Space is a Dangerous Place

Chapter 4

Making Your Choice

Tangy and I got cleaned up before deciding on what to do next. I was concerned about how much time we had, so I looked around to see if there was a clock tower. Unfortunately I didn't see one in the area.

“You wouldn't happen to have the time would you, sir?” I asked the cart pony, he simply shook his head. I rubbed my chin in thought and looked to Tangy who shook her head too.

Ya, I didn't think she would have a watch either. Well only one other thing to do.

I dropped my hoof to the ground and focused my magic to a sigil magically scribed to my body. A special rune word that kept the exact time no mater where you were. It light up form under my coat revealing itself. After a short glow of my horn a clock appeared in front of me, current time displayed.

“Hmm, looks like we still have four hours before we need to head back. What do you think-” I trailed off looking to Tangy. Her mouth was gaping open and her eyes were fixed on the clock.

“Tangy? Is there something wrong?”

“I never seen magic like dat before!” She hopped slightly at the end of her sentence.

“What, this?” I pointed at the clock, she nodded. “This is just a simple illusion spell linked to a chrono-seal.”

Granted this was a spell I made from scratch, but that's not the point. It was just something I needed while I lived in Canterlot, being on time was very impotent and being late commonly got me extra studies from Celestia. Which was a great way to waste an evening. Buck, I was different back then.

“I don see lots of magic where I'm from.”

“Well if we have the time, I can show quite a few spells if you like. Right now we only have our hooves worth of hours before our shuttle leaves. Anything you'd like to do before then?”

“I'd really like to know wha the indigenous life is like on this planet.” I stood there in awe, mouth a gasp. She looked at me confused.

“Did I say someth'n wong?” I shook my head regaining my composure.

“No, not at all. I just wasn't expecting a young filly to be interested in xeno-biology. That's all.” I waved a hoof and dismissed the time spell.

“Alright! Let's see if they have a Zoo or something like that.” I looked around and spotted one of those tri-panals around a light pole.

“Maybe that has a map.” I trotted over to the signs and indeed found a map.

“Ok, we're here... and... Ah ha, they do have a Zoo.” I scanned the list for any Zoo reference and was locating the corresponding building on the map when Tangy piped up.

“Where?” I had just found it when she asked.

“Right there!” I pointed to it on the map.

“And where's that?”

“Judging by this map it's that way.” I point my hoof in the direction of the Zoo using my navigation skills from my time spent in Canterlot.

“How far? Can we make it there and have time to look at all the specimens?”

“Absolutely! We have a whole three hours before we even have to think about heading back.” I motioned with a hoof to follow me. “Come on! We have a Zoo to explore!”

When Tangy's face light up with that huge smile, I couldn't help but get existed too. It was a short trot from where we were. Tangy wouldn't stop talking about what she hoped to find. Unfortunately, when we got there we where told of a small problem.

“A what?” I nearly shouted.

“A fee, Sir. The Hayvist Exhibit of Plant and Wild Life has an entrance fee.” Explained the peach colored mare in the ticket booth.

“Well I wasn't counting on that. Very well, how much for an adult and a filly?” I turned to my saddle bag with my bits in it.

“Fifteen for adults, ten for fillies and colts.” I had opted to get my bit bag with my teeth and when I hear the price I spat it out. Levitating my bit bag I looked in counting only a measly 8 bits. I looked over to Tangy and she held open her bag. Only 3 bits sat at the bottom of her bag. There was enough to get Tangy in, but I couldn't let her go alone. I turned back to the mare in the booth.

“Any chance you guys have a coupon or discounts available?” I gave her my best smile. She rolled her eyes and blow a bit of her mane from her face with a sigh.

“Not unless your active military. That would get you in for free and any family, like your filly there, for half price.” Finally some good news. I turned to my sable bag again and pulled out a card showing it to the mare. I didn't like the fact that Celestia made me part of her Armed Forces, but it did get me out of some jams now and then. The booth mare picked up the card and looked it over.

The ID card had my picture on it with my cutie mark under that. To the right of the picture read:

Name: Glimmering Stars
Rank: Lieutenant Commander
Serial Number: [Classified]
Race: Unicorn
Gender: Male
Coloration: Ghost White Coat; Light Blue/Teal Mane
Marital Status: Single

Below my information the familiar seal of the Equestrian Space Navy sat between the Lunar Eclipse Operations seal and the Royal Guard seal. She read the ID card with one eyebrow raised. When she looked at the seals on the ID she appeared surprised.

“Wow! I've never seen an ID with that many seals before.”

“I'm given special training, do to my position.”

“Well this gets you in no problem. So, unless she's like your girlfriend...” She pointed at Tangy. “Isn't she a bit young for you?” I froze. One wrong word could be very bad here. I nearly jumped when Tangy started yelling.

“You got'a probl'm with my papa?” She glared at the mare.

“What? Well I...” She started to stumble over her words at this little filly's outburst, Tangy continued over her stamering.

“What? You don tink a stallion should adop ah filly? Ya tink he can't handle it?” She stopped for a moment. When the mare started to open her mouth Tangy cut her off again.

“Well I got news for ya! He'z ah better papa ten you could evar be ah mamma!” She stomped her hoof to emphasize her point. The mare was taken aback with a bit of shock. I was in a state of shock myself at the out burst from such a kind and quiet filly, up until now.

“I'm very sorry. I didn't know. I just assumed from the marital status on his ID-” The mare was quite shaken by the event. It looked like Tangy was about to giver another round when I jumped in.

“An anoter ti...” I grabbed Tangy's muzzle with my hooves.

“That's quite enough Tangy.” I let go and she remained quiet, but continued to glare at the mare. I leaned in close to the mare and half whispered.

“She hasn't had a nap all day and is a bit cranky. Please excuse her outburst.” She glanced at Tangy who was in the middle of a huge yawn. The mare nodded opting not to talk. I turned back to Tangy and picked her up with my magic placing her on my back.

“How about you stay right there and rest while I take care of this. Ok?” She squirmed a bit then laid her head on the back of my neck. Satisfied she wouldn't fall off, I turned back to the mare in the booth.

“Sorry about that. She really is a good filly. I think she's just tired.” She nodded, then turned to her computer and printed out two tickets.

“I just need 3 bits for your daughter's ticket.” She slid two tickets forward.

“I thought it was only half price.”

“It is. I just used a coupon from last month that was 2 bits off for fillies and colts.” With a smirk I placed 3 bits on the counter. She let go of the tickets and took the bits. Before I could turn and head for the door, she spoke up again.

“I'm really sorry about earlier and I hope you enjoy the exhibits.”

I nodded, smiled, and moved though the open doors. Once I was a ways in and around a corner I stopped and turned my head to talk to Tangy.

“So that was a thing. Where did that come from?”

“I'm part of the drama club in school.” She proclaimed with a confident smile.

“Well, we're in at less. Would you like to get down?” I offered, thinking she'd prefer to be on her own hooves.

“Um. Can I stay for a bit? Mah hooves hurt some from walk'n here.” Her checks were flushed, a tad embarrassed asking if she could stay on my back.

I brought a hoof to my chin in thought. She wasn't vary heavy, nor was I tired. I couldn't really think of a reason to deny her request and there was this feeling deep in my gut. Having a filly on my back just felt natural. Hot Wire did say I'd make a good father. I dropped my hoof back to the ground and looked over my shoulder at Tangy. She was patiently awaiting my answer.

“Sure.”

I looked down the hallway. A few signs pointed to different exhibits.

“So, where should we go first?”

“Te aquarium!” She pointed at the sea blue sign and I walked that way.

“Do you think they'll have seaponies in there?” I joked.

“Wha? No.”

We passed through a door and into a glass tunnel with an awe inspiring view of the sea critters on display. All kinds of fish and aquatic mammals swam past the glass walls and over head. We both stared in amazement at the sheer number of critters around us. There were placards along the path and Tangy started identifying each fish as we went by them.

I tried my hoof at the scientific names failing miserably. But, Tangy showed me up by saying them with ease. We had some good laughs together and I pulled out a camera from my saddle bag. We took a picture together right as a shark-like fish swam behind which gave us a jump scare when we turn back around.

Each exhibit we went to I would say it's common name and Tangy would say it's scientific name fallowed by the meaning of the name. She seemed to really enjoy explaining thing's to somepony else or perhaps she was just showing off. Either way I enjoyed listening to her explanations. She seemed so happy to speak her mind and she did, disagreeing with nearly every name given to these animals.

Moving from the aquatic habitat we found ourselves in the insect domain. It was just as creepy as it was intriguing. There was an area where the none hostile and beautiful insects where aloud to fly freely around us. Looking up at the flapping multi-colored wings soothed my mind and filled me with a scene of calm. A butterfly landed on my nose, looking to Tangy it open and closed it's wings. I could only imagine what it looked like from her perspective. Once it flew off I took another picture of us in there.

Soon there weren't any exhibits to visit and we were walking to the exit. Upon opening the doors we were treated to a beautiful golden red and crimson sky as the sun set.

“Oh my gosh! Are we late for the transport?” Tangy Gasped. In a flash, my horn brought the same clock up from before.

“Oh no. We have plenty of time to get back.” I waved my hoof dismissing the spell.

“Oh good.” she said with a sigh of relief.

“However, we should head back. Maybe pick something up on the way to eat once we're on board.” An image of our last meal popped into my head and I added. “Something not messy, like a sandwich.”

“Ya a sandwich sounds sounds like a great idea.” A stallion leaning on a wall stated as Tangy and I stood near the exit.

“We should definitely get sandwiches after these two.” A unicorn mare stepped out from around a corner.

“We haven't had a good sandwich in a while have we brother?” My ear rotated faster then my head to the two behind us.

“Not unless you count that griffin's lunch.” I quickly identified they all had the same jacket on with the same symbol on their back.

“Oh, we're getting sandwiches?” The flapping of wings got close over head, by the sound of the voice another mare. I plaster a fake smile on my face and looked to the first pony of the group to show himself. I kept my ears locked on the movements of the two behind me and the unicorn in my peripheral vision constantly.

“If you'd like, all of you can come with. Friendly company is always welcomed.” There positions and demeanor told me there intent, but I kept up the dumb pony act to keep the advantage.

“Haha! Clearly he has no idea what's going on.” The unicorn mare laughed.

“In that case let's drop the game an get to the pay'n.” One of the stallions behind me clearly didn't want to play nice anymore.

“Ya! Less talking more taking!” The pegasus clearly wanted to just get this over with. I was inclined to just give them our money. If we could get out of this without violence, that was good enough for me.

“Fine! We'll do this your way. Liston, pal! Give up your bit bags and you can go without a scratch. Resist and my friends and I will make you wish you did. Got it?” Their leader informed me of their intentions.

“Ok, no problem there. Just let me get it out of my bag.” With a hoof I pulled it out and tossed it to his hooves. He smiled at it and picked it up. Looking inside his smile quickly turned faded.

“What is this?” He scoffed throwing the bag to the ground. The five bits I had left spilled out onto the pavement.

“Is that it? You've got to be kidding me.” The pegasus didn't seem convinced.

“Last chance pal! Give up all you got or else!” He's face was turning red.

“That's all I have, really.” It was clear they didn't care if I was telling the truth or not at this point.

“Well, then it's not your lucky day. I'll take the bit's, they're all yours now.” He scooped up the bits into the bag and sat down to watch.

“Well you guys know what I want. I'll be taking the filly for some quality time.” The pegasus mare claimmed.

“Hey Mirror! Get that bubble of yours up. I don't want this guy doing anything crazy.”

“Already on it.” Her horn flashed and sent a dome out from her. As soon as it hit me I was able to tell it was a null-magic zone. I felt like something was wrapped tightly around my horn and the reserves I kept stored in me was pushed out of reach.

“Good to go. Make sure you leave some for me.” She licked her lips. I didn't want to think what she had planned.

“Come on little filly. I'm going to show you how mares have fun.”

Tangy grabbed onto my front right leg. I pulled her under me and placed all four around her.

“Glimmer? What do we do?” Her voice shook with fear. For her sake I looked down at her and smiled. In a low voice I spoke.

“Now I show them who they're dealing with.” I raised my head up and squared my shoulders taking a defencive. I was still shorter then any of the stallions there.

“HA! What kind of name is Glimmer?” the larger stallion behind me asked.

“It Glimmering Stars actually.” They all laughed, I let them, and kept a neutral expression. Once they where done laughing I spoke again dropping a bomb shell in there collective lap.

“Lieutenant Commander Glimmering Stars of the Royal Guard.” All of them froze in place eyes wide. After a moment the unicorn spoke up.

“It doesn't matter if he's military the null field is up. He can't use magic and it's five on one. We can take him.” The spikes in pitch didn't show much confidence.

“Five on one! An easy take down no matter who you are. Surround and attack!” There leader had jumped up and joined them. The pegasus flew up over me and the two from behind slowly advanced.

“Tangy? When this starts I need you to run.”

“I-I can't. Ma legs won't move.” I could feel that she was as stiff as a board. I glanced around looking for a way to get her out of harms way. Nothing caught my eye as a particularly good idea. But, I didn't really have time to think as one of the attackers charged from behind. I grabbed Tangy and rolled to my left. Using the roll I extended one of my legs with Tangy on it and tossed her out of the way. Once I saw her land in my intended target I turned back to my attackers just in time to take a hoof to the side of the face.

I moved with the attack to lessen the blow as best I could and spun around. Dropping onto my front legs and bucked the stallion in the chest sending him flying through the air. The pegasus had to dodge him swerving wide as she watched him go by. This was my chance with all of them looking at there second largest member fly through the air.

The null-magic field stopped most casting of spells. Because from the lack in skill there where several flaws in it's ability to counter magic altogether. I was able to "slip between the cracks" as it were, and pull from my reserve magic pushing just a little to the runes on my body. One by one the sigiles I needed lit up: Strength, Speed, and Scale Shield. Thin luminescent lines shinned from under my coat filling with power. Runes materialize floating just above my coat where the shimmering lines converged. Once all the desired runes where active, plates like scales appeared covering my whole body. Just as quickly as they appeared they faded out of sight.

“What in Tartarus? I thought you put up your null field?” The largest stallion barked at the unicorn once they looked back at me.

“I did! I don't know what that is!” She yipped.

“It doesn't matter he can't stop all of us at once. RUSH HIM!” There leader commanded and they all charged in.

To me they moved at half there normal speed and I moved without hindrance. Even with my enhancements I had little time to react. Glancing at each of them I analyzed their attack. The unicorn charged in on my left with her horn first, clearly intending to use it. Their leader in front of me was starting to spin most likely for a buck. The big guy to my right had reared up, looked like he was going to try and crush me. The pegasus was diving from above with front hooves together for a strike.

Spotting an opening between the unicorn and their leader I dash in grabbing the unicorn mare turning her charge toward their leader. She collided with him, but managed to stay on her hooves. He got turned around toward me from the impact. The other two turned from their missed attacks back to me. Their leader and the larger stallion move in for an assault as the pegasus and unicorn line up for another run. I planted my front right hoof in there leaders muzzle knocking him out and my back right in the large stallions chest pushing him back.

The two mares attacked from my sides. A dual charge, one from the ground and one from the sky. I pushed the unicorns' head down hopping into the air to avoid the pegesus, passing over them spinning in place and landing after they crossed under me. In the air I saw the large stallion moving in. Upon landing I bucked with everything I had to his chin.

As he fell to the ground I saw the unicorn back away from me. The pegasus charged again and I easily side stepped the rush. Turning around we both squared off for a final attack. With a powerful flap of her wings she closed on me screaming with rage, a rookie move. Ducking under her aerial attack I grabbed her front hooves and force them to the ground. Before she could stop, the ground very quickly met her face knocking her out cold. I quickly checked to make sure she wasn't badly hurt, and turned to the last assailant.

Approaching her, she tried to back away only to stumbled onto her hunches. When I looked down at her, she began to shake with fear. While still in the null-magic field I lit up my horn and shot a counter spell to her's. The bubble shattered, falling around us bursting harmlessly apon the ground. Her eye's went wide at the realization that I could have done that the whole time.

“What is a pony of your skill doing this for?” I asked in a consoling tone. Null-magic fields weren't easy to do. Somepony like her with the right training could be a huge asset for the Royal Guard.

“I-I don't have any other choice.” Her voice trembled and her eyes began to tear up. With a sigh I shook my head discouraged.

“Everypony has a choice. You just chose not to look for it. It's here now, looking you in the face, wondering if you'll accept your second chance...” I leaned in close to her. “Or will you run away again?” I held out a hoof for her. She looked at it for a moment. Slowly and shakily she placed her hoof to mine and I pulled her up.

“Let's check on your friends.” We found them already waking up and getting to their hooves. When the large stallion awoke he found my smiling face and a helping hoof offered to him. Reluctantly he took my hoof and I helped him up.

“You can take a lot of hits. Have you ever thought about joining the Royal Guard? I'd feel at ease knowing a pony like you was guarding my mentors.” He raised an eyebrow. “Don't the Royal Guard defend the Princesses?” I nodded to his question. His eye's widened as he connected the dots.

Hearing movement I trotted over and saw the group leader nursing the bump on his face.

“How's the face?”

“Just swollen, it'll be gone by morning.” He looked to me suspiciously.

“You know, the ESN is always looking for good leaders. With proper training you could hone your skills and be an officer within a year.” The surprised look on his face told me he had never thought about that.

“Are you trying to recruit me?” I shook my head.

“No. Just giving you another option.” Then his look changed to an inward contemplation.

A groan of pain came from the pegasus mare. I left their leader in thought and moved to there last member still in the area. I grasped the mare's shoulders and tenderly lifted her up to a sitting position.

“Easy now. You had a pretty hard tumble.” When she tried to lift her head she cringed in pain.

“Ow! No kidding.”

“Anything feel broken?” She slowly moved her limbs.

“No.”

“Any missing teeth?” She licked her teeth.

“Phew, All there.”

“Good!” I patted her back and she cringed with pain again.

“You sure can fly.” She looked up at me puzzled.

“Those tight maneuvers you made in close ground combat. That's not easy stuff.”

“Well, I guess so.” She shrugged and immediately regretted it.

“You should try out for The Wonderbolts.” Her head shot up and looked at me surprised.

“What? I'm not that good!” She claimed.

“I bet you could make it. In fact...” I open my saddlebag and levitated one of my business cards out.

“Take this to any recruiter and they'll make sure you get the chance.” I placed the card at her hooves and moved to each one offering them a card of their own, ending at the unicorn.

“Here's your chance to make a better choice. Don't let it slip away.” I started to walk away when I heard my name called.

“Um, Glimmer?” Tangy's voice echoed from the inside of the garbage can I had deposited her at the beginning of the fight. My legs scrambled about as I turned and ran over to her.

“Oh sweet Celestia, I'm so sorry Tangy!” I looked into the trash can I had tossed her into and she smiled up at me.

“It ok. I understand.”

“Are you hurt any- OH!” The smell from the trash hit my nose all at once.

“Yeah. It smells really bad in here.” She got up on her hind legs showing she couldn't get out on her own.

“A lil' help?”

“Of course! Right away!” I enveloped Tangy and levitated her out of the can. I cringed at the state she was in, covered in trash.

“Ick! We need to get you cleaned before heading back.”

“Which means no time for sandwiches.” Tangy slumped as much as she could while levitated.

“Sorry, but-”

“You can clean her up at my place. It's not that far.” The unicorn mare pointed to a small block of houses.

“It's the least I can do, after what we tried to do to you. As well as showing us kindness after...” She hung her head in shame.

“That's very kind of you. We would greatly appreciate that.”

She motioned to follow her and after a short walk we were at a house. It was a small house painted sunset orange with a white trim, it felt very inviting.

“The down stairs bathroom has a tub and fresh towels above the toilet. It's the first door on the left. I'm going to let my mom know you're here.”

She opened the door and went in with me following close behind, Tangy still in my levitation spell.

“MOM! I'm home! I brought guests. There going to use the bathroom, ok?” She yelled as soon as we were in.

“It's not your “group” again, is it? You know how I feel about them.” Her voice came from a back room.

“No it's not them. They're... um...” She brought a hoof to her chin in thought.

“New friends hoping to get to know her more. She was very kind to invite us over.” I inserted hoping to advert her mother's worries.

“Oh! Ok. That's nice to hear. The bathroom is the door on the left. Sweetie could I talk to you, please?” She tried to keep her voice calm, but I could hear shaking in her words. The mare next to me facehoofed and groaned when she heard the nickname. In a hope to relieve some of the tension I spoken before she could.

“Thank you for asking so nicely, but I should really get my friend cleaned up first.” I smiled at the mare before entering the bathroom. Even from in there I could hear her mother laughing.

“Oh my! Ah, well I'm- Oh dear. I meant my daughter.”

“He knows mom. He's just joking.” She said walking past the door.

In the bathroom I placed Tangy in the tub and started running the water to get it warm. There was a bar of soap nearby and a scrub brush. Checking the clock on the wall we had very little time.

“Ok Tangy. We don't have much time to get back. Are you okay with me washing you?” I felt it was right to ask, even after the adventure we had just gone through.

“Sure. Mamma or papa usually wash me.”

As soon as she agreed, I grabbed the shower hose and started rinsing off as much of the gunk from her coat as possible. I lathered her up the best I could with the bar of soap and started scrubbing. Hoof steps from behind made me glance up, someone had come in behind me, and it wasn't the mare from before. Based of her features and eye color I guessed is was her mother.

“So where'd they ambush you?” She asked plainly.

“An ambush implies setting up a strategic advantage to gain the upper hoof. It wasn't an ambush.” I told her. She stood there for a moment before sighing.

“You'll never get that out like that.” She used her magic to bring down a bottle of shampoo.

“May I?” I stepped back and gave her the scrub brush. She took it in her magic and stepped up to Tangy.

“Well aren't you an adorable little thing.” She cooed as she got close.

“Thank you very much, um...”

“Oh my apologizes. I'm Shimmer Shell, but you can call me Shelly if you like.”

“Ok Ms. Shelly. I'm Tangerine Pie and this is Gimmer.” She pointed at me.

“Glimmering Stars.” Sharing my full name.

“Well nice to meet you. I am curious though, how did you get so filthy?”

“Well, these meany ponies took our money, but they didn' like how lil' we had and it looked like they was going to attack. I was REALLY scared! But, then Glimmer threw me through the air and I landed in a garbage can. It smelled REALLY bad. But, I knew why he had put me there. It was to keep me safe! And then I got up as high as I could, and there was Glimmer, fighting FOUR ponies as once! He was like WHOOSH! And then BAM! SPLAT! Then he did something I've never seen another pony do!” Tangy was jumping about in the tub showing what had happened. Though Shelly didn't seem to mind the water going everywhere.

“And what was that?” She asked continuing to scrub Tangy clean.

“He showed kindness to the mean ponies and helped them up and talked to them and gave them a chance to be better.” Shelly had stopped scrubbing Tangy. Tangy finished and Shelly slowly turned her head to look at me. I was slightly lost in Tangy's antics until I noticed Shelly was staring at me.

“What? Isn't that what everypony does?” I asked matter o' factly. She turned back to Tangy and continued scrubbing.

“It should be, shouldn't it?” She stated sadly.

There wasn't much talking after that. A short time later Tangy was clean and getting blown dry. I left to look for the other unicorn mare and found her in the kitchen. I got her attention with a cough.

“Thank you for letting us use your bathroom.”

“Thank you for not turning us over to the authorities.”

“Just don't let my kind deed go to waste.”

“I won't... OH!” She turn to the counter and levitated a paper bag to me. “This is for you and your filly.”

I was about to open it when a clock in the room went off. Looking up my eye's went wide and my pupils shrank.

“Sweet Celestia! Is it that time already? We're going to be late!” I turn on the spot and ran down the hallway back to the bathroom. Tangy was still getting blow dried.

“The transport is going to leave soon. We have to go!”

“Oh dear, how much time do you have?” Shelly asked concerned.

“Six minutes.”

“And where's your transport?”

“The main starport.”

“Oh dear. That's a twenty minute trot from here.” I reeled slightly at the information.

“Ya mean we aren't gonna make it? But, mamma's wait'n fer me.” Tangy's eyes started to well up. I scratch my chin and thought for a moment then leaned down to Tangy.

“Tangy?” She looked up and sniffled.

“We're going to make it. But, I need your help.” I poked her on the nose. She wiped her eyes and stood up tall.

“Wha do ya need me to do?” With a smile I lead her outside.

“Well, I'm going to have to toss you, again. Except this time, it's going to be a lot farther.” Once outside I looked at the spaceport in the distance.

“Wha do ya mean?”

“I can teleport that far, but, I need a beacon or waypoint to do it. That's where you come in Tangy. I'm going to place a rune on you that will allow me to teleport to you.” Tangy tilted her head slightly confused.

“An wha will that do?”

“It will allow me to teleport to your exact location.” I emphasize the statement by booping her on the nose.

“Then what?”

“Well, I'll grab you and teleport the rest of the way with a sight to sight teleportation spell.”

“Let me get this straight. You want to throw this little filly roughly four kilometers so you can then teleport to her and HOPE you can grab her in time before you BOTH hit the ground?” Shelly protectively stepped between Tangy and I pressing her nose against mine.

With a sheepish smile I replied. “Basically.” I pulled away from her advance and stepped close to Tangy lighting up my horn.

“Of course I going to enchant her with safety measures. Now, let's see, a basic shield tied to a proximity rune and a slow fall spell. An inertia dampening enchant as well, and some temporary wings for gliding.”

As I planned out everything to keep Tangy safe for this stunt, my horn grow brighter. A rune appeared under my hooves as well as Tangy's. With a flash of light blue magic Tangy was enveloped by my spells. Then just as quickly it went away. Only a fading fizzling sound remained. There before us stood Tangy, but now she had cute little spectral pegasus wings floating where real wings would be. Tangy shook her head and looked at her sides. She expanded the little wings and grinned.

“I have wings! Does that mean I can fly?” She looked up at me expectantly.

“Sorry, but no. They're not strong enough for that. They will let you glide temporarily.”

“Oh ok. So now what?” She seemed a bit disappointed.

“Now you get to use them.” I lifted her up in a levitation spell to about twenty degrees up and pointed her at the spaceport. I tilted my head down 'til my horn was pointed at the same angle. Starting up a dual cast, runes appeared around my horn.

“Ready Tangy?” She spread her new wings and gulped.

“Yeah.”

“Three... Two... One... Lunch!”

Magic transferred into force and Tangy was shot through the air like a missile. As she flew off into the distance I could hear her holler.

“Yeeeehaaah!”

“You didn't need to do any of that did you?” Shelly asked watching Tangy disappear into the distance.

“Nope. All space capable ships have a magic beacon on them. I could of used that at any time to teleport back.” A trigger I placed on Tangy went off letting me know she was close to the transport.

“Well, It was nice to meet you, both of you.” I nodded to the daughter. “Remember, everypony has a choice. It's up to you to make the right one.”

And with that, I lit up my horn and teleported to Tangy mid-flight. I reached out and embraced her. Using the transports beacon I teleported again with Tangy. We appeared inches above the ground and I landed on my back with Tangy on top of me.

“Ooph!”

“That was fun! Can I do it again?” The adrenaline filled filly was bouncing on my chest. I looked “Up” from my position to see a stewardess from the transport waiting at the door.

“Yes, but later. Right now we have a transport to catch.”

“Oh, right!” Her voice cracked as she remembered we were almost late. She jumped off and I rolled on to my hooves. I pulled out my ticket and saw the paper bag from earlier. looking inside were two sandwiches, bags of chips, and sodas.

“Hey, Tangy. Look what that nice unicorn gave us.” I showed her the content of the bag.

“Alright! Sandwiches! Can we eat them now? I'm hungry.”

“Sure, once we get on the transport now.”

“Got you ticket?” I held mine up.

“Right here!” She held her's up too.

We both turned to the stewardess at the door and gave her our tickets. She scanned them and waved us on in.

“Please find your seats. We'll be leaving shortly.”

Plopping back into our assigned seats I let out a sigh of relief. I looked over to Tangy to make sure she had her seat belt on right and gave her a sandwich. After finishing our small meal I noticed Tangy's head was starting to droop as were her eye lids. She was crashing from the adrenaline high and barely finished her meal.

“Hey, Tangy. We'll be at the station in a few hours and then you'll get to see you mom. Why don't you take a nap, so you're rested to she her?”

“But, I'm not-” She stopped mid-sentence to let out a long yawn. “Okay, a nap sounds good.” She admitted.

I smiled at the silly filly then turned to my thoughts. I was exhausted. Using that much magic in one day had drained me to reserves, and that was running low too. I started to let out a yawn of my own when something bumped into me. I looked down to find Tangy resting her head on my side. That same feeling from before told me this was good.

A nap sounds like a great idea. Besides I'll probable have tons of work to do once we get on station.

I turned on my side and curled up with Tangy giving her a warm place to sleep. Laying my head down I let out another sigh, a sigh of content and with a smile I drifted off to sleep.