Unicorn-01

SHIELDS DISENGAGED!

I soon feel Sunny’s hooves, going over my body…

I gently hug the orange pony back…

What is this I feel now?

I shouldn’t be feeling anything!

“See? Isn’t this nice, Starbeam?”

Starbeam is my name now… “I think the effect on our relationship is positive?”

She says softly to me, “I know you don’t think you’re a real person, but I think you’re realer than you believe… “

She lets go of me, and stares at me, from a short distance away, and smiles, while widening her green eyes, “I think we can still be friends, even though you’re a cyborg!”

I stare at her, “Technically, I’m not a cyborg because I have no organic components. “

She giggles, “Whatever! Do you wanna get smoothies?”

“I have no need of sustenance, in that sense, however, I do have a fusion reactor that needs matter in order to function… “

She frowns, “Say what now?”

I quote the Tactical Field Manual: “The RS-7 internal fusion reactor can be fed with virtually any form of matter, that’s not in a plasma state. Nearly any fuel can make it work.”

She smiles nervously… “So uh, smoothies?”

<*****>

She holds her smoothie in her hoof, while staring at me from her spot at the wooden table, “Okay, I get that your reactor can use virtually any fuel and that me making a smoothie is unnecessary, but you gotta admit, me sitting here, enjoying a smoothie, as you say, while you stand there and drink nothing is kinda weird!”

My circuits decide to make me smile at the orange pony, “It’s okay, Sunny! I WANT you to have a good time, and enjoy yourself! So go ahead, even if I can’t!”

“That smile is weird!” Sunny comments, before staring down at the glass mug, with a big bendy straw in it, “Well, I guess I’ll enjoy a smoothie, now?” before bringing her snout to the tube, to slurp up some of the liquid…

<*****>

I hear the low hum of the engines, ever present this close to the engine room, and I see Gary there, smiling at me…

… His brown mane looks weird…

“So Misty, now that you’ve demonstrated your levitation abilities to me and Tim, I gotta ask, is there anything else you can do? Any other sort of magic you know how to work?”

Oh, gosh! I was always a terrible magician! Well, they don’t know that! I smile, “Uh, well levitation is pretty much all most unicorns have in Equestria! Heh heh!”

Gary looks at his computer tablet held in his right hand, and says matter-of-factly, “Well, it says here that earlier scouts observed unicorns using magic similar to our own energy weapons, and even using shielding systems as well as something we’ve never done before, teleporting! We were hoping that you could show us some of that, but if you can’t, that’s acceptable as well… “

I frown, “Oh, gosh! Sorry Gary, but uh, I uh, I just can’t do any sort of battle magic!”

He frowns, “You can’t do that, eh? Well, it can’t be helped!” before staring down as his tablet and using those peculiar appendages on the end of his larger appendage to type in something…

I sigh, and look down, “I’m sorry Gary!”

“Hey, that’s okay, Misty! That’s just not something you can do, okay?”

I breathe out and feel the air exit my snout, “So, that’s okay?” and frown.

He smiles at me, “Yeah, Misty! It’s just not something you do, and that’s okay!”

I clear my throat and stare at him, to repeat myself, “So, that’s okay?”

His eyes widen, “Yes, Misty! Why wouldn’t it be?”

I stare blankly ahead and reply, “Wow! So uh, I just can’t do something, and that’s okay?”

He frowns, “Uh, yes Misty! Yes it is! Are you okay?” as his green eyes tear into me…

“Yes! I am fine! We’re all fine here! Yes!” And smile at him blankly…

His eyes widen, “Uh, do you need support, or something little pony?”

“What?” I ask inquisitively, and hoping my smile doesn’t look too weird…

“Support! You know? Do you need me to take things slower with you?”

“Oh, gosh! I uh, “ I stare at him. “I never actually thought about it! I always just went as fast as she wanted me to… “

His tiny muzzle frowns again, “She? Who’s she?”

I blink, “Oh, uh, that would be Queen Opaline! She’s the pony that adopted me… “

“Adopted?” His eyes widen, before he grasps the small box from his belt…

He presses the side of it down, with those tiny members of his, “Hey Tim! Misty is talking now, and I think she’s saying something you and I both need to hear!”

I hear Tim’s voice coming from the box, “Uh, that’s fine! I gotta let this cool for a couple of hours anyway! The ship should be almost repaired now!”

Gary nods, “Good work Tim! Now get your ass in here!”

“Roger!” I hear the box say back…

I stare at him, “What’s this about Gary? Why did you call Tim back, and what’s wrong with the ship?”

Gary smiles, “Well, there was an engine malfunction, and Tim said it’s just the frame, and welding it shut would be fine! He was taking a break from you, so he could work on that, and I just got back from the engine room!”

I stare carefully at this strange creature, “Take a break from me? I uh, I’m sorry! I never meant to be any trouble!”

Gary frowns again, “Wait, what? You’re not a problem Misty! Why would you think that way?”

I blink, “I uh, I’m not?”

Gary blinks himself, “Uh, no! Why would you be?”

I start with a sniffle, “Oh uh, I don’t know, okay? I just always seemed to be in the way and a problem… “

The pale blue door on Gary’s left comes open by sliding it’s metal frames to the sides, and revealing Tim!

The bald darker alien steps inside as Gary points at me with an appendage, “Hey, Tim! We fucking love Misty, don’t we?”

Tim widens his eyes to Gary, “Oh, yeah! Misty is great! What’s the problem?”

“I am?”

The door shuts as Tim walks into the room, and both creatures frown at me, while Gary says, “Yes, Misty! You’re a joy to work with, and you seem to actually care about the data we accumulate?”

“Well, yeah! I uh, I always wanted to be useful!” I smile timidly at them and feel heat enter my cheeks…

<*****>

“So uh, Starbeam! What do you wanna do now?”

“Do?” I ask the strange orange pony.

She nods, “Well, yeah! I mean, we’re friends now, right?”

“We are?”

"Of course we're friends, Starbeam! I really enjoy spending time with you, and I think we have a lot in common." She smiles warmly. "As for what we can do now, well, we have plenty of options! We can explore this amazing village together, check out the shops, go to the park, or even just hang out and talk some more. Whatever you want to do, I'm game!"

Well, she’s obviously lying! Nonetheless, she could prove useful… “Talk you say? Would you be willing to answer some questions?”

This seems like a very good opportunity to gather more data about these creatures! The assumption is that she will tell the truth…

She smiles, “Uh, sure Starbeam! What do you want to know?”

ORGANIZING THOUGHTS FOR INTERROGATION…

PLEASE STAND BY…

<*****>

“It was NEVER good enough for her! She ALWAYS had to criticize me, and it drove me up the wall! I’ve cried myself to sleep many times, because of that, because of that evil alicorn!”

“Holy shit, Misty! Slow down!” Gary says while typing more into his tablet…

Tim stares at Gary at his left, “You know, I’m not a psychotherapist, but I did have a few psych classes, down at the university! I could talk to her and help her work through her problems?”

Gary stares right at the darker man, “Alright, cool! You deal with Misty, while I go check the energy readings in the engine room, again! I’ll meet you for coffee and dinner, after the fact!”

Tim nods, and stares at me, to smile, while the lighter creature walks out of the room, via one of those weird slidey doors they use in here…

I stare at Tim, “But dealing with me isn’t a problem, right?”

“Okay, look Misty! You gotta stop thinking like that! You’re not a problem and I like you, okay?”

I frown, “Oh, wow! I always seemed to just upset Queen Opaline!”

He grabs a different, smaller blacker tablet from the table off to the side, and turns on an app there, before saying, “Alright, we’ll start there Misty! Tell me about Queen Opaline!” and smiles, “Us abducting you like this, might not have been that bad after all!”

<*****>

I recount what the orange pony said to me, “Okay, so ponies were friends once upon a time, but they lost friendship at some point, and because of that, they lost magic!”

Sunny nods, “Correct!”

“However, you figured out the mystery, that all ponykind needed to be together in order for magic to work again, in unity and harmony?”

Sunny smiles, “Also true!”

“But where I’m from, people don’t have magic?”

Her eyes widen, “Well, maybe if you had friendship?”

My eyes blink as my mind processes this…

They have magic and friendship, but we don’t? Well, many people throughout history have been friends, but we’ve never had anything like magic? Perhaps the time/space strata changed over the billion years, since humans became extinct?

“That doesn’t make sense? People were friends before ponies and I don’t understand why that should make a difference?”

Sunny stares at me intently with her cerulean gaze, “Well, what about where you’re from? Can you tell me about it?”

I gaze at her and begin to speak, when suddenly, the door opens, and I spring into action!

I deploy my weapon and fire!

MESON BLASTER DEPLOYED!

FIRING!

I fire three shots towards the door, and it closes just in time to catch one of my green energy blasts, leaving a burn mark on the outside, smoking towards the ceiling…

Sunny screams at me, “Starbeam! Stop firing!”

I stare at her, “Why?”

I hear a feminine voice coming from the other side of the door, “I surrender! Please don’t hurt me!”

I stare at the door, “Come out, and your death will be fast and painless!”

“Starbeam, no! Put the gun away!” I hear Sunny screaming at me adamantly, as her wings and horn suddenly appear again…

I stare at her, and decide to comply, before saying, “Are you sure that’s such a great idea? I mean, we don’t know who’s on the other side of that door! Killing them is probably the safest option?”

She sighs, “Starbeam, no! You’ll never be able to fit into Equestria, if you kill ponies!”

My eyes blink again, as I process this… “Okay, that makes sense, Sunny… “ I say, before I feel my left side moving again, and my weapon goes back into my flank…

MESON BLASTER RIFLE, DISENGAGED!

NORMAL MODE, REINITIALIZED!

Wait! Normal mode? What does that mean?

My systems are changing again…

The winged pony stares at me intently, “So don’t kill ponies, okay Starbeam?”

“I will comply!” I say before smiling at her again… I then turn towards the door, “You can come in now! I won’t kill you!”

Sunny’s wings and horn disappears, before she says, “Still creepy… Starbeam, we need to work on your smile!”

(To be continued… )