, she is in command now.  Alert level, Black."

"Well, this just got interesting."  Galena looked up from his pad, and over at the tac-team members awaiting his orders.  "You heard him.  Find the commander, and brief her on the situation.  Then round up the previous security team, get the guy who was bit treated with an em pulse, just in case he was tagged with a blood chip.  And, remember, Alert level black, that means we keep this under wraps.  Understood?  This gets out, and we'll have a panic on our hands.  Let's handle this quickly, quietly, and make sure everyone else involved understands that."

As they moved out to complete their orders, Galena turned back to the door.  "Grin, you've put me in a difficult situation here.  But, I want you to know, my first priority is going to be the safety of this ship, its crew, and its captain.  You understand?"

"Sure do," Norland took a deep wheezing breath, "You golems will stand up to anything to do what you feel is right, even your own king."

"I'm sorry," Nova interrupted, "but, what did you just say?"

"Ah, yes, well, it isn't exactly well known, sir," Galena explained, "but Grinparch Norland is the King of the Golems, has been for five hundred years.  He is the Finder.  The one who recognized us as an intelligent species amid the algal colonies and rocky shorelines of our homeworld.  He taught us to take on usable forms, gave us technology, and pushed us to interact with the rest of the galaxy."

Nova fixed the stallion on the floor with a disbelieving stare.  "Really?"

"No," Grin answered, as playfully as his hoarse voice allowed, "not yet, anyway."

The captain groaned loudly, grabbing his hair.  "You always said you would leave time travel alone, Grin!  Damn it!"  He started pacing in front of the door.  "Ok, so, at some point, you're going to travel back in time.  So, you knew you wouldn't die on the surface.  And you must be thinking you can get away now, because, if you are taken into custody, there is no way in hell you ever get to see another piece of technology again.  That means, you either escape, or I let you go, and one of those has already happened, so it will happen, and-"  Nova stopped, and looked over at his old friend.  "Damn it, you're an asshole!  Have I told you that?"

"Three times, today." Grin smiled.  "I'm glad you haven't changed.  That job with the perfume company was a waste of your talents.  You needed to be out in the galaxy, doing what I did, but, you know, for the good guys."

"You built the machine that replaced me," Nova suddenly realized.  "Holy crap.  You did, didn't you?  You asshole!"

"Four," Grinparch coughed.

"Impressive," Galena mused from the hallway.  "King Norland, I've known the captain for decades, and I've never heard him swear like this."

"You know," Captain Nova walked to the nearest autopsy table and sat down on it.  He was behind Norland, staring at the back of his head.  "I wonder what would happen if I shot you, here and now, just blasted a hole in your head."  Nova looked at his blaster.  "It would be a paradox if I succeeded.  Would I be able to, even?  Will the battery die?  Shows full.  But, does that even matter?  Maybe the universe intervenes to save you?  A capacitor failure, or the ceiling caves in on me at last moment?  Grin, do you think you're invincible?  You know you won't die, so that's why you've always been so stupidly reckless?"

"Invincible?"  Grin scoffed.  "I haven't moved my hind legs in over twenty years.  I lost my wings.  One of my hooves.  I lost my daughter!  You want to shoot me?  Maybe it just happens.  Maybe the finder was just some other pony with the same name.  I hold no delusions that I can't be killed, Hal, but you, of all people, know that I'm the type of pony who has to learn that the hard way."

Nova wrinkled his nose.  "Grin..."

The stallion sighed, warm puddle of urine slowly expanding beneath him, putting a damper on their previously heated conversation.  "Yeah, that happens sometimes.  Even before I died."

"Paraplegia stemming from an incomplete spinal injury in the lower thoracic vertebrae," Nova recalled from his scans.  "Treatment was attempted with a neural graft, and fusion of the damaged vertebrae, but my scans indicate that there was additional damage, most likely stemming from a delay between the initial injury and treatment.  Success would have been partial at best."

"Partial.  Good word for it.  I can feel my legs, I can feel the warmth of my own piss, right now.  But I can't move 'em.  I can't even keep from messing myself half the time."

"Left hoof is severed just above the wrist," Nova continued, "cut is clean, even through the bone, but no burning.  More likely a well-sharpened knife, than a vibra-blade or laser.  Uneven fur growth over twelve percent of your body, underlying skin damage, loss of cutie mark, seemingly caused by exposure to a caustic compound.  And all sorts of cuts, scars, and claw marks.  Grin, what happened to you?"

"Lots of stuff."  Norland looked up.  "Hal?  Where do you keep my feathers?"

He looked away, setting the blaster down, and resting his hands on the side of the table.  "What feathers?"

"From the ambush, when you grabbed me in that corridor.  I was almost to that escape pod, and there you were, waiting for me."

"And you still managed to get away," Nova reminded him.

"Barely," Grin closed his eyes.  "I set a fire between me and the pod, I told my own people I was heading for a different escape pod, and I had an operative running your ship's sensors for you.  But you... you still found me."

"I didn't know about the operative," Nova admitted.  "I just don't entirely trust sensors when you're involved.  Remember that time in the mines, when I broke my arm?  You faked a gas leak to give me time to recover."

"It's what you do for family," Grin said, pushing himself up on his one good hoof.  With a grunt, he twisted, falling back to the floor with a wet slap.  But he was facing Nova now, and that was all he was aiming for.  "Hal, I'm sorry.  We were family, but I abandoned you.  I turned my back on everything you ever offered me, and I've had a long time to think about that.  Thank you, for trying, for trying to find me an honest job, for trying to make me join the peacekeepers with you, for trying to talk me out of attacking the Taraxians, everything.  I've always regretted not being to tell you that."

"Damn it, Grin," Nova said quietly, "Why?  Why did it have to go this far?  When you went missing, everyone thought you must have been injured in the battle.  I saw you fly straight into that fire.  And then there was the incident at iella base, where somepony tried to collect your bingo book listing, using your hoof as proof.  It plunged the galaxy into war, Grin.  The Taraxian Raider Coalition formed again, and so did a dozen others just like it.  Iella is an illegal drug hub now, black-market cybernetics, mutated organisms, controlled substances, even organs.  Hell, even the number of independent raiders and criminals has shot through the roof, because each and every one thinks they could be the next you."

Nova took a shaky breath.  "And I've lived through all this in command of medical ships.  I've seen what's happening to these people, and... it isn't right.  It isn't even your fault.  I know you, better than any of them do, and when some punk, dying of radiation poisoning, is idiotically boasting that, hey, at least he killed a traitor, because it's what he thinks you would have done, I have to think that the galaxy was better off with you in it."

The captain sighed heavily, and stood up.  He looked down at Grin, whose eyes were misting over, and walked over to him.  For being the pony who caused him, and more importantly, the galaxy, so much pain, he was so small and powerless right now.  The great Grinparch Norland, laying in a pool of his own urine, unable to even crawl out of it.  This was who all those raiders want to be.

Nova was angry enough that he wanted to just kick him.  Maybe scream at him a list of every dead body attached to his name.  He was so disappointed at his own failure to prevent all this that he wanted to march out the door, resign, then maybe shove himself out an airlock.  But, he was happy, happy that his friend, his brother, was alive.  And, out of the entire galaxy, he was the one here to help.

He didn't kick Norland.  He didn't walk away.  Instead, he bent down, and picked him up.  "I keep your feathers in my desk."  He ignored the wet warmth, and the stench soaking into his clothes, and carried him to the door.  "Let's get you cleaned up, old friend."





Norland sipped a chalky tasting electrolyte solution from a cup.  The cup was held by a contraption made of bent wires, clipped to the side of the bathtub he was currently sitting in.  "I know they're iffy about leaving me alone, after what happened last time, but do there need to be this many ponies watching me get scrubbed like laundry?"

Nova, holding the pony upright in the tub, and performing said scrubbing, rolled his eyes.  After leaving the morgue, they found the nearest tub, in the surgical prep room adjacent to one of the Ring's many operating suites.  Which was just as well, the rattling breath, and bloody cough indicated that the stallion was suffering from an advanced case of the same Glycodexrin poisoning afflicting the rest of Sevus' population.

Four members of the tac-team, none of them actually ponies, watched as the captain, after removing his uniform jacket in favor of the undershirt, bathed Norland.  But, they were staying back, at Nova's request.  And Galena was waiting just outside, calling down the supplies for the new draining procedure.  It was a little more involved than the one performed countless times by the colt who discovered the poisoning, but he was working with scrounged and recycled materials, and his focus was on saving lives, and allowing recovery later.  The focus now was on a more complete treatment of both the symptoms and the cause.  There was a shot of chemical binder, to bind any free Glycodexrin and move it through the body's natural waste process.  Pink urine was an unavoidable side effect, but relatively minor, all things considered.  A nebulizer with more binder and a cocktail of targeted medications would then open the airways.  And, finally, delicate laproscopic instruments would allow a more thorough draining of fluid than the previous method.

The captain was scrubbing the dirt off Norland's back as the pony sat half submerged.  He had scars and ports on his back where odd wires had connected him to the battery of his hover chair.  But, there was nothing under his skin for them to attach to, no implants, or artifical organs.  They seemed useless and sealed, but Nova wasn't going to take risks.  He had already changed the water twice.  Once because Norland peed again, almost as soon as he was set in the warm water, and once because he immediately vomited after trying to eat a ration bar.  And, if the water was contaminated again, it would be changed again, as many times as necessary.

"Thanks for not tossing me into a decontamination shower," Grin said as Nova lifted his hoof to scrub underneath with a rag.

"I considered it," Nova replied.  "It would have been easier to just let the computer wash you, but I doubt two dozen jets of pressurized water would do you any favors in your condition."

"You know, Hal, I could probably get any pony in the galaxy to wipe my ass for me if I agreed to tell them half of what I know.  Probably even less."

"Good for you," Nova muttered, "must make me some kind of shmuck, sitting here doing it for free."

"No, Hal, exactly the opposite.  Only one other pony in the galaxy did for me what you're doing now."

Nova stopped, and leaned Norland back into a support brace.  He buckled him into a soft strap to keep him from sliding down into the water.  "The pony in the cryo-chamber?"

Grin nodded.  "My wife, Pinkie, back when I first got hurt, if you'll pardon the horrible, unintentional pun.  She's nice like that, do anything for anypony, and never think about her own return on investment."  He stared at his reflection in the water.  "She's an ancient, you know?  She had powers.  Telesthesia, and some sort of extradimensional ability I don't know how to explain."

Nova folded his arms, and leaned against the edge of the tub.  "She looks a lot like another pony I met recently, a young mare by the name of Berry."

Grin smiled as his eyes screwed shut, happiness and heartwrenching pain fighting over the rights to his expression.  "My grand-daughter.  She made it?  How is she?  How long has it been?  When I had to seal Pinkie back in her chamber, she...  Berry and I were alone.  I tried to prepare her for life without me, but..."

"You did well, from what I saw.  She is in her twenties, travelling with friends now.  They rescued a shipwrecked pony from Picus IV, and stayed with us for a day or so right after.  She seemed quite happy, from what I saw.  She even shares your aptitude for computers, installed and calibrated a sensor panel in seconds when it should have taken several minutes.  Though, I am told she does not hold the same level of skill in crafting."

Tears dropped into the bathwater as Norland tried not to cry.  "Hal, if I'm to be locked away, I need you to take care of her and Pinkie.  I don't know if I sealed Pinkie away in time to save her, but either way, you're the only person I would trust her to."  The stallion wiped his face with his wet hoof.  He could barely move it.  "And, Berry, Hal..."  Grin grabbed the captain's arm, splashing him as he pulled.  And Nova leaned in as he whispered, "Hal, I completed Gossamer.  Everypony thought it was destroyed during that last battle, but I had it with me, even when you and I fought.  Berry has it now, but it's not a weapon anymore, it never was."

"Then, it might be better if everyone continues to believe it destroyed."  Nova put his hand on Norland's shoulder.  "Grin, you have my word that I will do everything in my power to help your wife and grand-daughter, but, I have to ask, given you and your wife's situations, what happened to your daughter?  Is there any chance she-"

"No, she died," Norland said quickly, wanting to get the words out and over with, "in front of me, giving birth to Berry.  Some sort of complication from labor."

"We didn't find a body.  She wasn't buried with you?"

"She was taken from us!" Norland hit the side of the tub, scaring the tac-team into raising their weapons.

Nova pointed his finger at them as Norland coughed up blood and mucous into his bathwater.  "If those go up one more time, I'm kicking you out of here."  He turned his attention back to his friend, and unclasped him from the support so he could pick him up.  Lifting the stallion drenched the captain, but he didn't care.  "That's enough washing for now, we can finish up after you're breathing again."

"I'm sorry."  Grinparch leaned his head against the captain, crying, struggling to breath.  "She was taken," he repeated quietly, "by Berry's father.  He stole her body out of her bed, leaving Berry on the floor.  I don't even know how he got in our house."

"I'm sorry," Nova said quietly as he carried Norland into the other room and set him on the operating table.  Galena joined them at the bedside.

Grin grabbed the captain's arm before he could move away, but quickly lost his grip.  "She was only fifteen."

"No parent should have to go through that," Galena sympathized, "but, I'm afraid I will have ask you a few questions."

The captain straightened up.  "What's going on?'

"Analysis of the pad, from the morgue," the Golem explained, "they found something."

"What is it?"

Norland let himself relax into the operating table's cushioned surface.  He didn't think he finished in time, but it looked like he was wrong.  He was safe now, and back in control of the situation.  But, he found no joy in this situation.  "I'm sorry, Hal, but they probably found the timer."
> Halifax Nova, and the Holograms of the Not So Round Table
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------

Captain Nova slammed his palm down on the conference table.  "For the hundredth time, we don't know what it does!"

The hologram of a heavily decorated human general glanced down at the table.  "Control yourself, captain."

The hologram of President Jones, sitting two seats over, glanced over at the general.  "Hey, you're starting to get on my nerves too, you know."

Jasper, sitting in between them, held his hooves up, as if separating them.  "Let's focus on the matter at hoof, please?  The most dangerous stallion in the galaxy has set a countdown on a medical ship.  We don't know what it does, but I'm sure Captain Nova's crew is working to determine that."  He glanced over at the general.  "Asking over and over serves no purpose."

"I'm not asking his crew what it does," the general shot back, "I'm asking him."

Jasper narrowed his eyes.  "What are you insinuating, General?"

Nova pushed his chair back from the table, and stood up.  He leaned over the table, an imposing presence, even as a hologram.  "My relationship to Norland is no secret, Talman.  If you recall, it was why I was chosen to bring him in."

"And you failed," the general reminded him.

"Before you were even old enough to fly an aircar, I might mention.  And so did everyone before me.  But, I came closest to succeeding, and crippled his entire organization."  Nova sat back down.  "Speaking of which, he mentioned something interesting to me, regarding that battle.  He was in possession of Gossamer at the time."

"Impossible,"the general dismissed the notion quickly, "I've read up on him, and intel showed he was months away from even testing it.  And if he had, your ships would never have gotten close to him."

"The ships?"  Nova Scoffed.  The general didn't even know what Gossamer was.  "I believe you are referring to the aether collimation cannon, StarTouch, which was completed as well.  He merely declined to use it."

"You're saying he completed both of his superweapons before you attacked him, and he didn't use them?"

"Yes," Nova confirmed.  "He could have wiped out the entire assault force at any time, and he didn't.  And, because of that, both these weapons were destroyed."

"I'm less worried about the past," Jones interrupted, "and more worried about your ship's immediate future.  You haven't mentioned any sort of demands yet."

"Because he hasn't made any," Nova explained, "not serious ones anyway."

"How do you know the demands aren't serious?"  The general asked.  "You're going to risk your crew's safety by presuming-"

"What use is 2 million bits and an aircar to Norland right now?  He's paraplegic, missing his front left hoof, and dying of Glycodexrin poisoning.  His wife is in cryogenic suspension, suffering from almost the same level of exposure.  If he was going to make demands, don't you think it would be to save him and his wife?"

"I suppose," the general conceded.  "At least we have a bargaining chip."

"Excuse me?" Nova all but growled.  "A bargaining chip?"  He stood up again, and leaned in real close to the general.  "Even Norland never used innocent ponies as, 'bargaining chips,' and I am not about to start doing so.  He will be waking up soon, and I will talk to him.  I may be able to convince him to give this up, but I will not threaten his family.  Raiders do that, criminals do that, not us."

The general leaned back in his chair.  "Nova, you are walking on thin ice here."

"More than you know."

As the captain and General glared at each other, Jasper cleared his throat.  "I hate to disrupt the tension here, but the Curaxxan and Golem delegates you requested are ready to join us.  They've been briefed, briefly, so to speak, on what we know so far."

Nova looked over at the pegasus, and nodded.  "Of course."  He sat down and composed himself as two more holograms appeared on the other side of the General.  One was a plain looking golem, and the other, a haggard looking Curraxxan, both wearing earth-style suits.  "Thank you for joining us," he addressed them.  "As you have no doubt been told, Grinparch Norland is alive and on board my ship.  He has set a countdown, with an unknown purpose, and has not made any demands."

"And why are we here?" The Curraxxan asked.  "I'm a clerk.  A high level clerk, yes, but a clerk none the less,  And, do you have any idea what time it is here?  I just got done processing the paperwork on Eckrt and Visor, two of our most convoluted bounties due to the multi-jurisdictional nature of their crimes, and I'm tired.  I'm not much use to you unless you want to trade him for the credits.  If he's running around your ship, you might want to contact a green team."

"He's not even walking right now.  And, I understand it's late," Nova apologized, "but I asked to include you because the Curaxxan Bounty Bureau is in charge of Norland's Bounty, and the Curaxxan government has the most legitimate claim to him, due to the destruction of the K'ha Kahala, and the loss of her crew."

"Yes, well," the Curaxxan crossed his arms, "The thing is...  Well...  This is highly classified, but, it might be relevant if Norland's still kicking around.  We didn't actually lose any-  Correction.  We didn't lose many of her crew.  It was kept quiet, but once the ship started losing power and atmosphere, Norland mounted a rescue operation, a surprisingly successful one, given he was alone in a fightercraft.  Three dead, out of four thousand crew, and the ship only had escape pods enough for three thousand.  He even compensated us for the vessel itself, and provided for the families of the lost.  He used this act to leverage the non-aggression pact, but he never gave us cause to regret it."

Nova nodded slowly, trying to keep from smiling.  Of course, he already knew all of that, but it was pleasant to see Talman squirm.  He looked over at the golem hologram.  "And you, you're being awfully quiet over there.  Haven't even asked why invited you.  Aren't you curious?"

The golem sighed.  He looked at each of the other holograms, noting the confusion before looking back at the Captain.  It was only him, apparently.  "You know, don't you?"

"Know what?" General Talman asked, looking between Nova and the golem.  "Nova, did you leave something out?"

The captain didn't look away from the golem.  "Do you want to tell them?  Or should I?"

The golem frowned, but didn't speak.

"Very well."  Nova looked over at the others.

"Norland is the finder," the golem said quickly, before Nova could spill the centuries-old secret.  "He is our king, and is responsible for us ever leaving our planet.  We would request that being taken into account, when choosing how to deal with him.  Every good ever accomplished by a golem is only possible because of him."

"Two very short confessions," President Jones muttered, "and we'll be dealing with the ramifications for ages."

The general looked over at the president.  "What ramifications?  With all due respect, this doesn't change anything!"

"But, it does," Jones corrected.  "We were working under the assumption that the pirate Norland was, as an individual, directly responsible for the deaths of thousands.  In the case of the K'ha Kahala, that's been reduced to three.  We have no way to tell how many he killed outside of the assembly, if any, and even so, we would still lack any jurisdiction over the case.  That only leaves the four ponies in that video on earth, three of which were clearly killed in self-defense.  The driver was not a threat to him, but it could be argued that it was a heat of the moment decision, or that he feared the driver might chase him down."

Jasper glanced over.  "Sir," he whispered, "are you taking Norland's side?"

The white gryphon shook his head.  "This has ceased to be a military matter, and is now a legal one.  As much as we may see Norland as a boogeyman, a faceless evil to scare kids with, he is still a pony with rights.  It seems he never was the Curaxxan war criminal we thought him to be.  As such, he will go to trial, most likely on my homeworld, earth.  There are seven deaths he could be put on trial for, under Terran law.  Three of them would be thrown out as self-defense.  The driver is an extremely shaky case, given context, and the K'ha Kahala matter, while clearly his fault, is muddied by his status as sovereign of the golems.  They weren't part of the assembly when that incident occured, but rather a recognized independent world."

"Um," the curaxxan raised a claw, "if it's true that he was king of an accepted independent nation, then his declaration of war prior to the incident was valid, and us sending ships after him could be seen as an acceptance of it."

"And the non-aggression pact would prevent the curaxxans from seeking further retribution," the golem reminded him, "especially since we have officially joined the Assembly.  If you pursued Norland, you would be the first nation in Assembly history to commit hostilities against a fellow member."

"I know somepony who wouldn't too happy about that," Jasper muttered.

"So, one death," Jones concluded.  "The driver.  And the circumstances surrounding it...  If I was still a lawyer, I would wager I could get an acquittal.  And that was only if it went to trial.  Was there a full investigation?  Was enough forensic evidence collected to prove, beyond the shadow of a doubt, that the driver died?  Was it properly preserved?  Or at the very least, documented?"

"No," General Talman groaned.  "We use that incident as a case study for debate students on earth.  My own son gave a solid defense as a class project.  If I recall correctly, there was only a little blood on the inside of the windshield, and a single tooth.  Everything else in the car was burned up because it was Hydroline powered, instead of fuel cells or batteries.  There's no way to say the driver didn't survive the crash and go into hiding.  What would you do if your boss died, the most feared pirate in the galaxy wanted you dead, and your organization thought you were in on the whole thing?"

"Then, except for piracy, all we could pursue him for are non-violent crimes," Jasper observed.  "Fraud, financial hacking, burglary of scientific equipment and materials.  And, consider that he disappeared a little over fifty years ago.  Statutes of limitations, amnesty agreements, lack of documentation, even changes of government, are going to make it hard to actually prosecute him.  With one important exception, whatever is currently happening on the Solomon's Ring."

"Then there's the matter of if we even should pursue him for the past," Nova added, drawing all attention back to himself.  "Hear me out.  I know Norland as well as anypony else in this Galaxy, and he has always had a goal that is beyond his own personal wealth and power.  How many raider groups these days can make the same claim?  How many of them operate with a personal code of honor?  How many of them drop shipments of food in disaster zones?  How many of them regularly attack slaver strongholds, free their captives, and provide them safe passage to places of refuge?  How many of them have dropped the leaders of other criminal groups at the doorsteps of planetary police stations?"

"The negative effects of Norland's disappearance have been well documented," the golem smugly pointed out.

"There's no proof that his return would help any," the general argued.  "He has killed dozens, if not hundreds, of other pirates."

"Could it make things worse?" Nova posed the question.  "He was never the aggressor.  He only attacked his enemies after they attacked him, or declared hostilities.  And he never went after civilians."

Talman made a small hand gesture conceding that point.  "There is still one thing I don't understand."

Nova knew the human representative was going to be the most argumentative, but Talman actually seemed to be on board easier than expected.  "And that is?"

"How the fresh-baked hell are you defending the man who is holding your crew hostage?  And not only that, you are fiercely defending him.  I question where your loyalties lie after this."

Never mind, he's nowhere near on board.  With a weary sigh, Nova hit a control on the table, silencing the feed just as Talman began another round of accusations.  "I've just muted you, General.  I will not tolerate my loyalty being questioned on my own ship.  This is a medical ship.  Our mission comes first, whatever that may be, and right now, it's to help the population of Sevus survive whatever is happening to their planet.  As for the safety of my crew, it has already been all but guaranteed.  Evacuations have already begun, and they will be complete well before time runs out.  And it is my firm belief that these evacuations will prove redundant, because my brother would never hurt those I care about!"

Nova cleared his throat.  He had just shouted that.  And he had stood up at some point, leaning over the table, looming over the general, all two and half meters and his skin flushed icy blue.  "Not everything has to be a zero-sum game, General."  The captain sat back down, falling into his chair with a heavy sigh.  All eyes were on him, and no wonder.  "I was about nine years old when I first met the pony Grinparch Norland, and he was three, maybe four.  I was actually the one who first called him Grinparch, my best attempt at reading the inscription on his only belonging, a battered piece of plastic that I can only assume was once a holographic identification card.  At the time, we were property of a mining consortium funded by the Taraxian Raider Coalition.  In the eleven years before we escaped, and the seven years after, before he turned to piracy, we were each the only family the other had.  We owe each other our lives dozens of times over.  And seeing him now, having talked with him...  If anything, he is less likely to hurt anypony now, not more."

President Jones intertwined his talons, staring at the tall humanoid.  Right or wrong, he spoke with conviction.  And, more importantly, he had already put safeguards in place in case his intuition had failed him.  "Why don't you tell us what you are proposing, Captain?"

Nova chewed his lower lip for a moment as the moment arrived.  This was it, either the last or greatest moment of his career.  "I want Norland's bounty rescinded, on the condition he agrees to never again take up the mantle of pirate."  The rest of the room went quiet.  "He is an old and broken stallion, with nothing left but his family.  If he leaves the pirate life behind like this, wouldn't it be a powerful symbol?  Certainly much more powerful than wheeling him out in front of cameras in chains.  And then, there is no reason for whatever plan he's trying to put in place with the timer."

Talman shook his head, chewing his lip before raising his hand.  Once Nova remembered, and unmuted him, the general dropped his hand to the table.  "Fine, let's say I agree with this, which I don't.  This is sketchy as hell, and the sort of shady dealing that's gonna have the C.O.C. breathing down all our necks."

Jasper shook his head, half-smiling, a motion missed by the other attendees.  This was the sort of thing those immortals at the C.O.C. loved.  Redemption, second chances, unlikely family reunited?  Not going through with this would be more likely to draw their ire.  "Any chance he would give up the aether cannnon?  StarTouch, you called it?  And Gossamer?  Or, at the very least ways to defend against them in case there are prototypes floating around?"

"Gossamer was lost," Nova lied, "destroyed in the aftermath of our battle, as was StarTouch, sacrificed for his escape.  But, I will ask about StarTouch, even if it was destroyed, he may be able to build another, or he may be able provide a defense."

"Then, wouldn't he be able to build another Gossamer?"

"That's not the way Gossamer worked general.  There is no more of Gossamer, and there never will be.  It was built on Ancient technology predating most civilizations.  Norland didn't create it, he merely learned to use it."

"As long as it's gone."  Jasper shrugged.  "And as long as he doesn't keep developing new weapons."

"Don't be too hasty," General Talman cautioned the pony.  "What about his comm-breakers and Phase-shields?  There are several technologies he developed that we haven't quite been able to replicate, or even figure out.  Schematics would be useful.  The location of his automated manufacturing center?  Or his personal workshop, the one the K'ha Kahala stumbled on.  We could stipulate, as a condition of his release, that he work with the galactic assembly to atone for what he's done?"

"How did I not see that coming," Nova snarked, "should I present him with your shopping list of super-technology before, or after I tell him you wanted to use his wife as leverage?"

The golem delegate shot up from his chair.  "You wanted to what?!"

"Now, hold on," the general shot Nova a dirty look before facing the golem, "we are under a deadline here, I was merely suggesting-"

"That our queen may be used as a pawn?"

"No!  I didn't know."  The general sighed.  "How did he even become your secret king anyway?"

"There will come a point in the future where he will encounter a space time distortion, and wind up on our planet nearly five hundred years in the past.  He was vague with the details, for our own protection, and protection of the timeline.  He told us we shouldn't try to intervene with matters relating to him, and if we had no choice, we should always do what we believe right and good for all involved."

The general blinked.  "Norland the Pirate told you this?"

"Not to me, personally," the golem clarified, "depending on our magical affinity, a golem's lifespan is similar to a human's.  I do believe there are still stationary golems on our homeworld that met Norland, but they would not be able to tell you about it directly, as verbal communication did not come about until it was taught to us."

Talman threw his hands up.  "All right!  Fine!  Whatever!  Offer the crippled pirate his amnesty, but if he so much as pirates a video game, I will send warships after him."

"Been there, done that," the curaxxan looked over, "it doesn't end pretty."

"And," Jones held up a single talon, "while I support the idea of rescinding his bounty, I have my doubts about simply releasing him into the wild."

"He is not a trout," the golem pointed out.

"No one said he was," Jones countered.  "I am merely stating that it is difficult to suddenly trust that a pirate so feared is now reformed.  No matter how much time it took for that to happen, or who vouches for his character, we have yet to see proof."

"What if he was remanded to the custody of a neutral third party?"  Nova suggested.

"Yes," General Talman agreed, "perhaps the White Flags?  They are a trusted, independent nation of bounty hunters, and equipped to deal with dangerous individuals."

Nova smiled.  He would have suggested the White Flags, but having someone else do it made it that much more legitimate of an option.  "That's an excellent idea General.  Why didn't I think of it?"

"I concur," stated the curaxxan, "their recent work at Iella base has stemmed the flow of toxic, 'challenge,' substances in outlying curaxxan territories.  The numbers of deaths and hospitalizations are already dropping."

"I find it an acceptable compromise," the golem conceded, "so long as Norland agrees."

"I'm certain he will," Nova reassured.  He had already spoken to Rarity, and Norland's grand-daughter would be back on the Nemeton by the time the Solomon's Ring left Sevus' orbit.  "If there's no objection, I will speak to him as soon as he wakes up."  Nova checked his watch.  "There are twelve hours and just over a minute still on the timer, and he is recovering from the Glycodexrin treatment procedure."

"If he is not awake on his own in two hours, wake him up." Jones ordered.  "I know you're confident he will accept the terms, but leave time to evacuate in case he doesn't."

Nova nodded.  "As I mentioned, nearly complete, I ordered an evacuation drill, so everybody not already off the ship is ready and waiting."

"Without inducing panic," Jasper mused, "Smart man."

The captain nodded at the compliment.  "I try."

"Well, I need to make some calls," General Talman said as he stood up.  "This is going to throw the outer rim into an uproar.  Keep me updated on this situation."

The curaxxan stood up as well.  "I'll need to start the paperwork to rescind the bounty right away.  As the requester, captain, I'll be sending you some paperwork to sign.  You, um, you do realize, you will be held liable if anything goes wrong?"

Nova bowed his head.  "I would expect nothing less." 

One by one, the holograms flickered away as each delegate signed off.  He talked them into it, and they were putting their trust in him.  All that was left was to inform Norland once he woke up.

The captain was smiling when a young security guard ran into the conference room, shouting, "Sir!  Something's gone wrong!"

His smile didn't break, his expression didn't waver.  He didn't even blink.  He just stared forward.

"Of course it has."
> A Voice is Heard
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------

"Tchk... tchk... tchk... tchk."

Twilight looked around the small washroom as she dried her mane with a towel.  The clicking started a little bit after she got out of the shower, but it was hard to determine where it was coming from.  Every so often, it would pause, then resume a moment later, and she could only hope that there were no problems with the ship, because she would not have the first clue how to repair

If the ship got stranded, she would have to hope it was close enough for her to fly to the nearest planet.  And, her magic was returning to normal, so that range was smaller than it was yesterday.  If only she had been able to wait for Celestia to arrive on Tirassa, then she wouldn't have to worry about it.  The princess generated the first slipstream by her own magic, she could probably sustain one generated by a ship without breaking a sweat.

But, she wasn't able to wait.  The Crimson Bolt, the ship Chairman Catch had given them, despite being one of the most advanced on Tirassa, had capabilities slightly below the average Assembly ship.  Its quantum slipstream drive would only barely get them to the museum in time to stop the sale of the cryochamber.

"Tchk... tchk... tchk... tchk."

Whatever that sound was, it wasn't in here.  And it wasn't accompanied by an alarm.  Even given her limited knowledge of spaceships, she knew how much spaceship designers liked their sirens.  Any serious problem was usually accompanied by klaxons and warning lights capable of making eyes and ears alike beg for death.  Even minor problems, or things that weren't problems at all had their loud, attention grabbing chimes, bells, and whistles.  

Draping her towel around her neck, she grabbed the bucket she left under the sink, and filled it with hot water.  She would bring this out, then check the main computer and start a diagnostic to see if there was some minor problem causing the sound.

Whether or not she could fix it was another question entirely, and one she didn't want to dwell on.

"Tchk... tchk... tchk... tchk."

She walked out of the washroom, and into one of the ship's three sleeping quarters with her bucket as the clicking started again.  The lights were down, and Astral was laying on the plush bed.  His back was to her, and he was lightly tucked in under a sheet, since she wasn't sure if the heavy comforter would be comfortable over his injuries.

"Tchk... tchk... tchk... tchk."

Twilight frowned.  Astral was making the noise.  Was he clicking his tongue?  At least it wasn't the ship.

"Twi?"  The injured unicorn croaked, before clearing his dry throat.  "Where are we?  What are you carrying?"

The alicorn glanced at her bucket of water.  He couldn't lift his head enough to look back, so she answered, "bucket of water, and we're on our new ship," as she walked around the bed.  "You really are a thestral, aren't you?  Echolocation?"

"Yeah, never got the hang of making a proper trill or sonar screech, so I have to settle for clicking my tongue."  Astral managed a smile for her, despite feeling like putty left in the sun, faded and brittle, any movement might be the one to make him crack.  Were he not always grey, he felt like his coat would be drained of color.  "How long ago were we on Patch's ship talking about Thestrals and Nightponies?"

"Four days?" Twilight guessed.  Her time locked away on the weather platform had messed with her sense of time.  "Maybe three?  You've been asleep for most of today, how much do you remember?"

"I remember getting shot," Astral tried to gesture to his injured side, but his good side was pinned under him, and he was sore enough that wasn't going to move to free it.  The battle was clear in his memory, as was the trip to Tirassa, but everything after being teleported away from the crashed weather platform was hazy.  He wasn't sure what was dream and what was real.  "I faintly remember the hospital, being put under for surgery.  You were there.  And, I...  I..."  A blush hit his face as he recalled what he hoped was a dream.

"So, you remember licking me," Twilight said with a small nod, "good to know."

Astral couldn't bury his head far enough into his pillow.

"Oh, it's not that bad," Twilight laughed, "you were really sweet about it."

Astral lifted his head out of the pillow just enough to peek sideways at the smiling mare.  "What else did I do?"

"What do you mean?"

Astral frowned.  "Don't play innocent.  If I was out of it enough that licked your face, I had to have said or done all sorts of embarrassing things.  Tell me everything, now.  I don't want you holding my pain-and-anesthesia-fueled ramblings over me."

"Face?"  Twilight smirked.  "Astral, you only licked my hoof.  And then, you complained that I wasn't grape-flavored.  Were you trying to lick my face?"

"What?!  No!  Why would-"

"I'd let you."

Astral's protests died as soon as his thought process hit the speed bump she so casually laid out.  He looked over at her, expecting a smirk, or a laugh, not the tight-lipped, nervous smile she wore.  "You mean, kiss, I hope."

She gave a small shrug.  "If you wanted to."

Astral stared a bit.  Something in him wanted to accept the invitation, if only to call her bluff, but he wanted something else far more.  He worked his good hoof out from under him, with more than a little struggling and wiggling.  His right side was too stiff to move.

He had barely lifted his hoof before Twilight took it in hers.  She practically threw herself on the bed with him, wings folding gently around him as she wrapped both her hooves around his.  He didn't even tell her that all he wanted was to hold her, to be close to her for at least one quiet moment after all the fighting and danger.  She wanted it, too.

They both needed this.  A moment of respite, a quiet, healing embrace.

"I'm so glad you're safe," Astral whispered, craning his neck to touch his forehead to hers.

"Don't say that.  Not you, not after what you did," Twilight tearfully admonished, slowly shaking her head, rubbing the end of her nose against his, "You... had me so scared."

They stayed like that, not saying anything more, for a long time.  Several minutes, letting the simple warmth of touch do the speaking for them, a time too short by far.  But, Twilight pulled away after a moment, and busied herself with her bucket of water, and the small towels that sat folded beside the bed.  "I'm sorry, I need to do this before I forget."  She blinked and rubbed at her eyes, dunked the cloth, and wrung it out.  "The doctor said warmth is good for your injuries.  Twenty-four hours, and every four hours after that, minimum, I need to set a warm damp towel to keep the muscles relaxed.  Or, as often as you feel like you need it."

Astral watched her.  She wasn't crying, but she was close to it.  He knew his own eyes were burning with the weight of unshed tears.  How long had she been waiting for him?  First, locked away, prisoner in that weather station, then waiting for him to come out of surgery, then waiting for him to even wake up.  He had failed her.  "I'm sorry."

She shook her head, closing her eyes as he blew a hole in the fragile dam holding back her tears.  Why would he say that?  Of all things, why was he sorry?  She dragged him into this search.  She failed to tell him that she wrote a runic spell to protect herself from high speed impacts.  Bullet, aircar, meteor, didn't matter, she would phase out at the moment of impact if it was capable of injuring her.  She was the one who should be sorry.  And, for all this, he didn't complain.  He didn't blame her.  "Astral..."  She pressed a cloth to his shoulder, careful not too press too hard.  He took a sharp breath, preparing for a pain that never came, then relaxed as the heat seeped in, easing the tension in his shoulder.  "How's that?"

"Good," he sighed.  "That's so much better."

"Good," Twilight repeated with a smile.  "Astral..."  There were so many things she could say, so many she wanted to.  She wanted to apologize. She wanted to explain that she didn't hold him accountable for a single thing that happened.  She wanted to tell him that she loved him, and never wanted to see him hurt again, and that he could just stay on the next safe planet they found.  But, she knew he never would.  He would stay by her side until it killed him, or until she completed her mission, and nothing she could say would stop him.  "Astral, thank you."

"You're welcome."  He chuckled, then moaned in sweet relief as she placed another steaming towel on his hip.  "But let's not to get in the habit of taking bullets for each other."

"Sounds like a plan," Twilight agreed.  She wasn't sure if he would want to know, but she had recovered his gun.  The enchantment she placed on it made it easy to find among the wreckage, and the extra pieces, the magazines, and all the spare ammunition, were still in her jacket pockets when she got it back.  She had all of it locked up in the cockpit, in a small safe she found that seemed specifically designed for weapon storage.

She had seriously considered destroying it, back on the planet, the moment she found it.  But, it was Astral's, she would let him make the decision when he was back on his hooves.

She laid another towel over his hindquarters, stifling a chuckle while he sighed.  Water was getting everywhere, her fault, for not being more careful about wringing out the towels.  "Astral, while those sit, I'm going to grab fresh sheets.  Do you need anything?"

"Another pillow might be nice."  He lifted his head, stretching his neck.  "Maybe two.  I'm not used to sleeping on my side like this."

"Two pillows, coming up."  Twilight trotted off, out of the room.  The door opened automatically for her, and closed behind her.  This left her in a large corridor with tall windows providing a view of open space.  Stars zipped by, and the energies of a slipstream swirled faintly.  She took a moment to stare, slowly walking over to sit by the window.

This wasn't the first time she saw this, far from it, in fact.  Free travel to other universities and prestigious academic conventions was a perk of her post at Luna's Academy.  But she was so rarely alone on those trips.  Public transportation was noisy, crying foals, complaining parents, and even private shuttles were usually packed with arguing scholars.  It was different, here in this quiet hallway, just her, and the lights of star travel.  It almost felt like she was alone in the universe.

"Well, except for Astral.  I mean, he's right in the other room."

"Right," Twilight conceded, "except for him."

It took a beat or two for Twilight to register the other pony's presence, despite having responded to their statement.  She scrambled back quickly once she did, wiping out over her own hooves before managing to turn and face herself, or, at least, herself from several years ago.  She looked down at the smiling unicorn mirror, and quietly groaned.  "And, now I'm hallucinating."

Her unicorn doppelganger shook her head.  "You're not hallucinating."

"That's exactly what a hallucination would say," Twilight pointed out.

The other Twilight gave a shrug.  "Can't argue there."

"Wait..."  Twilight gasped in realization, tapping her hooves as her excitement got the better of her.  "You're the echo!  My magical echo from the interchange circuit.  But, I have memories from you, I thought you got absorbed back into my consciousness."

"So did I," unicorn Twi admitted.  "I think going full alicorn battle princess on those jerks who locked us up may have split us up again, because I'm now a separate entity within you.  I guess that makes me sort of like Nightmare Moon, or Daybreaker, except you don't really have a terrible, psyche-breaking internalized trauma to turn you evil, well, except the whole torture room thing.  You handled the pain, piss, discomfort, and sleep deprivation tactics like a champ, by the way, old us would never have lasted.  So, you get stuck with boring, old, me."

"I'm sure you aren't that boring."

"I was stuck in a crystal for several millenia, counting every millisecond with the accuracy of an atomic clock.  I can't think of anything more boring than that."  The double shrugged, and changed the subject.  "So...  Astral...  He's nice."

"Yeah," the real Twilight agreed quickly, "he is.  Why am I worried about what you're going to say next?"

The double sat down, and brought her hooves together.  "So, here's the thing, and I'm just gonna lay it all out.  You, I, we...  We knew the risks.  We fixed that crystal knowing full well what could happen.  Knowing that I could happen.  I was prepared, because we knew the survival of Equestria's inhabitant's was more important, that the continuation of our species was more important.  So, imagine my irritation when I find out that I haven't participated in said continuation of the species."

"Continua-"  Twilight's eyes went wide.  "Whoa!  Back up!  No, it's only been four years for me, I am not ready to be continuing anything just yet, least of all, this conversation."

Twilight walked away, heading through the nearest door she could find.

Her double was standing on the otherside.  "Are you trying to walk away from an aspect of your personality?"

Twilight walked past her without stopping.  "So what if I am?"  She headed through the room, and through another door, ending up in one of the unused sleeping chambers.

The double was lying upside down on the bed.  "You do know it won't work, right?"

Twilight nodded, tight lipped, keeping the expression of annoyance from her face.  "Ok, now that I stop to think about it, I see your point."

Her younger self rolled over.  "Great.  So, look, it's just us.  I'm you, you're me.  Our conversations are basically happening in the privacy of your own thoughts.  There's no reason for shame."

"It really doesn't feel that way."  Twilight walked over, and grabbed the pillows from the bed.

"I was wondering if you remembered those."  The double hopped off the bed and walked alongside Twilight as she headed out of the room.  "Shouldn't you grab one more?"

Twilight looked at the pillows.  "He only asked for two."

"One for you," the double corrected, "I already know you're planning to keep watch on him until he's walking again.  I don't think he'd mind sharing the bed."

Twilight refused to look over as her face burned red.  "Then you should know that would be far too risky given his injuries."

"Is it, Twi?"  She put her hoof on the alicorn's shoulder, stopping her in the hallway.  "Is it, really?  It's a big enough mattress, and I really don't think he would mind if you climbed in next to him."

Twilight looked down at her, then at the empty space on the other side of her.  "Aren't there supposed to be two of you?  One's supposed to be an angel, and you're both supposed to be little.  How'd I get stuck with one full sized little devil?"

"You do realize you don't have to do anything in bed, right?"

"I knew that!"  Twilight defended quickly.  "You're the one talking about continuation of the species!"

"Oh, yeah?" The double demanded, raising her voice.  "Well, you asked for Catch to cast that spell on you without any input from me, so you can't tell me you weren't at least thinking of taking Astral for a test run."

"Oh, my god!  Can you please not say it like that!"

"Look me in the eyes and tell me Astral is not the absolute perfect specimen for it!"

Twilight looked over, trying hard not blast the apparition out of existence.  She didn't want to damage the ship on a futile effort to silence a fragment of her psyche.  She took a deep breath, calmed herself, and exhaled slowly.  "Fine, yes," she admitted to herself, "he's totally my type.  Maybe once he recovers...  Look, I just wanted to plan ahead, and leave my options open.  Can we leave it at that?"

"That dark blue mane?"

Twilight threw her hoof up.  "Of course we can't!"

"That kind voice?"

"Are we still talking about the same pony?"

"That rugged, athletic build, not too slender, not too bulky?  Imagine that muscle and sinew under the dark glint of the Night Guard's armor, that perfect grey coat under dark plate.  Those bright eyes, yellow or blue, both look so good, shining just for you as he removes his helmet."

"Please stop."

"As he drags you away from your books, over to the bed."

"No, really, please stop.  It's really disconcerting to realize how much I've fantasized about this."

"Well, stop fantasizing, and start realitizing!  Or, whatever.  Do you think Astral will mind?  Once he's a little better, of course.  Hell, I bet he'd be willing to give it a go right now."

"There is a taser in the weapons locker, and I will zap myself if it makes you stop talking."

"Fine, open that door, and I will say five more words.  That's it.  Then I will leave you alone about this."

"Some how, I doubt that."  But, there wasn't much else she could do.  With a sigh, Twilight made sure she had the pillows, and opened the door.

The moment she saw Astral lying in bed was the moment her double whispered in her ear, "Itty bitty baby alicorn thestral."

Twilight froze in the doorway.  Astral looked up at her, and she met his eyes before shutting the door.  Once it was closed, she turned on her double.  "Why?"  She wailed, going red in the face.  "Why would you do that to me?!  I'm never going to get that image out of my head!"

"Cute, huh?"

"Freakin' adorable!"

"So, did you imagine purple with a blue mane, or-"

"Grey with a purple mane."

"Ooh, messy mane, big purple eyes?"

"Yeeees!!"  Twilight fell to her knees.  "I'm never going to get that out of my head.  How am I supposed to look him in the eyes after this?"

The smaller Twilight shrugged, then poofed out of existence.  Her final words echoing through the empty hallway.  "Not my problem."

There were still two days of travel until Galvedon.
> Hate Me, Kill Me, Chase Me, Heal Me
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------

11 Hours, 55 minutes later.

Halifax Nova, Human-Tarraxian hybrid, Captain of the Earth Medical Ship Solomon's Ring, sat in his quarters, his fingers laced together as he stared at his tv screen.  His uniform was torn, scorched and stained in several places, the stench of wine and spices clung to him like glue, and his left shoe was missing.  Before him, white numbers counted down against a black background.  Beside him, his first officer, Kt'thia, Kikhrid of the planet Kikhoht, watched in silence.

"You sure you don't want to leave?" He asked her.

"I should be asking you that," she replied.  "I would survive, even if the main reactor ruptured."

"Hmm."  Nova leaned forward resting his chin on the backs of his fingers.  "Invincibility does make going down with the ship an easy choice.  Did you make sure someone will come retrieve you after?"

"I mentioned it to the crew of the last shuttle out," Cathy admitted.  "Sir, what happened?  How did Norland escape?"

Nova gave a shallow sigh.  "Somebody left him alone on a Real Time Scanner table.  He somehow looped his scans, so the monitors wouldn't flatline, and crawled off to find a pad.  He didn't have to go far.

One room over.  A service tech was installing a surgical lamp one room over, had his head buried in music, and apparently didn't hear the evacuation order.  Oh, and he was logged in to the lighting and power systems with full administrator permissions.  Darkness, confusion, and access to our computer was all Norland needed to get away from security.  He had them chasing a ghost, operating doors and systems remotely.

He dragged himself through the ship, so there was a scent trail for me to follow, mostly the antiseptic used on him during his surgery, and I was able to track him as far as level two's food storage, where, surprise, surprise, he had rigged a blaster to the door.  Oh, but he couldn't have just pointed it at the door and put me out of my misery, no.  The bastard spread cooking oil on the floor so I would wipe out, then pointed the blaster at the wine rack.  All the spices and alcohol.  Boom!"

"I was wondering about the smell," Kathy interrupted.  "I can't imagine it was a pleasant experience for a nose as sensitive as yours.  But, where did he get the blaster?"

"His trail led through the morgue where we had him before he woke up.  There must have been one left in there, under a table or something.  That, or he hid one during the initial chaos."

"That would be an amazing amount of foresight for somepony in his condition at the time."

"Not really, Kathy, because we've done it before, back in the mines.  Multiple times at that.  The first time was about three years after I met Grin, there was this human thug that was transferred from some Likani prison, liked to cause trouble for anyone that didn't grovel at his feet, and when it came down to it, gave us a week's notice that he was going to kill us.  Wanted us to be afraid, and wanted to draw a crowd to watch him put down the upstart kids.  Grin was about six, and I was maybe twelve, so we had no chance against an adult human, especially not one as strong as him.  So, we started a fight with an older Taraxian guard in order to get a weapon, and stashed it right there while we fought.  So, we had nothing when they beat and stripped searched us, but when we got into a fight with the thug a week later, it was there when we needed it.  Of course, we didn't use it, we just made sure he had it when the guards found us."

"The more you tell me of your past, the more I understand some of your habits.  Though, I'm surprised that Norland was so young for all this."

"I don't know if he was ever that young.  Sure, we would goof off and play as much as we could given the circumstances.  But, his brain isn't wired like other pony's.  When I met him, he asked if I could understand him, and did so in several languages before landing on standard.  And, he learned Taraxian in a matter of months.  From day one, he would analyze and track guard rotations and inmate politics like a trained intelligence operative.  And, from what he told me, he may have been.  Said his life before was all tests and questions, training and following instructions, but never being told why.  Being allowed to play with the other foals when he did well, under strict supervision, but never seeing them otherwise."  Nova shook his head.  "I don't know what he was being raised for, or how it ended with him being thrown away like I was, but I hope those other foals had an easier time of things.  Though, I have reason to believe they had their own troubles."

The captain cleared his throat.  "Anyway, from food storage, I think he hid inside one of the food crates meant for delivery to Sevus, and used the pad to order someone to put it on a shuttle.  Of course, I didn't realize that until it was too late.  By the time I recovered from the overload of smells in food storage, he had remotely set off several small explosions by overloading the lights in several storage closets, triggered an alarm near one of the computer cores, and tripped an alarm on a weapons locker as distractions.  I saw through all of those, but he tricked me with a quiet login near the bridge using the credentials of the tech he stole the pad from.

So, I headed there while he was being moved.  Several other items were placed on the shuttle as well.  Some industrial equipment, manufacturing tools, a furnace, micro-sintering metal printer,  a force-field casting die matrix, five-axis cnc laser ablation mill.  All sorts of raw materials, Copper-Beryllium Alloy, several tungsten compounds, three gallons of multireactive ferrofluid, elemental silicon, titanium, gold, and palladium, good old steel, leather, and aluminum, even epoxy and superglue.  And then, there was medical equipment, scanners, surgical kits, medical lasers, neurological implants, nerve interfaces, and one Glycodexrin treatment kit.

He waited until everything else was on board before ordering his wife's Cryo-chamber to be loaded.  Maybe because he knew security would be all over it, as would I.  And, we were.  And, we fell for a trick as old as electricity.  He put another pad in a different shuttle, on speaker, with a recording of him screaming that a crate had fallen on him.  He was convincing, and we ate a flashbang for letting ourselves be distracted."

Done with his long winded story, the captain leaned back on the couch.  "My ears are still ringing."

"I'm sorry I missed it."  Cathy glanced down at Nova's feet.  "And the missing shoe?"

"I'd rather not talk about that," the captain said quietly, maintaining a stoic expression.

A moment passed silent between them, only to be interrupted by the flash of the tv switching over to a close up of Norland's face.  He had a clear shoeprint on his face, and a bloody nose.  "Hal?"

"You have some nerve, Mr. Norland," Cathy cut in.  "You were going to be released.  Your bounty was going to be rescinded.  You would have been able to stay with your family.  And Captain Nova risked his career to secure that for you."

The old stallion nodded once.  "I know.  That's why I did this.  To protect him."

"Really?"  Nova scoffed.  "Doesn't feel like it.  You do know I'm still on the ship, right?  And I'm staying here, no matter what that countdown leads to."

"You've always been as stubborn as I am," Grin observed.  "You told me that I could be a symbol, that I could influence those who might try to follow in my path.  Well, if you really want that, there is something I need to do first.  And, I can't be restrained by the rules, or watchful eye, of the Galactic Assembly if I want to succeed."  He looked down.  "I don't think I've ever asked this of anypony before, but please, trust me."

"It would be easier to trust you if I knew what you were planning," Nova pointed out.  Though, he had a sneaking suspicion he knew what the old stallion was planning.  "Where are you going?  What is so important to you that you would risk everything like this?"

"There are wrongs that must be put right."  The old pirate shrugged.  "I've caused a lot of pain, but there are things I can do to make up for that.  There are weapons, devices, and even old subordinates of mine that can't be allowed to roam free."

Kt'thia held up one of her legs.  "And you plan on doing what, exactly?  I ran some of your medical scans.  You aren't in any condition to wage a war on the remnants of your pirate group."

The stallion nodded slowly.  "I know.  I stole copies of those scans.  I didn't know about the bone fragments still in my spinal column, and I would bet my last doctor didn't either.  Good thing I'm not planning to wage a physical war."

"Just let us help you!"  It was taking everything Nova had not to pull his hair out.  "We have a spinal injury specialist, we can probably even get you walking.  The White Flags would be more than happy to help take out any of your old crew.  Hell, I'd quit my command and go with you if you asked!  And I promise you, you will still get to stay with your family.  There is no reason for this!"

Norland shook his head, turning his attention to the console beside him.  "I appreciate it, Hal, but I can't spend the rest of my life the prisoner of some Bounty Hunter's guild, no matter how well treated I would be."

Nova glared at the stallion.  He wasn't getting through to him, but he had at least one more card to play.  "Even if your grand-daughter is part of that guild?"

The stallion looked up suddenly, face as close to panic as Nova had ever seen.  "What do you mean?"

"I spoke with the leader of the White Flags while you were recovering from surgery.  Berry is with them, assisting with a case, under the direct supervision of their prince.  She is scheduled to return to their base by the end of next week.  And, you should know, the leaders of the White Flags are like your wife, ancient ponies awoken from cryo-chambers.  Their princess is the one who sent me to look for you, because Pinkie was a friend of hers, and she wanted to protect Berry by getting your bounty rescinded."

"Damn it, Hal," Norland said quietly as he leaned against the console, covering his head with his hoof.  "I just want to disappear again, make sure Pinkie and Berry are safe, for us to live in peace."

"You, of all ponies, should know that won't happen like this.  Come back, and we can help."

"Thank you, Hal, but no," Norland straightened up in his chair, "I will turn myself in to the White Flags, my final act as pirate, rather than be handed to them as a crippled relic.  I have at least that much dignity left."

"And the timer?"

"I honestly have no clue what will happen.  It was the first thing with a countdown that I was able to access."

"Well, it's going to happen in the next few seconds."

"I wouldn't worry too much," Norland said with a smirk.  "Whatever it was, there wasn't even a password on it.  Well, until I added one."

"Really?"  Nova stared at the screen as it switched back to the final seconds of the countdown.  The encrypted password and multiple layers of security made it seem as though the timer was linked to some critical system.  Hell, even the lights had passwords to override their preprogrammed schedules.  He glanced down at Kt'thia.  "Did your team find anything about the countdown?"

She shook her head.  "Only that it was being broadcast throughout the ship, with no apparent source."

On screen, the countdown reached three, two, one, and finally zero.  There was a loud click from the other room, but otherwise nothing.

Nova was the first to react, burying his face in his hands.  He would never live down the shame from this.  He and Norland were even for their last battle now, this humiliating defeat was more than enough payback.  He recognized the sound.  "Damn it, Grin," he half cried, half laughed, "you really are an asshole."

Kathy recognized it as well, but walked over to the other room, a kitchenette, to confirm for sure because that click was followed by an unfamiliar trickling sound.  She saw the cause immediately.  "Sir, your tea-maker turned on without a cup in it."
> Boredom, or a Philosophical Discussion on the Flawed Perception and Unstable Nature of Time
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------

"Ooh," Berry started tapping Blue on the shoulder as a flight attendant pushed a snack cart down the aisle, "they have popcorn!  Let's get popcorn."

The stallion sighed wearily as he rubbed his face.  "We're not getting popcorn."

"Why not?  You don't like popcorn?"

"I like popcorn, it's just-"

"Good, because I love popcorn, even though I've only ever had it once.  So, let's get some."  She grabbed his hoof with both front hooves, and leaned so far in front of him, that she may as well have been sitting in his lap.  "Please?"

"Fine," Blueblood huffed as looked away from the puppy-dog eyes Berry was making.  He raised his hoof to get the attendant's attention.  "A popcorn, please?"  The human, already several seats ahead, retrieved a bowl of popcorn from the second shelf of her cart, and held it up.  Blueblood teleported it into his waiting hooves with magic.  "Thank you."  He then offered it to Berry.  "I can smell the salt from here, make sure you get a drink when she comes back around."

Berry happily relieved Blue of the bowl.  It would be a while before the cart came back by.  She and Blue were tucked away in the back corner of the shuttle, hardly prime seating, but there were plenty of empty seats around them, since most of the passengers were in the larger seats with video displays near the front.  "I think I'll take a scotch.  What are you having?"

The stallion beside her frowned.  "Berry, this a discount shuttle service that normally caters to families and school groups.  They don't serve alcohol."

"Oh," Berry said with a mouthful of popcorn.  She chewed and swallowed before asking, "what do they have then?"

Blue shrugged.  "Juice, soda, water?"

"Soda?"  Berry's head tilted.  "Like sodium carbonate, for washing?"

"Like carbonated beverages," Blue corrected.  "You've never had a soda before?"

"No."  Berry shook her head.  "But, I'm trying new things every day."

"Well, we can see what they have.  Surberry juice is pretty common throughout the galaxy, and soda from earth is popular everywhere.  Plus, there's always local specialties."

Berry nodded quietly, stuffing her face with popcorn.  "You know a lot more about the galaxy than I do."

The stallion chuckled at the complement.  "I'm sure that's just a temporary situation.  You'll get used to things quickly enough."

"New couple, eh?" asked the old pony pushing the drink cart.

"No!" Blue jumped to answer, turning around quickly.

"Oh," he responded with a chuckle, "I was sure you two were together, my mistake."

"But, we are together," Berry said with some confusion.  "And we really haven't been together all that long, so you could say we're new."

"She means, we're traveling together," Blue clarified, "we're just friends."

"Friends on a mission," Berry added, before eating more popcorn.  "This stuff is good."

The old pony chuckled.  "Well, you two, 'friends,' have fun with your mission, whatever it may be."

Blueblood stopped him before he walked away.  "Wait, um, could we get a Surberry soda, a water, and an orange juice?"

"Sure thing," the old pony said with a smile.  He reached his hoof into the middle of his cart, and withdrew the requested drinks, one after the other, with practiced speed.  He stacked them along the arm of Bluebood's seat.  "Anything else?"

"Not at the moment, thank you," Blue answered as he offered the soda and the water to Berry, keeping the orange for himself.  Once the drink pony walked away, he sighed miserably.  "Don't I get enough of that from mother and Brand?"

"Enough of what?"  Berry flipped down the table on the back of the chair in front of her, and arranged her bowl of popcorn and drinks.  "And how long are we going to be on this shuttle?"

"It's been five minutes," Blueblood groaned, pointing out the window, "we haven't even left the atmosphere."

Berry glanced out.  "Ooh, pretty," she muttered, watching the blue sky fade darker, and the pinprick stars begin to appear.  "So, when are you going to tell me more about the mission?"

"I was trying to, when you interrupted me for popcorn," Blueblood reminded her.  "Why is it so hard to say no to you?"

Berry smiled.  "Whenever Granpa asked that, grandma said it was because I was so ridiculously cute."

Blueblood cleared his throat.  "Anyway, you remember the mission briefing, right?"

The pink mare nodded quickly, then whispered, "An unknown party is planning to use the quantum computer core of the theatre ship Crystalia to run an unknown, and possibly malicious algorithm.  Most likely targeting interplanetary financial interests and the galactic sales tax.  We need to identify them, determine the algorithm's purpose, determine their connection to Hearson Financial, and, or, my grandfather, and put a stop to their evil plans."

"Uh, yes," Blue was impressed, though, she added the bit about the evil plans on her own.  "You were actually paying attention?"

Berry squinted at him.  "What's that supposed to mean?"

"You were playing with that little robot the entire time," Blue reminded her.  "I didn't know if you were listening to the briefing."

"Surveillance and Hacking Autonomous Robotic Teledrone," Berry corrected.  "Shart for short."

Blue squinted at her a moment, waiting for her to snicker or giggle, but she didn't.  "You're serious?  We are not calling it that."

"Why not?"

"Just trust me on this."

"Well, we can leave off, 'robotic,' since it's obviously a robot, and nopony needs to be told that, so then it's just shat!"

Blue rubbed his forehead.  This was shaping up to be a very long excursion.  "How about just teledrone?  Or Telly, if you want to shorten it?"

Berry shrugged.  "I guess that works.  Anyway, I accessed its root commands and data recorder, and it seems like it was supposed to be the final delivery mechanism for the algorithm.  I found some test algorithms in its temporary memory, nothing useful to us, but whoever had Telly before didn't know how much memory or computing power he had."

Blue nodded.  She sure latched on to the name Telly quickly, thank the night! "Does that help us?"

"Not really, but it tells us that they probably obtained Telly second hoof.  They didn't even know how to set exclusive command authorizations, or access the cameras and movement controls."

"So, they couldn't move it, and they couldn't use it for surveillance?  You mean, they were only using it as a data storage device?"

Berry nodded, kicking the bag under her seat.  "I wiped the existing settings, installed a new control scheme, and set you and I as the only authorized users.  I also painted it, so nopony will recognize it."

"Good thinking," Blue took a sip of his orange juice and set it down.  "So, for the mission, you can use your name, but nopony can know the truth about your grandfather, or who I am, or why we're here.  My name is Blue Skies.  I'll be auditioning for a part in one of their plays.  We were able to find a last minute opening for a lighting technician for you.  It should fit your skill set, with a little on the job training.  They break their cast and crew up by experience level, so we'll at least be together in the novice section, but there's no guarantee we'll be on the same production."

"So, as far as anypony else can know, we're just there to work, right?" Berry took a sip of orange juice.  "Ooh, that's tangy."  She held up the little bottle, inspecting the opaque liquid within.  "What's in this?"

"I- That-" Blue stammered a moment, checking his empty hooves.  "You can't just drink other pony's drinks!  When did you even take that?"

"I can't?"  Berry looked at the bottle.  "Is this like the thing with spitting on the floor?"

"No!  It's a completely different set of considerations."  Blue grabbed the water bottle.  "You can keep it, but you really shouldn't do that anymore."

"I don't get it," Berry admitted.  "Are you sure you don't want it back?  I just wanted a taste."

Blue reluctantly took it back, wiping the rim with his hoof.  "Please don't make a habit of this."

"But, we can both try twice as many things this way."  Berry held up her soda can.  "You can have some of mine, if you want."

Blueblood was starting to realize that this would be a long trip.  "I've tried it before," he politely declined.  "I'm fine."

Berry then held up her popcorn.  "Have you tried this before?"





Three hours later.

Berry poked Blueblood in the shoulder, waking up the sleeping stallion.  She pulled her headphones off as he blinked himself awake.  They were actually his headphones, and she was listening to some music that he brought.  "I don't understand any of this.  What's a calliope, and why would it crash to the ground?"





Another three hours later.

The tables have turned.  Berry had given Blue his headphones back, and taken a nap of her own.  Only, she had latched on to his leg, and was smothering her face into his shoulder, muttering something about clouds as he tried to read the script for his audition.





Yet another three hours later.

Both Berry and Blueblood had taken naps, eaten, listened to music, read and memorized the audition script, familiarized themselves with Telly's controls, and sampled several different teas, juices, and sodas.  They had also lost track of the time left until they reached the theatre ship.  When would this end?

"Is it too early to eat again?"

Blue stretched out in his seat.  "I don't think so, you hungry?"

Berry yawned, and leaned against Blue's shoulder again.  "Not really.  But there's nothing left to do."

"Yeah," the stallion agreed, having long given up on his personal space, "I should have brought another book."

"I should have brought a pad."

"Mission protocols," Blue reminded her.  "Nothing with log-ins, or traceable information stored on it.  You would have had to buy it after the Opalescence dropped us planet-side, and you wouldn't be able to use any messaging apps, or your Grand Library, Aurible, or Steam accounts."

"I don't even know what those are," Berry groaned as she sunk in her seat, ears flopping forward. "I just want some video games."

"Right.  A pad with Fallout: New Tokyo would be welcome right now."  Blueblood shrugged.  "Well, we'll just have to talk to each other then."

One ear perked up, and she glanced over at Blueblood, considering it.  "Ok," she said as she pushed herself back up in the chair.  "What do you want out of life?"

Blue raised an eyebrow.  "Starting with the easy questions, huh?"

"Fire Brand said I should ask."

Blue rolled his eyes.  "Of course, he did.  What else did he say to ask?"

Berry shrugged.  "He said I should ask what it would take to make you settle down, whatever that means.  You seem pretty settled to me.  He also said to casually remind you, at every opportunity, that I'm not part of the chain of command."

"Ignore him!"  Blueblood ordered, blushing.  "He's worse than my mother!  Why can't they leave me alone about this?"

"About what?"

"Not dating."

"Dating?"  Berry asked.  So many things were confusing, and this was one of them.  Fluttershy knew words, and their meanings, but couldn't say them.  She knew the words, and how to say them, but it sometimes seemed like she was missing meaning and cultural context.  "As in determining the age of things?  Like with isotope decay?"

Blue squinted at her.  "Was that a joke?"

Berry shook her head.  "Nope," she answered, upbeat as ever.  "I am legitimately stumped right now.  I'm guessing there's another type of dating?"

"It's when two ponies spend time together, get close, go out for drinks, dinner, and stuff, to-"

"Like us?  Right now?"  Berry glanced at the shared armrest, and the table full of empty drinks and dishes.  "Are we dating?"

"Let me finish!"  Blueblood nervously glanced around, but everypony else on the shuttle was engrossed in pads or music, and paid them no mind.  "The important thing that separates dating from just doing random things together is that they are trying to see if they like each other."

"Oh," Berry said with an understanding nod.  "So, we are dating?"

Blueblood blinked.  "What?"

"Well, we were enemies, and we're only now starting to trust each other, and we're finding out if we can work together or not.  So, it's kind of like we're seeing if we like each other."  Berry smiled at the young prince, confident in her logic.  "This is going to be fun, I've never dated anypony before."

"Berry, slow down," the blushing prince wiped sweat from his forehead, "I don't think I've explained this right."  He cleared his throat, and straightened up in his seat, freeing his hooves to aid his speaking.  "When I say dating is to see if two ponies like each other, I mean more than just as friends.  Dating is to see if you like each other enough to fall in love, and then to see if you love each other enough to spend the rest of your lives together."

"Oh!"  Berry shared his blush for a moment, sheepishly covering her mouth with her hoof.  "You're talking about courtship," she whispered.

"Yes," Blue answered quickly, relieved that they were finally on the same page, "yes, I am."

The earth pony was stunned into silence.  Fire Brand wanted her to court Blueblood?  Why?  And by settling down, did he mean marriage?  She wasn't ready for that!  Though, that was what courting was there for, to get you ready for that.

She sighed long and heavy.  How did she forget that was a thing?  It was even on her list of things to do when she left the junkyard.  Wait... "I forgot!"  She smacked her hoof to her head.  "How could I have been so stupid?"

"I'm not following," Blueblood admitted.  "What did you forget?"

"I had a list!  A list of all things I wanted to do when I finally left the junkyard and started exploring the galaxy."  She groaned.  "And I left it in the junkyard."

Blueblood raised an eyebrow, and saw an opportunity to deflect any talk of dating, and to turn her question around on her.  He was sort of curious what the heir of the galaxy's most notorious pirate wanted in life.  "What sort of things were on it?"

"All sorts of things."  Berry scratched her head.  "I don't remember all of the little things, that's why I wrote them down.  But I remember the important ones, stuff like seeing Granpa's homeworld, flying a spaceship, going swimming, or giving somepony flowers."

"Giving somepony flowers?"  Blueblood smiled, for the pony with the second highest bounty in the galaxy, highest being her grandfather, she was still a fairly normal young mare.  "Not receiving flowers from somepony?"

"Actually both," Berry shrugged.  "That's how you started courting somepony on Sevus, by exchanging flowers.  Flowers are super important.  Each one has its own meaning, and purpose.  If you give somepony a bunch of flowers, and they give you one back, it means they're interested in courting you, and if you're interested back, you put it in your mane.  Then, you do it the other way around, and they give you flowers.  Everypony thought I was dangerous, so I rarely even got to visit the flower fields."

"You mentioned that before, how you were an outcast.  I don't understand, wasn't your other grandfather the colony's leader?"

Berry nodded.  "Neither of us knew that until Uncle Astral figured it out.  Before that, everypony thought I was a witch.  The witch of the lake," she mimicked a hunched old crone telling stories, "her hooded form stalks across the water, untouched by monsters.  Is she coming to listen quietly from the shadows, or to steal your blood away with a wave of her hoof?"  She crossed her hooves and pouted.  "I punched one pony, who was trying to stop me from installing a water filter on a village well, and his nose bled.  After that, they started throwing rocks whenever they saw me.  And when the cough started getting worse, they starting searching for me in groups, and when a group of ponies finally attacked me, I..."  She looked down, ashamed to admit it.  "I left them hurt, and stranded in the wastelands."

Blueblood nodded slowly.  "Sometimes, ponies that are too close to a situation are unable to see the solutions right in front of them.  It happens often with the White Flags' line of work, especially when we apprehend one or more perpetrators of a crime, only to realize things run deeper than initially thought.  Often times, those who hire us don't care.  They have their scapegoat, and want the outsiders out of their business."

"How do you deal with that?"

"We call it the sovereignty protocol.  It's part of our treaty with the Galactic Assembly.  A big part of it is that, when somepony hires us, they agree to giving us full authority to act as we see fit.  It's in any contract or written communication exchanged, and if they break it, they have no legal recourse when we take matters into our own hooves, by force if necessary."

Berry's expression soured.  "You mean, like when you grabbed me on Delta?"

"Yes," Blueblood answered directly.  "That brings me to the second part of Sovereignty Protocol.  We see things through, in a calm, measured manner.  It's why you were brought to the Nemeton instead of being delivered directly to Sheriff Glacier on Canterlot Betta.  Our purpose is to provide an impartial hoof, whose only goal is to see justice served.  And third, we take responsibility for our actions.  If we make the wrong decision, we make it right, no matter the cost."

"That's for sure."  Berry's hoof rubbed the side of her snout, where the claw marks were faded enough to be hidden by fur, and she glanced over to see if there were any traces left of Blue's sewing needle injuries.  There weren't.  "Do you think it was the wrong decision?"

Blue saw her feeling her snout, and knew right away what she was talking about.  "Sending a team after you was a bad choice, but I'm not sure it was the wrong one.  Glacier may have hired other bounty hunters, ones content to blindly follow orders, had I refused.  Things could have gone better, but I think we all ended up where we needed to be."

"Where we needed to be," Berry repeated to herself.  If she wasn't kidnapped when she was, or if things had gone smoother, she may not have gotten a message out in time for Radio to receive it, and attempt a rescue.  And, if she and Radio weren't there when the assassins attacked, who knows what could have happened.  Maybe the assassins sneak up and kill everypony?  Maybe nopony walks around the back of the ship, and the assassins get caught without incident?  "You think it was destiny?"

The Prince shrugged.  "I hesitate to slight free will, but maybe a little?  Makes it sound like a fairy tale."

"But, it basically is a fairy tale," Berry pointed out.  "A young mare goes on an adventure, and meets a handsome prince?  That's the summary for like half of all fairy tales ever!  But most fairy tales don't end with them going on super secret spy missions."

"There are similarities, yes," the Prince conceded, "but most fairy tales are based on romantic fantasies that simply aren't..."  Wait, did she say handsome?  "Um..."

"Hey!" Berry jabbed him in the shoulder with her hoof, surprising him with the sudden change in tone.  "You never answered my question earlier."

"What question?"  He winced as he remembered.  "Oh, that question."  He pressed his lips together as he thought it over, before answering, "as Prince, there are a lot of considerations I have to-"

"You keep saying that," Berry interrupted.  "Considerations this, considerations that, sets of considerations.  I didn't ask about that."

"I know," Blue sighed, rubbing the back of his neck, "but as a prince, I can't separate myself from the needs of my people so easily.  You want to know what I want?  Well, ask any of the thousands of residents of the Nemeton what they want, and you'll have your answer.  I just want to be true to my role, and be the best Prince for them that I can."  He looked to see Berry's reaction, but was confused by her smile.

"That's a good answer."  The earth pony patted his hoof with her own.  "You're a good pony, and I'm sure you're a noble Prince."

Blue found himself smiling back.  "Most ponies tell me to be more selfish after hearing that."

Berry shook her head.  "That wouldn't be you.  At least, as far as I know.  And, honestly, I don't know you all that well.  But..."  She curled her hoof around his.  "I do know I'm glad I met you."

Caught off guard, the young Prince stammered out an unconvincing, "B-berry, we shouldn't be- um...  Can we talk about this after the mission?"

She nodded happily, not letting go of his hoof.  "Blue, would it be ok if I gave you flowers?  I mean, I wouldn't expect one back, obviously, but you've been really nice to me, and I think it would be nice if you were the first pony I-"

She was interrupted by the drink cart lady, calling out from the front of the cabin, "Thank you, everyone, and everypony, for choosing Swift Flight's shuttle service.  We have arrived at theatre ship Crystalia, and will be docking shortly.  Please gather your belongings, and prepare to disembark."

"Aw," Berry's ears drooped, "it's over?"

Blue sneakily stole his hoof back, and placed it over his racing heart.  "About time," he muttered.  "I thought you wanted the trip to be over."

"I did, at first, and it was kind of boring there in the middle, but it actually ended up kind of fun, overall."  Berry grabbed her bag from under the seat.  It was actually one of Juki's school bags, and she was borrowing it. It was a bit large for the preteen colt, but it was well sized for her, and her minimal belongings. She would rather have her tool belt, but it was still on Delta.  "We'll sit together on the way back, right?"

"Of course," Blueblood answered as he pulled his own duffel out from under his seat.  "Your company made the long trip all the more bearable, despite some...  hiccups in communication."

Berry's head tilted to the side.  "But, neither of us had hiccups at any point during the flight."

"Exactly."  The Prince maneuvered out of his seat and into the aisle, then held Berry's bag for her as she did the same.  "It's a figure of speech."  He moved out of the way as another pony walked past, but most passengers were taking their time getting up.  "A hiccup can refer to any minor disruption, such as those caused in our conversation when cultural differences caused us to refer to the same thing by different names."

"Oh, you mean the courtship and dating thing?"  Berry took her bag back once she was in the aisle, and slung it over her shoulder.  "So, why don't you date, or court, or whatever?  And don't use the word, 'considerations.'"

"Uhh..."  Blue scratched his cheek.  "Berry, that's really unfair."

"I know," Berry smirked, "you like that word.  But, what kind of considerations?  Do you just not want to?  Because you can just say so.  But if there are reasons, I'm curious."

The young Prince squinted at the energetic mare.  "Berry, why are you so interested in this?"

She replied with a smile and a shrug.  "I dunno.  I guess because you're different from most ponies I've met, and I want to know why."

Blue pressed his lips together as people and ponies around them started shuffling towards the exits.  "Different?  In what way?"

"That's the thing, I don't really know."  She and Blue started shuffling along with the flow of the crowd.  "That's what I want to find out.  I've met all sorts of ponies since leaving Sevus, but none of them make me feel like you do."

Blue froze in the middle of the path.  A not so gentle knee from the human behind him shoved him to the side, but he barely noticed as he stared at the mare in front of him.  "Feel?"

Berry turned around, dodging the impatient biped that Blue inconvenienced.  "Yeah, feel," she confirmed as she ducked out of the way of a group of ponies.  "Blue, is everything all right?  I don't think I'm good with facial expressions, so I'm just going to ask.  What does yours means right now?"

Blue grabbed her and pulled her along to an alcove behind some seats, where they could stand without being walked over.  He swallowed hard, and asked, "Berry, please be honest with me, what do you mean by feel?  What do you feel?  Be specific."

"It's really hard to describe," she admitted with a chuckle.  "It's a lot of things.  I admire the way you're nice to ponies, even if they aren't nice to you.  I'm really happy that you respect me and find value in my skills.  Whenever you complement me, I get all warm and fuzzy.  I look at you more than I can explain why, especially when you aren't watching.  Oh," she added with a smile, "and when we're close like this, my legs feel all weird, heavy and wobbly.  Kind of like when I fell asleep from that sleeping potion in the cloth, only, instead of sleepy, I feel all energetic and my heart's going thump-bump-bump really hard!"

Blue pulled a handkerchief from the side pocket of his bag, and wiped the sweat from his forehead.  "Night, preserve us," he muttered, "this is not in the mission protocols."

"What isn't?"  Berry gasped.  "You know what it is?  What makes you different?"

"Please, tell me this is a prank, and that Brand put you up to it."  Blue noticed that the departing crowd was starting to thin out.  "Shoot, Berry, we have to go, just, could you do me a favor, and whatever you feel for me, can we discuss it when we get back to the Nemeton?  And focus on the mission for now?"

"Sure, we can do that.  But, I'm really good at focusing on a bunch of things at once."  She shrugged.  "You know, in case you could just tell me what makes you different.  I won't let it affect the mission."

"Berry..."  With a groan, Blue started walking again.  "If you feel weird around me, remember that I punched you... hard... In the face."

"Well, yeah."  Berry followed close behind him.  They were almost the last ponies off the shuttle.  "And I head-butted you, and held a knife to your neck.  We fought as equals, and that means a lot to me."

Blue winced.  "Well, that backfired," he muttered as he reached the shuttle door.  He was expecting an attendant to be checking ponies off the shuttle, but there was only a cardboard cutout of the popcorn lady, waving everyone off with one motorized arm.  "And that is tacky as hell."

Berry was just as perplexed, and pointed at the wall behind the cutout.  "That black dot is a holo-projector.  Why did they build a physical sculpture for this?"

"I have no clue," Blue replied.  Shaking his head, he stepped out the door, and off the shuttle.

"Damn, you are one hot stallion."

Blue froze at the unexpected compliment, as a mare his age stalked towards him.  A blue unicorn, she walked with slow confidence, and an almost predatory smile.  That demeanor was not lessened by her eyes.  Her long brown hair was styled over one eye, with large curls that bounced with every slight movement of her head.  But, the eye that Blue could see was bright, valentine red, and lined by expertly cared for lashes.

She offered Blue a sultry smile.  "You must be Raul."

"Blue Skies," he corrected quickly, "and, who are you?"

"Blue Skies," she repeated, laughing.  "This must be fate.  And might I repeat myself, you are one hot stallion."

Berry  stepped up beside Blue, and looked up at him in confusion.  Then, dashing the new unicorn's smile, casually laid her hoof against the side of Blue's face.  "No, he's normal temperature."  She looked back at the brown-haired mare.  "You have a really pretty laugh."

Blue dragged his hoof down his face.

The unicorn mare, to her credit, backpedaled quickly.  "I didn't know he was spoken for, I wouldn't have been so flirty if I knew.  You must be the hopeful new lighting tech?  You were the only pink being to step off that shuttle."

Berry smiled.  "Yep!  That's me!  I was a general repair tech back home, so I'm pretty new to lighting equipment, and actually running things.  I hope I don't get in the way too much."

"I'm sure you won't.  As long as you don't creep on me, or steal ponies' lingerie, like the last guy, you could break the lights, and I wouldn't care."  She quietly added, "the director might, though.  So, home?  Where is that?"

Blue stepped in, raising his hoof.  "It's-"

"Just a tiny space station," Berry interrupted, waving her hoof dismissively.  "You wouldn't know it, nopony does, and I am glad to be gone.  It's not like this place.  Everypony knows the Crystalia.  My grandfather used to tell me stories about this ship.  What do you do here?"

"Honestly, I'm pretty new myself.  My grandmother had some history here, but my mother wanted nothing to do with the place."  She looked around the combination lobby and landing bay.  "And, here I am, back as a novice director.  But I'm assistant director for the upcoming play, so it's not all bad."

"I think I'm auditioning for a role in that same play," Blue added.  He was surprised, Berry was a natural at this.  She didn't even lie, at least not to his knowledge.  What other hidden talents did she possess?  "I didn't recognize the script we were provided, but you called me, 'Raul,' am I correct in assuming the actual play is going to be the Phantom of the Opera?"

"You are.  Grand Finale uses modified excerpts from other plays as audition pieces," she explained, "to keep anypony from putting preconceived notions of characters into their role."

"Hard not to have notions when it comes to a play as famous as that one."

"I think even Grand fell into that trap."

"How so?"

"He pegged you as our Raul from the moment he saw your picture."

Blue smirked, "I'd rather audition for the role of Phantomé."

"You'll break his heart.  Raul is an ideal role for an inexperienced pretty boy, no offense.  Phantomé is much more complex, emotionally nuanced, and half his face is hidden at any time.  That would be kind of a shame."

Berry agreed.  "It sure would be.  He has a strong, inspiring face."

Blue stared at Berry, mouth open and brows together as he tried to think of an appropriate rebuke.  How do you tell someone not to compliment you?  And it was a really nice, sincere compliment.  With a defeated sigh, he looked back at the unicorn mare.  "If you let me audition for Phantomé, at least, perhaps I'll surprise you.  And, if not, I'll gladly play Raul."

"We'll see.  I'm supposed to escort you to the rehearsal stage, for your audition.  You might as well join us, the lighting crew is sorting through the last of equipment transfers, they'll want to meet you."  She held her hoof out to a door labelled, 'authorized personnel only.'  It was in the opposite direction from where the other shuttle passengers were headed.  "We've got everybody else going through our new props and gear in the pilot's lounge.  Our director's in there too, so make a good impression, and then we'll head to the rehearsal stage."

"A good impression?"  Blue followed as she walked towards the door.  Berry followed beside him, glancing over, and he winked at her.  "I'll do my best."

The pink mare swallowed hard.  If there was one thing she knew about Blue, it was that he knew how to make a first impression.  And he probably wasn't even trying to last time.  What sort of impression would he make by putting effort into it?

The unicorn mare opened the door, and stepped through calling, "Grand?  The last two finally arrived!"

"Ah, good!"  Called an older unicorn from a pile of props surrounded by interns.  He scratched his well trimmed mustache with the shiny metal ball on the end of his enameled cane.  "I'm getting nowhere with this, so let us take a break, and let us meet our Raul!"

"Raul?" Blue asked as he stepped into the room behind Berry.  He smiled at the director, then reached over to flick the light switch.

His bag fell to the floor, and a wind blew over the ponies.  The door slammed shut.  Darkness claimed the room.  Most felt a harsh chill, save for one pink earth pony who felt only a warm breeze.  A single candle rose from the prop pile, and flickered to life.

The white unicorn was nowhere to be seen.

"This cursed form?"  The voice echoed in the small chamber as smoke danced in the shadows.  "This tortured soul?"  A white stallion stepped from the shadows into the farthest boundary of candle's light.  He wore a a shimmering cloak that looked woven of night itself, and the right half of his face was obscured by shadow.   "You wish to saddle me with a name so limited?  So..."  He stepped towards the candle, and it's light danced over the dark steel mask that covered half his face.  "So... mortal?"

He blew out the candle, and another one lit across the room.  Ponies turned to see him standing there, as if he never moved.

"I have lived here."

He blew out the candle, and was standing beside another that flickered to life nearby.

"I have died here."

The previous candles flared to life, but the stallion stayed where he was.

"I am bound to this place in ways you can not comprehend."

The iron mask obscured the right side his face, but his cloak couldn't hide the nearly black fur on that side.  The left side of his coat maintained its pure white coloring.  He walked among the interns, glancing at them, whispering, "My soul walks these walls."  He shouted, rumbling the room, and everyone in it to the bone, "My voice echoes upon the stage!"

He faced the director.  "My very heart is etched into this place.  I have been here before you, and I will remain long after you depart.  You seek my name?  You may not know it."  He turned away.  "I have a new one now, and I have discarded all connection to the damaged thing I once was."

"I was death."  The stallion smiled.  "I was nightmare."  His lips parted, revealing sharp teeth beneath.  "I am these things no longer."

"Now, I am merely a tool," he brought his hoof to his mask, "a voice."

"You may call me..."  He unhooked his mask, and pulled it away from his face.  The fur was like the rest of him, split down the middle between dark and light, but his right eye was that of a demon of ice and night, not a pony.  Its piercing, evil light flickered like the candles as it swept over the room.  "... the Phantom."

He walked the room, turning on every pony in turn, menacing grin on his face as they stepped back, or jumped in fear.  Until he came to the one pony not startled by his appearance.

"And what of you, my dear?"  He stalked towards Berry, towering over her.  His smile turned from one of menace, to one of amusement.  She stared, not in fear, but in awe.  "I have stripped away the shell, that bright, shiny veneer you saw, leaving only my ugly truth.  Yet, you have not turned away?  Having seen me without my mask, do you fear me?  Will you run from me?"  He gently traced his hoof across her cheek.  "Or shall we sing together, join our voices for all to hear?  Let that beauty, hidden even deeper within, stand strong?"

Berry stared into his eyes, staying still and silent.  This was just part of the audition, right?  She didn't want to intrude on Blue's acting, but it really looked like he was waiting for a response.  And, her heart was doing the thing again, she could hear it in her ears.

He leaned in, breath falling over her as he asked yet another question.  "Will you stay by my side?"

"Yes," Berry answered immediately, forgetting the audition, forgetting everything around her.  She was focused only on the stallion before her, the warmth and power she felt, and its perfect reflection in his eyes.  One side, gentle and caring, the other harsh and strong.  Two sides of one pony.  "Yes, of course I will."

His hoof still rested on the side of her neck.  "Then, from this moment on, you are mine.  And I will protect you."  He sat before her, and brought his other hoof to mirror the one already touching her.  "I will give you my love, and I will expect you to offer yours, from now, until shadows consume all, and we are torn from this life.  Do you still agree?"

Berry was starting to doubt this had anything to do with the audition.  But, still, she gave him a small nod.

"Then, I will not doubt you, my companion, my muse," his hooves traced slowly up her neck, pulling her to him, "my love."

He swept her up into a kiss, soft and tender, lasting only a moment.  As he pulled away from her, she stared up at him, cheeks red as any rose, but quickly looked away.

Blue glanced back at the director.  " I trust there will be no more talk of casting me as the character Raul?"

"Oh...  No!"  The director held up his hooves.  "None whatsoever.  The role of the Phantom is yours."

"Good."  The dark prince ran the tip of his tongue over his lower lip, then then leaned over and nuzzled his snout into the side of Berry's neck.  "Then, if the audition is over, my little evening dewdrop and I are tired from our long journey."  His grin was feral and sharp as Berry had the self-consciousness to try and hide her blush with her hooves.  "Is there a room we might retire to?"

The question raised a lot of raised eyebrows.

"D-down the hall," answered one of the interns, pointing to another door.  "There's a sign pointing out the dorms.  Your room is 115 in the Stallion's dorm, hers is 212 in the Mare's."

"Which one is larger?"  Phantom Blue asked without taking his eyes off Berry.

"Yours," the intern said quickly.  "You had a lead role, so you got a better room.  It even has its own bathroom, most rooms don't."

Blue glanced back.  "I find it odd that you know so much about everypony's room arrangements."

"I'm the logistics intern," he explained happily, "I set the room arrangements, and take care of most things involving food, ticket sales, prop shipments and personal mail.  Well, at least for our production."

"Makes sense," Blue said with a shrug.  He looked back at Berry, bringing his hoof to her chin.  She was still trying to hide her face.  "Shall we go, my dear?"

The candles died out, and the lights switched on.  In the brief moment of darkness between the two, Blue and Berry had disappeared.  Everypony exchanged glances, unsure what they just witnessed.  But there was one pony who knew exactly what he saw.  Grand Finale knew.  He knew exactly what he saw.

"That power!"  He shouted, waving his assistant over as he flipped through a clipboard full of paperwork.  "That dark confidence!  Even ignoring the change in his appearance, his entire being felt steeped in shadow.  A true Phantom, if ever there was one!"  He studied something on his papers, then pointed at a random pony.  "You, you're Raul now.  Somepony get him a copy of the script."

The assistant director shook her head, picking up the discarded iron mask as it crumbled to dust.  She was pretty sure it didn't come from the prop pile.  "I told him to make a good impression, but that was unexpected."

"In the best of ways, Blue Skies," Grand Finale chuckled, "unexpected in the absolute best of ways."





Berry found herself in a nondescript hallway when the lights came back on.  Blue was next to her, smiling like an idiot, laughing to himself like a maniac, and feeling his own face with his hooves.  Their bags were on the floor between them.  She couldn't even look at him right now.  To steal a line from Growl, what the hell was that?!

It wasn't a scene from the Phantom of the Opera, she knew that much.  And it sure as hell wasn't the scene they practiced on the flight over.

Her heart was doing the thing again, really, really, super hard, and her hooves were shaking.  That was...  real?  The declaration of love, and even her answer, it happened, and she meant it.  It was a spur of the moment realization, but it was the only explanation that made sense.  She must have been falling in love with Blue since the moment he set her free on the Nemeton.  And, Blue must have known from the moment she told him about him feeling different.  But, the way he acted just now, it didn't really seem like something Blue would normally do.

Not that she knew him well enough to say that.  It just felt different.  And not in a bad way, either.  The confidence, the sweet words, even the soft touch, were all very nice.

She swallowed hard, and looked over, intent on asking him just what he was thinking.  But, he had conjured a large mirror, and was inspecting himself in it, posing, and flexing his well defined muscles.  "Oh," the stallion muttered, "if only he knew what he had going for him."

Berry looked away again.  She didn't really want to, but she had a feeling that she would be caught if she stared the way she wanted.  Mere moments later, a touch at her shoulder told her she was caught anyway.

Berry slowly looked over.  Blue was there, hoof on her shoulder, smiling softly.  It was much warmer of a smile than before, but when he opened his mouth to speak, the sharp fangs were still there.  "I apologize, my dear, if I was too forceful back there.  I have not had this level of control in ages."

"Control?"  Berry squinted at him.  "Blue?"

"Not exactly."  The stallion stepped back and started down the hall.  "I am the shadow that lives inside him, the Nightmare.  He drew a little too deeply on my power, and I now control his body."

Berry found herself following.  Physically following, anyway.  Metaphorically, she wasn't sure she followed as well.  "You're part of him?  Will he come back?"

"He will wake up," Not-Blue answered, "soon enough.  I have no desire to replace him."

"That's... good," Berry said with some hesitation, "I guess.  What made him use so much of your power?"

Blue stopped walking, and reading the numbers on the doors he passed, and glanced back, smirking.  "You did."

"Me?"  Blue started walking again, and Berry ran ahead of him.  "No, wait, why would I make him use your power?  How?"

"Do you remember what you said on the shuttle?"  He smiled, and slowly cornered her against one of the doors.  "You are so honest, and strong.  You fight, even when the entire galaxy is against you.  I'm so glad you you are a good, and honorable pony.  It worries me when you're so close, because I'm scared of how much I enjoy your presence.  I find myself staring, in awe and appreciation, that such a small, and beautiful mare, can be such a fierce warrior and skilled technician.  I must distance myself, or I fear I shall fall into something I can't leave behind."

Back against the door, Berry nervously met Blue's, or the Nightmare's, eyes.  "Um, that's not what I said, at all."

"No, it isn't."  Nightmare Blue placed his hoof on the door.  "It's what this young stallion wanted to say in return, but couldn't.  He is so duty-bound, wrapped up in obligations to his family, his kingdom, and even to me, that he can't even let himself want what he wants.  And what he wants, is you.  He used my power because he wanted to impress you, not the director of the play, but you.  He wanted you to see a side of him that didn't involve the skills used in your capture."  He slowly looked up.  "Well, would you look at that?  Room 115."

Berry craned her neck, flattening herself to the door.  "So it is," she chuckled nervously, "I should probably head to my room then?"

The door opened behind her, and she fell flat on her back.  Blue stepped over her, running his tongue over his fangs.  "Without so much as a goodnight kiss?  I have a better idea."  He helped the pink mare to her hooves, standing closer than he normally did.  "Let's have a sleepover.  We can talk, mare to mare."

The door closed behind them, and Berry stared as Blue walked through the room.  "What?"

"Didn't I tell you already?  I'm the Nightmare.  It's right there in the name.  Night Mare."  Blue walked from the main bedroom to the small room to the left.  "Well, the kitchen is pathetic."  There was a low pop and a rattle.  "Fridge is empty, too."  Blue walked out and across the bedroom and through the door across from the kitchen.  "Bathroom is rather impressive, and well-stocked," echoed the voice, "shower would hold us both easily."

Berry shook her head.  She was getting more and more confused by the minute.  "Why would it need to hold both of us?"

"Are you being coy right now?  Or naive?"  Blue emerged from the bathroom only long enough to float a delicate glass bottle over to Berry.  It was small, and pink in color, or at least, the liquid inside was, and it lent its color to its container.  "Apply a single drop of this to each fetlock, and let it dry.  Do not rub.  If you think it isn't enough, you may place one more drop on each elbow, then the back of your neck, under your mane."

Berry stared at the container as Nightmare Blue retreated back into the bathroom.  He emerged again with a small bottle of his own.  It was much more square, and sturdy-looking, but a similar amber color.  He unscrewed the top, and pressed his fetlock over the open bottle.  Then, with a quick motion, he flipped the bottle upside down, then back upright.  He repeated the motion with his other hoof, then pressed his hoof briefly against his chest, then back of his neck.

He smiled at Berry as he screwed the lid back on the bottle.  "I think you'll appreciate this one."

He set the bottle down on the floor, then stalked over to Berry.  He swept up her bottle, as she hadn't even touched it yet, and lifted the top with a soft pop.  It had a little dropper underneath.  "And I know he'll like yours."

Berry turned to protest as he swept one of her hooves up in his own, but the scent hit her first, heavy, and spicy, mixed with his own.  "What is that?"

"Sandalwood and cinnamon," he answered as he touched the dropper to her fur.  It was wet for a moment, cold as it evaporated.  He moved on to her other hoof, leaning close as he reached across her and applied the perfume.  "If you like it, don't be shy."

She looked up as he wrapped his hooves around her.  She did like it.  The scent was faint, but overpowering.  She took every opportunity to take in more of it, short of burying her face in his chest.  One hoof pulled her mane to the side while the other touched the dropper to the base of her neck.  She flinched at the cold, but when she opened her eyes, he was smiling that warm, wistful smile again.

Or, she was, Berry reminded herself.  This was the Nightmare inside Blue doing all this.  "So, um, what's mine?"

Nightmare Blue swept up her hoof again, burying his snout in the fetlock, and taking a deep sniff.  His eyes fluttered shut.  "Strawberries, of course, with a little note of vanilla."

Berry blushed at the reaction.  "Do you like it?"

"That he does," Nightmare Blue answered, taking another sniff.

Berry found herself smiling.  "What about you?"

Nightmare Blue's eyes opened, and for the first time, he seemed knocked off stride.  "Me?"

Berry nodded.  "I'm really glad that Blue likes it, but I want to make sure you like it, too."

"And why would that matter?  I'm merely a shadow in this body.  You may not meet me for a long while after this."

"Well, doesn't that make it even more important that you like it?  And, if I'm going to, um,"  She shrugged.  "If you're part of him, I need to get to know you both."

"Is that so?"  He sighed.  "You truly are an astounding mare, and one worthy of my host's affections.  When he wakes up, be sure you tell him that I approve of you."  

"I like you, too."  Berry shrugged.  "When you called yourself Nightmare, and shadow, and all that, I was worried that you were going to be mean or evil, but you're actually really nice."

"Yes, well, if that's true, it's only because my hosts and their partners have given me time and reason to reflect on my sins."  He brought his hoof to Berry's face, caressing her cheek.  "And speaking of time, it has been a long time since I have been this close to another pony.  And as I mentioned, you may not meet me again for a while.  Would you keep me company tonight?"

Berry shrugged.  "Well, yeah, you already said we were going to have a sleep over, right?"

"You are so adorably naive," Nightmare Blue chuckled, "don't worry, I shall hold myself back."

"I don't think I understand," Berry admitted.

"You will," he whispered to her, leaning close.  "If you would allow me?"

Sandalwood and cinnamon drifted off him like whisps of fog, and Berry felt like she did after drinking at the bar, warm and relaxed inside.  She also felt like she did when Blue gave her his last handkerchief, that soft one with the monogram that was in her bag right now.  She felt safe here in his embrace, even if it was Blue's shadow holding her.  He was a good pony inside and out.  Even his inner demon was nice and gentle.

He leaned closer, breath falling on her ear as he whispered, "Well?"

She steadied herself against him, taking a deep breath of perfume from his neck before whispering back, "I trust you."