//------------------------------// // A State of Parenting // Story: The Rock in the Gulch // by Tatsurou //------------------------------// Texas calmly walked further into Blood Gulch, now heading towards the large concentration of armor signals she'd picked up when she first entered the canyon. While she wasn't entirely pleased that her assignment here amounted to 'babysitter', she would learn to deal with it. Besides, it might just end up being fun, especially if the other troops were at all entertaining. If nothing else, they might scream as well as that Doc person had. However, one thing was going to cause problems. "You need to get off my head," she told Maud firmly. "No," Maud replied in a calm monotone, clinging all the more tightly to Tex's helmet, all four legs wrapped around it. "I'll pry you off if I have to," Texas countered angrily. "When Dad first found me, I crushed his armor." "Sim trooper armor is hardly that durable," Texas pointed out logically. "My armor is made from his. Is it sim trooper?" Maud asked curiously. "What's a sim trooper?" Curious, Texas turned her head to get a scan of Maud's armor. Without Omega active in her systems, she had to handle it herself. She was able to do so, even if she didn't like doing things humans couldn't. She felt her eyes widen as she got the scan results. "It's...it's made of the same material as Freelancer armor!" "I've gotten stronger since then," Maud pointed out. Texas mentally scratched out attempting to pry Maud off of her, not wanting to risk finding out if she could control this body if the skull were crushed. "Fine," she decided flatly. "As your Mother, I order you to get off." "Fuck no," Maud countered flatly. "Excuse me?" Texas demanded angrily. "If you're my Mom, I have to act like your daughter," Maud explained logically. Texas ground her teeth in frustration, but had to admit that the little pony had a valid point. "And how am I supposed to come across as intimidating to the rest of the idiots here with you clinging to my head?" she demanded pointedly. "Not my problem," Maud replied as she nuzzled her. "I scare all of them already." Texas paused in her attempts at trying to get Maud off of her to let that bounce around her head a bit. Given how Maud had trounced her earlier - even if it was because she was caught off guard - she could see why Sim Troopers would be terrified of her. Still, that didn't exactly help Texas establish herself as intimidating. The last thing she wanted was to be known as 'the scary pony's Mom'. Not that she had a problem with being known as Maud's Mom now that she thought about it, but she was Agent Texas! She needed to be terrifying for being her, not because she was riding on someone else's reputation. She wracked her brain, trying to come up with a way to get Maud to let her be intimidating on her own right. "...please walk beside me instead?" she tried desperately. "Okay," Maud agreed, hopping down to the ground to walk beside her. Texas blinked at that for a time. "...so you listen to please, but not a direct order?" she asked curiously. "I'm magic, and you said the magic word," Maud explained bluntly. "...huh," Texas allowed thoughtfully. "And...how'd you end up with everyone scared of you, anyway?" "Punched through rock with my bare hooves," Maud began with the air of someone making a list. "Ate rock. Teleported somehow. Kicked a locker into orbit. Crushed armor. Tried to be like you." "Tried to be like me?" Texas asked curiously, making mental note to review the others later. "How'd you even know about me?" "Dad told me about you," Maud explained. "But no one would give me their skull to beat them to death with." Texas hesitated. While she admitted that beating someone to death with their own skull sounded like something she would do - and actually sounded kind of fun when she thought about it - she had never actually done that. "Who is your Dad?" she asked curiously. "Is he around?" "He's around," Maud replied readily. "He's like you, but he broke. He doesn't know why he's still working, so he's Schrodinger now." Texas frowned, frustrated both from trying to parse what Maud was saying and the fact she was being so vague. "Can't you be more specific?" "I can," Maud answered immediately. Texas started to wait for an answer, then realized what she would do if she answered like that. "But you're not going to because you think it will be entertaining to watch me metaphorically tear my hair out?" "Or literally, but that would mean taking off your helmet," Maud confirmed. "Well, can you at least tell me how he talked about me?" Texas asked curiously. "He remembered waking up uncertain of himself, and you telling him that you used to be together," Maud explained readily. Texas froze. She knew exactly who she'd said that to. But there was no way...she'd said that because it looked like he was on the verge of neural collapse, as if he'd cease functioning if she'd tried to evacuate him as she'd planned...or even if he was left there any longer. He was broken. How could he...how could he have become Maud's father? "Hi Sis!" a happy voice called out as a blue armored sim trooper ran up. "Who's the black lady?" "Sis?" Texas asked Maud curiously, latching onto the distraction to not think about the new revelation for a bit. "I asked Dad if I could keep him, and Dad adopted him," Maud explained. "Hello!" the soldier greeted happily. "My name is Michael J. Caboose!" "...Agent Texas," Texas offered darkly, shifting her grip on her weapon to a more ready position. Caboose gasped excitedly. "Ohmigosh, you're New Mommy!" he declared excitedly. "What?" Texas growled out angrily. "New Daddy adopted me to be New Sis' idiot little brother!" Caboose declared happily. "New Daddy said you were New Sis' Mommy, so that makes you my New Mommy!" "Oh hell no!" Texas snapped out, lifting her weapon. "I draw the line at being Mom to the pony because she's badass. I am not playing babysitter to some helpless Blue-" "Yes you are," Maud stated firmly. "No, I'm not!" Texas snapped back, rounding on Muad. "Yes." "No!" "Yes." "NO!" "Yes." Texas lifted her gun to point the barrel at Maud. "I! SAID-" Maud lunged in, her teeth closing around the magazine and chamber and crunching right through the metal. She pulled back, chewing thoughtfully as Texas stared in awe. "...too oxidized," she murmured thoughtfully. "Needs more sulfur." Texas glanced from her gun to Maud for a time...then turned to Caboose. "...okay." "Yay!" Caboose declared happily, throwing his arms into the air in excitement. He lunged forward, arms outstretched towards Texas. "New Mommy-" "No hugs until you earn it!" Texas snapped out firmly, glaring Caboose down. "Okay!" Caboose agreed happily as he backed off. "Sis, can I try something?" Maud swallowed her mouthful and shrugged. "Sure." Grinning Caboose scooped Maud up with one hand gently gripping her under her barrel. He grabbed her tail with the other and began to rotate it while saying, "Dakkadakkadakkadakka-!" As her tail rotated, Maud's lips pursed and the bullets she'd eaten began to fly out at high velocity. Texas stared at Maud thoughtfully. "...that is the most adorable minigun I've ever seen. That's fucking awesome." Caboose gasped in horror. "You said bad words in front of Maud! You're a bad influence!" "More like a badass influence," Texas countered smugly as she put her gun away and took Maud from Caboose, holding the little pony as her weapon. Plainly in this canyon, that was the way to be intimidating. "Dakka dakka dakka," Maud offered in monotone agreement.