Black Heart Machine watched Dock carefully, noticing her nervousness. She wondered to herself exactly why she could not seem to relax even a little. What happened to her that made her so on edge? While the dark mare knew she had initially come on a little strong, she did not think Dock’s disposition had anything to do with that encounter. Machine may be intimidating, but the mare opposite her seemed more preoccupied than she was used to seeing. When she confessed that she did not know the stallion of the Forest, she tipped her nose slightly to the side with mild interest.

“Do you intend to give him a chance? Or have you perhaps already made up your mind?”

If she came here instead of following him back to the Forest, then Machine supposed she didn’t really want to give him a chance.

“You know you don’t owe him—or anyone else—a single thing,” she finished. It was true, and part of the methodology she was trying to impart upon the herd mares of the Islands. If they were unhappy answering to a stallion, they all seemed to feel guilty about it—that something was wrong with them if they didn’t submit to the status quo.

Dock’s interest piqued at Machine’s mention of there being more. She smiled at this, glad to see that the girl was interested.

“Yes. You see, the Vulcans as we’re called, have a reputation for being revolutionaries,” Machine began, attempting to explain their ideology as best she could. “All we want is equality. To live in a world where mares are not seen as lesser.”

Dock was young, and if she could show a young mind her ways, then perhaps there was hope yet.

BLACK HEART MACHINE