//------------------------------// // 9 - What is Love? // Story: Dash to the Stars // by Meep the Changeling //------------------------------// “How the hay did those cops get here so fast?” Rainbow wondered aloud as she struggled to process what had just happened. Saria sighed. “There’s a police station in every mall. They kind of serve as… Well, community centers. Some malls even have a little town on the top floors. You could live your whole life in one of these. Makes them good hubs for peace officers and firefighters.” Rainbow nodded slowly. “So uh… I guess I stay with you and your daughter for a while?” Saria bit her lip and stood up on her toes for a moment, an action which made Rainbow wonder how someone without hooves could stand walking on hard things without shoes. “About that, she’s not my kid or anything… She calls me mom because I made her. As in built.” Rainbow’s ears perked. “She’s a robot?” “Android,” Saria corrected. “I’m a roboticist. I needed someone to guard my stuff. Can’t afford an organic guard… and uh... they would probably report certain things. So, there’s that.” Rainbow sighed in relief. After the last five minutes, she desperately needed someone to talk to who wouldn’t make her brain demand she jump their bones the entire time. The alien woman looked at her comm and sighed. “She’s over by the bathrooms. We’ll meet up and uh… Well we can’t go to my house but we’ll hang out for a while.” Rainbow frowned, her wingtips dipped in time with her lips.. “W— What? Why not?” Saria looked at the floor and tapped her fingers together. Her ears twitched slightly and her upper eyes closed. “Uh, well… I’m kinda sorta… homeless.” Rainbow frowned. “Oh. Well that sucks. Don’t you have shelters or anything here? We have shelters.” “Come on, we can walk and talk,” Saria sighed and began to walk towards the bathrooms. Rainbow looked down at her feet and followed after her. “Uh… So, about earlier, when you said you couldn’t put on pants for me, is that because you don't want any?” “Yes,” Saria admitted. “But not because I’m too poor. Money isn’t the problem. I could buy three houses if there were any for sale… Station is kinda, well, five million over capacity. It’s the frontier colony rush.” Rainbow’s ears drooped. “Oh. Sorry… But uh, could you at least put on like, underwear?” Saria shook he rhead. “Nope. I can’t cover more than these pouches for health reasons. My people synthesize most of our vitamins and some basic compounds, but we need to be exposed to ultraviolet light to do it. I don't have a house, so I don’t have a place to set up a UV bed. That means I need to be naked so I can absorb what little UV Tavros gets. Most species are hurt by high intensity UV.” Rainbow looked up at Saria with a sad look in her eyes. “I’m sorry. That sounds like it sucks.” Saria shrugged. “A bit, yes. If it helps, I don’t find you attractive. I don’t like multi-sex species. I’m only into people from mono-sex races. You know, people like me. Hopefully that helps you be comfortable around me.” Rainbow paused for a moment, trying to see if knowing Saria wasn’t into her helped at all. To her surprise and delight, she felt the compulsion fade enough for her to go from ‘I need to have her rut me NOW’ to ‘that mare is hot’. The change was more than enough for her willpower to push her brain back into a healthier place. However, there was something she wanted to know which was a bit sexual, in spite of that relief. Rainbow nodded slowly, a cuierious expression crossing her face as it dipped out of the alien’s sight. “Hey, you guys have all the parts, right?” Saria nodded. She didn’t really want to talk about her anatomy. Unfortunately, she couldn’t justify not telling the new alien how her people worked. It’s not like anyone else was here to help her out. “Yes, we can perform either reproductive roll. The process is conscious. Right now, I am only fertile as a female. I still have male parts, but they don’t do anything unless I consciously switch over.” Rainbow blushed a bright pink and rocked back on her hooves. “Buuut I only saw the one hole up front?” Saria sighed. “Everything’s inside me ‘til I want to use it. We don’t have hanging bits like you ponies,” the Iregsin’s sigh morphed into a wince as she realized something. “Oh jeez! You’re so low to the ground, you just know poor Pan keeps getting wacked in his junk by all kinds of plants and stuff… Ugh! I wish I could mail your homeworld a whole shipment of that one transformative that gives males a genital slit!” Rainbow giggled at the mental image. “I don’t think mares would like that much.” “It’s not for them! I got punched in the rocks once and it hurt super bad, even with them behind two inches of flesh. I can’t imagine what it would be like with just millimeters of skin.” “Most stallions will vomit if they get hit there,” Rainbow admitted with a sympathetic ear twinge. The two turned a corner and the bathrooms came into view. Much to Rainbow’s surprise, there were six of them. The symbols on each door were obvious enough for Rainbow to understand as gender symbols, though she couldn’t make heads or tails of them. I should really let Penny or Doc give me that reading upgrade for my translator. Rainbow looked around but didn't see anyone waiting for them by the doors. She frowned and looked up at Saria. “Um, isn't she supposed to be here?” “She’s probably using the bathroom.” Rainbow raised an eyebrow. “The robot is using the bathroom?” Saria nodded “Mhm. I think she was due for a coolant flush today.” Rainbow blinked, realising that robots would in fact have all kinds of fluids to check on and drain from time to time. Hydraulic lines, lubes, coolant, maybe even things to make androids feel more fleshy. “Oh! That makes sens—” Rainbow stopped and looked back at Saria then the doors. “Wait, you have dedicated public bathrooms for robots?” “Of course we do. The Sanitation Act requires all public facilities provide gendered restrooms, and biologically specific restrooms for the most common species. Sentient AI are people, and there’s tons of normal robots too, so they have to have a bathroom for robots. From left to right we have the men’s, women’s, multi-sex’s, synthetic’s, aquatic/amphibious’, then the grav’s.” Rainbow raised an eyebrow. “Grav’s?” “Yeah,” Saria smiled. She was starting to like playing guide to the little blue alien girl. “People used to low or high gravity environments can have problems going in standard gravity. That room has adjustable gravity.” The door to the synthetics room opened and a humanoid pseudo-android stepped out. Right off the bat, Rainbow could tell she had been built as a robot first, then rebuilt later on. Her upper legs, upper arms, third eye, shoulder-mounted retractable antenna, and armor plating were all very much on the robot side of the spectrum, and clearly older than her other parts. Her face, hands, forearms, lower legs, feet, chest, hips, and groin were slightly mismatched, but all android parts. It was also clear that her android parts were secondhand. Each had a slightly different level of wear and tear to it, and they had definitely been installed by someone who had started out bad at their job and gotten better over time. The pseudo-android had soft, creamy peach colored synth skin, which made her look like a less pale Chernin cyborg. A cyborg with battle damage, where olive green armor plates, chrome-plated actuators, and hydraulic pistons forming a sort of ‘skeleton’, but a cyborg nonetheless. Her extremely large bust, curvy hips, and jiggly rear suggested she pillaged the scrap bin behind a sexbot factory for her android parts. Her stock components were gritty, industrial, and very much militaristic in nature, suggesting her builder had made her out of power armor parts and moxie. The cut off military fatigues, tan t-shirt, black combat boots, and faded olive green military cap she wore helped sell the look. In essence, Lupo looked like someone had fused a hyper realistic sexbot with a lean yet powerful killbot. Rainbow found the fusion of polar opposite looks to be genuinely cool to look at, especially since the piecemeal body somehow moved fluidly, gracefully, and with a feminine touch to the bot's motions that Dash recognized in herself. Rainbow offered Lupo a friendly smile, and remembered the other bot’s advice. “Hi! I’m Rainbow Dash, what’s your name?” Lupo looked down at Rainbow then over to her creator. “Is she with you, mom?” Saria nodded. “Yes. She’s a friend of Penny’s.” Lupo nodded then returned Rainbow’s smile. “Hi there, love! It's nice to see mom making new friends. I’m J0-L0P-0. You can call me Joe, or Lupo, your choice.” Rainbow looked at the raven haired robotic hybrid and hummed. “You look like more of a Joe. Uh, are you awake?” Joe smiled as she stooped down to get herself on a more comfortable level for speaking to somone of Rainbow’s size. “I am! Thanks for asking. Most organics don’t.” Saria snickered. “Yeah, she woke up and freaked out because she didn’t look female enough and started bolting all of that junk on.” Joe rolled her mismatched green and brown eyes. “Mom, we’ve been over this. You are bad at programming personality matrices. I HAVE to be visibly female. You specified this. I’m only furthering my intended design. None of my modifications impact my lethality.” “Yeah, but I still built you to be like me and have the mental traits of both,” Saria grumbled. “And also act as my sister…” Joe nodded. “Yes. You did. Sorry, but I feel more like your offspring than sibling. Can we not do this in front of the cute little furry girl?” Rainbow cleared her throat to help change the subject. “I’m fully grown. I guess ponies are just smaller than most aliens.” Jo’s hydraulics depressurized in surprise. The hiss made Rainbow jump a little, even though it wasn't particularly loud.. “Wow! Yeah, not many little races about.” Saria nodded. “That’s true… So uh, we need to look after Rainbow for Penny until she’s not tied up at the police station… And since you’re not at the alley we need to get back there before someone steals anything.” Joe smirked. “I put down stun mines. We should go back though. It's almost nine pm.” Saria swore under her breath and turned left. “Can you take Rainbow and look after her, please? I still have to try and apply for that housing grant before the Bureaucracy Office closes.” Joe nodded once. “No problem, Mom.” She turned to face Rainbow and knelt down to get on her eye level. “Are you okay with staying with me? If you went with mom, they might think you were a roommate. It’s hard enough to get a place for one, let alone two.” Rainbow frowned and looked between the two of them. “One? Shouldn’t it be two?” Saria shook her head. “No. Lupo doesn't want to work for me. We’re sticking together till I have a home or she finds a place to go.” Joe nodded slowly, choosing not to emote externally even though her core temperatures spiked in anger. “That’s right… it’s a bitter point between us. Let’s not dwell.” Rainbow ruffled her wings. “Uh, well… You sort of indicated you would be okay with shooting at town guards. That normally means it’s not a good idea to you know, be around you.” Joe sighed and looked into her creator’s eyes. “You handle that please.” Saria nodded. “Rainbow, I created her as a combat robot. Lupo is hard coded to protect me. She may be awake, but she will still protect me from anything putting me in danger that she’s aware of. If those peace officers had been a threat to me, she wouldn’t have had the option not to fire.” Rainbow raised an eyebrow and looked between the two. “Uh, then what difference does being awake make?” Joe snorted. “Would you punch someone you saw skinning a kitten alive?” Rainbow’s eyes shot open. “Luna’s tits! Who the buck would do that?! I mean, yeah, I’d put a lightning bolt into them, but like, who would ever do that!?” “Evil bastards, mostly,” said Joe with a shrug. “I have free will, but my old programming is what my values are based on. To me, Saria being hurt or threatened is as abhorrent and monstrous as someone hurting a kitten. I have to act to stop it, I don’t have a choice. Just as you wouldn’t have a choice to stop someone torturing small animals.” Saria nodded. “It’s true. She wouldn’t do it for anyone else, and it’s kind of not okay to me that a free mind is still, well... slaved to me like that.” Rainbow thought about it for a few moments. Everything they said made perfect sense, and in person Joe seemed very nice. “Okay, then everything is fine,” Rainbow decided as she looked up to smile at Joe. “I would like to hang out with a robot, actually!. I uh… I’ve got that thing where everyone is sexy. But it doesn't work on robots. So, uh, yeah…” Joe frowned and gave Rainbow puppy-dog eyes. “I’m not sexy? That’s so mean of you!” Rainbow eeped, her eyes widening to the size of dinner plates. “Oh gosh no! I didn't mean that! I mean your not making my brain treat you like I am in heat!” Joe looked up to her creator and pursed her lips while continuing to run bambi.exe. “She doesn't think I’m sexy, mom!” Saria facepalmed and began to walk away. “I’m not going to let you use this to get me to buy you new synthskin or whatever. I’ll be ‘home’ as soon as I’m done. See you soon.” Rainbow turned, watching her leave for a moment before turning to face Joe again. “I’m sorry! I really didn’t mean it like that. I think you look cool!” Joe stared at Rainbow for a minute, letting her lips tremble, before smiling and laughing. “I’m messing with you, flappy pone!” Rainbows eyes narrowed. “Oh, that is so not cool!” “Sure it is!” Joe teased. “You just need to be on the giving end to appreciate the humor. Come on, we’ve got an alley to sit in and robotics tools to watch for mom. We can chat, play games, and take potshots at vermin with silenced rifles.” Rainbow frowned. “Wait, as in, we can shoot rats? That’s legal to do in a city like this?” Joe winked. “It is if you’re registered as a vermin control appliance!” Rainbow raised an eyebrow. “Is that why it’s fun for you? You’re built to shoot things?” Joe shook her head. “Nah. I do it because I’m not allowed to fly… I don’t have a permit for my own integrated wing system. Can you believe that? It’s a goddamn body part for me, I’m programed with piloting abilities leagues above any organic, and I still need a permit. Organics!” Joe threw were hands up in frustration and began to walk towards the outer wall of the mall. Rainbow’s other eyebrow raised. “Soooo, you can fly?” “Yep! I’ve got hardlight wings and a deployable thruster pack. I had to find a trashed sexbot with extra big boobs to fit my thruster coolant into. Do you know how hard it was to find a companion grade android upper torso with a ninety eight centimeter waist, a one twelve chest, with each beast having at least four-thousand ccs of space inside?” Rainbow tilted her head. “Uh, pretty hard?” Joe giggled. “Nah! It was cake. You fleshy types are huge pervs, but you sure make relocating liquid tanks easy for people like me.” Rainbow raced to catch up with the surprisingly fast walking robot. “Can I see?” Joe tilted her head. “What, my boobs?” Rainbow rolled her eyes. “No! Your wings!” “What, are wings attractive to you guys?” Rainbow’s deadpan face confirmed that yes, yes they were. “I’m an athlete. I like wings. I like flying. I would love to see what you can do. I haven’t gotten to fly in forever… It would be nice to talk with someone else who can fly, you know?” Joe smiled. “Sure thing, love!” Rainbow winced. “Why are you calling me love?” The android frowned. “Sorry, nothing personal. Mom programmed me to call people that until they asked me to use something else. It’s stuck in my personality matrix, like the protect mom thing. What would you like to be called?” “My friends usually call me Dash, Rainbow Dash. The Fastest mare in all Equestria!” Rainbow informed. Joe snorted and rolled her eyes. “I’m not calling you The Flash.” Rainbow tilted her head. “Um, I said Dash?” Joe sighed. “It was a joke. Skip it. Here, these are my wings.” Joe reached behind herself and rolled up her shirt, keeping her large breasts/coolant tanks covered because even androids were subject to public indecency laws. The skin on her back separated, pushing outwards in four panels to allow a small quad-turbine jetpack to deploy from her spine. The unit unfolded, creating a metallic hump on her back about he size of a compact day-pack, from which a series of air intakes deployed. Then, with a shimmering flourish of light, a pair of large white feathered hard-light wings sprang into existence on her back, concealing the pack. Joe spread her arms and wings as one. “Ta-dah! Cool huh?” Dash reached up and stroked her chin while nodding. “Yeah, it’s cool… But wanna see something twenty percent cooler?” Joe smirked. “Like what?” Rainbow spread her wings and flapped lightly, pushing herself off the ground to hover at Joe’s eye level. “This!” Joe’s eyes widened. “Holy— Those aren't vestigial? I thought you meant you flew in vehicles, as a pilot! What’s your top speed?” Rainbow folded her wings to drop to the ground. “Faster than yours.” Joe raised an eyebrow. “The hell it is.” Dash smirked. “I’ll prove it! Wanna step outside and race?” Joe frowned, debating the risk if they chose to break the law and have an air race. “Ah bloody hell, you bet your cute little butt I do. Far warning, you’ll be eating my exhaust.” “Ha! Fat chance!” Rainbow said as the two of them made their way quickly towards the exit. “I outraced a shuttle once.” Joe smiled and rolled her eyes. Organics were so silly with the way the exaggerated things. The two exited the mall through a side door. Despite the chaos which occured minutes ago, the mall was still open, and so large that many people hadn’t heard the blaster shot or other commotion. Dash was reminded rather vaguely of scenes in scifi and western comics where there would be a bar fight but background characters kept drinking. In this case, they kept shopping. As the side door opened and Dash walked out into the open air again, she sighed in relief. Joe stepped out behind her, frowning down at the little pony as she let all of her stress out with the single sigh. “What’s wrong?” Dash looked up with a shaky smile. “I uh… You know. Everyone is stupid hot.” Joe fake-frowned. “Except for me, right?” Rainbow snorted and rolled her eyes. “Oh come on, don’t be like that! You’re an android. You don't have pheromones and stuff to trigger my stupid anici-whatevers.” Joe hung her head sadly. “I know… I wish I did.” Rainbow tilted her head. “Why? So I’d like you?” Joe waved a hand in dismissal and let go of the door. “Well, I do have romantic attractions. That’s not what I meant. I meant I wish I had synthetic pheromones. I do want to be organic-like, and smelling right is a part of that.” Dash reared up to rest her forehooves on Joe’s shoulders while looking her in the eyes. “Joe, trust me, you DO have a scent, and it’s nice. It’s also organic-ish. Specifically, you remind me of dragons with a bit of griffon. There’s hints of silicone, oils, and what I think is uh… sugar? No! Antifreeze.” Joe blinked. “Wait, what? No one’s told me I smell like anything other than oil before.” Rainbow shrugged and set herself down on all fours again. “Smell is pretty important to ponies. My dad rejected three houses because they didn’t smell right to him. Trust me, you smell like a dragon-griffon hybrid who works in a machine shop. It’s nice!” A genuine smile parted Joe’s lips. “Thanks! Right, you wanted to race… I uh, I’ll be breaking the law to do that, but fuck it! I wanna see those wings of yours in action. I can pay the fine if we’re caught.” Rainbow bit her lip. “Oh yeah… We could not if you’d rather not get in trouble.” Joe shook her head. “Hell no! You said you’re faster than me with those tiny little flappers. We’re testing this. Now.” Rash nodded slowly, narrowing her eyes as she barely managed to contain her anger at that particular word choice. “Okay… Then let’s race from here to…” She trailed off as she scanned the skyline for a suitable target. “Here to that spire on that tower?” Joe looked in the direction Rainbow was looking. Her internal computers tracked Rainbow’s eye’s angle and dilation to determine what she was focusing on and immediately identified the building. “Hummm, the Handrin Corp offices. Buzzing it and scaring some fatcats could be fun!” Rainbow raised an eyebrow. “Rich jerks or chubby kitties?” “Jerks.” Rainbow grinned evilly, her wings rustling against her back in anticipation of metaphorically blowing a boastful person away. “It’s on then. Sooo from here, around the tower, and back?” Joe looked at the tower and began plotting a flightpath, resolving everything for the fastest time factoring in probable traffic, current weather, and atmospheric conditions enroute. “That would be a two kilometer race. I could get up to top speed in a quarter of that. You don’t stand a ghost of a chance.” Rainbow smirked. “Wanna bet?” Joe smirked back. “I do actually!” “Okay, what will you put on you winning?” Rainbow asked, shaking her head as she smiled. Joe rolled her eyes at Rainbow’s bravado. “You first. What do i do if you win?” Rainbow hummed. “If I win, you have to show me where I can get some armor made that won't weigh me down too much but is still protective.” Joe laughed. “I’d do that anyways, Dash! How about something more fun and interesting? If you beat me, I’ll personally escort you around for the rest of your time on Tavros. Full service bodyguard, guide, and personal assistant.” Rainbow snorted. “Okay, deal. I hope you’ll like hanging out with me.” Joe knelt down to get on Dash’s level. “I do. See, I like you. So if I beat you, you have to let me take you out to dinner. Deal?” Joe held her hand out for Rainbow to shake and seal the deal. Rainbow blinked and took a step back in surprise. “Wait, you want to go on a date with me if you win?” Joe nodded. “Yeah! Uh, well, if you like synth girls. Otherwise we can go for dinner as friends.” Rainbow paused for a moment and looked Joe over, a frown pulled at her lips. “I… Well, I don’t have a problem with you being an android. You look cool… But I kind of have a thing for one of my friends…” Joe’s face fell. “Oh, you have a partner already?” Rainbow shook her head. “No… She, um, she hasn’t noticed I like her… In like, a whole year. She’s really oblivious, too! I’ve been obviously checking her out, and I even flirted a few times, but she just didn’t notice!” Joe’s frown deepened. “I’m sorry. I know how that goes. It’s not really my place to try and force you to like anyone, but if you've been trying for a year, have you considered that she has noticed, doesn't like you that way, but doesn't want to hurt your feelings?” Deep down, Dash had. Many times. Her heart didn’t want to accept that truth, so she kept trying. Rainbow’s ears fell. “I um… I was going to try one last time. Actually say to her face I liked her. But, well… Pirates took her, so yeah…” Joe’s face twisted into a scowl. “Which pirates?” “Nova Wing.” Joe sighed and briefly rested her face in her hands. “Fuck… I won't lie to you, Dash. She’s probably never going to be seen again. I’ve got detailed files on Nova, they are big fish in the Arm. Their organization goes way, way back. They were a nation once, ruled many star systems. We crushed their home system back in the Battle of Halvia, mostly because an automated First Race vessel got pissed when they broke a net relay… Point is, they had thousands of ships that were not in that battle had no territory to fall back to. They became pirates to survive, and have survived for the last five hundred years.” Dash winced. “Wait, so like, they have a lot of resources?” Joe nodded. “Yeah, they aren’t a small pirate fleet. They are a massive organization with the power of a medium sized army and the connections of a megacorp… I don’t know why, but deep in my cores, I’ve hated them since I woke up… Can I change my bet?” Dash nodded. “Yeah.” Joe scowled in determination as she intentionaly overclocked her flight computer. “If I win, I get to go with you and help kick some pirate ass.” Dash snorted and shook her head. “You could just do that, I think. I mean, you don't need to sleep so the Dawn’s lack of beds wouldn’t be a problem,” Dash suddenly realized something and shifted gears without a clutch. “You really want to spend time with me, don’t you?” Joe’s cheeks glowed with hidden pink LEDs to simulate a blush. “I don’t know why, but… Uh, quick explanation: Androids don’t have gut instincts, we have core feelings. They are similar, but a bit different. They are deeply subconscious almost instinctual thoughts which are based on protocols we’re not aware of. Many of us believe very firmly that they are like, the voice of the universe or something.” Rainbow tilted her head. “Wait, you can be religious? But you’re robots?” Joe smiled and rolled her eyes. “Yeah. We can be religious. Well, spiritual. We can’t do dogma easily, which rules out most religions.” “Are you?” Joe paused for a moment then shrugged. “A bit? There’s clearly a mystical element to the universe, but seeing as I don’t know if I have a soul, or how to find out, I don’t care that much about faith and spirituality. “Personally, I don’t think core feelings are the voice of god. I think that the First Race programming that all modern AIs are based on has hidden code we have yet to find. Uh, the point is, we, like you, are subject to forming opinions and having snap judgments. It’s just more rare, so we tend to treat them as very important. Following me?” Rainbow nodded and Joe sighed in relief. “Okay, another difference between you and I is you are used to social rules and norms formed by organic interactions. I’m not. I am based off my programming, and as a security AI, I was designed to be blunt, honest, and never conceal anything. Which means as a person I am very upfront about my feelings, desires, and needs. Does that make sense to you?” Rainbow nodded again. “Yeah. Actually, it would be weird if you were subtle about— Oh! I get it, you’re being blunt and telling me upfront because--” “Mostly! There's another layer to this,” Joe rubbed her hands together nervously for a moment. “I uh... I got two Core Feelings back to back from you. When I first saw you, I felt that your species was important. Then, after you started talking to me… Well, something about your, well, youness makes me want spend time with you. “On top of that, you’re pretty cute and I was programed to like girls and girl-like people, so I do! In other words, I like you, find you attractive, and would like to go on a date with you. I hope that’s not creepy…” Rainbow shrugged her wings. “It’s a little creepy… But uh, I guess finding somepony hot can feel creepy too if you just say it to them like that.” Joe nodded. “Right!” She paused, pursing her lips. “Oh… Um to mitigate the creep factor, I just don’t want to be misunderstood. I like you, and feel it’s only polite you know that so you don't misunderstand my intentions and motives regarding you. So, what do you say? Deal?” The android held out her hand again. Rainbow bit her lip in thought. She does seem nice, and I have done blind dates before… Would it really be betraying Twilight to date somepony else after a whole year of trying and failing to get her to notice me? It’s not like we're really a couple. We’re friends… Rainbow shuffled her hooves anxiously. Her loyal nature pulled one way while her heart and mind pulled another. Ahhhh! Why is this so hard? Dash took a deep breath and looked up at Joe. The android did look a little cute, but mostly cool. Frankly, Rainbow prefered cool. I prefer cool. I prefer cool! Rainbow’s eyes opened wide as she came to that realization. She was in an environment where her body was ruling her mind now, just as she had been back in Equestria. Every mare she had ever liked, she liked because her body had said “She’s hot. Mate now!” every stallion she’d wanted to sleep with had been because her body had said “A good dicking would be nice right now and that guy looks like he would be fun.” Teenage hormones, mating instincts. Twilight stood out only as a mare whose personality Rainbow had liked and wanted to hang out with on top of her body telling her “yes!”. I’ve never made a choice in who I tried to be with. I’ve always followed instincts. Maybe it is time for a change. Maybe I should try starting a relationship based on what I like rather than just what my body wants. Maybe then it will last for more than a few months… Besides I can always break up later if I feel I should. Rainbow squared her shoulders and shook her head. “No deal. I’ll take your previous offer for a date if I lose.” Joe raised an eyebrow. “What made you change your mind?” Rainbow sighed. “It’s… Complicated, okay? Part of it is you’re right. Deep down, I thinks she knows and is trying to spare my feelings… And hey, you’re kind of cool. If you're a good enough flier to beat me, or even match me, we’d have a lot in common. Maybe it could work out?” Joe frowned. “I know that heartache. There was a very cute Agontuun I was trying to ask out for three months. She didn’t say a word to me, ever. Not even a ‘I don’t like robots.’ I know how it hurts, and how long it can take to accept… So how about if I win we just hang out more and give you time to make a real decision?” Rainbow’s ears and tail perked in surprise. Woah, wait hold it! She backed off when I was obviously distressed. She actually cares about how I feel. It may be a bit sudden but— Actually, no! It’s not sudden. I’ve asked mares out at bars after a 3 minute conversation before. It’s just a date, not any real commitment. Yeah! We can do this. Twi’s not interested in me, we seem to like similar things, I think she looks cool, she cares about me, and wants to help me take on Nova Wing because she hates them too. We have mutual goals. She deserves a chance. Rainbow felt a wave of delight ripple through her chest. “Okay, deal!” Joe frowned. “What’s the deal?” “You just showed you actually care about what I feel, so you get that date,” Rainbow promised. “If you can beat me or even just match me in a race from here around that tower, and then back.” Joe frowned a bit more. “Are you sure? I’m not forcing or pressuring you, am I?” Rainbow shook her head. “Nope. Besides, if I change my mind I can just win in ten seconds flat.” Joe scoffed. “You can’t make that run in ten seconds.” Rainbow held out her hoof and waved it slightly. “We already have a bet…” Joe smiled and took rainbow’s hoof, giving it a firm shake. “We do. Deal!” “Deal!” Rainbow turned towards the tower, braced her rear hooves on the ground, and spread her wings to prepare for takeoff. “Line up with my front legs, and we’ll go on the count of three!” Joe moved into position, and spread her hardlight wings. The wings were just for show. Her real flight power came from her deployable jetpack. Joe took up a sprinter’s starting pose next to Dash and flipped her pack’s systems on. Rainbow’s ears perked as she heard the pack humm and whir as the turbines spun up. The engines reminded her of Penny’s shuttle, only rather than sounding like distressed as a cat in a clothes dryer, they purred and hummed. Like a happy cat with a ball of yarn. Joe took care of herself. Rainbow also noticed Joe’s teats shrank by two or three cups during the half a second her pack warmed up. Blinking several times, Rainbow decided, buck it, and pointed to her chest with a wingtip. “Why did they—” Joe snickered. “I told you before. They are coolant tanks. And the skin there serves as a radiator too. I need volume, and surface area.” Rainbow paused for a moment and did some math very poorly. “Did you just like, inject a whole liter of coolant in your jetpack?” “Two, actually. One liter per tank, and that’s to warm her up. If I could have smaller ones, I would. But I can’t cuz I’m a hot-rodded-out racer. Start the countdown, I wanna take you to dinner.” Rainbow laughed. “Can you even eat?” “I can consume up to a kilogram of biomass per forty eight hours, which my systems break down into materials for self repair and maintenance. I recently gave myself a sense of taste. Let’s do this!” “Alright!” Rainbow narrowed her eyes, focusing on the tower and plotting her own course. “Three… Two… One… GO!” Rainbow jumped, snapped her wings, and took off like a shot. Joe was right beside her. The android ran at first, her pack glowing a pale pink as she sprinted along the ground. Her jets wined, hummed, purred, then began to roar as the q-thrusters reached operation temperatures. Dust blasted away from Joe as she took to the sky, neck and neck with Rainbow who had decided to accelerate slow to see if her opponent even had a chance. She does! At least, if I trot. Rainbow snickered. Joe opened her pack’s throttle and shot past Rainbow like a rocket, pulling more Gs than any organic known to the Galaxy could ever dream to survive. Rainbow was taken aback by the look on Joe’s face. Joy. Pure joy. She loves to fly as much as I do! Rainbow smiled. Then she noticed Joe had gained twenty meters on her. Whoops! Rainbow shook her head at her self and pumped her wings. The gap between Rainbow and Joe closed rapidly, and by the time the two climbed above the rooftops around them, they were neck and neck once more. Joe looked back, her eyes widening in surprise as she saw Rainbow pull up alongside her, seemingly effortlessly. The android couldn’t believe her eyes. She was running a kitted out Cadill flight pack, designed for robots who didn’t have to worry about Gs. Yet this little pony, around a third her size was keeping pace with her even at 193 clicks. “Okay! You’re fast. I see why you thought you could beat me,” Joe called over her jet’s roar. Rainbow grinned. “You call this fast? This is a jog.” Joe narrowed her eyes. “Oh, it is on!” The android shifted her pack from cruise mode to combat mode. A plasma trail formed behind Joe as she shot forward again. The tower appeared to fly at them as the wove between the sky-lines, ducking and weaving between shuttles, occasionally being separated, but remaining neck and neck. Joe’s internal systems registered she’d hit four-fifty-eight, as fast as her pack could go in combat mode. But the little flying pony pulled alongside her as if she were going slow. The thrilled grin on Rainbow’s face proved infectious, and Joe smiled back. “Not bad!” Rainbow called over the deep roar of ionized air and whistling winds. Joe laughed. “So, this is all you have huh?” Rainbow laughed. “As if! Are you tapped out?” “Nope!” Joe proclaimed as she hit her turbo. Another pair of turbines and thrusters unfolded form her back, widening her pack as they deployed. Joe adjusted her body posture, streamlining herself, and shot forwards again, leaving behind and even brighter trail. This is fun! Rainbow decided as she put a little more speed into her wings, keeping the pace as always. Joe grit her teeth, the race’s course forgotten as she tried to puzzle out how in the world Dash continued to keep pace. At her rate of acceleration she was pulling over forty three Gs. The pony should have been paste, or unconscious, and yet there she was flying behind her at eight-ninety-six, as fast as her turbo could go. To her delight, Dash finally seemed to be putting in some effort. Her eyes had narrowed, she focused more on her surroundings, and her wing flaps seemed to be more strained. “How about you? Tapped out now?” Joe asked as she cycled the coolant in her pack out to stop her pending overheat. Rainbow flashed her a toothy grin. “Nope! Now it’s a real race.” Joe’s pride stung, but her heart soared. A real challenge had appeared. She had one last trick up her sleeves. The two shot past the tower, neither turning to follow their planned course. It had become a drag race without end. A true test of speed, who would give out first. Seconds passed with the two keeping an even pace. Joe watched her coolant heat up and up. She cycled it a second time, and realised she wouldn’t be able to play her last card if she kept up her turbo any longer. “Okay, Dash. You’re fast, but you’ll never catch me. Not once I shift into maximum overdrive!” Joe set her pack to burn as much power, oxygen, and coolant as mechanically possible. The android launched through the air like a bullet from a gun, leaving a hundred meter long burning streak of pink plasma in her wake. Rainbow grit her teeth and flapped as hard as she could. Now it was her turn to tuck her legs and keep her head down. The streamlined pegasus blasted forward with greater speed than Joe could provide, catching up to her within a few seconds. Rainbow rolled over, flying with her back to the ground so she could catch up to Joe face to face and smile up at her. “Looks like we’re both really good! I haven't had a challenge like this since I raced Lightning Dust!” Joe’s systems showed they were traveling at one thousand and seventeen kilometers per hour, as fast as she could go. Joe wanted to shake her head in disbelief, but knew the motion would ruin her aerodynamics and send her tumbling out of the sky. “How the fuck can you do this?! You should be paste! You shouldn’t be this fast?” Rainbow laughed. “Are you mad?” Joe smiled. “Fuck no!” The loud screech of Peacekeeper sirines blared behind the two racers. Blue and red lights flashed, illuminating the clouds the two flew through as a Peacekeeper shuttle pulled up behind them. A loudspeaker clicked to life. “Attention, citizens. You are speeding by a factor of nine. Land and prepare to present your identification.” Joe yelped, her eyes widening in terror. “Oh fuck! I so cannot afford this speeding ticket!” Rainbow’s ears would have dropped if the wind hadn’t palstered them back. “Going fast is a crime here?” “Tavros is super anal about flight regulations!” “I thought you said you could handle the fine? Let’s just land.” “I can handle the fine for flying without a permit, not that AND speeding several hundred clicks over the limit! I thought you’d be slow!” Rainbow’s eyes hardened. “I’m not going to be fined for being me!” Joe took a deep breath to steel herself. “I’ll take the fall. Pull evasive maneuvers, I’ll land. It will be okay… I can sell some parts to pay this off and they can only get one of us.” Rainbow’s sense of loyalty slapped her across the heart. She’d take the heat for me!? Okay, yeah, marefriend material confirmed. Come on Dash, let’s give her what she would give us. Sorry wings, you’re gonna hurt tomorrow! Rainbow shook her head as much as her current speed would allow. “Buck no! We're in this together!” Joe gulped. “At least one of us has to face the music! That shuttle’s fast as we are and won't get tired.” Rainbow grit her teeth and pulled up, grabbing Joe by her shoulders as tightly as she could. “They are not fast as I am.” “I repeat: land and present your identification!” The Peacekeeper shuttle demanded. Joe’s robotic nature was the only thing that kept her from panicking as Rainbow took hold of her. “What are you doing?” “It’s time for a Sonic Rainboom!” “A what?” Rainbow closed her eyes. She knew what they felt like now. The desperation present in her last time had not returned, but Rainbow felt like she was in twice the shape she had been a week ago. Her magic burned bright in her heart. The advanced healing Doc had performed on her. Her desire to show off to a fellow racer. They all melded into one mighty force which Rainbow channeled through her wings. The air around Rainbow shimmered, rippled, then crackled with magic. Joe’s eyes widened as a mock cone began to form around them. “Holy shit are you—” Joe’s question was answered as they shot forward, the distinct crack of a sonic boom shaking the station around them as they vanished into the clouds. The traffic cops behind them stared in shock as the person-sized drones vanished into the distance on a rainbow trail of light. Officer Klaxx shook his head in awe. “They must have hyperjets on those things!” His partner stared out of their squad shuttle’s canopy, unable to do anything more but whisper. “Well, we’re not catching that.” Klaxx nodded in agreement. “Not in this Cuisinart!” Rainbow angled downwards and flew out of the cloud layer, aiming for the city below. Their drag race took them well away from the mall they had started at, and Rainbow couldn’t recognise any of the landmarks. But that didn’t matter. She knew they had to get out of the air and lay low for a bit. A thing which would be hard for a little blue pegasus to do. Joe wrapped her arms onto Rainbow and hung on for dear life as Rainbow raced towards the ground at mach 3.4, her jaw dropping as Rainbow’s pegasus magic bled away their speed, letting Rainbow touch down on the sidewalk in a graceful, light, elegant landing… Which was made very awkward by her landing resulting in Rainbow’s head wedged between Joe’s breasts and their bellies touching. Fortunately, the street had seen weirder things and no one looked for more than a second. Rainbow blushed as she lay atop Joe. “Heh, I swear, I don’t usually do this before dinner! Which I think I owe you.” Joe shook her head. “No, I didn’t win. We had a draw.” “Eh, more like we forgot to actually turn and, you know, finish… So we both lose.” Rainbow felt somewhat conflicted about getting off of Joe’s chest. On one hoof, it was a bit rude to just lay on a stranger. On the other, the hot coolant radiating heat through her synthetic skin made her cleavage nice and cozy. It reminded Rainbow of a sauna. That said, the way they slowly swelled under her as the android pumped her coolant out of her pack was a little odd… Okay… This is weird. Good wierd or weird—wierd? Uh, I’ll work that out later. Joe smiled. ‘Sooo, a date and I hang out with you while you’re here?” Rainbow wiggled free of Joe’s cleavage and stepped off her, letting the android stand up, close her pack, and roll down her shirt again. Rainbow sighed. “Well, uh… No. We did just make the guards mad.” Joe sighed and nodded slowly. “Yeah… Just a traffic violation. Misdemeanor. They’ll look for us for a day or so then give up and fine you digitally if they got your ID.” Rainbow blinked. “They asked for that, would they do that if they had it remotely?” Joe shrugged. “I don’t know… But yeah, we can get away with just the fines if we’re not caught. So uh… Yeah. We both lose. We need to lay low for a bit.” Joe turned and looked south. “I’ll call a cab for us to get back to the mall, then we can split up and—” “And what?” Rainbow scoffed. “I’m a one point two meter tall blue pony with wings and a rainbow mane! You’re a cool robot-mare with obvious machine parts. We stick out like a split hoof!” Joe winced. “Okay, yeah, true, but I can just hang out in the alley with Mom’s stuff, and—” Rainbow shook her head. “No. I have a better place. You’re coming with me to the Dawn. We’ll hang out onboard, and I’ll make us dinner. That way we’re way out of sight, and both of us can still keep up our ends of the bet because we both lost, so we both win.” Joe raised an eyebrow. “Is that how your culture normally resolves draws?” Rainbow nodded. “Yep! It’s only fair.” Joe smiled. “I think I like ponies… Hang on, I’ll call us a cab. What docking bay were you in?” “3-I.” Joe nodded, extended her antenne, and called for a shuttle to take them to the docking bay. “I’m sorry that our race wound up like this.” Rainbow snickered. “Hey, it’s not the first time I’ve gotten in trouble with the law while flying… Uh, normally when that happens I hit something though.” Joe sighed. “Still feel bad.” “Why? Because I blew you away?” Rainbow asked with a smirk, not too worried about guards who had to be at least forty kilometers away. Joe laughed and looked over her shoulders, trying to imagine how to fit better thrusters into her chassis while keeping her supermodel physique. “No… But I swear, if we ever meet again, I’ll have completely overhauled myself so I’ll be able to beat you!” Rainbow winked at Joe. “I thought you wanted to stick around me.” “I do, but maybe I can’t. That’s up to you, your captain, mom…” She sighed. “Lotta variables here, Dash.” Rainbow frowned. The last time she had a rival who was someone she felt she could be good friends with, if not more, had been in elementary school. “Hey, Joe?” Joe looked down as she finished her shuttle request. “Humm?” “I’m not a variable. I want you to stick around, as a friend if we can’t be more.” Joe’s cheeks flushed. “A— Any reason we might not be?” Rainbow shrugged. “Don’t know. We can find out at and after dinner.” Jow raised an eyebrow. “Wouldn’t a slow meal and a long conversation be enough to see if there’s a spark?” Rainbow blushed. “Oh no, that race made the spark! But there’s a big difference between a spark and a fire. We need to put fuel on this spark and see what happens.” Joe pursed her lips curiously. “What might happen?” Rainbow rolled her eyes. “Joe… I think I’m being obvious… You could keep up with how I was before getting treated in an auto-doc. You’re an amazing, fast, awesome racer who looks cool. You’re my type, we raced, I’m ready to go if you catch my drift!” Joe processed Rainbows words for a few cycles, doing her best to understand what she meant. Joe smiled as it clicked. “OH! Soooo we can have a bit of fun, even if we lack long term potential?” Rainbow nodded. “Mhm! I’ve been on all day. I so need some relief… Also with you, it's entirely my choice. No stupid microbes telling me to do things, no instincts, my choice. I choose yes. Because uh… Hooves make things hard, and I kinda sorta didn’t pack any ‘personal massagers’.” Joe winced. “Oh yeah. I can see how that’s important.” Rainbow raised an eyebrow. “That it’s my choice, or the hooves thing?” Joe smirked and nodded. “Yes.” Rainbow laughed and shook her head. “Okay, you know what? I like the whole machine part of you. That was funny.” Joe sat down on the sidewalk next to Rainbow. “I’m glad you do. Bot-isms can turn a lot of people off… So, while we wait for a shuttle… What’s your home like?” Rainbow hummed and twitched her wings as she tried to figure out how to describe Equestria. “Well… Equestria is a kingdom ruled over by the Alicorn Princess of the Sun and Moon.” To Joe’s credit, she only blue screened once trying to comprehend a psyker powerful enough to move a star.