Fallout: Equestria - Wicked as Syn

4 months laters

"Hazel..."

A mare sat slumped over her desk, fast asleep. She hadn't had a good night sleep in weeks and had finally keeled over from exhaustion.

"Hazel..."

Four months had passed since the incident. She'd been plagued with nightmares ever since. Several nights she had woken up screaming, and each time she closed her eyes the image of the creature was there, burned into her memory.

"Hazel!"

She was slowly losing her mind.

"Hazel! Get up off your fat, lazy ass and get to work! Our guest is here."

Hazel finally woke up. She looked up from her desk and spotted the mare disturbing her long overdue and much deserved slumber.

"Good morning Good Grief. Good to see you're in a good mood."

"Shut the fuck up Hazel. Our consultant is here. Let's see what this chick can do."

Hazel and Good Grief began to make their way to the observation room. Along their way they stopped for coffee. Hazel poured herself a cup, added in four packets of cream and six packets of sugar and began to drink it down.

"Wow. No wonder you're so fat."

"Did something happen to you as a child? Like, were you dropped on your head and it destroyed the manners section of your brain? How did you even get a job working for the Ministry of Peace?"

Grief shrugged. "Hey I'm nice! I'm just concerned for your health. You don't need that much sugar in your coffee. You want to end up like your sister?"

"Oh please don't." Hazel shuttered at the thought of her sister. The creature in the observation room was almost more preferable than her.

"Well that's what I'm saying Hazel! Just exercise a little, watch your diet and for fuck sake wash your damn face! Do all that and you'd probably be really attractive. Be able to pull in some good looking guys for a change instead of the ugly fuckers you usually bring home. Hell, do all that shit and I'll date you. I like you enough. You're just ugly."

"Grief, you're the best friend I've ever had." Hazel replied, her voice dripping with sarcasm. She looked down at the brown liquid in her cup. "Coffee doesn't have nearly enough alcohol in it."

After their coffee the pair stopped into the bathroom. They were purposely going as slow as they could to the observation room. Trying to prolong the inevitable as much as possible. They didn't care if they were late. If they were lucky they'd get fired. Too bad neither one was lucky.

Hazel looked at herself in the bathroom mirror. Good Grief was right. She didn't take very good care of herself. Her dark blue mane was a mess. She hadn't combed it in weeks. Her horn was cracked. Needed to be polished badly. Her breath smelled and there were bags under her eyes. That bugged her more than anything. Hazel considered her eyes to be her best feature. She'd even been named after them. Her bright beautiful, hazel eyes. If she looked at a stallion the right way, they'd fall in love with her instantly. Now their bright, lovely appearance was being overshadowed by exhaustion. Heavy bags underneath and green crust embedded in their corners. If she positioned her glasses the right way it hardly even mattered. She hated those glasses. As far as she was concerned they'd kept her from finding love. They hid her only good feature.

Hazel used her magic to take off her lab coat and began to examine her body. She was getting fat. Not nearly as fat as her sister but she'd definitely put on some pounds. Too many trips to burger princess. She was also in desperate need of a good bath. All she ever got were quick showers and they were few and far between. Her dark yellow fur was matted all over. She looked over her cutie mark. A big, Hazel eye. Hazel liked eyes a little too much and her love of eyes had earned her cutie mark. Her curse. It was the ugliest cutie mark she'd ever seen. She wasn't unappreciative of it. She loved her field of work. Studying all the complexities of all the various living creatures in the world and there was nothing more complex than an eye. But did it have to be so ugly?

Good Grief was studying herself in the mirror as well. "I'm sorry Hazel. For calling you ugly."

Hazel looked to her friend and smiled. She was used to Good Grief's bitchy fits and was appreciative of the fact that she was always quick to apologize.

"What's with the sudden turn around Grief?" Hazel asked with a chuckle.

"Well I can't really criticize your appearance much when I look like this."

Grief didn't look much better than Hazel. The pair shared similar coat colors. Only Griefs was much brighter yellow. They were both unicorns but that's where the similarities ended. Hazel was short and stocky. Grief was tall and thin. Too thin. Instead of eating her anxieties like Hazel, Grief dealt with her emotions by starving herself and it showed. If Hazel looked close enough she could make out the outline of Grief's rib cage. The tall, lanky mare looked in the mirror and sighed.

"Maybe we should just date each other Hazel. We're never gonna find anyone else. We're past our prime."

"We're not that old Grief. And I'm not sure I'm into mares."

"Yeah me neither. I just don't want to end up alone."

Grief removed her own glasses and dusted them off with her lab coat. Griefs eyes were almost as pretty as Hazel's. Bright green. Always hidden under her glasses and pitch black mane that frequently fell over her face. It was a shame that both of them were forced to hide their best features.

Grief took off her lab coat and began examining her hind quarters in the mirror. She ran her hoof over her cutie mark, a pair of black zig zagging lines that represented Grief's talent for analysis, and frowned.

"Hazel, I have no ass." She said.

Hazel laughed. "You can borrow mine. I have enough to share."

Grief laughed with her friend. "When was the last time you got any?"

"A couple months ago."

"What?? How?!"

Hazel shrugged. "I try to actually have a life. Whenever I get a chance to go out I take it. When I do, get a couple drinks in me and I can usually talk a guy into bed."

"I haven't been laid in almost a year!"

Hazel shrugged again. "Gotta put yourself out there. It's not hard. Just go out to a bar and talk to ponies. Be a slut. It's fun."

Grief laughed. "You're taking me next time!"

"It's a date." Grief and Hazel shared a laugh for a moment. It was nice. It had been too long since the two had been able to distract themselves from work. But it could only last so long. Eventually the laughter died away and the two stood there in silence, dreading the moments to come.

"Grief...we're stalling."

"I know." Grief whispered. "I don't want to see it Hazel. I hate that thing. I don't know how you can stand it like you do."

"Fluttershy taught me. You've met her right?"

"Only once. Very briefly."

"She's amazing Grief. That mare truly cares for every living creature in Equestria. Even that thing."

Hazel and Grief left the bathroom and began to make their way down the hall, walking as slow as they possibly could.

"Why do you let it call you that Hazel?"

"Because it makes her feel better. She's a person Grief. And she's suffering. If calling me that makes her feel better then I'm not going to take it away from her."

The two finally made it two the door and paused before entering.

"Just remember..." Hazel began. "She's more afraid of you than you are of her."

The door opened and the two reluctantly stepped through.

"I highly doubt that."

Inside the observation room were four other ponies, two stallions and two mares. The two stallions and one of the mares were the only other surviving members of the research team responsible for the creation of the creature. The rest of the team, ten others, had all been killed.

The stallions didn't look any better than Grief or Hazel. One of them slouched in the corner, half asleep. The other, stood in the center of the room looking like he was on the verge of an asthma attack. He always looked like that. The other mare on the research team was talking to the consultant over by the doorway.

"You two are late." The slouched stallion said.

"Stuff it DNA, we don't want to be here anymore than you do."

"Your name's DNA?" The consultant mare asked the stallion. "Righteous."

"My name is Deoxyribonucleic Acid. Because my parents are assholes. But yeah. DNA."

Hazel approached the mare. "You must be our consultant. It's nice to meet you. I'm Hazel."

"Radical to meet you." The mare responded. "Fluttershy's told me so much about you."

"She has?" Hazel looked over the strange mare's features. She was a lime green Earth Pony with an orange mane done up in one of the strangest hair style Hazel had ever seen. It was as if the mare had never combed her mane a day in her life and it resulted in her mane becoming matted beyond all repair, forming long, thick locks. It wasn't even ugly. It was unique. Pretty even. The mare gave off the strangest scent as well. A foul, smokey smell that somehow managed to be both disgusting and pleasant at the same time. Hazel knew that smell. She'd gone to college. This mare didn't seem very professional, but Fluttershy had vouched for her. Told her that if anyone would be able to get through to the creature it'd be her. And Hazel trusted Fluttershy's judgement.

"Yeah. She told me she admired your intelligence and dedication. I can totally see why. I'm really diggin' your vibe."

"Why...thank you." Hazel responded. "We should get started. Open the shield."

The shield opened and revealed the observation area. The cell had originally been constructed for housing dangerous creatures, such as manticores, who were in need of medical care. It had been since been re-purposed. The room was no longer plain white but had little bits of color plastered all around it. Strange, juvenile drawings of ponies were scribbled all over the walls and floor. Drawings off all the researchers: Good Grief, DNA, Amber, and Cell Wall were littered everywhere. There were numerous drawings of two other ponies as well. More effort had been put into these drawings and they were far more numerous than the others. They were of Fluttershy and Hazel. The creature's favorite two ponies.

In the center of the room, working on her latest masterpiece, sat the creature. She looked innocent enough. A bleach white Earth Pony filly with a long grey mane and mismatched eyes. One of them silver and the other...hazel. The fact that she'd intentionally made her eye like that creeped Hazel out to an extreme. The creature was working on another drawing. A picture of Fluttershy. She was coloring with her hair. She had full control over every cell in her body. She changed the ends of her hair into various colors and used them to draw her pictures. She'd been steadily improving. The ponies she drew had finally begun to look more like actual ponies rather than stick figures. The creature learned at an astonishing rate. It was both fascinating and horrifying.

"Now, she doesn't react well to new ponies so don't be alarmed if she freaks out. She can't get out of that cell and if she tries we have a deterrent. See those holes in the walls? They were originally intended to release a sedative gas but since that has no affect on her they've been repurposed into flamethrowers. We're safe in here." Hazel was trying to convince herself of their safety as much as she was the consultant.

The mare didn't seem to be paying any attention. She was enraptured by the creature in the room. The filly didn't move. Save for the end of her mane, which worked vigorously on the drawing. The filly's lack of motion was almost surreal. Even when other ponies tried to sit still they still made little involuntary movements. They breathed. They blinked. But the filly didn't do anything. The only thing one could compare it to was a corpse.

"Trippy." The consultant mare breathed out. "She has no aura..."

"Huh?"

"All living things give off an aura. Cosmic life energy. She doesn't have one. I didn't even know that was poss...wait did you say flamethrowers?"

"Yes." DNA made his way next to the pair. "As a precaution. That thing is dangerous."

"Dude, she's a filly."

"No." DNA replied cooly. "It's not."

Hazel pressed the intercom. "Syn sweetie. How are you doing today?"

The filly turned her attention to the mirror and smiled. She rushed over to the to the glass with the enthusiasm of a child.

"Mommy!" She'd been working on modulating her voice. She now sounded far more like a filly. It was still off and had a reverberating effect but it was much easier on the ears nonetheless. "I haven't seen you in years!"

Hazel chuckled. "It's only been a day sweetheart."

"It felt like forever!" The filly pressed her face into the glass and looked to the mare next to Hazel. "Who's that pony mommy?"

"She can see us?" The consultant mare asked.

"Yes." DNA replied. "We don't know how. That glass is supposed to be one way, but she doesn't seem to care about logic or anything of the sort."

"This is auntie Fluttershy's friend sweetie. She's here to have a little chat with you today."

The filly seemed almost as enamored with the mare as the mare did with her. "She has a really pretty mane." The filly sniffed the glass. "And smells funny."

"She can smell us?!"

As the filly stared at the mare her mane began to move. It bunched together and changed from the long straight mane to a mess of locks, identical to the consultant mare’s.

"Radical!"

"She's really pretty." Syn remarked.

"Thanks little one. You're beautiful as well." The mare said into the intercom. As she did the filly began to shy away from the glass and her mane assumed its regular shape.

"She doesn't talk to anypony aside from Hazel and Fluttershy." DNA informed her.

"She's just shy. We're hoping you might be able to help her overcome that." Hazel added.

"Oh that shouldn't be a problem at all. I deal with all sorts of creatures, each one perfect and unique."

"You've never dealt with anything like this lady." DNA remarked. "Trust me."

"Syn sweetheart.” Hazel began.” You think you can try to have a talk with mommy's friend?"

The filly looked back up at the glass. It hid behind it's mane and when it spoke its voice was a barely audible whisper. "I'll try."

"Thank you sweetie. That's all we're asking." Hazel turned to the consultant. "Give it a shot. See if you can reach her."

The mare moved in front of the intercom and moved to press the button. She paused right before she did and turned to Hazel. "What did you say her name was? Syn?"

"Short for synthetic life form." DNA answered.

"Okay. Well here I go. Wish me luck." She said with a slightly nervous laugh.

The mare pressed the intercom and began speaking. "Hello Syn! Blessings. How are you feeling today child?"

Syn didn't answer. Didn't move. She stood with her head hung low and her face concealed behind her mane.

"I really like your drawings. They're super groovy."

Again no response.

The mare moved away from the intercom. "Yeah this isn't gonna work. I need to get in there and work with her on a more intimate level."

DNA laughed out loud. "Not happening! You don't have any idea what that thing is capable of! She's dangerous."

"Chill out dude. She's just a filly. She won't hurt me."

"She's not a filly." DNA continued, the humor gone from his voice. "She's an experiment gone horribly wrong. She's a monster."

"There's no such thing as monsters my friend. Every creature is beautiful in it's own way."

DNA rolled his eyes and scoffed. "Whatever lady. You're not going in there. I don't want to be the one who has to clean up the mess."

"I want her to!"

The group turned their attention back to Syn who had moved closer to the glass and was now giving them her full attention.

"Please. I'll be good. I just want to see somepony."

Hazel pressed the intercom button. "Syn...baby you have to promise me you're not going to hurt her. That you'll be nice. That you won't...freak out. Promise?"

Syn nodded. "I promise."

"Okay." Hazel turned to the mare. "Please be careful. No sudden movements. Keep your voice calm."

"Oh don't worry about it. Calm is like, my thing."

"This is a bad idea." DNA said.

"I agree." Good Grief joined in the discussion. "Don't do this Hazel."

Hazel turned to the other two ponies in the room. "Cell Wall, Amber...what do you two think?"

Amber looked over the mare. "I think it'll work. She's never had an actual physical interaction with somepony. It might be exactly what she needs."

Cell Wall nodded in agreement. The stallion couldn't seem to stop shaking. "Y-yeah...yeah I think we should give it a shot."

Hazel turned to DNA and Grief. "Sorry guys. Four against two. Five if you include Syn. We're gonna try it. Just be ready in case something goes wrong."

"What exactly are we going to do Hazel?" DNA scoffed. "Roast them both alive?"

"Shut up DNA." She turned to the mare. "Go for it."

The mare made her way to the door to the holding cell. She moved the card Hazel gave her in front of the door scanner which gave a beep, and the door opened. The mare entered the cell and the door immediately closed behind her.

"Greetings child. I'm Tree Hugger. Radical to meet you little one."

Syn began to move away from Tree Hugger. She was visibly shaking.

Hazel pressed the intercom. "Syn baby it's okay. She's not going to hurt you."

Upon hearing Hazel's voice Syn began to calm down. She ceased shaking and looked directly at Tree Hugger.

"It's okay sweetie." Hazel said over the intercom.

Syn slowly began moving towards Tree Hugger. She stopped when she was directly in front of her. "Hello."

"Hi." Tree Hugger said. Her voice was calm and serene.

She smiled down at the filly and Syn managed to smile back.

"Would you like to show me your drawings?"

Syn nodded. "Okay. I'll show you my favorite ones."

Syn began to lead Tree Hugger around the room, showing her all the various drawings she'd made during her imprisonment.

"This one is of auntie Fluttershy. She's the nicest pony in all the world."

"Yes she is. I've known Fluttershy for years now. She truly is a beautiful soul."

Syn smiled and perked up a little more. With slightly more enthusiasm she lead Tree Hugger over to her next masterpiece.

"This one is uncle DNA. He's grumpy a lot...but I like him."

"Ya hear that D? She likes ya." Grief said as she smiled and nudged DNA in the side.

"Shut the fuck up." DNA replied, failing to find the humor in the situation.

Syn lead Tree Hugger over to her favorite drawing.

"This one is my mommy. The best pony there is. I love her and she loves me."

"Oh yes." Tree Hugger leaned down to get a better view of the drawing and ran her hoof over it. "I can really feel the aura of love radiating from this drawing. It's magical manifest."

Syn watched the mare as she studied the drawing, enraptured with her. The first pony she'd ever had real physical contact with. She fixated her eyes on the mares unique mane.

"Can...can I touch your mane?" She asked.

"Of course child. Please do."

Syn ran her hoof over tree huggers mane. She giggled. "It feels funny."

"It's the result of years and years of spiritual enlightenment."

Syn stopped and the smile died from her face. She withdrew slightly, nervous of the question she was about to ask. "Can...can I..."

"Don't be afraid child. You can ask me for whatever you want."

"Can I...hug you?"

"Yes child. Embrace me."

Tree Hugger sat down and opened her forelegs, ready for Syn's embrace.

"I don't like this." DNA remarked from the observation area. "This is a bad idea. We should get her out of there now."

"Shut up!" Hazel snapped. "This is a good thing."

Syn slowly moved into Tree Huggers forelegs. At her own pace she wrapped her forelegs around the older mare and settled her head into her chest.

Tree Hugger closed in around the filly and laid her head on top of Syn's.

"Yes child. Feel the love! Experience life!"

"Love..." Syn tightened her forelegs around Tree Huggers torso. The mare followed suit and the two sat in the room together. Wrapped around each other. Syn smiled a warmer smile than she ever had in her life.

"This is good. We're reaching her." Hazel said. She turned to Grief and DNA and smiled. "And you two were worried." She finished her sentence with a slightly over exaggerated laugh.

In the cell, Syn and Tree Hugger were still intertwined. As they sat Syn's hair began to move. Wrapping around the mare. Embracing her as well.

"He he he. That tickles."

Syn's smile widened and she tightened her embrace. A little too tight. Tree Hugger began to have difficulty breathing.

"That's a little much child. Would you mind loosening up a bit?"

Syn ignored the mare. Her hairs continued to move all along Tree Hugger's body. Entwining themselves around her legs. Moving around her face. Tree Hugger did her best to remain calm and keep her composure but she couldn't keep her breathing from quickening or the sweat from rolling off her forehead.

Syn continued to tighten her grasp around the mare. She squeezed harder and harder. Tree Hugger struggled for breath. She winced in pain. Syn's hairs moved along her flesh. The ends began digging their way in. Slowly entering her body. Like needles. The hairs on her face began to move towards her eyes. The tips of Syn's mane began to work their way towards the bottoms of Tree Hugger's eyelids.

"Let go." Tree Hugger gasped. "Please stop."

"Get her the fuck out of there!" DNA yelled.

The hairs dug in even further. Crawling beneath Tree Huggers flesh. Worming their way into the space beneath Tree Huggers eyes. Digging deeper and deeper.

Syn still smiled. Seemingly unaware of the distraught mare in her grasp. She continued her hug and as she did her back began to boil. There was a pop and four new limbs sprouted forth and wrapped themselves around Tree Hugger. The mare watched as the skin on Syn's neck boiled. Each bubble took the shape of a tiny equine face. Screaming in horror and agony, before vomiting forth a new face and repeating the cycle.

Tree Hugger couldn't keep her composure any longer. She let loose a horrified scream. Expelling all of the air from her lungs at once.

"GET IT OFF OF ME!!!"

Syn's eyes opened. They were no longer mismatched or had any color at all. They were pure white. Syn's smile disappeared and her mouth opened. A voice called out. Not the reverberating little filly voice from before but a horrible disgusting sound, that could hardly be called a voice. Completely in-equine, neither male nor female. Her mouth hung agape and the words spewed forth from her mouth without even moving her lips. "I love you..."

"Turn on the flamers!" Hazel shouted over Tree Huggers horrified screeching and the unearthly wail that began to emanate forth from Syn.

"You'll incinerate them both!!" DNA shouted.

"Don't fire them! Just start them up! We need to scare her off of her!"

DNA rushed to the walls and flipped the flamers start up switch. The holes in the cells walls began to glow orange. Syn immediately snapped out of her trance. Her eyes returned to their regular color and she let go of Tree Hugger. Then proceeded to run and cower in the corner.

Tree Hugger wasted no time in rushing towards the door. She began pounding on it and screaming furiously.

"LET ME OUT!! GET ME THE FUCK OUT OF HERE!!"

Grief made her way to the door and opened it. Tree Hugger rushed in and collapsed on the floor.

The door closed and the researches attended to the distraught mare. Tree Hugger laid on the floor, crying and screaming incoherently. Any attempt to physically comfort her was met with violence. She refused to be touched.

In the cell Syn was screaming in her terrible, inequine voice. "TURN THEM OFF!! TURN OFF THE LIGHTS! I DON'T WANT TO BE BURNED!"

"DNA turn off the flamers!"

DNA did as he was told. After they were off, Syn collapsed on the floor and began to cry.

"I’M SORRY!" She screamed. Her voice was a broken mix of the unearthly howl and the echoing filly voice. She was trying her best to get it back under control.

"I DIDN'T MEAN TO HURT! I'M SORRY!!"

Hazel pressed the intercom button. "Syn sweetie. Baby, it's okay! You didn't mean to!"

Tears began to stream down Hazel's face as she watched the child wail and cry on the floor. Broken and alone, with no one to comfort her.

"I'M A GOOD PONY!" She repeated over and over again.

"Yes you are sweetie. You're a good pony! We're going to help you! We're going to find a way! I promise!"

"I'M A GOOD PONY!! I'M A GOOD PONY! I'M A PONY!! I'M A PONY!!"

Eventually the screaming stopped. Syn laid on the floor. Motionless. Eyes wide open. Not moving. Not blinking. Not even breathing. A living corpse. A creature beyond anyone's understanding. The only one of her kind. Completely alone in the universe.

Hazel closed the shields. She couldn't bring herself to watch anymore. She turned her attention to Tree Hugger, who lay on the floor of the room. Shaking visibly. Tears streaming down her face and babbling.

"It's evil. It's evil. It's not a filly. It's evil. It's a monster." She stopped briefly. Then all at once began screaming and crying again.

"For fuck's sake." DNA snapped. "Ger her to the infirmary or something."

Amber and Cell Wall carried Tree Hugger out of the room leaving DNA, Grief and Hazel alone. After a moment, DNA broke the silence.

"Good fucking call boss."

"Shut the fuck up DNA." Grief snapped.

Hazel didn't say anything. She pressed her head against the window and cried.