Fallout: Equestria - Wicked as Syn

"The portal to hell is opened with the incantation of good intentions"

"Who all knows about this?"

"Only the scientists who worked on the project."

"Are they trustworthy? Can they keep secrets?"

"I'd trust each and every one of them with my life."

"Good. Nopony can know about this."

Fluttershy stared at the creature before her. The two were separated by a thick glass window. The creature in the holding cell stared back at her with it's large grey eyes. Not blinking. Not moving. Not even breathing. It was unsettling. Unnatural. The creature was unlike anything that had ever existed in the world. The fact that it existed at all was amazing itself but as amazing as it was, it was equally horrifying.

The creature itself looked innocent enough. A little Earth Pony filly with a bleach white coat, long grey mane, silver eyes and no cutie mark. It wasn't the creature's appearance that was unsettling. It was it's actions. It didn't move, nor blink, nor breathe. It didn't even seem like it was alive at all. It just sat there, staring at the glass wall. It couldn't see the two ponies behind the glass, it was a one way mirror. But Fluttershy couldn't shake the feeling that it was looking right at her.

"Can she talk?" Fluttershy asked her companion.

"Yes." The mare replied. "It's incredibly intelligent. We're not even sure how it learned to speak. It taught itself."

The mare, a biologist named Hazel, turned to face Fluttershy and looked her dead in the eyes.

"You don't want to talk to it though." She said. Hazel's eyes held a look of abject horror. She had spoken with the creature before and it was not an experience she wished to re-live. "Trust me. You don't want to hear that thing speak."

"I'm sure it'll be fine. She's a living, sentient being. She deserves to be treated as such, not locked away like a criminal. She doesn’t even know what she did wrong." Fluttershy moved towards the intercom and pressed the button. "Hello? Can you hear me?"

The creature on the other side of the glass didn't move. Didn't react at all.

"My name is Fluttershy. I'm the pony in charge of the ministry of peace...can...can you hear me? Hello?"

"I can hear you." The filly finally spoke.

Fluttershy immediately regretted her attempt at communication. The noise that came from the creature's lips could hardly be called a voice. It sounded nothing like what a filly should sound like. Nothing like what anything should sound like. The voice of a creature that didn't belong in this world. Fluttershy never wished to hear that sound again...but even still, she swallowed her fear and pressed the intercom button once more.

"Do you know where you came from?"

"No."

"Do you know what you are?"

"No."

Fluttershy stepped away from the glass and turned to Hazel.

"How did this happen?"

"We honestly have no idea. I guess we may have underestimated the power of your megaspells." Hazel finished her sentence with a small chuckle.

"There's nothing to laugh about Hazel. Ponies are dead and the little filly in there is the cause. We’re responsible and we need to figure out what to do."

"It's not a filly Fluttershy. Does it sound like a filly to you?"

"I know but referring to her as 'it' just doesn't feel very polite."

"Polite? You're worried about hurting its feelings?" Hazel's voice began to rise. "We don't even know if that thing has feelings! We don't have any idea what it even is! The only thing we know for sure is that it killed a room full of ponies in less than a second! It's dangerous."

Fluttershy shot hazel a stern look. "I don't think she knew what she was doing Hazel. She was just scared. She's just a baby. A very smart, very creepy baby but...a baby nonetheless."

Hazel missed what Fluttershy had said. Her attention had turned back to the glass window. Her eyes wide with shock and her jaw hanging open. "What the fuck?"

"Hazel! Language!"

"Fluttershy...look."

Fluttershy turned back to the window. The filly was gone. She'd been replaced by a full grown mare, with a butter yellow coat, long light pink mane, blue eyes and three butterflies for a cutie mark. She'd even sprouted wings. Fluttershy was staring at a mirror image of herself.

She pressed the intercom once again. "Why are you doing that?"

The creature didn't respond. Didn't move, blink or breathe.

"Please answer me! Why are you doing that?"

The creature spoke once again and Fluttershy watched as its unnatural, hideous voice spewed forth from her own mouth. "Why am I here?"

Fluttershy paused. It had asked her a question, finally. She felt unsure as to whether or not she should even answer it. The entire conversation had escalated to an entirely new level of disturbing.

"Why can't I be out there with you?"

Fluttershy pressed the intercom button again. "You're in there because you hurt ponies. We need time to..."

"What does that mean? I don't know what hurt means."

The expression on the creature's face had finally changed. Instead of a blank face it now looked curious. Like a child ready to hear a story. Wanting to learn. Ironically, it looked more childlike now than it had previously.

"Hurt means...you caused others pain. You...killed ponies. Do you remember that?"

"No."

"Well until we know more about you, we have to keep you locked in there. So you don't hurt anypony else."

"Is pain what I felt when I touched those bright lights? I didn't like that."

"Ummm...well, yes I would imagine."

"What do you mean I killed them? What does killed mean?"

Fluttershy stared at the creature in confusion. "How did you learn to speak?"

The creature began to look more frightened than curious. It finally moved, standing up on all four hooves and moving away from the glass window. "What does killed mean? Please tell me."

Hazel moved Fluttershy out of the way and pressed the intercom button. "It means those ponies are no longer alive. They're dead. You killed them. They don't exist anymore."

"They don't exist anymore?" The creature looked at it's own hoof, then back up at the glass. "Are you going to do that to me?"

Fluttershy hurriedly made her way back to the intercom. "No we're not! We're not going to hurt you!"

"Are you going to touch me with the bright lights again??" The creature was beginning to panic. It's features were beginning to change once more. It's skin began to boil and the feathers on it's wings began to fall off. "Please don't! The lights hurt!" It's eyes began to change as well. It's irises disappeared and the color died away leaving nothing but white. "I don't want to be killed!" It screamed. It's unearthly voice echoed in the room. "I want to exist!"

All the color in the creature's skin died away, replaced with a sickly white. It's skin bubbled and boiled and soon it no longer resembled any equine shape at all. It became a writhing mass of flesh, screaming incoherently. The boils in the mass took the shape of equine faces. Screaming. Unleashing the most disturbing sounds imaginable. Each mouth widened further as it screamed until it reached it's peak and at that point the face would vomit forth a new one and begin the process all over again.

Fluttershy couldn't move. She couldn't scream. Nor could she take her eyes off the horrific sight. The event unfolding before her was far more disturbing than her worst nightmares. And she had created it. This was her doing. No matter how much she wanted to look away she couldn't. As if the universe was forcing her to endure.

Hazel made her way to the other end of the observation room to a separate intercom and pressed the button. "Close the shields."

A large metal sheet closed over the window and the sound died away. Fluttershy stared at it. Her eyes wide and her lips quivering. She felt tears begin to stream down her face. She forced herself not to blink for she knew if she closed her eyes she'd see it again.

"If that thing tries getting out…” Hazel said into the intercom. “...hit it with the flamers again."

Fluttershy's shock finally died away. She turned to face Hazel. "You can't do that! You'll hurt her!"

"Fluttershy! We have no idea what that thing even is! It's dangerous! We should kill it now and forget about this whole fuck up of a project!"

"Please watch your language. And no." Flutter assumed a more assertive stance. Holding her head high. Showing off the years of leadership skills she had gained as a ministry mare. "That is a living creature. A creature we created. We're responsible for it."

"Fluttershy, it's dangerous! You didn't see what it did! You don't know what it can do! If it gets out..."

"It's just scared. Hazel look at me." Hazel looked into the other mare's eyes. The kindest eyes in Equestria. The physical manifestation of compassion. A creature so benevolent, the thought of ending a life, even one as terrible as the abomination before them, seemed utterly absurd to her. "Hazel I know you're scared. I'm scared too. Everypony in Equestria is scared right now. But we're the Ministry of Peace. We're the ones who have to rise above that fear and not allow it to drive us to do terrible things. It's our responsibility to help every living thing in the world." Fluttershy turned her head towards the window.

"Because if we don't, nopony will."