All is Fair (Act Two)
She had no way of determining what time of day it was. The bathroom was dark and windowless. One of the faucets was leaking, the plip-plip of the water droplets seemingly amplified by the still air and her own mounting apprehension. This, too, was an interrogation technique—long periods alone in an uncomfortable position tended to unnerve the victim, all the more so if they were awaiting further torture. The dread that precedes a session is an effective persuasive tool.
Under normal circumstances, a pony in her position would be unable to relax, but Rainbow understood that she was powerless in her current position and resigned herself to her fate. She was bound and what’s more, even if she wasn’t, the damage that Gilda inflicted rendered her almost completely incapacitated. Her genetic disposition allowed her a greater control over bodily functions like the ubiquitous adrenal response, and so, she’d shut it down completely. Within ten minutes, the pain and the blood loss overwhelmed her and she fell asleep or passed out. Functionally, there was no difference.
A light pat on her cheek brought her back around. Had the gryphon inquisitor returned? She didn’t make the effort to lift her heavy eyelids.
“Hey. Come on Rainbow, we gotta get going. Bloody Tartarus, you look like you got into a fight with fucking Cerberus or something.”
She opened her eyes, wrestling with a terrific headache. As her vision cleared, the blur in her vision took the form of her second-in-command, Lightning Dust. She was still wearing her body-suit, though it was plastered with sand and ripped in places. A martial horn was inserted into her forehead.
“What… what are you doing here, Dust?”
Lightning gave her an uneasy smile.
“I followed Biceps and the gryphon squadron when they took you. Wasn’t easy with the disabled chameleon-skin, but I managed. I contacted a friendly group afterwards and they pointed me to a makeshift Equestrian base near city limits. We’ll be heading there once we’re clear of this shithole.”
Rainbow could barely keep her eyes open. The assorted aches and burns on her body threatened to put her under again.
“Urgh, thanks for that. To be frank though, I’m entertaining thoughts of just staying here.”
“You can’t just roll over and die, Rainbow!” Lightning snapped. “We have to get them back for this! I. I can’t do it alone!”
“Sundamn it, stop yelling,” Rainbow groaned. “I have a splitting headache and you’re not helping. I’ll go with you, okay? But my hind legs are fucked and you’ll have to carry me. Happy? Get me down, would you?”
Lightning took one of the serrated blades from the gurney in her teeth and began sawing away at the coarse rope holding Rainbow upright. After a minute the strand gave and Rainbow felt her legs collapse underneath her. She lay on the grimy floor feeling sorry for herself until Lightning embraced her in her forelegs.
“It’s a relief to see you again. I was afraid you’d be dead by the time I returned here.”
Her touch felt like the prelude to more pain. Rainbow felt her mind instinctively slipping away from her body once more and tried to shrug Lightning off.
“Hey, hey. Let go,” she gasped. “No offense, but being tortured within an inch of your life tends to kinda kill the mood.”
Lightning released her, looking sheepish.
“How are we getting out of here?” Rainbow asked.
“The chameleon-skin is busted,” said Lightning. “I’ve taken care of your guards, but the building is still crawling with ratbirds. We’ll have to do this the old-fashioned way.”
“You mean you’ll have to do it the old fashioned way. I’m worse than useless right now. I assume you’ve brought hardware besides that blade?”
Lightning lifted each of her legs in turn, revealing four leg-mounted pistols.
“Pistols on your rear legs? Are you trained to use them that way?”
Lightning smirked.
“Aren’t you?”
“Not a chance. The technique always struck me as needlessly flashy and impractical.”
Lightning dismissed the remark with a breezy toss of the head.
“Uh-huh. Are we going, or what?”
They set off for the exit at a brisk trot, Rainbow slung across Lightning’s back. At first Rainbow wondered at Lightning’s nonplussed pace this far inside enemy territory. As she looked around she saw traces of blood smeared across the tiled floors. A closet door was ajar as they passed it. The darkness prevented Rainbow from making out what was inside, but she thought she saw gryphon feathers strewn about near the door. Her vision was coming and going, and her head felt like it was coming unglued.
“And where do you think you’re going, friend?”
Lightning stopped. Rainbow craned her neck back. Several gryphon soldiers poured in through the curtains covering the side passages. They were armed with outdated models of assault rifles, but they’d kill just as surely as any Equestrian arm. Gilda descended a tarnished silver-plated spiral staircase in front of them.
“On my mark,” she told the soldiers. “I would prefer them alive.”
“Now then,” she addressed Lightning. “I don’t believe we’ve met. My name is Gilda. I have been assigned interrogation detail here. I will be your handler from here on out.”
“That’s a laugh,” said Lightning, grinning. “You the one who cut up my friend?”
“And what of it?” asked Gilda. “Are you going to file a complaint?”
“No, no, just curious is all.” The grin remained frozen on her face. “You can go ahead and take us if you want, but it’s already over for you. The outpost in the apartment complex was a ruse, wasn’t it? This is your proper headquarters, right? I’ve already transmitted the coordinates home, Gil. The Equestrian beam orbital’s gonna be in position inside an hour, and then this whole building will be wiped clean off the map.”
Gilda looked momentarily off-balance.
“What did you—?”
Now.
Lightning whipped up a pistol and fired. It was a lightning-quick shot, clumsy and ill-aimed, but it clipped the side of Gilda’s face, leaving a long scratch along her beak, and tearing her right cheek. The gryphon doubled over, screaming in pain or rage. The rifles barked, shredding the decorated interior, but Lightning was already sprinting down the opposite end of the hallway, leaving the soldiers in her dust. Turning a corner, she burst through the door into a convenient living quarters. The sun shone through a window looking out into the deserted street.
“Better brace yourself, Dash,” she yelled, leaping towards it.
The glass folded and split, raining razor shards onto the road below. Rainbow shook her head, trying to recover from the shock. Lightning spread her wings and shot into a narrow alleyway, weaving around the clotheslines and the fire escape stairways.
“Y’mind flying a little higher? I’m on the verge of losing my lunch here.”
“No can do, Sarge. They might have snipers.”
Several minutes of wordless flight later, Lightning finally saw fit to slow down. They’d made it out of enemy territory and were now in no-man’s land.
“Thanks for getting me out of there,” said Rainbow. “Though I really wish you’d killed that bitch.”
“If it’s any consolation, she’ll be dead in a coupla hours. I used a Helvens pistol. Necrotic payload.”
“Holy shit.” Rainbow tried to laugh but all she could manage was an agonizing cough followed by several dry heaves. “Where’d you get a piece like that? Aren’t those collector’s items or something?”
“That’s a story for another time.” Lightning looked back at her.
“The line about the orbital was bullshit, wasn’t it?” asked Rainbow. “Equestria’s not pulling out the god lasers yet, are they?”
“Got it in one.” Lightning made a face. “Positioning and charging the damn things is way too expensive for an everyday border skirmish, right?”
“Right.”
“Anyway,” Lightning consulted her neural GPS, “the Equestrian base is south of here. Hopefully we can get there before you pass out again. They’ll fix you up better than new, Dash. Everything will be kosher, you’ll see.”
“Great. Fine.”
Sundamn it, just let me sleep.
The operation was fairly uneventful. Rainbow was unconscious for the duration of the procedure.
For any other soldier such expenses would be out of the question; a spider tank would be cheaper. Rainbow Dash, however, was a veteran with top-of-the-line training in combat and tactical squad management. Genetic variants weren’t easily expendable, experienced ones even less so. Such was Equestria’s financial philosophy, and knowing this, Rainbow was unsurprised that her rehabilitation was made a priority.
She awoke in a frugally-furnished recovery room. It looked unexpectedly hygienic given that the entire base was a rush job on the outskirts of an active warzone. The mattress on her bed was sagging in the center but was nevertheless a considerable step up from her past sleeping conditions. IV bags hung from a pole next to her, connected to an infusion pump which was connected to an artery in her foreleg; nutrients to ease the integration of her new implants and prosthetics, endorphins.
She blinked, than winked with each eye in turn. Depth perception? Apparently the doctors had given her a new eye. This was a pleasant surprise. She kicked aside her blankets and looked at her rear legs. The bottom half of each had been replaced with a metallic frame. She felt the echoes of a phantom pain where her bones had been broken not a day earlier. She ran a forehoof along the metal. No sensation, as expected. A figure-eight speed brace began at the end of each frame, impaled the leg’s midsection and terminated near her hip. Braces like these kept bionic limbs within their safe movement zone. Without them, there was nothing preventing less-than-savvy idiots from pushing the device beyond its limits and subsequently complaining about the voided warranty. This limited the range of motion in her rear legs, but it also conserved energy in pre-programmed motions, like running. In theory, she’d be able to sprint for extended distances without tiring.
She sat up and spread her wings, almost knocking over the pump. They’d been replaced with two chrome tri-fold models, fitted with what looked like anti-grav thrusters. Pricey.
Why in the name of the Princess would they go to this much trouble? Standard leg prosthetics would be much cheaper… And my wings didn’t even need replacing; they’d heal in a month or two.
She ripped off the ‘trodes connecting her to the ECG. The line on the screen of the device went flat. Standing unsteadily on her feet, Rainbow Dash moved towards the patient bathroom, dragging the IV drip assembly behind her. The piercing smart-eye staring back at her from the mirror gave her a jolt. Her face was mostly unchanged, but her new left eye was a shining red iris on a pale plastic background. It seemed like the doctors had tried to pick out an artificial eye to match her first one, but the results were questionable. Not only was the glowing red iris inconsistent with her natural magenta, the sclera was perfectly, unnaturally white. It looked unsettlingly like a doll’s eye. She turned away from the mirror, prodding the smart-eye gently with her forehoof.
The door to her room swung open and a middle-aged stallion in scrubs strolled in.
“Sergeant Dash. I see you’re awake. I have to insist that you keep unnecessary motion to a minimum. Your prosthetics are still growing in.”
“Is this experimental cyberware?” asked Rainbow.
The stallion looked taken aback.
“We prefer the term ‘provisional’. But yes. Another reason you should rest up for now.”
She smiled coldly at him.
“And I was wondering why you’d fit me with all this bleeding-edge dreck. I’m just a guinea pig for some conglomerate back home, right?”
“Actually, the procedural orders came directly from Canterlot. The Equestrian military doesn’t accept testing commissions from privately-owned companies.”
Rainbow examined her eye in the mirror again.
“Okay, fine. Who made this smart-eye though?”
The doctor examined his clipboard.
“That model comes from… Ah. Carousel Industries. Features include multiple vision modes such as thermal and night vision, a zoom-in function and the ability to interface with optical-link weapons,” he said proudly.
“It looks fucking awful. I’ll want an eyepatch or something to cover it up.”
“I don’t think that’s wise, sergeant.” He sounded resentful. “You shouldn’t underestimate the importance of depth perception in a combat situation. The army doesn’t accept recruits handicapped in this manner.”
“I’m not a recruit,” said Rainbow, raising her eyebrows. “What’re they gonna do? Kick me out? After this?” She made an all-encompassing gesture over her body. “I don’t intend to actually fight with an eyepatch anyway. I can flip it up anytime, doc. Don’t worry.”
“No, that’s not—”
“Let her do what she wants.”
Lightning strode into the recovery room. The confined space was getting crowded. The doctor looked flustered.
“Please, I told you to wait outside!”
“And miss out on the show? Miss out on seeing my buddy’s slick new gear? Look at this!”
She ran a hoof enthusiastically over Rainbow’s tri-folds. Rainbow shrugged her off.
“Quit it. So the kid next door gets a coupla shiny new toys and you just barge in unannounced to have a gander? Go get your own.”
Lightning winked.
“Maybe I will.”
The doctor cleared his throat.
“Two more enhancements you should be aware of, sergeant. Your skeleton, minus what we removed below your hocks of course, has been coated in adamantium nanomesh. The mesh should bind within a day. Afterwards, it should be considerably more difficult to fracture your bones. In the event that you do somehow manage to do so, the mesh should act as a cast and keep them in place until they mend.
“Lastly, we’ve integrated a brand-new enhancement type. The parent company dubs it ‘neurachem’, a specialized solution to shorten the response time of neural cells as they pass along and process electrical impulses. It should boost your nervous response and cognitive processes by a significant margin. I’m afraid these claims are largely untested, howev—”
She felt the air move as Lightning threw a high cross kick from her side. Rainbow’s mind processed the sensation in a split second, almost before she was even consciously aware of it. The blow connected with her waiting foreleg, and she twisted like a minotaur arm-wrestler, forcing Lightning to the ground. She managed to overcome the newfound instinct to stomp on her partner while she was prone.
“Whoa, nice work,” said Lightning, getting back on her feet.
“Ladies, please!” the doctor exclaimed. “My coworkers and I don’t need any more work right now.”
“Relax,” Lightning laughed, dusting herself off. “I’m leaving, alright? That neurachem looks to be working fine.”
The doctor turned back to Rainbow Dash as the other mare left the room.
“Commander Gibson would like to speak with you. He’ll be expecting you in two hours’ time.”
Swell.
“Understood,” she said aloud.
Rainbow Dash found the commander’s quarters on the lowest level of the building in a veritable maze of corridors, most of which were still under construction. The doors were an afterthought composed of temporary, easily replaceable aluminum alloy. They opened a full minute after the echoes of the last knock faded.
“At ease, sergeant.” Gibson’s stance was as stiff and solid as ever, his chiseled chin was devoid of stubble, and his dark, dirt-toned eyes were alert, but he sounded tired. Her wolf-gene-enhanced sense of smell detected a hint of alcohol on his breath. “Come in.”
The quarters were small and empty. Several simple steel-and-plastic chairs were strewn about haphazardly. A table stood in the center, supporting a high-tech radio, a pile of paperwork and a bottle of whiskey. She caught a pocket spinal turret protruding from a saddlebag that lay forlornly in the corner. Gibson was an earth pony, and had no qualms about using heavier weaponry. Not that it saw much action these days.
Gibson lowered himself into one of the chairs and motioned for her to do the same. He took the bottle between his hooves and carefully filled a shot glass.
“Care for a drink?”
“Er. No, no that’s okay. Sir.” The commander’s uncharacteristic display of hospitality took Rainbow by surprise. “The doctor says I should avoid alcohol for a little while.”
“Of course.” He tossed back the glass and looked grimly at her. “Corporal Dust claims that Time Turner and Bulk Biceps deserted and are now aiding the Commonwealth. Is this true?”
“Yes sir.” The grisly scene inside the bathroom played over in Rainbow’s head. She felt her muscles tightening reflexively. “I was captured as a result of the injuries sustained from a brawl with Biceps. Upon waking up, I was interrogated by Time Turner who turned me over to a gryphon torturer after I refused to negotiate.”
“That is unfortunate,” said Gibson. “I’m sorry that you had to go through that. And now,” he sighed, “and now I’m afraid I must throw you back into the fray.”
“Sir?” She’d been expecting this.
“I cannot fathom Time Turner’s reasons for turning on us, but I do know that punishment for desertion is severe. What’s more, he is a technical officer. His knowledge of our broadcasting frequencies and encryption could be our undoing. He must be retrieved and brought to justice as soon as possible. Normally, I’d entrust such a task to an experienced strike team, but I’ve received very specific instructions from the higher-ups regarding this situation. You are to be the one. This assignment falls squarely on your shoulders.”
Of course it does. It’s a test run, isn’t it.
“I understand that you are still recovering, sergeant, but this decision is out of my hooves. Canterlot has spoken.”
“Yes sir, I understand,” she said, only just managing to keep the scorn out of her voice.
“Now that you and Lightning have discovered the location of their headquarters, the Commonwealth soldiers are abandoning the location en masse. We are running out of time. You’ll have one day to adjust to your new implants. That’s all we can allow. At this time tomorrow, you will be sent fourth to capture Turner. You’ll be supported by our technicians; they’ve locked on to Turner’s NOI signature.”
“Yes sir.”
She watched him pour himself another glass.
“Dismissed.”
The gyroball rebounded off of the ceiling and sunk into the basket, still revolving gently around its axis.
“Not bad,” said Lightning, flying up to the net and scooping the ball out of the hexagonal weave. “I’d say you’re doing pretty good considering acclimation to new prosthetics can take upwards of two months.”
“Come off it. I’m conditioned for adaptation and rapid recovery. So are you. Big deal.”
“Yeah, and I wouldn’t say you should consider applying for the Equestrian Leagues or anything,” she chuckled. “Hey. Didja know? The Wonderbolts supposedly sponsor a new gyroball team every year! The donations are always anonymous though.”
“Then how do they know it’s the Wonderbolts donating?” asked Rainbow. “What interest would the Wonderbolts have in gyroball leagues anyway? Sounds like a crock of shit to me.”
“Yeah, maybe.” Lightning threw the ball. It juddered erratically in the air as it spun. Rainbow flew up using the anti-gravity tri-folds and easily intercepted it. The wings reached top speed and stopped unnervingly easily. She hardly even had to flap them.
“You know, there are rumors going around,” said Lightning. “Rumors that this assignment of yours is some kind of test run.”
“Really?” Rainbow’s tone was thick with sarcasm. “I thought sending a single operative on what might otherwise be considered a suicide mission was just standard procedure.”
“Granted, maybe that was obvious.” Lightning twitched her head good-naturedly. “It might not be the hardware that’s being tested, though.”
“Huh?”
“It might be you.”
Rainbow tossed the ball toward the basket again. It bounced off the rim and over into the other end of the court.
“Is there any concrete evidence for that?” she asked.
“The mandate comes directly from Canterlot. People are saying maybe from the Solar Princess herself.”
Rainbow scoffed. “Yeah. People always say that. Tax hike in Las Pegasus? It must be Celestia’s doing! The mines are shutting down in the Crystal Caverns? Celestia is behind it all! Someone used all the toilet paper in the bathroom? By Hurricane’s bulbous buttocks! It must have been—!”
“Even if Princess Celestia is not to blame for this assignment,” Lightning interrupted, “what interest would the Canterlot aristocracy have in testing bionic implants?”
“What interest would they have in some test tube grunt?” countered Rainbow.
Lightning Dust shrugged. “Dunno. Just food for thought. Be careful on the mission, you hear? It’d be one less funeral for me to attend when this is all over.”
“Shut up and play, Dust,” Rainbow said, smiling. “You’re three points behind.”
Rainbow Dash was lying restlessly in her bed when the news came through at approximately five in the morning: Time Turner had deactivated his NOI. He was moving through the streets of Bridleon with only the eyes of the orbitals there to keep track of him. If he went underground or left the perimeter, they’d lose him. It was presumed that Turner knew this, and was presently hightailing out of the city. She was discharged from the base as soon as her equipment was packed.
Her GPS blinked red as she flew through the early morning skies. Turner’s position and altitude was marked on the map. Her smart-eye highlighted the fastest route to intercept him. She was wearing a brand-new bodysuit with the chameleon-skin enabled. Bridleon was unexpectedly quiet as she flew. There was still the occasional gunshot, but the gryphons appeared to be falling back to regroup. If the Equestrian armor and Saddle Arabian infantry continued to advance, they might reclaim the city yet.
A sound similar to high tide rumbled over the desert city. She looked back to see three miniature homing missiles approaching her from the rear. Temporary Commonwealth ballistic platforms were apparently still in play and, unfortunately, the chameleon-skin didn’t render her radar-invisible.
She accelerated through a narrow alley and corkscrewed once she was clear of the walls. Her cheeks were pulled back by the g-force as she finished the maneuver and resumed regular flight. She heard two of the missiles crash into the side of a building, having strayed too far from her path. Finally, she decelerated to a near-stop and dashed sideways as the remaining ballistic soared past her. Diving downwards, it exploded on the pavement before it could finish correcting its course.
She checked her GPS again; she was close. Time Turner was running ahead, presumably spooked by the nearby explosions. Glancing downwards, she recognized a pale red-eyed stallion marching toward city limits, accompanied by a gryphon detachment. Before she could act, the surrounding buildings were engulfed in flames. Explosions rocked the ground below. Someone had started bombing the area with howitzer shells. Perhaps the gryphons were responsible, trying to cover their escape. Perhaps it was Equestria, in a last ditch effort to prevent the deserters from departing with the opposing army. Either way, it was inconvenient.
Debris rained on the narrow street as Rainbow touched down on the pavement and raised her leg-mounted plasma-shell carbine. One of the gryphons noticed the displacement of light where she stood, an impressive feat in the gloom of the early day. He raised his voice and she silenced him with a well-placed shot that disintegrated most of his skull. She took cover behind a cracked brick outcropping as the other soldiers opened fire. Bulk Biceps took aim with the grenade launcher mounted on his spine. The brick wall exploded behind her, throwing her on her belly, shredding part of her body suit and burning her back. Gritting her teeth, she checked the tri-folds for signs of damage. They looked almost pristine beneath the thin coat of ash that now covered them. Two gryphon soldiers came from behind the remainder of the wall to verify that she was dead. Barely aiming, she bit down on the trigger again and again until they were bloody pulp.
She heard Biceps fumbling to reload the grenade launcher. Ditching cover, she fired at what was left of the squad as they scrambled to get out of sight. The bodies burst one by one, milliseconds apart, as her neurachem locked on target after target and the cracks of the carbine split the air. Only the albino giant was left. Shrugging off the grenade launcher turret, he leapt howling at her. The sky rained fire and death and the two pegasi started their struggle anew.
Ducking under his haymaker, she executed an uppercut with newfound force. The albino staggered backwards.
“Time to pay you back for before,” she yelled, crouching in the zebra’s stance once more.
“That you, Sarge?” he called. “Almost didn’t recognize you with your nose intact.”
Rainbow laughed, savoring the moment. Her catharsis for the earlier humiliation was at hand. The weight of the carbine hung from her leg, reminding her that she could shoot Biceps any time she wanted. But she didn’t raise the carbine. She unfolded her cybernetic wings and used the thrusters to charge him, forelegs outstretched. Her hooves connected with his chest, knocking the breath out of his lungs.
She pivoted to follow through with a bullet-speed spin kick. He attempted to side-step, but misjudged the angle and was swept aside as she concluded the spin. His hooves scraped on the concrete and he leaned forward to regain his footing. As Biceps threw himself at her again, her ears picked up a rush of air overhead. She leapt backwards. In front of her, the street flew apart as the howitzer shell touched down. She picked herself up off the ground, eyes searching for Biceps in the billowing smoke. A shrill screaming could be heard from somewhere within. Over the next few moments the smoke cleared and she saw Biceps on his side. One of his legs was gone, his mane was still burning in places, and half his face had melted in the intense heat, eyeball burned to a crisp and still hanging from its socket.
A rage burning almost as hot as his dissolved facial features took hold of Rainbow Dash as she realized that he was out of the fight. She approached the writhing stallion. He tried to crawl backwards, moaning, sobbing expletives. Rainbow’s lips peeled from her teeth in a scornful grimace.
“You fucking flunky.”
The sound of the carbine putting the traitor out of his misery was lost amid the falling explosives.
Time Turner looked about himself nervously. By some miracle the skyway was still standing, but he couldn’t say how long this happy set of circumstances would last. The phosphorous and iron rain battered the city below him like the wrath of some incensed god. His gryphon escort patted him on the back.
“Better hurry up, sir,” he said. It took Turner a second to decipher his accent. “I’ve lost contact with Biceps’ team. It’s possible that—”
His head burst mid-sentence. Time Turner felt the cranial fluids splash on his cheek. His ears picked up the steady thrum of anti-gravity thrusters set on hover.
“Morning, Turner. You miss me?”
Rainbow Dash landed on the surface of the skyway, trailing smoke from the plasma rifle strapped to her foreleg.
Time Turner lifted his own leg-mount. She saw his foreleg tremble as he took aim. He sighed uneasily.
“Sergeant, please.” He bit on the straps holding his piece in place, undoing them. The leg-mount fell harmlessly to the ground, and he kicked it aside. “I’m unarmed, see? Can’t we just talk?”
The comlink with headquarters buzzed to life in her ear.
“Exemplary work, sergeant,” said the gruff voice of a communications officer miles away. “Apprehend the deserter and bring him back home at once.”
Her teeth were beginning to itch again, just like they did when Gilda tore out her left eye.
“You didn’t give the other recruits a chance to talk, did you?” she asked.
“I didn’t want to kill them,” Time Turner answered wretchedly. “But the belligerent gryphons insisted. All I wanted was to unite Equestria and the Commonwealth against the Saddle Arabians, but everything went to shit as soon as I tried to negotiate. It wasn’t my fault!”
“Leave the interrogation to us,” said the comms officer. “Restrain him and march him back here.”
“Oh, I’m sorry,” she said sarcastically, still addressing Turner. “It wasn’t your fault. Nothing’s ever your fault. It’s always somebody else, isn’t it. Sundamn it, other people are just so fucking stupid.”
“Dash, please!” he stumbled backwards, nearing the edge and the perilous hundred meter drop. Her jaw clenched at the sound of her name on the deserter’s lips. “You have to listen! The Saddle Arabians have uncovered a piece of anthroid technology unlike any we’ve ever seen before.”
The explosions of howitzer fire increased in volume below. It felt like the skyway might collapse at any moment.
“What are you doing, sergeant?!” yelled the comms officer, and his voice was like a prickling in her ear that would not stop.
Her teeth wanted to sink into something soft. Something fleshy and raw.
She deactivated the comlink.
Seeing the murder in her eyes, Time Turner dug in his hooves and ran.
He didn’t make ten steps before she was upon him. Her canines pierced his neck and, as he struggled beneath her, she jerked her head, biting a sizable chunk out of his throat. A fountain of red spattered across her face and clothing. Time Turner convulsed several times and then was still.
Abruptly, she regained her senses and her gag reflex kicked in. The blood-specked vomit came hard and fast, spilling on the black skyway road.
At least it’s not my blood this time.
She coughed weakly as she watched the bombshells continue to fall on the city.
Fucking wolf gene. Mission Control won’t be happy about this.
Her NOI was transmitting her sensory stimuli to her superiors for the duration of the mission. She wouldn’t be able to lie or talk her way out of this. She would be labeled a dangerous psychopath and interned. She might be put down and recycled. She was a war criminal.
A building collapsed, throwing up a cloud of sand and debris. Indistinct shouts down below, gunfire. Chaos.
The rich, coppery aftertaste of blood lingered in the back of her throat, overlaid by the sour bite of stomach acid.
‘War crime’. Sounds funny; almost… redundant.
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Damn forgot about the Wolf gene. That has to be a bitch.
4092496
Quite literally.
Good story bro. Always excited to read your stuff...I'm going to see if they have a star trek cross over story. : D
4321378
Sounds good! There's probably hundreds. Hope you find a good one.
Damn, that was pretty awesome. I don't think I really understood Equestrian cybernetics before this chapter. Sure, the mech suit earlier was pretty cool, but having someone you recently mutilated come down, with all those shiny new metal upgrades as she melts their entire squad and realizing their mistakes? would have hated to be in their shoes.
I also don't think I mentioned it last chapter, but Rainbow is Commander Giblet. Called it.
Anyway, Lightning Dust got some character development in this chapter. I always thought she got bad rap for Wonderbolt Academy. She was Rainbow Dash without friends. Different perspectives hmm?
I really like her interactions with Dash, even if I wish Dash showed a bit more emotion to Dust's worry. Ah well.
Rainbow Dash has really proven in this chapter that she isn't someone you want to cross, also, more on the effects of the wolf gene. The potential problems of the gene seem interesting...
Celestia has a lot of bad rap, and I really get the feeling that most of its true. I'd say, if it was Celestia field testing Dash, then she wants Dash to guard Twilight.
Also a nice little tie-in with Carousel Boutique.