Spider in Equestria

by DarkSpider


56. Dog Days Part 2: Tinkering With Fate

Toy’s hands clenched tightly in frustration as he glared down at the trio of thugs standing in front of him. The tall, brown furred, earth pony carefully looked around the store, checking to see if anymore civilians were still around the store, thankfully they had all already cleared out the moment the three gang members pulled out their weapons. 

The shortest, and most likely the youngest, pegasus pony stepped forward, raising his dagger into the air and bringing it down to stab the wooden counter. “Alright big guy, here’s what's gonna happen!” The short yellow furred pegasus yelled, scowling at Toy. “We know this shop is the Tinkerer’s hideout! So you’re gonna bring the old man out here right now and make us some gadgets so we can break the boss out! You got that?” 

“And don’t try anything funny!” The large green earth pony spoke up from behind the pegasus. He took out a baseball bat and pointed it at him. “The moment you try something, we’ll trash the whole place and just take everything! Got that?” The unicorn in the middle laughed, also brandishing his weapon.

Toy resisted the urge to bash their heads in. He knew that the Thunderbolts had a reputation for being idiots, but he didn’t think that they were this bad. Taking one last look around the store, he glared back at them once he was sure they were alone. “I will give you one chance, leave the store now and I promise that I will not hurt you.” He leaned forwards, intimidating the young pegasus in front of him. “If you refuse, just know that I will not be held responsible for any broken bones, bleeding, punctured organs, or untimely deaths that may occur as I proceed to remove you from the premises.”

The pegasus gritted his teeth in anger, glaring hatefully at the stallion. “Fine then! Have it your way!” Spreading his wings, the pony tried to leap towards the tall earth pony, only to be stopped when the earth pony grabbed his neck, choking the teen. 

“I did warn you.” The stallion said, jumping over the wooden counter and throwing the pegasus at the unicorn thug. Concentrating on the large earth pony, Toy reached back and grabbed the dagger that was stuck to the counter, using it to stab the earth pony thug’s hand. He ignored the screams, as he grabbed the pony’s head and lifted him up. Seeing the two thugs behind him get up, Toy proceeded to use the large pony as a makeshift club, hitting the other two thugs with their friend. 

As soon as Toy felt the pony in his hands go limp, he tossed him away, raising his foot and stomping down at the unicorn’s stomach, causing the thin pony spit out a concerning amount of blood. 

The pegasus paled at the sight of his two allies and cowered. The teen raised his hands and shouted at the brown furred pony. “Wait! Please stop! We’re sorry, we’ll leave, please!” He pleaded. 

Toy paused for a moment, lowering his foot. After a moment of silence, the pony finally responded, his voice carrying a cold metallic echo in it. “I’m sorry, but I already gave you the chance to surrender earlier.” Raising his fist, his eyes shined brightly. “I did warn you.” The pegasus’ scream was cut short as he was knocked unconscious by the punch.

Taking a moment to survey the area, Toy tsked at the damage they caused around the counter. “What a mess, I had just finished cleaning earlier.” Looking down at the three unconscious ponies, he frowned. 

“Toy?” An elderly voice called out from the back, “Is everything alright there? Have the guests arrived?”

He turned towards the voice and called out. “No sir, just a couple of thugs making trouble.” He said, picking one of them up and tossing them over his shoulder. “They did make quite a mess though.”

The elder growled. “Let me guess, more Thunderbolts?” He scoffed. “If they want me to build something for them all they have to do is just pay me! None of this prancing around with their tiny, insignificant weapons and peacocking!” The elderly man grumbled, turning back to his work. “Make sure to clean up the mess! I want to make a good first impression with the new clients!”

“Yes sir.” Toy said, calmly picking up the other two with his free hands and making his way to the back of the store with the three ponies, intending to leave them at the dumpster outside. 


Upon hearing the bell chime at the front, Toy stopped sweeping and looked up, his eyes narrowing at the odd costumed group.

The leader, he assumed, wore a beige trench coat, obscuring most of the costume, and only showing a small amount of red that colored said costume, his face was covered by a black mask with a pair of red lens. Taking a step forward, the man gave him a friendly wave, “Hello there, are you the owner of this establishment?” 

Toy frowned, pausing to take a look at the other two behind him. The one standing to his left was a mare wearing a trench coat, covering her face was a plain grey bandana. He could see the white fur that wasn’t covered by the bandana, and a small amount of curly red hair sticking out from her hat. 

While he was confident that he could take on the two of them, it was the third member of their group that worried him. Standing to the masked man’s right was a diamond dog, the canine wearing a metal wolf shaped helmet that obscured the upper half of his face. The dog wore a ragged green vest, and a black spiked collar, its paws covered by a pair of metal gauntlets, which ended with two large spikes. Unlike the other two, he didn’t bother obscuring his features, allowing Toy to see his grey fur, most of which was already turning white, indicating his advanced age. 

Realizing that he was taking too long to answer, he stood straight up and turned to answer. “No, I am not.” He said, shaking his head. “May I ask what is your business with him?”

The leader raised his arm and scratched the back of his head, humming in thought. Shrugging his shoulders, he answered the earth pony. “Well you see… I got a radio that just can’t carry a tune.”

The earth pony stood straighter, and gave the three a smile. “Ah, you must be the guests.” Walking towards the backdoor, he opened it and stepped aside to allow them to walk through. “Please forgive my rudeness, it wasn’t long ago that we had a couple of thugs trying to strong arm Mr. Gus into making them weapons. I was just worried that you were trying to do the same.”

The masked man waved his hand. “Don’t worry about it, I get it, really.” The three then made their way past the pony, heading downstairs to enter the workshop. As soon as the costumed trio stepped through the door, the pony walked towards the front door and locked it, making sure to flip the open sign to close before following the three into the workshop.


Unlocking the last door, Toy stepped through the doorway, holding the door open for the trio to step through. Turning his head towards the workshop, he called out to his employer. “Mr. Gus, the guests have arrived!” He yelled, closing the door and locking it once the diamond dog walked through. Walking through the trio, the earth pony raised his hand and pressed down on the left side of his chest. The trio jumped back in surprise when a blue light washed over the pony, before leaving behind a towering machine in his place. 

The silver colored machine was humanoid in design, and towered over all of them, easily being around 7 feet tall. its head was somewhat oval-shaped, and his face had a small plate with vents for a mouth. The robot had a single glowing, red visor for eyes. Its torso was out-thrust and had a rectangular blank screen in the middle. Raising its three fingered hand up, it spoke up, its faceplate moving as it spoke. “Would any of you like some tea?” It asked.

Seeing the three of them stay silent, the machine lowered its hand and bowed its head slightly. “I see, I must've startled you. Forgive me, that was not my intention.” The robot raised its head and continued to look down on them. “I had assumed you three had been warned about me, clearly I was mistaken.” Raising its claws, it placed its claw on its chest and gave a deep bow. “I am T-04, you may however call me Toy.”

The masked man was the first to recover, cautiously taking a step forward, his eyes roamed, taking in every single detail of the towering machine. “Didn’t think Equestria was advanced enough to produce robots…” He murmured, his gaze meeting the robot’s own. “T-04, right? Does that mean there are three more of you around?”

The robot shook its head. “There were. T-Series automatons 1 through 3, and T-05, are unfortunately all terminated. I am the last of Mr. Gus’ greatest creations.” The automaton then leaned down a bit, looking at the human at eye level. “Your word choice however concerns me… you make it sound as if there are others like me around outside of Equestria. You must be mistaken.” It said, shaking its head. “There are no other automatons in Equis. Mr. Gus is the one who created the concept of automatons, and through much trial and error perfected his work with us T-Series units.” It rose up and turned away, heading towards the stove. “I believe you may be thinking about golems. It's a common mistake, and unfortunately, one that I am used to.” Turning on the stove, it picked the grey kettle and it down on the burner. 

He shook his head, “No wasn’t talking about golems, though it's good to know that there are some, will have to see if I can get or make one myself.” The masked man murmured to himself. “I was talking about robots, or automatons as you call them.” The machine turned its head to look back at him. “I’m not from here. Back in my homeland, robots are something that is rather popular. And just by looking at you, I can tell that you’re a robot. A machine made to resemble a creature and able to replicate their actions automatically.” 

The machine was silent for a while, staring at the masked man as the kettle began to whistle. “Interesting. That is similar to the definition Mr. Gus made of the automatons upon the creation of its concept.” Turning off the stove, Toy grabbed a teapot and began pouring the water into it. 

“Is it now?” An elderly voice called out, startling the two. Walking into the workshop was a short, elderly griffon, the griffon only barely reached the masked man’s chest. His head possessed many features similar to that of an owl, and underneath his hook shaped beak was a long white beard. The old bird wore a plain white shirt with a pair of overalls over it, making him seem rather harmless, especially with the large, thick glasses over his eyes. “I was not aware that there are other automatons around.” He said, raising his claw, he offered it to the trio. “My name is Gus, though you may also know me as the Tinkerer.” 

Taking his claw, the masked man shook it. “Scarlet Spider, no relation to the Spider besides us having similar powers.” Nodding his head towards the other two he introduced them. “And this is my team, Valkyrie and Sköll. We’re the Fenrir Mercenaries.” 

The old man hummed. “Yes, Kingpin told me about you, and told me about what you were looking for in your weapons.” He said turning around and walking towards the table, the griffon leaned towards his cane as he walked. “I was surprised at first when I heard about your request. It's not often that I get asked to make something with a non-lethal option. Usually I just add that in myself.” The bird grinned and waved his cane at Scarlet. “But unlike the rest, I can tell you have a good head on those shoulders of yours. Someone with a body count is going to get a lot of attention, and depending on how high that body count is, you will soon find yourself with enemies on all sides. Worst of all is that if someone figures out that I’ve been the one supplying them with their weaponry, they’ll come after me next!” He squawked, his large brown wings flapping, causing a lot of brown feathers to fly around the room. “It's a good thing that I won’t have to worry about you.” He settled down, accepting the cup of tea Toy presented him. 

Seeing a cup being offered to him, Scarlet took it from the robot’s claws and uttered a quick thanks. “My team and I aren’t in the business of killing people. We’re mercenaries, not assassins or hitmen. Besides, it's just as you said, it’ll bring too much attention towards us, and not the kind of attention I like.” Upon handing the others their cups, the machine walked towards the back of the room, looking through one of the boxes.

The bird nodded, stroking his beard. “That's good to hear, I was right about you being smarter than most.” Reaching under the table, he brought up a large briefcase and set it down on the table. “Anyways, the weapons you asked for.” Opening the briefcase, he revealed three metal rods with a yellow grip, with the tip of the rods forked. Next to them were a dozen spheres, all of them having a pin at the top. Bringing another briefcase, Gus revealed to them six blasters, a dozen blue cells laying next to them. “And this one I’m assuming is for you my furry friend.” He said, gesturing to Sköll as he opened the final briefcase. Inside of it was a single metal club, on the grip were few small colorful buttons. “I do suggest reading the manual for how to operate these delicate tools.” Gus suggested, stroking his beard. 

Hearing a metal clanking sound, Scarlet looked up and spotted the robot walking towards them, in his claws were a pair of flip phones. “You will need these.” He said, handing them to Sköll and Valkyrie. “I was told that Scarlet already had one, but you do not. They are already activated, and already have our numbers, and the Kingpin’s, in your contact’s list. Should you have any questions, please read the manuals.” Without waiting for a response, Toy walked away from them and stood behind Gus protectively. 

Pocketing the new phone, Valkyrie walked towards the table and carefully examined the baton. Seeing that there were two buttons, she spoke up. “What do these buttons do?”

“The bottom one is to extend and retract it, the big one on the top is to turn it on.” Gus answered, scratching his beard. 

Picking up his metal club, Sköll gave a few test swings. “It's got a nice weight to it.” He grunted. “What's the buttons for?”

Gus frowned. “They are to activate the functions your leader wanted. Retractable spikes, turning it into a flail, and turning on the anti-theft protocols. You can find more details in the manual.” 

Sköll grunted, swinging the club a few more times before shrugging. “Can’t read.”

The griffon’s eyes widened in surprise. “O-oh, I see. Well I suppose you could get one of your friends here to read it for you and explain the functions.” 

Scarlet nodded, waving the griffon’s concerns. “Yeah, I’ll be sure to read it with Sköll, don’t you worry about it.”

The griffon nodded slowly, accepting his answer. Turning towards the human, he cleared his throat and repositioned his glasses. “So tell me, I’m assuming you’re satisfied with the gadgets I’ve presented to you?”

Giving the weapons one last look, he nodded. “They all look great so far. Can’t wait to test them out. And if they work just like how I asked them to, I don’t doubt they’ll be perfect for the job.”

Gus clapped his hands and smiled. “Excellent, I’m glad to hear it!” Seeing the watch on Scarlet’s wrist, he hummed. “Tell me, how’s the holowatch working for you? I assume it's working just as intended?”

Scarlet nodded, smiling behind his mask. “It's perfect. Should’ve known you were the one who made it. For the first time in a long time, I’m able to walk outside without any fear or getting any stares from anybody.” 

“Glad to hear it.” Gus said, stepping away from the table. “I originally made it for my T-Series Automatons, so that they could blend in with the ponies and experience life for themselves. Of course with all but one gone, I didn’t mind selling them to the Kingpin.” He tilted his head in confusion. “I didn’t think he would however just give one of them away for free, he must be quite invested in you.”

The three mercenaries shared a look, glancing at each other nervously. “Any idea why he’s giving us these weapons for free?” Valkyrie asked, carefully putting the shock baton down. 

The griffon shrugged. “Who knows? I’ve known him for about six years now, yet his actions still confuses me at times.” He stroked his beard and hummed. “If anything, I bet it's so that you’d all become indebted to him. But surely you must've suspected that.”

The pegasus sighed. “Yeah, I was afraid of that.”

Gus hummed, glancing carefully at the three of them. “Might I suggest that you practice caution when dealing with the Kingpin?” He said, tapping the floor with his cane. “His gifts are grand and often seem too good to be true, and that's usually because it is.” Turning around, the old bird began walking towards the next room, waving the three of them to follow him. “Come along now, if I remember right, your mission is to take place later tonight. Not a lot of time to practice with your new tools, so we shouldn’t waste too much time now.”

Scarlet nodded, following the griffon into the other room, the others doing the same. Upon entering the large, spacious room, he immediately took notice of the five training dummies set up near the end of the room, along with some punching bags, and a large mat set up in the middle of the room. Looking to his right, he saw a number of used targets, most of them containing scorch marks, at his left was just another long, empty table. Overall, the training room wasn’t that impressive, it seemed rather normal really. “Honestly I was expecting to be made to practice against some robots, or automatons as you call them.” Scarlet said, frowning behind his mask in disappointment.

Setting down the briefcases on top of the empty table, the griffon snorted. “As if it's so easy to just create a new automaton. Though if I only had the time and materials, I would be able to create some automations for you and everyone else to fight against.” Opening the briefcases, he moved away from the table and began walking out towards the door. “Well, I’ll leave you to it. Toy here will supervise your training and make sure none of you hurt yourselves doing something stupid.” Upon reaching the doorway, Gus stopped, turning back for a second and pointing at them with his cane. “Oh, and do me a favor, when you break Shocker out of prison, tell him to keep his gang under control! Or else next time I won’t have Toy be so gentle when kicking them out of my store!” With that said, Gus grabbed the door knob and closed it hard, almost slamming it. 

The trio looked between themselves for a second before walking towards the table and picking up their weapons. Upon being satisfied with their choices, the trio began walking towards the various training equipment, intending to make the most of their limited time before the mission began.