Harriet found her favorite pony working in hydroponics. With a smile on her face, she opened the door and looked inside.

North Star was there, checking a panel with a screen mounted next to it. His whole body wobbled as he concentrated, his hooves shifting nervously where he stood. He took a few deep breaths, his mane fluttering in the artificial wind. The plantlife here had to be adjusted carefully. He twitched an ear up and coiled to look over his shoulder. "Harriet!" He abandoned his work instantly to turn towards her. "How are you?!"

"Good!" Harriet moved closer, giving North Star a little wave. "I have been thinking about things." She squirmed slightly. "You know? Growing up?"

North Star's eyes went wide at that. "Do you need me to get someone? Or help you myself?" He tried to wrap his mind around the idea. "We're about the same age, but that doesn't matter. We're friends." He offered her a hoof. "Can I help?"

Harriet took his hoof with a soft giggle. "Just talking to me is enough." She leaned against him and smiled. "I've been thinking about what it means to be an adult, and everything I want to do, and, well." She waved a hand aimlessly. "It's a lot, you know? How are you handling it?"

He glanced back at what he'd been working on. "Working." He rubbed his cheek. "But that's no fun. I'm really happy you came. Um, we're both crew now, but we're not adults yet, you know." He squirmed. "If we stepped off this ship, anyone would call us kids. We're, um, playing mature. But we're still kids."

"I get it." Harriet patted him on the shoulder. "We're doing grown-up things and people treat us like adults, but they aren't wrong." She watched North Star as he shifted from hoof to hoof. "I want to do adult things, and help everyone! I don't want to just take up stuff and not give back." She put her hands at her hips. "You know?"

North Star smiled brightly. "Me too! I want to help. But when I want to do that, I go do it. Or I'm helping somepony else!" He let out a little laugh. "You're helping. What makes you think you're not?"

Harriet shrugged at that. "I wanted something a bit more direct. Something to, well, focus on." She waved her hands aimlessly. "I don't know what yet."

North Star looked her over with a grin. "You want to gallop but don't know where." He thumped against her, head against her side. "I get that. Sometimes I do it too. Um, gallop, that is."

Harriet put her arm around North Star. "You're a good friend, North Star."

North Star moved his hoofs over Harriet's back. "Seriously, I'm glad to see you. Have you seen the other Star around? I haven't seen her in over a week!"

Harriet blinked at that. "Oh. I haven't been paying attention. Sorry." She considered that a moment. "I should. We used to talk all the time. She's probably worried about me too."

"Exactly." North Star leaned closer. "I have to get to work, but it sounds like you have a moment, so go find her, please? I want to know she's alright. She's always been a bit different, you know?"

Harriet glanced around. "Where did you last see her?"

"Um, well, I remember talking to her a little bit near the other water tank, and we were playing in the gym at the same time a few days ago, but I'm not sure. You can ask Twilight?" North pointed to the nearest console. "She should be able to track all of us."

"Good idea!" Harrier rushed for the console. "That's using your head. Twilight? Got a moment?"

A window opened with Twilight inside it. "Of course. I am monitoring all systems on this ship. Do you need something?"

"Um, yeah." Harriet looked at North Star, then back to Twilight. "We were hoping you might know where Dawning Star is? Neither of us have seen her for a little while."

Twilight tilted her head. "Let me check. Her work schedule was rather light recently, but she should still be—" She paused. "Oh dear. I haven't been keeping an eye on her. That's quite unlike me."

Harriet nodded softly. "Figured you were keeping an eye on us all." She pointed to North and herself. "Was I wrong?"

Twilight inclined an ear at Harriet. "You're not wrong. I was keeping an eye on her, but I, hm." She rubbed a fetlock along her chin. "It's like I lost track. My program simply decided she didn't need my attention anymore."

North Star hoofed the floor nervously. "Why would it do that?"

"I am unsure." Twilight tilted her head the other way. "And now it's bothering me. Initiating full-ship sweep. Let's find our lost dragon. Aha! There she is. What is she doing in there?"

Harriet leaned in with mounting anxiety. "Where is she?!"

Twilight projected a viewport to show what Dawning Star was seeing. It showed an empty room. Dawning Star sat down and looked around with interest.

Harriet gulped softly. "It looks like a storage room. What is she doing in there?" She started for the door. "I'll go check on her. Send the room number." She darted out the door in a flash.

Twilight nodded. "Room sent." She looked to North. "Thank you for helping. If you want to follow her, you are allowed to."

North Star shuffled nervously. "I think she needs to do this herself. She isn't feeling super helpful right now. I'll be okay!" He turned his attention to the plants he'd been tending. "They're doing well, and I'm helping!"

"Yes, you are." Twilight smiled softly. "Thank you for your work, North Star. You may leave whenever you feel you need to."

He returned the smile as best he could. "Okay!" He then went back to tending the plants, unaware that Twilight was still watching him with soft affection. He didn't notice when she blinked away to other things going on elsewhere on the ship.

Elsewhere, Harrier jogged through the hallways, dodging other crew as she went. "Sorry!" She rounded a corner and hurried down another hallway. A few minutes of running later, she reached the door Twilight had sent her. With a panted breath, she stopped to rest. Getting her breathing under control, she reached for the door. It slid gently open with barely a sound.

Harriet looked in. It was an empty room, nothing inside but boxes of random spare parts. In the center of the room sat Dawning Star. Her tail was curled around her, eyes on the floor. "Dawning?" She stepped inside far enough that the door slid shut behind her. "What are you doing in here, um, all alone?"

Dawning Star flicked her tail nervously as she looked up. "Hello, Harriet. Um, just thinking about stuff." She forced her tail to go straight as she uncurled herself. "Hey... Where have—" Her words trailed off into mumbles, her attempt to speak failing.

"Huh? What?" Harriet shook her head and came closer. "I've been talking to Cheerilee. There's a lot to do if I want to become an adult." She held up her hands in defense. "I'm sorry for not checking up on you. You're still a friend, to be clear."

"I shouldn't be!" Dawning recoiled a step as if startled by her own loud voice. "You shouldn't be."

Harriet frowned at that. "What are you talking about? You're my friend! That's not changing."

Dawning rubbed at her eye with a curled claw. "I did a bad thing. It's okay if you hate me." She turned away. "When they find out, I'll probably be killed. Twice if they figure out how to. Worse, I'll deserve it."

Harriet crossed her arms and tapped her foot. "I have no idea what you're talking about. Maybe you should tell me?"

Dawning rubbed at an arm nervously. "I didn't wander onto this ship just for fun." She flashed a too-brief smile. "It has been fun, but I was told to, ordered." She took a deep breath. "And I agreed. I can't say they made me do it." She stood up as she faced Harriet. "My job was to become friends with you, so I could sabotage you when the time came. And I did! I'm a bad dragon."

Harriet went rigid, fingers flexing in the air. "W-what? But."

"Yeah." Dawning turned away from Harriet. "Hate me. Hit me, if you want. I deserve it."

Harriet stumbled closer, grabbing Dawning by the shoulders. "But you're my friend!" She shook Dawning firmly. "No, shut up. You are my friend. If they told you to do it, that's their fault."

Dawning wobbled as she was shaken. "They told me, but I'm the one that did it. I coulda walked away. I could just." A drop of blood hit the ground, her claws digging into her own trembling hands. "I coulda just called it off when my own egg was on the line, but I went ahead, and I didn't even do it right. I'm a failure on top of a traitor!"

Harriet kept holding onto Dawning's shoulders, almost hugging her now. "Don't hurt yourself, please? I don't want that. Look, whatever you did, we'll fix it."

Dawning battered at Harriet's front and sides, but the blows were barely more than taps, no strength in them at all. "Why aren't you hating me?!"

"Because I'm your friend!" Harriet was still shaking her slightly. "It doesn't matter what happened. You're my friend, Dawning." She smiled softly as she held on. "I won't give up on you."

Dawning hissed sharply. "You're an idiot."

"Your idiot." The two fell into a hug and slumped to the ground. With great fatigue, they just rested there on the floor, hugging one another tightly.

Twilight watched with interest from her windows, wondering what she should do. Part of her knew that Dawning had just confessed to a serious crime. Reporting her to Captain Rogers would certainly be the ethically correct thing to do. Her morality didn't agree. Dawning was still a growing child. She could still change her ways. Not that adults couldn't change.

She shook her head. "Getting distracted. She is a youth. Bringing the full force of the law on her feels wrong. But she confessed to a crime." Twilight made up her mind. "She may have done something, but I can do nothing about it. She has not tried to escape, nor caused any harm." She swiveled a window to see Harriet and Dawning holding one another. Twilight smiled at the sight. "This is not a hardened criminal."

Still, the rules were quite clear. On the detection of a criminal, she was to report immediately to the captain.

Twilight, against all her better judgment, paused just long enough to inform Captain Rogers. "Captain, I feel obligated to report that I have located the suspected saboteur. Dawning Star, an adolescent dragon."

Roger slammed down an arm on the side of his chair. "Damn it all! Is she detained?"

Twilight glanced at the window that showed Dawning being hugged tightly. "She is detained." Technically true? It seemed unlikely Dawning would be going anywhere for the moment. "She was captured by Harriet Tappin. Harriet has apprehended her without incident."

"Good work." Roger crossed his arms. "That's some good work there. I knew you could handle it." He leaned back with a sigh. "Did you say Harriet Tappin? She's one of the new members, isn't she? How old is she, physically? She's barely a kid! How did she apprehend anyone?"

Twilight winked at him. "She asked her nicely." That drew a chuckle from Roger. "While I am glad to have apprehended the culprit, there are some issues that complicate matters. Her age being one of them."

Roger shook his head slowly. "Call Pinkie. I think we need her to meet with the morale officer. I want a full report on their psyche afterwards. If there's something up with Dawning Star, they'll know." He sighed softly. "I knew there were risks, but children? Damn it."

"Yes sir. Thank you, sir." Twilight blinked out of existence. She quickly relayed the message to Pinkie, then opened a window so she could watch the interaction between Harriet and Dawning. The two had ceased their hug and were sitting together, sharing quiet words. Twilight ran a hoof over the mirror. "Friendship is a powerful medicine."

Author's Note

Caught 'em! Harriet solves her biggest case so far, with a hug and shared tears.

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