Angel woke the next day unusually tired. It took her an extra fifteen minutes to get ready for the day, something the corporal of the bunks didn't like. As she trudged down to the mess hall to grab a piece of fruit, she couldn't help thinking about yesterday and how everything went wrong. She had gotten Comet more angry than she could remember, all because of her lack of tact. Of course just barging in and confronting him about his beloved sister wasn't a good idea, especially when Comet cared for her as much as he did. She gave a large sigh and kept her head down. Her eyes were still puffy from yesterday when she sobbed into her pillow, fully believing Comet now hated her. Valyrie had brought Philomena to the bunks, something she got yelled at for as well, to attempt to comfort Angel, but Angel was too upset.

When she was crying, it felt like tons of little needles were being stabbed into her chest. It hurt her to remember, but her parents used to fight like how she and Comet just did all the time. It would usually start with her mother wanting to save the bat pony race and her father arguing against it, saying she had a family to take care of.

"You can't just run off and abandon your family!" her father shouted from down the hall. Angel felt her heart freeze for a second as she played with a couple crayons and a piece of paper.

"I'm not going to run off!" her mother replied, "I'm going to help save our species!"

"We don't need saving, dear! Our colony is doing fine."

"Then why are we on the brink of zero increase? We need help and I can do that."

"Sweetie..." her father pleaded.

"You know this! Why are you arguing with me?!" her mother shouted angrily.

"Because of what you want to do! I don't care if you can help, you're my wife and Angel's mother! You can't just leave us!"

"You know well enough I should. Angel also needs to know why I have to leave because she will be needed for the same reason!"

"No," her father said in a deadly serious voice.

"What?"

"No, I will not let that future befall our daughter,"

"And why not? It's a glorious future for her!"

"To be the colony's whore?!" her father shouted.

"No, to be the mother of the next generation of bat ponies!" her mother yelled.

Angel wasn't the smartest pony, but even as a filly, she learned her mother was one of the last fertile mares of her colony. Bat ponies, after years of breeding in their own colonies, had developed a genetic disorder where most mares could not successfully have foals. It usually took a regular mare nine failed attempts to have one successful pregnancy. A lot of bat pony foals were miscarried, causing their population to drop to an insanely low number. Most fertile mares, meaning those who could have foals on one try, were often kept in the colonies to breed new life and were heavily guarded. By a stroke of luck, Angel's mother was one such mare and Angel was suspected of carrying her mother's fertility gene.

Angel snapped back from the mental replay of her parents argument and past to find herself holding up the line in the mess hall. She grinned awkwardly at the chef, picked up an orange and darted off. Angel staved off the urge to cry again as she approached Philomena's room, but with her head down, she didn't realize there was a pony in front of her. She ran headfirst into a piece of gold and her head made a loud ringing noise as the pony shouted, "Whoa!" and the two toppled over. Angel's head hurt as she lay on top of the other pony, so she rubbed her forehead. "Hey," came the other pony, "Watch where you're... Angel!"

Angel opened one eye as the pony twisted on the ground beneath her to see a white pegasus stallion reach up and hug her. "C-Comet?" she asked nervously and the hug got marginally tighter.

"Well, duh," he responded, "Who else would just randomly hug another pony who tried to run them over?" His tone was unusually happy and sweet, something Angel was not used to. She didn't really hug him back, so she just kinda stood there, feeling awkward until he let her go, smiling widely at the sullen bat pony. "Hey, what's wrong?" he then asked, his voice losing the happy tone.

Angel looked away, ashamed, and mumbled, "I'm sorry."

"What?" Comet replied.

Angel turned her head back to him, eyes red and puffy, and said, "I'm sorry Comet! I'm sorry about talking about Nova!" Angel's head dropped and a couple small sobs escaped her and Comet felt a horrible rotting sensation in his chest. He took his mother's advice and was cheerful to her, but apparently Angel didn't let it go.

Steeling his will, he said gently, "Angel. Hey, Angel."

"I'm sorry, Comet." Angel spoke, ignoring his words, "I didn't mean to make you so upset. I just, I didn't know how to tell you, so I just blurted it out. I know you probably hate me and you don't want to date me, but can we still be friends? I just, I can't..." Angel trailed off, sniffling and gritting her teeth. She was sure he was going to yell at her again, just like her first coltfriend back in the caves she lived in. Instead, a calm and gentle hoof reached out and placed itself on her own. Angel looked at it and still sniffled. However, she managed to follow the white hoof back to the white chest, neck and head of Comet.

He smiled gently to her, trying his best to keep himself composed as he spoke to Angel. "Angel, I'm the one who's sorry," he spoke as gently as he could, "I overreacted to you and I'm sorry for that. I treated you like a jerk and I feel horribly about it." He reached up with his other hoof and gently wiped away a couple tears off Angel's face, just like he used to with Nova and sighed. "You know," he stated tactlessly, "The sad look isn't one for you."

Angel managed a chuckle out of that, halting the flow of tears and Comet gently pressed his forehead against hers. "Angel," he said with a smile, "I promise you, I won't get angry at you like that ever again. I've always been touchy about Nova, but you are not just some other pony I can get angry to. If you want, I would definitely like to keep dating you." Angel's big golden eyes flicked up and met Comet magically blue eyes and they just sat there, staring at each other. Finally, Angel broke the silence and said, "Yeah, I would like that."

A huge grin broke out on Comet's face and he gave her another hug and this time Angel returned it. The sad and lonely pegasus and the loud and obnoxious bat pony just sat there, feeling happy that the little spat hadn't ruined their relationship. As Comet sat there, he could almost see Nova smiling at him. The odd pair didn't end the hug until a set of guards rounded down the hallway and the two bolted off for their post, happy to be friends again. Inside Philomena's room, they took up their usual posts as Valyrie stood there, clearly unhappy with their tardiness. As punishment, Comet agreed to clean the room while Angel played with Philomena. The trio of females resumed their assault on the only stallion in the room, playing pranks and passing the day, only resuming their stoic looks when a corporal popped his head in to investigate the noises.

Later that day, after the shift had ended, the trio sat in the guard relaxation room, playing a game Comet dominated the gryffon and bat pony at. "Luna to E4," he stated proudly as he moved his minuature black figurine of Luna to a white sculpt of Celestia. Angel's jaw dropped as she lost yet again and put on her pouty face.

"This game is too hard to play!" she complained, "I liked checkers better."

"Yeah," Valyrie chimed in while she was playing with a deck of cards, "I want to play Prodder. This game is boring."

"Aw, come on!" Comet whined, "I played both of your games and got my flank kicked. You both can stand losing a bit in chess."

"It's more fun when you lose," Angel piped up, causing Comet's face to redden as Valyrie laughed.

"That isn't very nice," Comet stated flatly. Angel just sat back on her hind legs and shrugged, tilting her head slightly to the side. "Whatever," Comet grumbled, "I'll get the checkers." Angel squealed happily and reached across the table to hug him, knocking over a lot of the pieces at the same time. Valyrie laughed as Angel squeezed Comet's neck to the point she began to choke him and Comet tried to force her hooves from his neck. Flustered, he went off and got the checkers game while Angel and Valyrie cleaned up the chess pieces.

A long while afterwards, the trio sat around the table, each clearly tired but staring at each other suspiciously. They each held a set of five cards and a deadly silence permeated the air until Valyrie said, "You both ready?" Angel and Comet nodded and at once, all three slammed their cards on the table. Under Angel's dark hoof sat three nines, a Princess Celestia and an ace. Comet's hoof was two fours, two princes and a seven while Valyrie's claw was a six, three Princess Lunas and an eight. "I win again!" Valyrie shouted happily as Comet's face soured. Angel narrowed her golden eyes at her, but smiled.

"I gave you that win," she stated smugly and Valyrie clicked her beak.

"Then you shouldn't have let me win," she retorted and Angel's smile melted into a frown.