Dead Space: Purpose
Chapter 26: Yet To End
Previous ChapterNext ChapterIsaac woke up and found himself, once again, in the cottage of one Fluttershy. He sighed as his aging joints began to protest any movement, finally feeling the toll of his collective encounters with Necromorphs and Unitologists. After what felt like a year, Isaac managed to stand up once again, before looking around the small room for his suit. Within minutes, he was fully dressed and began to examine the Plasma Cutter. With a sigh deep breath, he merely stared at the device, contemplating his most recent years.
'So this is what it comes to?' He thought to himself. 'How much longer is this going to haunt me?'
A series of crashes from the other side of the door brought Isaac's attention out of his train of thought as he raised his weapon and approached the wooden barrier. Slowly, he reached towards the handle and turned the knob. In a single motion, he whipped out the Plasma Cutter as the door flew past him, revealing the contents of the cottage to him. At the sight, he lowered his arm as he stared in shock.
As opposed to seeing the small abode usually housing an occasional wild animal every now and again, the entirety of the main area was filled with raging animals of all types. Birds were flying around the highest parts of the interior, bats and rodents were all creeping along the edges of the walls while Isaac saw other creatures, such as a seal and a bear, merely stay in place and make random sounds.
A blur rushed by his head, causing him to snap his focus onto whatever flew past him. What he saw, however, was not Fluttershy trying to settle the craziness of the animals, but rather Rainbow Dash, trying to catch smaller creatures like birds as they almost mockingly flew around her larger form. She crashed into the wall once more as he approached from behind.
"Dash?" He called down to her.
The pegasus looked up at Isaac and stared for a few seconds, allowing Isaac to register something eerily familiar about the look that possessed her gaze. However, his sight was drawn to her lower parts, where, instead of her normal lightning bolt-thing mark, was Fluttershy's insignia.
"Isaac," She started, "you've gotta get out. I don't know why these crazy animals won't listen, but I've gotta do something about it, and right now, I don't want you in the way."
"Hold on, why do-"
His thoughts were purged, however, when she rushed behind him and began to push him towards the door of the cottage. Isaac felt her nudge once more before careening off towards the mass of animals. Just as he was about to turn around and walk out the door, Isaac felt a massive migraine rip through his skull, as his vision swam with red symbols. He brought his hand up to his head, and watched as all around him, the animals had morphed into horrifying visions of gore and screaming. The large creatures morphed into piles of searing flesh and muscle, fused together by some unknown substance that oozed from every cut and laceration. The small ones morphed into severed limbs from countless bodies, all piling up as the symbols finally began to fade.
With a shake of his head, Isaac cleared the vision from his mind and saw that Rainbow Dash was still trying to corral the animals, albeit rather poorly. Without a word, Isaac turned for the door and swung the wooden barrier to the side before ducking underneath the frame and exiting the cottage.
'What the Hell's going on now?' He thought before making his way to Ponyville.
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Isaac stared at the sky above, looking on in a multitude of interests as the clouds made a checkered pattern overhead, dropping hail, snow, sleet, rain, and sunlight in varying areas across the small town before him. As he continued on his walk, Isaac spotted Rarity on a hill, far away from the town itself, and on her end, instead of the three gems she usually had, was Rainbow Dash's lightning bolt symbol.
Before he could question it, however, more Marker symbols flashed through his vision, causing the area around him to change once more. The clouds turned blood-red in the sky, twisting the pattern into a shape more akin to a hurricane. Body parts rained down from above, a different severed portion of a Pony in each area of the storm. Heads fell from the closest clouds while more... explicit, parts fell near the outermost edges of the town. As the sky continued to flash, Isaac noticed Rarity crying a bit to herself, trying to focus on rearranging the clouds.
The Engineer shook his head for a moment before noticing that everything he saw continued to plague his vision, even after trying to clear his head. Isaac opted to try and ignore the gore-fest around him in an attempt to find a certain pegasus.
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As Isaac approached Sugarcube Corner, the building began to twist in his vision, morphing the establishment into a cathedral that held a suspended body above the doorway, as if to offer any kind of demon that walks in to remember they're devoted to any demand. Dismissing the display, Isaac powered through his vision and entered the bakery.
Upon entering, he glanced around the establishment to see the crowds that should be regular Ponies were morphed into walking corpses, bleeding out black liquids and dragging along dismembered parts with stringy bits of flesh. He turned to see what they were all screaming at, in harsh mocking tones, and found the shy pegasus, on the verge of collapse near the stage. On her end, he noticed, were three balloons, identifying itself as the symbol of Pinkie Pie.
'Alright, what's going on?'
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Fluttershy was on the brink of screaming and fainting, as she gazed out at the crowd before her. At one moment, they were all mere citizens of Ponyville, wishing to be entertained. The next thing she knew, however, the patrons had all morphed into rotted, shambling shells of their former selves, stumbling about the establishment as though they were looking for anything to sate their hunger. As she did, however, a familiar form entered through the doorway and brought a genuine pang of thankfulness to her.
"Isaac!" She called out.
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With that, Isaac walked towards the mare before receiving a tackle-hug like no other. In that moment, the hallucinated world around him began to fade away, giving in to the familiar contours of reality. She kept him in a close grip, squeezing his neck as his vision began to clear even more. As she began to back away, the air hung with a silence that could be pierced by the creaks of the floor.
Isaac turned around to find that the crowd of Ponies had shifted back into their true forms. Relieved of the horrifying vision, Isaac focused on Fluttershy.
"What's going on?" He asked.
Fluttershy blinked a few times before turning to the crowd and gasping.
"They're... they're all better..." She whispered.
"Fluttershy?"
The yellow pegasus looked up to him and widened her eyes.
"Isaac, I'm scared."
The Engineer knelt down to speak in a more private tone.
"Why, what's wrong?"
"I... I keep seeing things... horrible things, like..." She swallowed loudly. "... dead Ponies..."
"When did you start seeing things?"
"When I woke up. I... don't remember, how I got here, though..."
"Look, it'll be alright. I'm going to go check on Twilight to see if she knows what's going on. Try to stay safe, okay?" He offered with a soft expression.
Fluttershy smiled back at him with a nod before he stood up and went for the exit.
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As Isaac left her, Fluttershy felt herself weakening, as though she were fading between herself and somewhere else. The world began to thicken in illusions as she strained to remember her past, her profession, her life's work, her.
"Do not worry," A calm voice spoke to her, "All will be well. Isaac will solve this. Rest with us."
Before she could try to fight the sensation, Fluttershy found herself drifting away from reality, and allowed calmness to overcome her.
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Isaac knocked on the door to the tree and waited for a response. When it opened, a small Dragon was there to greet him.
"Isaac, hey," Spike said with a sad tone, "what's up?"
"Spike, where's Twilight? Something's wrong with the others, and they've all switched those marks on their ends."
The Dragon gave a sigh.
"Yeah, Twilight tried using a spell from an old book and ended up switching around everypony's destiny."
Isaac felt a burst of pain in his body at the last word, but didn't budge the resilient Engineer.
"Is she alright?"
"Yeah, for some reason, her Cutie Mark didn't change."
Isaac cringed at the phrase, but felt some sort of echo in his head. Dismissing it, he pressed on.
"Is she gonna fix it?"
"She doesn't think she can."
Isaac paused as he felt another hollow echo in his mind. Shaking his head, he remained focused on the conversation.
"She's still gotta try something, right? I mean, they're her friends. They've stuck out their necks for each other for better and for worse, right?"
Spike looked up in confusion before slowly nodding.
"Yeah..."
Isaac felt a splitting pain ram through his mind as red filled his vision once more.
"Look, I gotta go... just, ask her to try, alright?"
Spike nodded before closing the door. Isaac turned around to begin walking as more echoes bounced through his mind.
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As time went on, Isaac found himself sitting at a fountain, keeping his head perched on the stone level behind him as bits of snow powdered his aching head.
'Of all the places, all the times, and all the people, it had to be me, here, and now.' Isaac thought wearily.
"Isaac?"
Isaac picked himself up from the fountain to look around for the voice, and found Doctor Whooves and Derpy walking up to him. On Derpy's back, he noticed, was a small light-purple unicorn filly with blonde hair. The Doctor came up to Isaac and started to talk again.
"Goodness, it's been a rough ride, huh?" He stated casually.
Isaac sighed deeply.
"More than you know."
The Doctor chuckled lightly.
"Maybe..." He hopped up next to Isaac and looked up to him. "Exhausted?"
Isaac nodded.
"I know the feeling, trust me. It always feels like, no matter how hard you try and make sure that it's the last time anything like this happens, it'll always come back to bite you."
"You sound like you're talking from experience." Isaac noted.
"Eh, more or less. But, we've all got something we need to face, at one point in our lives. Timing isn't always best, right?"
Isaac chuckled lightly.
"Damn right."
"Of course, sometimes I have to think back and remember all of the good that came out with the bad, take it hoof-in-hoof. Or rather, hand-in-hand with your case. It may seem like the bad outweighs the good, yes, but sometimes, I like to think that, because I'm doing this, no one else will have to, and that's what makes it worth doing at all. Sometimes, you might meet someone you're quite fond of, and make something more out of it. Other times, well, like I said, hand-in-hand."
The group sat in silence as rain trickled down beside the fountain.
"Isaac, I know that you're facing some dark stuff right now, and I want to say thank you for dealing with this for us. If you need something, anything, I want you to look me up and I'll help, best as I can."
"Thanks, Doc, but I think..." Isaac breathed slowly as a sense of dread overcame him, finally hitting him with realization as he pondered the moment, "... I think this might be it."
"Oh, I'd wait to see what deity you meet until after you're gone, don't start getting all down. Of course, you still..." He trailed off, shaking his head before clearing his throat. "Erhm, sorry, just, thought, uh... right, so, just remember, that after all's said and done, that you're the one to see it to the end, and that if there's one thing you can count on, it's that every choice has had its purpose. Sometimes it's longer to figure out what one is compared to another, but in the end, what matters is how it ends."
Isaac nodded slowly as the Doctor got up and moved his family along.
"Good luck Isaac. I've got no doubt you won't need it, though. But still, try to make it back, because we've got some science to talk and frankly, I don't want you to go." He stated, before turning the corner.
Isaac watched as a blue door came into the street, allowing for the three to enter before Isaac got up from the fountain. The Engineer walked away from the stones and began his trek to find Fluttershy. As he thought, a strange noise came from the alley, but Isaac ignored it, as he heard a voice.
"Library..." It whispered.
At the mention of the building, Isaac bounded towards the structure of the tree.
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Isaac felt strange pings of... something, he couldn't tell if it hurt or not, as he ran for the Library. When they came, a different color flashed in his vision, easing the pain of his headaches. The first one, he thought back on, had been the strongest, almost relieving him of his pain in an instant, before being cut off by a screeching in the back of his mind, like something was clawing out to-
He stopped himself from thinking any further into that comparison for the sake of his sanity. Instead, Isaac focused on reaching the tree-based structure, and what he was supposed to do when he arrived.
"The Elements..." The same voice whispered.
As he tried to focus on finding the Library, Isaac couldn't help but notice how things rapidly changed around him. First, the weather cleared up, then the Ponies were all in the streets, gathering towards something, and now they were... singing... for some reason. When they finished, Isaac spotted the six mares he could call friends floating above the crowd. From there, he began to power through the crowd at his knees, trying to get to them before they made way for the Library.
"Almost time, Isaac..."
With that, Isaac tried to bolt for the six, only to watch as they went straight to the large treehouse. After wading through the crowd, Isaac went up to the side of the building, only to listen as Twilight read something amidst her friends.
"From all of us together, together we are friends. With the marks of our destinies made one, there is magic without end."
As she finished writing the period, a scream filled Isaac's ears as he was forced to his knees by the surge of pain. Light began to flood from the Library, turning into a seething red as the volume of the screams rose higher in Isaac's mind. Power began to flood throughout his form, until finally, in a single moment, the purest of evils was ripped from the greatest of goods, and Isaac Clarke was ripped from existence.
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When he strained to open his eyes, Isaac let out a weak groan. At that, a massive amount of light poured into his eyes, causing him to force his eyelids to shut tighter. After a few seconds, the pain subsided and Isaac managed to open his eyes before widening them in shock.
Around him were thousands of forms of different creatures, ranging from barely around small blobs, to some forms so complex that they looked like diagrams for shock-point drives. Out of all of them, however, a singular blue form approached him. This one was mostly Human, except it had four arms, and had the outer appearance of glass, its skin smooth and flawless. After what seemed like an eternity, it stopped in front of Isaac and spoke.
"Isaac Clarke." It spoke in a familiar voice.
Isaac tried to stand up, only to find that he was barely there, in any sense. He couldn't see or feel his body, and didn't even try to breathe. He found himself at a loss for description, as though he had lost any kind of comprehension upon awakening.
"Where am I?" Isaac found himself asking on thought.
"You are in a state of absence from Reality itself."
"How?"
"By using the illusion of a wall between Life and Death as a means of reaching you. Your comrades have already made use of this, as you may remember."
"Why am I here?"
"Because the time has come, Isaac. Convergence is close, and only you can stop this nightmare."
"Alright, that's it, I want some damn answers! Not just these fucking riddles anymore! Why is the Marker here, in Equestria!? Why am I in Equestria!?"
The being paused for a moment.
"The Marker is here because it hasn't been moved since its birth. Equestria, as you call it, is the homeworld of the Markers."
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