Cold Apotheosis

Fluttershy awoke in a daze of confusion and burst up screaming, finding herself alone once again. She couldn't see much from where she was and started scanning the room for some kind of light. As she got up from the bed she found that the sheets and pillows were quite luxurious, comfortable with what seemed to be some kind of feather inside and a high quality silk of some kind. Fluttershy was uncomfortable with being in what was clearly some pony’s bed that was obviously very rich and important. She couldn't see much in the darkness and immediately started looking for a lantern or something else when suddenly someone spoke from the darkness startling her.

“There is no need to look for a lantern....”

A bright light abruptly pierced the calm darkness of the room and Fluttershy closed her eyes and let her eyes adjust slowly from the flash of luminescence. After a few moments, she could see an aged Earth Pony looking back at her. Also she learned that her coat and mane had been cleansed of the biological impurities of that cold who had literally exploded onto her. Slightly concerned with how she ended up in such a situation and realizing that her unconscious, she shivered and blushed at the thought, however the through was not taking predominance in her mind and was replaced by multiple other worries. He had a strong build to him and seemed to be in a decorated military uniform with armor something like what she saw the guards at Canterlot wear, however a great deal more intricate. He was gray with dark black hair and his cutie mark was hidden underneath his uniform. He had a slight beard growing, as though he hadn't shaved in days. His voice was very rough and mournful, but his diction was brisk and succinct.

“Certain innovations have been made since the invasion. They have been put into effect, thanks to Dr. Radiance having reverse-engineered of one of their Andrells. But none of this makes sense to you, does it?”

Too timid to speak, Fluttershy retreated behind her bangs and shook her head gently. After a few moments, her thoughts started to solidify instead of being a murky mess that they usually are when one wakes up. However, they weren't entirely wanted, she recalled the the last time she was conscience, it was like recalling a dream, and she sincerely hoped it was; much to her dismay, however, reality didn't agree with her.

“What happened two days ago wasn't a dream, Miss Fluttershy. Sadly....”

The male pony returned from his day dream, or nightmare, and looked at Fluttershy's somewhat confused and terrified demeanor then adjusted himself trotting into the room and lifting a hoof to her.

“I'm sorry, I am used to talking to military personnel so often that I forgot how to speak with a civilian. However, circumstances as they are, I'm not sure if 'civilian' would even be an appropriate designation for your case....”

Fluttershy, naturally, was nervous, looking at his eyes then back to his hoof and contemplated her next action for a moment before reaching out and taking his hoof with her own. He smiled and she smiled back.

“I know you have a lot of questions, so why don't we go for a walk and see if we can't stretch the mind and the muscle?”

The soft-spoken officer helped Fluttershy out of her bed gently and her hooves clopped to the ground with grace, barely making any noise at all. She looked to him with an inquisitive yet soft stare, his was impossible to read, at least for Fluttershy. It was an ostensibly blank yet calming gaze from his jade green eyes that, not unlike an ocean, hid something underneath its depths.

“I am Lieutenant Striker, sorry for not telling you my name till now. I was... A bit lost in thought.” The whisper of a frown skittered across his face, but he recovered quickly and nodded to the door, looking at her with a soft smile yet again and bowing a little bit.

“Ladies first, my dear.”

Fluttershy nodded while moving to the exit at a calm pace, trying to maintain her mental state and stem the endless tide of questions that besieged it -- Concentrating on the image of a lake's surface and a slow stream flowing out of it. She didn't want to overwhelm the fellow nor alienate him in some way by more or less freaking out over the ordeal, as she already had trouble communicating with others anyway. So she had learned to just not talk, or talk gently even in the worst situations.

“Umm... Excuse me, mister Striker?*”

As he exited,* he looked to her again with his eyes as deep as the sea and spoke before she could finish.

“I understand* you have a lot of questions and that you need a lot of answers. I can understand that and honestly I see you are holding* them in for quite some time now. You have been given clearance higher than mine as Celestia is putting a lot of trust in you. It's* okay you can ask me anything, and I will answer to the best of my knowledge.”

Fluttershy saw whomever sent this gentlecolt of a soldier knew exactly what they were doing as she opened up almost immediately to his kind offer of information.

“First off, where am I?” Striker* trotted off down the hall as well,* beckoning Fluttershy to follow him so they could speak to each other more clearly.

“The Everfree Forest, the very heart of it,* to be exact. In Luna and Celestia's old castle. It is not the safest place by any means but the Cold Ones seem a bit too shy to come say 'hi'* to us in here. Probably 'cause of this so-called* 'chaotic energy'* that is floating around us in here, but Celestia has worked with some unicorns and an earth pony -- believe it or not --* to build us a generator that shields us from this energy and its* been working for now.”

Fluttershy avoided prodding into what the energy he was talking about was as she doubted she would understand it. The thought crossed her mind that Twilight might know about it followed by an image of the horror she saw earlier and she stopped looking down to the ground.

“What.... what are the cold ones?.. And what did they do with my friends?” This question also stopped the Lieutenant and he turned to her with a* wounded grimace on his face.

“Well, let me* start by saying we aren't really 100% sure on what they are or what they do. Only rough estimates and luck have got us here so far. We really only know that they are from another dimension... Whatever* that is, and they want to kill us. Celestia has been keeping it under wraps but apparently they are some alien race that she had heard about before, however they have mutated and fallen so far from their original grace that they cannot possibly be labeled by their old name. So we call 'em The Cold Ones. Really it kinda fits their, dark and cold demeanor. They appeared about two months and five days ago as of today, and ever since have been killing or assimilating anypony or for that matter other creature they can get their hands on....”

He looked down and Fluttershy saw him shiver for a moment before he spoke again. His voice had a much grimmer tone to it this time and it sent a sense of horripilation down her spine and over her body.

“What they do to ponies in those flying fortresses that they mar the sky with we don't know really, just they come out completely different and if they don't speak in some kind of tongue* they are trying to convince us to join them. It's*....” He took a deep breath and sighed.

“Well,* I have to say that you have some experience on how it feels... To* confront your loved ones like that.... I'm sorry.”

Fluttershy shivered at the thought of the four ponies she met only a scant few hours earlier. They were her friends,* but not at the same time. Somehow, it didn't make sense to her,* and it caused* a mess of dark feelings* to boil* up inside her, confusion and an estranged sense of depression. It made her shiver and cry. Before she could get out a single sob out,* the colt was there patting her back gently softly and pulling her close.

“I can understand how you feel.... I.... I saw them, as you flew out of the maw of that jagged piece of metal that has been labeled a ship of some sort.... when you wounded it, when you glowed like a star in the sky. I remembered the sky before they took over Cloudsdale and submerged the skies in a grim field of clouds... You scarred an immortal beast to us. Fluttershy... I know you are feeling a lot of chaotic emotions right now but... You have shown that gods can bleed, you are a lot of ponies hope right now. You are the first piece of important material that we have recovered and you are more then we could have hoped for. So please don't cry... I don't want to see this glorious angel cry....”

He smiled at her and she smiled back wiping away her tears, he was good.... very good, however not perfect. He lifted a hoof to wipe away her tears and she returned the favor catching a single solitary one on his left cheek. She felt better, by what felt like an insurmountable degree. Her mental pond was calm again instead of being a raging ocean of questions and raw emotion.

“Mister... Mister Striker... why did they send you, why do you say you know what it's like?”

He flinched for a moment and walked to a nearby window that was looking out over a cliffside down into a valley of trees on a grand night shrouded in darkness as the full moon hid behind a layer of clouds that seemed to be stagnant like the ones Fluttershy saw before she escaped.

“I knew a nice young mare before all this, I was planning on settling down with her as soon as my term was over. Just going out to a nice countryside house perhaps in Ponyville or even Fillydelphia if I wanted to be bit further from the capital. But...” As Fluttershy stood behind him, looking out over a Fraction of the forest below. “But....” He closed his eyes and a few more tears started to fall from his eyes, his grimace was distorted, warped in a contortion of pain and agony. Fluttershy moved to comfort him this time. Stroking his mane with her hoof slowly with a tiny amount of pressure making them gentle and calming.)-Considering redacting. “Sorry... The rest is classified, with or without Celestia's permission.”

He smiled again, turning toward Fluttershy, gazing at her while she looked into his eyes again. She stared into them again and saw the same ocean with a slightly perturbed surface. She understood, avoid the subject if at all possible. After the moment had passed he nodded down another hall while starting moving in its direction. She followed looking to him.

“Well that can't be all that's on your mind my lady. Surely there must be something else you have on your mind.”

She smiled slightly and nodded, however this did not stem the tide of questions that seemed to be overflowing from her mental pool. Still she was just a bit bashful around this pony, for the reason that she was almost always bashful around anything that wasn't in a zoo. But for some reason she found it easy to talk to Mister Striker. It was like she had known him for a long time, because of her comfort she felt she could be a little more audaciously demanding with her questions however still staying within the realm of etiquette that she most often practiced. However what was audacious for Fluttershy was most likely an average ponies basic conversational mannerism.

“W... Well, if it's not too much to ask.... what is going on with my body? I don't quite remember it ever having such magical ability before.” Striker turned his head and sighed softly before speaking.

“Honestly, we don't know what is going on with your body. However some theories have been presented about how they have used their knowledge of magical manipulation to use your link to your element of harmony to make it so you can release energy through your body in bursts. But since Celestia hasn't allowed anyone to examine you without permission they haven't made any progress with you. Much to the dismay of the remains of the High Council.” Fluttershy blushed a bit, did the Princess really hold her in that high of regard. Striker chuckled a bit.

“Sorry but she hasn't allowed experimentation on anypony without their express permission. However there have been a vast amount of volunteers who have stepped forward in order to better combat the Cold Ones....” The lieutenant went quiet for a moment looking down.

“Not all the experiments were successful... While we have most certainly gained us a decisive edge ... We lost good men to our... Zeal...” He sighed and looked back to Fluttershy, whom was frowning, while she was of course curious on what he meant by that her cautious mentality told her it was probably not a good idea for either party for her to probe further on the subject. So she dropped it going to the next nagging question in her mind, which at this point burned in her mind like a sun of wonder over the enigma she had been presented. She stopped and spoke aloud instead of her usual gentle whisper.

“What happened to my friends? What happened to Twilight? And Rainbow Dash? An...” He raised his hoof to stop her as he seemed fully prepared for the question, like her he had stopped and during her question slowly turned around to face her. He stood tall however he seemed to be bracing himself. For what? She didn't exactly know, but judging from his expression it didn't seem to be good news.

“Around the first day The Cold Ones arrived they attacked Canterlot and Cloudsdale due to one being a high value target and the other one being in close enough proximity that they could spare the forces to over take it. The princess's were able to escape unharmed for the most part but the losses were in the thousands. Those that they were able to evacuate in time moved to either Fillydelphia or Ponyville. From Canterlot, the enemy forces moved to Ponyville. Celestia Helped her sister garner enough magical energy to get her to the moon with a few others. But in her weakened state it was difficult to move her. You and them.... you all stayed behind to try and buy time for her and the rest of us to `escape.... I'm sorry...I thought you remembered.”

Fluttershy shuddered as her heart sunk, so those things she saw were her friends, altered and warped into some twisted form of metal and flesh. She again turned away and hid behind her bangs as she cried a little. Those things, they sounded like her friends, and even looked like them somewhat. But with every word she could hear something inside them screaming. Like a faint cry of agony that is heard from far away. She could remember it vividly, the meeting she had on that twisted steel domicile. She was shaken from her depressing retrospective on the subject when she felt the soft touch of a hoof on her shoulder. Knowing it was Striker didn't stop her from looking up and smiling at him with a few tears in her eyes.

“Th-thank you Mister Striker,” He smiled, patting gently before releasing a tired sigh.

“Well, I should have anticipated it: The people in the medical wing as well as our bio-engineers said that you might have suffered partial -- if not complete -- memory loss. It's rather surprising you didn't... We don't exactly know what happened in Ponyville just that you got captured, sorr...” Fluttershy had a shocking revelation overcome her as she jumped up to an alert position.

“WAIT!? All of Ponyville!? What about the animals? What about angel?!?! Where is he!? Have you seen him!?!?” Striker reacted by jumping as well and was rather confused about her questions, he then tilted his head slightly at the query.

“Angel? Who is Angel? I don’t know who you are talking about?” Fluttershy began to panic even more and she had the immediate response to run back to the window and fly away to go check but as she turned around striker had bolted past her and positioned himself in her way.

“MOVE!!!” Striker stared her down and wouldn’t budge returning her dismayed gaze with his own of steely determination.

“I have seen enough to know when someone is going off to do something stupid and I cannot let you off base... I was told you were good with animals before I was sent to debrief you. I should have known better. Angel is one of your... pets? We.... we didn’t have the time or the resources to retrieve them, nor could we concern ourselves with the lives of animals at the time. We were worried about Ponies lives at the time and by the time we got to your cottage it was mostly abandoned.” Fluttershy felt her heart sink as she heard him say that it was only mostly empty.

“M-m--mos-stly?....” He sighed his gaze, shifting his eyes while not ever leaving hers.

“Like I said. Mostly, when we got there there was still a single bunny still there; but we weren’t looking for it, we were looking for you only to find out that you had left to go help your friends a little earlier. The rabbit tried to kick us out after a few minutes. Me and two others were sent to look for you and well after a while, we just got tired of it and left. We went to rendezvous with the others near the entrance just outside of your cottage. I don’t know where the little guy is now.” Fluttershy shook her head in panic, at the delivery of the bad news. All those poor creatures running in terror with no guidance, no hope, who knew if they were even dead or alive right now?, she thought; but most importantly, the ambiguity of the fate of Angel, of one of closest friends and companions she had ever had. She again tried to push past Striker But he held her at bay.

“Please! Move! I need to find him! I need to make sure Angel is okay! I need to make sure they are all okay!! All those poor animals out there alone and scared!!” As her terrific zeal magnified, so did her strength, and -- to Striker’s surprise -- he was beginning to lose ground to the distraught mare.

“Fluttershy! Listen! I can understand your concern for your animals! I know they are more than just pets to you, but right now, we need you! All of the ponies here! Just...” Striker could no longer keep his cool calm voice as he began to have to grunt barely holding the seemingly meek yet muscular mare at bay. Striker tried to keep his cool while making sure that Fluttershy couldn’t make it past. Suddenly he felt his balance falter and his control sway as well. For a moment he forgot that Fluttershy wasn’t a soldier; moment is all it took. His right hoof lifted rapidly then connecting with her cheek and knocking her to the ground, the sudden pain that surged over her body knocked her crazed fervor down to the dirt and metal floor. She layed there for a moment in shock, during that time Striker tried to regain control of the situation.

“LISTEN!! I didn’t... I didn’t want to hit you... I’m so sorry I...” Striker took a deep breath, composing himself after the terrible occurrence, giving Fluttershy some breathing room and not reaching out to touch her. Just waiting for a moment as she shivered on the ground. Almost a minute past, Fluttershy’s mind was a blur of terror and shock. A massive quake of her mental equilibrium came again and she felt energy flow through her body. The static rippled over her fur and flesh, this time however she stifled it and calmed her tormented mind. She didn’t want to hurt Striker even though he had just hurt her. It was terrifying, all of it, the energy in her body, the monsters in the metal suits, her friends with desiccated bodies covered in strange metals, and finally, all of the animals. Everything she cared about had been incinerated, captured, or consumed in ignorance which at this time meant something even more terrifying than just knowing they were dead. As she slowly calmed her crazed mind she again felt the gentle touch of Striker’s hoof on her cheek, which was no longer sore, not even bruised.

“Sorry, I lost control for a moment. I suppose... considering the current circumstances, you understand what that is like. I heard what you did on the ship. Hell! Almost everypony in the facility knows about your heroic escape. Star gave a much less flattering rendition then the current mutation of the rumor which involves your smashing through hundreds of their Andrells. I would ask that you try and live up to the hype, as I said earlier... we need you. You, at this point, are our greatest hope.” Fluttershy stood back up slowly, she had always gotten over things so easily but all of this at once was a bit much for her. Still she was able to at least do one thing.

“I-I-I do unders-s-tand...” She felt her body trembling from the realization of what was happening, from knowing everyone that cared for her and knew her intimately was lost to her.

“Mister Striker..” Her voice was a soft, controlled, not but a whisper now, no more stuttering but it was reverberating with a new undertone. Mournful, scared, Fluttershy couldn’t even place it. She was used to immersing herself in her emotions but now she was trying to choke and stifle. It was hard, this foreign
clot in her mind, it was numb. Through it everything else in her mind was numb, for the moment it was fitting and she let it settle.

“I am sorry, I might have let my emotions get the better of me but I cannot just leave my... ‘Woodland friends’ out there. Yet based on the circumstances, I suppose it can wait.” She smiled with a slight blush that again felt off, it felt forced or perhaps synthetic, not a real feeling. However, it didn’t seem to perturb Striker in any way as he smiled back at her while she spoke.

“You flatter me with saying I am your only hope. But I am no warrior or savior. I am just... I am just an average mare that is good with animals. Honestly I cannot help and i don’t know how that happened earlier.” Striker shed the smile now for a much more serious look.

“You have taken all of this amazingly well and it honestly surprises me. You see a large portion of the forces we have come in contact with have driven a great deal of the ponies insane if not verging on psychopathic. But due to lack of resources, we’ve still had to field them. When they saw you outside on the deck of that ship just outside the hangar... It was like seeing Celestia raise the sun for the first time. You proved they were mortal, they could be hurt.” Striker looked to fluttershy showing “Before you they seemed immortal, our jerry-rigged weapons would only bring one or two down before something in them changed and they turned it against us. Immortals is what some of us started calling them. Before you we couldn’t even scratch one of their ships... but you spat in the eye of the demons in the sky and on wings of light and fire flew from the maw of darkness, where once only darkness we could not have imagined was regurgitated onto the soil of this great land of our origin. I ask you... I beg you, help us, forgive this poor soldier and help us.”

Now Fluttershy felt some kind of terrible remorse overwhelm her, she had had men throw themselves in front of her before but in vastly different circumstances. Back then telling them no was easy, well less told them and more running away. She hadn't wanted to be in a relationship with anyone, of any kind as ponies are so much harder to relate to than animals. Mostly because she didn’t think anyone would want her company, and because she was terrified of getting close to ponies like that. She didn’t trust them, not after how so many had hurt her, Striker stood there now with a few tears streaming down his the sides of his face. He opened his mouth to speak again, now with a tremble similar to that which Fluttershy had felt earlier.

“Celestia, in her kind wisdom, has seen fit to make it so nopony can be experimented with or forced to do anything without their express permission... So we have been waiting for you... I won’t ask anything of you, after what I have done I feel I don’t have the right to do so. However, there is one who would request your assistance now. I...”

Striker turned away again this time, trotting down the hall away from Fluttershy.

“That door... Behind you, those who would demand your body be used as a tool for destruction lie behind it, and beyond those cold-hearted fools, is the reason why I am still fighting. The one that would only ask as much from you as she asks of herself. Celestia wants to speak with you. If you need me I will be outside her room, it was where you were sleeping...”

As he turned the corner Fluttershy saw his eyes were pouring water and his visage held a contorted grimace that seemed to know pain beyond comprehension. The calm ocean in the darkness of the jade green was a hurricane now. The center was like some endlessly collapsing sea she dared not look into as she turned away and he was gone. She turned to the door and pushed against the thick wood and steel. As she crossed the threshold she let what he said sink in, the clot in her mind shifted and became soft. She felt a twinge of normalcy return to her and her emotions flood back into her mind now lacking the shocking trauma from before. Just sadness and pain now, a cruel storm of realization that she was now in a world where everything she loved was dust and ash.

With nothing left to care for, what was once sorrow was overcome, a monstrous, more powerful emotion she had suppressed and fought for years with kindness and tolerance. Living with all her insecurities and insults from others over the term of so many years. All that she held inside for all this time, now she had nothing to fight against that destructive anger for was gone. The levy broke, and now all that flowed out of the river was a lust for something that she could now direct at a target and be justified in unleashing it upon: Cold Ones.

******************************************************************************

Shooting Star carefully trotted toward Celestia's chambers, she had no idea why she had been summoned, just that the messenger that informed her said that it was urgent. It took her longer than it usually would have to get to the room, each step was painful and her muscles weren't quite used to the new weight distribution. As well her wounds hadn't healed completely, she kept telling herself that it was no one's fault she was like this, that she was lucky to be alive. However deep down inside she had a new target to focus her violent loathing fury on: Fluttershy. Some part of her blamed Fluttershy for all of this, for the loss of her unit, her friends, for her new crippled form. It was a strong bitter poison whose venomous suggestion was corrosive to her mentality. It was irrational hate but hate nonetheless, if she had never gone on that mission, she would never have had to suffer.

At this point she just avoided Fluttershy, even though she had heard that the soft-spoken and gentle mare had asked for her presence. However she declined, at the mention of her name she got slightly sick along with a cold fire in her heart that was painful but fueled her. It was just like what happened when she fought The Cold Ones, a malicious lust to massacre them, their blood and synthetic fluids painting the ground along with their steel husks filled with meaty components. She cracked a faint smile that would have terrified the most well trained soldier with her grim new visage.

She loathed how people looked at her now, once she was a proud sergeant that lead a small special operations squad into enemy territory. Now she could feel the disparaging stares of indifference and pity, it was a chore just to leave her room and she almost yelled at some refugees that passed by as they whispered and gossiped about her. She pushed the thought away and got out of her demented state as she approached the Celestia's chambers. The door was cracked slightly and she could hear voices on the inside. Against her better judgment she decided to instead eavesdrop on the conversation instead of disturb whoever was talking. She placed her head near the crack in the door and with ease picked up on what was going on as two oddly familiar voices spoke.

“...just worried really, she has been up for three in a half weeks working on that strange project and when I voice my concerns, she just shrugs me off. The other scientific big wigs down there won't even let me talk to her now cause they say I am disrupting her genius... I just... I don't know what to do... I want my friend back....

The voice was high in pitch which told Star that whomever was talking with Celestia was Female but not who exactly. She had heard that voice before but she just couldn't place it. Before she could think more on the matter Celestia responded to the mysterious mare.

“I understand your concern, but...”

Celestia sighed and muttered something then continued.

“...But I can't stop her, really I have overstepped my authority a bit just by getting them to lay off Fluttershy as experimental material and before that they said I was in the wrong for giving Vinyl the project permit and all those resources from the science division. Listen I know it worries you but she has made so much progress that even I am hopeful to see the outcome. In addition she is almost finished with the HT-CADA that I don't want to stop her. She needs to vent... losing a loved one is hard for anypony, and considering the circumstances we don't know if they killed... well.... Let's not talk about that.”
Celestia's voice was cracking, she was clearly in some kind of pain but whomever else it was clearly didn't want to probe any further and cause further emotional turmoil for the Princess. Star decided now was a good time to enter when there was a lull in the conversation. She pressed her body against the door and clopped down hard. Losing one hoof made it almost impossible to knock so she had been easing into the habit of walking louder than usual to let people know when she was coming.

As the door creaked open, the occupants looked to Star while Star turned her head to match their gaze, not wishing for them to see black hole where an eye should be, luckily she didn't have to worry as it was still covered in bandages. However she was still quite paranoid about it.. After a moment she recognized the other pony. It was Spitfire of the Wonderbolts, she was in some strange looking armor that was some type of modified weather control suit.

“Umm... I was told to come here, hope I am not interrupting anything.”

They both turned to her and Then looked back at each other then Spitfire sighed then trotted to the door.

“I will be back later Princess, I still wish to voice my concern.”

The Princess nodded with a reassuring smile.

“Who knows, By the time you return it might not even be an issue anymore.”

Spitfire left with that, then Celestia immediately turned her attention to star with a soft gaze. Star stared back for a moment before breaking and looking away. She knew what this was about now.

“Star, I wanted to commend you on your mission two days ago but I was occupied at the time. Also the physician on-site said that you probably wouldn't survive the night. Most everyone said it was a miracle that you are still alive considering the blood loss you suffered. But that is not why I called you here...”

The princess walked to a nearby looking glass and stared at it, no, through it back at Star. She gave a smirk on the remains of the left side of her face trying to hide her slight admiration for the Princess tactics. Trying to see how I react but without directly looking at me, clever trick, but I am not stupid.

“Den vhy did you?”

Star was growing contempt for the sound of her voice now, it was slurred and hard to talk right since her cheek had been blown off. Still not visible to anyone through the bandages, but they were just there to hide the gore not to provide some kind of prosthetic flesh.

“Simple, I wanted to offer you some options because of your current crippled state.”

Direct, Star appreciated that, she was tired of the doctors and her fellow soldiers dancing around her obvious handicap like some tabu. She didn't want to be pitied if anything, she was a soldier, she could take whatever they had to say about her as long as it wasn't a direct insult.

“Well considering your fast recovery from nearly dying I suspect that you have some inner fervor that could still be utilized in the field of combat.”

Celestia turned back to face Star giving up in trying the trick method, but now her gaze was far less gentle and more piercing. Celestia was clearly better at this game then Star and she flinched for a moment after looking at it... She shouldn't have been resisting, she thought, its not a competition the Princess most likely truly cares... I shouldn't have been so defensive. Letting her emotions through now she smiled a bit with a twinge of excitement at the possibility of serving.

“At this point in time we do not have the understanding that we would like to have of the enemies weapons and augmentations however we are trying to find a way to get you your limbs back...”

Star felt a disgusting rage erupted from deep within her and she looked at the Princess.

“Pardon vut I gnusht holitely decwine...”

Star struggled to control her voice, trying to use her tongue as a false cheek at the same time she slowly spoke without a slur.

“I.. would.... r-... rathew be crihhled... den be any-th-thing like those n-no-mmmonsters.”

Celestia gave a sigh that showed she anticipated a reaction relating to this, Star knew this however as she had to deal with thousands of soldiers each day. The doctors told her that Celestia visited the sick bay each week and tried to ease the pain of the wounded with what little energy she could spare. The aura crippled her magical ability but Celestia was a goddess, it couldn't stop her from manipulating it completely. Star was impressed by this as well as humiliated. She had been told because Celestia had used some of her energy to hasten her healing process. Star felt so low as everyone kept taking pity on her. Even their formerly omnipotent benevolent leader, but Star knew that had to be another reason behind Celestia's assistance.

“Well I can understand your hatred for the enemy and their technology but we will see how you feel when the time comes that we can get you back out on the field. Yet, this is not the only offer that I have for you, Sergeant Star.”

She bent down to Star’s level and looked her in the eye again this time with some enigmatic intent, her voice was soft and caring unlike how she had been speaking for most of this conversation, if you could call it that with Star's limited capability to respond.

“Star, I understand you want to be useful so I give you three options, you can take all of them if you want.: One, we can put you in charge of a unit using some remote communication that was recently discovered by one of our Doctors that involves some pseudo-telepathy. Two, Fluttershy just said she wanted to fight to save everypony...”

Star felt that cold fire burn in her chest again at the mention of the mare she saved, the mare who cursed her pulling her from the sweet embrace of death. Star couldn't help a tense sensation of demented excitement spark across her body, but she stayed still. She immediately resumed her upright and militaristic stance. It did not seem that celestia had noticed anything in her body language or perhaps she wasn’t paying attention.

“Star? something wrong.”

Celestia reached out with her wing and wrapped it around the torso of Star gently. It was soft, made the scared mare feel comfortable in Celestia’s presence. She let down some of her guards, not like she needed to considering her current company.

“Hrincess... I-”

Celestia interjected, not to contradict Star, but coming forward with a soft and gentle tone that Star had not heard since her mother read her bedtime stories when she was a young filly.

“Star, I know that you’ve lost a lot recently. I see you are in of pain, and if you need any help at all, don’t hesitate to ask. I need you just as much as anyone else in this facility.”

She stopped and shivered, pulling Star closer with her wing, to possibly show her that she was there. Star leaned into it gently and found some comfort in it as it relieved some of the pressure inside. As she did so it slowly loosened again while Celestia pulled away, turning serious again.

“So Star... What is your choice?”

Star was brought back to the the grim reality of her situation again; instead of being immersed in emotions of care, she felt the burn again, the antithetic frigid conflagration. She knew she could not live with it, it was moving, growing, like a maze of steel chains drenched in frozen toxins were being wrapped around her mind and soul. The fire slowly burning its way over the frozone ties that bound the darkness together in one cohesive form. She Shivered for a moment and nodded. Finally deciding on what to do.

“My hrincess, I humrry acceft your aufor to train Fluttershy and take contrawhl of a shquad, howeffer...”

Star felt an intense distaste at how limited her capability was to communicate properly. She bit the part of her cheek that still remained in a bit of frustration, still pushing her tongue against her lips to try and get a hang of how to slowly enunciate the letters that she used to have a lip for. She tried again:

“R-r-rrrmmmight I chh-please requefft shome offer form of commoonicashun?”

Celestia smiled and nodded with a slow movement she pointed to the door where a young female doctor seemed to be waiting for Star.

“I thought of that already. Don’t worry, it’s not a cybernetic implant of any kind, but it will be a machine we have made based on some work that one of our top researchers has been working on.. They have it ready for you down in lab 12. It will make speaking a great deal easier.”

Star shifted slightly feeling an unease regarding the subject of machinery. she could barely hold the guns that were given to her by the quartermaster. She was terrified of it, thinking of how many steps from those simple weapons to what horrors she had faced on the battlefield it took before they were the same thing. She would not let pony kind sacrifice as much as whatever the creatures outside did in the name of victory. It would never be worth it. The Doctor at the door disrupted the silence trying to reassure Star.

“My dear, don’t worry it will just transmit your thoughts into words. Just think and it will do. It can’t see into your mind or re-program you.”

Star felt a cold shiver shake over her body, the thought of having one of those cold devices with any link to her mind and body was sickening. She again looked to Celestia, for some form of assurance that she was safe, it was okay. Celestia slowly nodded with a benevolently serene smile, it was all that Star needed for now. It quelled the sickness as well as the cold fire that blazed through her limbs. Warmth restored to her frame, the tremors stopped. Star turned to the door and followed the Mare in her white lab coat down the hall.

Star didn't quite know if it was her paranoia or if it was her soldiers instinct, however irrelevant the source of the nagging feeling, she felt the wandering eyes of the Doctor over her body. Scanning over her, it was as if she was irradiating pity and disgust, however that was something she had felt for all those poor souls in medical. Now she regretted ever holding any emotions like those. Now being on the receiving end of the emotional exchange she held a small amount of contempt for those around her, and herself even for her own hypocrisy on the issue. She and the Doctor trotted through many barren hallways with maybe one or two ponies that weren't unicorns currently rushing from lab to lab trying to consolidate resources and get critical data from one to another.

The lack at its prime this facility used to have around 30 to 40 soldiers moving down the halls to the barracks or acting as couriers instead of hastily recruited interns. Now there were only enough to fit in 10 barracks. From thousands to hundreds in week... Star had lost everyone she cared about trying to save a damn civvie. But it wasn't her fault, no, it was those creatures that consumed this once great land and steeping it in horrors that no-pony had ever thought to imagine. Machines and biological creatures that turned Colts to piles of liquefied flesh in seconds, screaming all the while. That shot the limbs off of ponies running away instead of shooting to kill then either dragging them back in horrific pain or slowly killing them by burning them from the tail to the head.

Star fled from the thoughts, her tactic to avoid insanity at this point was to suppress it, don’t think about it, concentrate on something else. She contemplated talking to the young doctor, however the awkward silence that they maintained and the constant feeling of being judged and pitied made Star feel uncomfortable with that possibility. She had faced untold terrors from the bowels of those floating fortresses, but now to her the most terrifying thing to her was being judged by other Ponies. With her crippled form, she was afraid of being seen as some strange protuberance of the flesh. She still felt solace in one thing, that she had something to blame for it all, and she would make them pay.