by Johnny Stone
“See, Margo, here are the guns. Do you want me to get one for you?”
“I think I can handle it just fine from here,” I said kneeling before one of the compartments, reaching for a rifle. A harsh jolt passed through the shuttle and I nearly lost my balance, while a clattering of weapons came spilling out around me. It felt like we were getting ready to land, and I had every intention of being ready for it.
I untangled a heavy caliber 10 mm Gauss rifle from the pile and chambered a round, finding solace from the weight of it in my hands. It was then that I made my discussion, a glimpse of a possible future clawing its way back to the surface. I wasn’t going to let them chop me into pieces for some insane dream of a bio-mechanical race, and I sure as hell wasn’t going to let them take my babies away from me. They would die with me when it came to that.
Cherise… Can I really trust her, I mean really? I know I have every reason to and no reason not to, but trust is a hard thing to come by these days. What if she starts to change, too? What if she goes crazy like Alex and all the others? What if she really did want my babies because she couldn’t have any herself? She’s not human, she’s one of them, and she had been configured to look like Tiff. The innocence, the helplessness, the perception of friendship… It’s all a devious ruse to put me at ease, to get close to me so I’d let my guard down around her at the worst possible moment and then… I’m alone, it’s just me now, and I always trust my gut, and right now it’s telling me to trust no one and be quick on the trigger no matter who gets in my way.
“Is something wrong, Margo? You look mad.”
“No, nothing’s wrong,” I hissed, eyeing her suspiciously while caressing the trigger of my rifle like a long lost lover. “Are you ready to meet our new friends?”
“Oh yes, I can’t wait!”
“Me either.”
***
I stood grimly at the hatch, while wondering what the hell the AI were waiting for. Why haven’t they rushed the shuttle and tried to cut me out yet? I’d been on the ground for almost fifteen minutes, and they hadn’t made a single move in my direction, or attempted any form of communication that I could tell. They just stood there staring silently for the most part, waiting, and it was really starting to put me on edge. Maybe this was all part of the AI’s plan; a trap, luring me in with little Cherise leading the way, or maybe she was already with them? She’d been extremely antsy since we landed, continually pestering me to open the hatch, as if she didn’t see the threat outside for what it was. Maybe she was intentionally ignoring it. Maybe she was working with them already, or maybe she wasn’t, but either way I wasn’t taking any chances. I’m watching you, bimbo. One false move…
To be honest, I was pretty excited about getting outside myself, but for an entirely different reason. I’d been cooped up inside this ship for what, two months now? I couldn’t wait to feel the sun on my face, the wind blowing though my mane, and the grass between my toes. Just the thought of it made me whinny in child-like enthusiasm, momentarily forgetting what I was about to do. Focus, pony, it’s killing time in a few more minutes.
I was originally going to outfit myself in a set of heavy combat armor that I’d found mixed in with the weapons in the den, but it made me itch. Apparently my new stubble horsehair wasn’t user friendly in regards to human clothing. That was fine with me, maybe staying light on my feet and unencumbered was a better route to go in this case, and being naked now was as natural to me as breathing. Naked or not, I was still loaded down like a gun enthusiast’s wet dream, and had every intention of using it all, very soon. I had a 12 mm rocket pistol on each hip with the Gauss rifle hanging in front of me in a combat sling, while a bandoleer of sixteen small, 350 micro-ton grenades hung across one shoulder. The big dog, a clip-fed micro missile launcher was going to be my ready weapon of choice, and I was just itching to pull the trigger. Twelve rounds from that meant at least 12 dead droids, and I had two reloads for it on a waist belt along with several for my rifle and pistols. Just for good measure I added an eight-inch high frequency vibro-knife to the package. I just thought it looked cool and figured why the hell not, it couldn’t hurt. To tell you the truth, if it came down to me using a knife, I was pretty much screwed anyway you looked at it.
“What are we waiting for, Margo? I want to go out outside. I want to meet my new friends!”
“We will in a minute,” I replied heavily, trying to psych myself up just a bit more for my upcoming life or death fight.
“That’s what you said a few minutes ago!”
“Would you just settle down and shut up for a change? Damn. ”
I was two seconds away from doing it for her permanently, and fortunately for her, she finally took the hint under my smoldering gaze.
I took a protected position near the hatch bulkhead and slowly reached for the controls, delaying the inevitable by a few more seconds. It began to hiss open, illuminating the corridor in warm sunshine and a cool, fresh breeze, thick with a woodland scent. It was such a wonderful shock to my senses after growing accustomed to the lifeless air of the shuttle. The small hatch-ramp extending downwards towards the lush, green grass stopped after only a few feet; the shuttle was sitting on its belly, rather than landing gear. Before I could stop her, Cherise bounded down the ramp towards our reception committee twenty meters away.
I almost shot her, as I stepped from my covered position, yet paused in a rare moment of indecisiveness after seeing the multitude of bots and droids arrayed before me with my own eyes. There were so many of them, everything ranging from rustic looking tracked models to modern droids dressed in simple, loose fitting gowns and tunics. Cherise was calling out to them, smiling and waving, as she ran closer to the waiting horde.
One of them separated from the group, moving forward. It was one of the old model tracked ones, possibility an agricultural model, and it held something white in one of its three-foot long, claw-like hands. It looked like it was about to chop Cherise to pieces and I really could have cared less if it did, but I had to send a clear message to these shit-birds right from the beginning. It was time to set the tone for my style of ‘negotiation’.
I dropped the launcher, letting it fall heavily to my side and swung my rifle up to my shoulder for a snap shot. It took only a fraction of a second to get a sight picture through the factory mounted plasma scoop, and a reticule appeared along with a small, red pinpoint of light on the bot’s torso.
The muffled burp of a three round burst came in unison with a blinding flash of fire from the barrel. It was considerably less spectacular than the effect it had on the bot. The slivers of dense beryllium death crossed the distance at nearly the speed of light, ripping into his light metal skin with blinding impacts. The rounds vaporized instantly, becoming jets of molten metal that gutted the bot from the inside out in a shower of sparks and small fireball explosions. It slowed, coming to a halt, shuddering with its final death throws. Cherise fell to the ground, startled from the burst that missed her right shoulder by less than a foot.
“Next one of you that moves gets slagged like your buddy there,” I yelled as I made my way down the ramp, rifle at my shoulder, panning it ominously back and forth. “And that goes for you, too. Get over there with the others,” I added, letting the muzzle of my rifle come to rest on Cherise for a moment. “All I want is a ship, and I’ll be on my way.”
A male droid with shoulder length, straight blond hair, dressed in a flowing white tunic stepped forward. He was a standard unisex servant model, and a shocked, if not frightened looking Cherise gravitated closer to him in an ill-found sense of protection.
“That’s close enough, hero.”
I sighted in on his chest and he came to a gradual halt, calling out to me.
“We don’t have a ship to give you.”
His voice was smooth and confident, stately in a way, and I almost believed him.
“Bullshit! What about the one that piggy-backed me on the way down?”
“It’s not ours
to give, it belongs to another recent arrival and he has decided not to join our community on a permanent basis. All of our other newcomer ships have already been recycled into the community. I am sorry, but as I said, we have no ship to give you.”
“Where’s the pilot? I want to talk to him.”
“He was having some difficulties with his ship while landing, but I’m sure he’ll be along shortly. In the meantime,” the droid speaker took a few more steps closer, smiling, and the grip on my rifle grew anxiously tighter. “You must be extremely tired after such a long journey. Please, let us see to your needs. You have nothing to fear from us.”
That wasn’t the answer I’d expected, and I began to study the group more closely. None of them were armed in an obvious way that I could tell, but that didn’t mean anything; they could have internal mounted weapons for all I knew, especially the bots. Even if they weren’t armed they could still rush me, and all it would take is just one of them to get in close to carve me up like a Christmas goose. I wasn’t about to let that happen, I hadn’t survived a lifetime of shit by letting my guard down to anyone, not for a moment.
“Right, I’ve heard that one before, and I’m not buying into it.” The sarcasm in my voice was thick and cruel. “Look, let’s just cut to the chase and get this over with. I know what you were planning with little bim-bot,” I nodded in Cherise’s direction, “and it’s not going to work. You can chop me up for parts after I’m dead, but I’m not serving myself up on a silver platter. You’ll never get me or my babies alive.”
The droid shook his head in confusion, holding out his hands in a disarming manner.
“You must believe me when I say we have no intention of doing any of those things to you. My name is Sebastian, but you may call me Seb if you wish. We’ve waited a long time for someone like you to arrive, a sentient that we can serve.”
I bet you have, you bastard. Alex probably called ahead and told him to get every synthetic dick on the planet oiled up, and the butcher knives sharpened for some fresh-cut pony ass after they were done playing with me.
“You are the first one to visit our colony, Eden, since its founding nearly two-hundred years ago. Everything has been kept ready for human occupation to the best of our ability in the meantime. Please, what do you call yourself, your race? I’m not familiar with it. We were expecting a human, but...”
“So you’re not pissed at me for blowing one of your buddies into scrap? Forgive and forget? Please, I’m not stupid. ”
“No, of course you’re not, and I never meant to insinuate otherwise. It was a regrettable misunderstanding on our part, and nothing more.” Seb motioned to the destroyed bot. “Perhaps Tom was not the best choice as a greeter this time, but he enjoyed such things in the past and was very excited at the prospect of serving a human again after so many years. I can assure you that his intent was not hostile in the least, he was merely offering you and your companion a robe.”
This was really starting to get weird. I couldn’t understand the angle he was trying to take, win me over with friendship so that I’d become a willing participant to their little bio-engineering scheme at a later date? With the odds I faced it wasn’t necessary, unless it’s all going to be a sick joke on their part later down the road. Fuckers! That was it, wasn’t it? Damn that pisses me off.
“Enough of this bullshit! I want to talk to the pilot of the ship that brought me down, got it? And if I see so much as one of you make a move to take me, I’ll turn my shuttle into a fucking crater and take your town with me!”
Seb took another step forward with a look of fading calm on his face. If I didn’t know any better…
“Please, there is no need for further...”
A burst from my rifle lanced across the ground interrupting his sentence. It was close enough to Seb to splatter his tunic with smoldering soil and grass.
“...to establish a colony suitable for human occupation, and co-exist in peace with our makers.”
I understood now why they hadn’t come in after me, why the mass of nearly a thousand droids collectively withdrew several feet after I’d fired, they were afraid of me. Of course, they are, and why wouldn’t they be? Look at me now, I was so powerful, so strong and elegant, not to mention ruthless. And of course, no one could deny that I was the most beautiful pony ever created. Then I saw it unfold in my mind’s eye, and I grinned like a feral tigress. I could rule this world if I wanted. After I had a ship, I could go back to Slave World and bring all my old pony friends here. We could slaughter these boot-licking, pacifist droids together and make a safe home for my foals – for all of us.
I would finally have my mate back. I’m sure I could convince Cirus to dump that idiot Donna and become a stallion again. I’ve seen the way he looks at me, with the scent of arousal thick in his musk. I’d convince them all to become ponies again, just like old times, and we’d all be so happy together. I imagined it all, and it made me tingle, I would be the queen of the stables again, the goddess of this world with Cirus at my side. It would be a pony haven like no other, and all of it would be created by my hand.
“That was the one and only warning you’ll get, droid,” I growled, backstopping up the ramp and though the hatch. “Tell the pilot to come see me, alone, or things are only going to get worse from here on out.”
The airlock slid shut and I smiled contentedly in the deathly calm of the corridor. I took a deep breath, letting the harsh odor of lingering ozone wafting from the barrel of my rifle fill my nostrils. I’d forgotten that this is what life is all about – the rush of danger, and the threat of impending violence. In the past I might have actually been ashamed at how I’d embraced it and how turned on I always felt afterwards. No longer. I would drown in it, becoming everything I’d always wanted without that sniffling cunt Margo holding me back. I was a pony queen now, and needed to start acting like it. I would do as I pleased from here on out. I would take what I wanted out of life because I was stronger, the law of nature running its course. I would finally have everything I’d been denied in the past, and I’d kill anyone who got in my way, starting with the pilot of that ship, after I get his access codes, of course.
I still had Quinn and his ragtag band to take care of at some point. I hadn’t forgotten about them, and I was looking forward to killing each and every one of them in the most painful and bloody way possible. I might as well make it a moment to remember, since revenge was the real reason for me leaving in the first place; all that nonsense about getting my ship back had been simple smoke and mirrors to fool that Boy Scout, Burke. Of course, it had worked; he was so damn gullible. All it took was for me to bat my sad, innocent eyes, and look like the pathetic, helpless person I’d once been to bring him around. And when the tears had started to flow… No matter; he’s dead and gone now and good riddance. All he ever did was hold me back.
Oh yes, things were going to get interesting really soon, as Pony 18, the next goddess queen of this world, started making her mark across the universe in blood. First things first, the beast within had an urge that needed to be fed. I was dripping, aching for a hard cock, and I knew exactly where to find the perfect one in the absence of my mate. A pony goddess was entitled to certain privileges, after all.
***
Seb and the others stood by in stunned silence as the shuttle hatch slid shut, this was not what they had envisioned, or expected, from the first sentient visitor to their colony. Cherise was by far the most confused, as she stared about at the crowd, feeling a combination of shame, sadness, and lingering fear. She finally turned to face Seb.
“I don’t know why Margo is acting this way. I thought she was my friend, and she seemed so anxious to meet you all.”
“You have to remember that humans can be unpredictable at times, lashing out emotionally when confronted with a situation beyond their understanding. I sense that perhaps this creature is even more unstable than even a human in the throes of emotional distress.”
“The important thing is that
your journey is finally over, and you’re here where you belong, safe with us. In time I’m sure your friend will come to her senses, putting aside her weapons and irrational behavior, and join us.”
“No, she won’t.” Cherise and Seb turned to the deep rumble of a man’s voice, as he separated himself from the crowd of droids. He holstered a pistol, while warily eyeing the seemingly lifeless shuttle. “Did you see the look in her eyes when she slagged your friend? She enjoyed it. Trust me, she’s not all there, or she’s a stone cold killer who gets off on that sort of thing. Either way, letting her join your colony would be the last mistake you’d ever make.”
Cherise cocked her head with an inquisitive frown, thinking how out of place the man looked among the other droids. He must be human; he was dressed as one at least, with scuffed flight boots that buckled up his calves, baggy cargo pants, and a leather, multi-pocketed mid-riff jacket. The dark shadow of stubble on his face surrounding a permanent smirk, and the way his mahogany hair was pulled back in a tight ponytail hanging between his shoulders blades, gave him an unwholesome, if not seedy appearance. The multi-optics band wrapped around his eyes hid them from view, but Cherise imagined he was looking directly at her in a way that made her surprisingly uncomfortable.
“I don’t think so.” Seb shook his head, as much in disagreement, as in foreboding. “She has no reason—”
“Look buddy,” the man said kindly as if educating a child, putting his hand on Seb’s shoulder. “I’ve been around people like this for the last year, and...”
“She does have a reason,” Cherise interjected. “She’s been… I don’t know how to say this. Margo was… the shuttle AI, Alex, took her prisoner and was so mean… He did things to her. He… he was crazy, talking about starting a new race of human machines, about taking her babies and…” Cherise’s face began to twitch, unsure of what emotion to show. “It was horrible, he made me beat her and… I didn’t want too, but he made me do it!”
