Mares With Guns


                                            >Your mind perches on the edge of consciousness, your brain buzzing with remnants of drugs and fuzzy memories

                                            >You hold a hand up to the side of your pounding head and find another hand stopping you

                                            >"Take it easy. You were in a pretty bad accident."

                                            "I don't feel any pain."

                                            >"Are you hungry?"

                                            "Where are my parents? Are you the nurse?"

                                            >"No. I'm with the forest service."

                                            "What does my being injured have to do with you guys?"

                                            >Your eyes feel somehow a bit heavier

                                            "How long was I out?"

                                            >"Everything in time. You've been granted your doctorate a few years early, isn't that great?"

                                            "Oh... but I liked working on it."

                                            >"You were very brave."

                                            "W-what happened to me?"

                                            >"It would be best to keep an open mind. Open your eyes, please."

                                            "Oh god. Oh no. No no no no no no no."

                                            >"You're our new demolitions expert, isn't that great? You'll have your own laboratory and funding."

                                            "How the hell am I supposed to use it if all I have are these... things?!"

                                            >"Not all you possess is within view."

                                            >The suited man taps your forehead, no... slightly above it

                                            >You have a tumorous growth of some sort up there, hard and gnarled

                                            >It's full of nerves, you can feel it

                                            >You black out

                                            >"-slightly increase the conditi-"

                                            >"2 ccs of cyclo-"

                                            "Ugh..."

                                            >"How do you feel now?"

                                            "Like I got hit by a truck. Where are my parents? Are you the nurse?"

                                            >"No, I'm a forest ranger."

                                            "Why am I in the hospital?"

                                            >"You had an accident, but we fixed you up. I'm your new owner."

                                            "Oh, good. I was working on something... some sort of degree?"

                                            >"You're a doctorate chemist, don't you remember?"

                                            "Oh, yes..."

                                            >You start to feel the years of lab work flooding back into your mind

                                            "Did I mess up?"

                                            >"Your lab partner, actually."

                                            "Again though, where are my parents?"

                                            >He mumbles something under his breath and then touches your horn

                                            >You black out

                                            >

                                            >

                                            >

                                            >You feel very tired, you remember vaguely waking up in the hospital this morning, but now it's nighttime?

                                            >There's a man in front of you, he looks very exhausted

                                            >"Can you tell me your name?"

                                            "I'm Buttercup!"

                                            >"What do you do for the Forest Service operations division?"

                                            "I'm uh... I'm a demolitions expert. I mix up explosive compounds and wire them up."

                                            >"Good, good. I'm Dr. Jameson, like the Whiskey. I'll be your owner and lab supervisor."

                                            "Okay!"

                                            >"If you'll excuse me for a second, I have to take a call."


                                            >You are Dr. Jameson, and that could've gone far better.

                                            >You'll introduce the poor thing to the other operatives tomorrow, right now you need a cigarette, a lukewarm gas station meal, and a night's rest on a rock-hard mattress

                                            >At least she no longer seems afraid of being a pony or all that curious about where her parents are.

                                            >Or all that concerned with the fact that she used to be a man.

                                            >You'll swing by Speedway before a long drive back to an empty home

                                            [spoiler]>Maybe you can bring her with you for company, eventually[/spoiler]


                                            >"Ferri?"

                                            >It's you of course, Ferrari.

                                            "Yeah?"

                                            >You turn away from your computer towards Dawn, her brilliant yellow coat catching the setting sun just right

                                            >"Why do you always work on the weekends?"

                                            "I'm support. You all do the dirty work, and I sit here at my laptop and break open doors and stuff. Involves a lot more work off the clock, but..."

                                            >You isolate a small pattern of Hoffman radiation and click 'run'

                                            >The door to the outside ka-chunks open, letting in the cool evening air

                                            >"Cool!"

                                            "I sometimes forget you don't really get to see what I do up there on the front lines. Hey... since I'm done here, do you want to cuddle up?"

                                            >"Sure thing, just don't forget to get the door silly."

                                            "Right-o."

                                            >With a flick of your horn, you pull it closed and climb into the little cot the two of you share sometimes when it gets cold

                                            >You love Dawn like a little sister, she isn't very bright but for every IQ point below you she is, she makes up for it in ten miles of horsefeels

                                            >It's safe to say don't quite feel like a pony even on your best days, but Dawn is probably pony enough for both of you

                                            >You take off your underwear and toss it on the little rocking chair in the room's corner as Dawn slides in next to you, then remove your thick-rimmed glasses and put them in their case

                                            >Dawn presses her arched back into your chest, and you gently but firmly wrap your forehooves around her form

                                            >She lets out a little sigh, then turns out the lamp with a glowing horn.

                                            >08:00


                                            >Be Dawn

                                            >It's a rude awakening as Janine pulls your snuggler out of bed and begins to talk about technical mumbo-jumbo with her

                                            >It's the weekend, why can't the others just want to play?

                                            >You did what they asked, your battle rifle's bullets sang through skulls true as ever on Thursday.

                                            >No more killing at least until Monday, now you want fluff time.

                                            >You let out an annoyed whinny to let the others know you're not pleased with the arrangement.

                                            >Janine gives you this look, you're not really sure whether she likes you or not. You know she's obsessed with Ferrari, you've caught the two kissing with tongue after an operation. Ferri didn't appear to be in on it, but didn't quite object.

                                            >"Dawny, change of plans. We've got a routine assassination at 13:00 hours, you're on point. Viper is getting her conditioning tuned, so it'll just be the four of us."

                                            >At the sound of a mission, much as you sometimes wish they didn't, your brain machine starts to pump funny chemicals into you

                                            >You're okay with killing now.

                                            "Where's Master?"

                                            >"I think I last saw Arthur getting coffee, go check for him there."

                                            >You open the door to your bedroom and canter out into the warm, wooded halls of the Forest Service outpost.

                                            >The outpost is more home than any you've ever had, panes of bulletproof glass illuminate a view of the blue ridge mountains outside.

                                            >Various comfortable armchairs and walnut tables are neatly placed along the hallway, allowing anypony and her friends or co-workers to have a comfortable seat and a hot meal

                                            >On some of the tables, chessboards sit neatly, waiting for white to make the first move

                                            >On others, computer monitors hooked into the central computer sit

                                            >You pass by all of it and go to the breakroom

                                            >Like a school, ponies aren't really supposed to go inside, but this rule is often ignored at least for you because you're very cute

                                            >Or so Master says

                                            >He's pouring his morning scotch into his coffee, he gives you the same wink he always does and both of you smile at each other

                                            >'I won't tell if you won't tell.'

                                            'I won't tell if you won't tell.'

                                            >"My little pony! Looking as pretty as ever. Well, I'll give you a brushing before the operation, but otherwise..."

                                            "Always good to see you, Master. What's the briefing this time?"

                                            >"Wealthy guy, ex-CIA, dementia. No guns this time, it's got to look like an accident. He's spilling secrets left and right in his old age, and we can no longer run counter-intel without making him a static."

                                            "Oooh, this is the kind of job Ferri loves!"

                                            >"She's a bit crazy on details, isn't she? I see why you take a shine to her, if I recall you've had a long-standing crush on Velma. Just remember who your owner is."

                                            >He ruffles your mane and you melt a little bit into his hand, he knows just how to disarm your conditioning

                                            >Your face probably looks really silly as he picks you up and brushes the morning tangles out of your mane and tail, taking occasional breaks to sip his alcoholffee

                                            "Uh, you know I'm not the brightest of the Forest Service, but... what are the plans for him today?"

                                            >"Hmm, Janine and Ferri are taking care of a lot of it. As per usual, if they've done their job well you'll never see either of them... rearranging schedules from breached passwords, all sorts of shit that you and I don't have to deal with. You need to be next to me at a specific time and area on the peak. When I give you the signal, you'll trip him and he'll fall head over teakettle."

                                            "Are you sure that'll do him in?"

                                            >"Absolutely. A fall like that might not kill an augment like you, but it'll take out a frail old organic like rat poison."

                                            "Alright then, when do we leave?"

                                            >"Eager girl today. I thought you generally didn't like weekend overtime?"

                                            "Well uh, the conditioning of course, but it'll be nice to go on a hike with you."

                                            >He checks his watch, a type of Rolex you've been told was a "retirement" gift from the navy

                                            >Though he's also told you this job was the gift, since one of the sign-on benefits was access to an artificial leg to replace the one that got blown off by a sniper

                                            >"It's only 8:07, we've got another three hours or so before we have to pile into the van. Do you want a bagel?"

                                            "Do you even need to ask?"

                                            >He laughs and gets the cream cheese out of the fridge.


                                            >Be Viper.

                                            >"You fucked it again. Do you remember anything?"

                                            "Sir, I'm sorry but no, sir."

                                            >"Don't try to get up. It'll be a few hours before you're ready to go back to base, we need you to heal."

                                            "Sir, what happened?"

                                            >"You went whacko again on some anarchs. Nearly got yourself killed, and that's with your augments. No wonder you don't remember a thing, they must've used up half the cyclo they had on you just re-calibrating your implants."

                                            >You feel your heart rate spike, then the cool sensation of a relaxant drug being released into your bloodstream, then the calming numbness of the anxiety fading from your body

                                            >But not your mind

                                            "Sir, I'm ready for duty again! The others need me, I can't let my girls down"

                                            >"Too late for that, save your breath. They're on an operation today and you're not going to be part of anything for at least a week. Dawn is taking point, it's amazing how much better a stupid asset that follows orders is than a smart one that doesn't. I'm heading back to base, a Black Taxi will arrive to take you back too in a few hours. Don't seek me out when you get back, I don't even want to look at you right now."

                                            "We... weren't we going to go camping tomorrow?"

                                            >He slaps you across the face, hard.

                                            >It probably literally hurts him more than it hurts you with your titanium skull and pain inhibitors, but your already wounded little heart shatters

                                            >He exits, the tears begin to flow as you clutch the blankets between your forehooves and mumble to yourself:

                                            "What did I do this time? What did I do this time?"