Dead on Arrival

Chapters

Chapter 1: The Storm Before the Even Bigger Storm
Chapter 2: Fluttershy's Cross-Dimensional Adventure
Chapter 3: Fluttershy Ruined My Bed Sheets
Chapter 4: Fluttershy Soup
Chapter 5: Fool's Gold
Chapter 6: Overwatch
Chapter 7: Cleanup Crew of One
Chapter 8: Dissection Preppers
Chapter 9: Dimension Hoppers
Chapter 10: Flutter Cutters and Prowler Shies | Part: 1
Chapter 11: Flutter Cutters and Prowler Shies | Part: 2
Chapter 12: The Revenant
Chapter 13: Second Zephyr
Chapter 14: One Wolf's Trash

Chapter 1: The Storm Before the Even Bigger Storm

I was walking through the Edmonton Clinic Health Academy on my way to the bus stop. I was glad for the shelter the school gave me from the torrential rain pouring down like a hail of marbles outside. While I was passing through the halls, I can't help but think about the awful events of the day. On top of tripping and falling flat on my face in front of everyone just as I was entering the classroom, causing an eruption of laughter; and the shame of getting my test scores back, it was raining, and I didn't even have my backpack today to shield my books. I slept in and -- in a mad panic -- rushed out, forgetting it like the idiot I am.

As I was speed-walking through the hall I noticed some posters adorning the walls.

"Come to the My Little Pony marathon on April 2nd at 6 to 10pm in room 2-100! Everyone welcome! Snacks provided!"

I was surprised to find such banners of such social faux pas to be allowed to freely hang in these sacred halls, but it didn't really matter; it hardly affected anyone but the people interested.

The double glass doors to the outside were dead ahead, speckled with drops of rain forming small rivers as they dripped down, absorbing stagnant drops within themselves as they trickled. I wasn't exactly dressed for the occasion: hoodie, jeans, and runners. It was not a good day to be absorbent.

I was reluctantly just about at the door. I held my books in one hand and used the free one to flip up my hood. This wardrobe catastrophe was my fault. I saw the forecast, but since my weather app was often wrong and Edmonton especially is in a massive dry season, so I thought nothing of it, but just in case I took the bus this time. I couldn't risk my bike rusting on me.

I swung open the doors, only to be greeted by a blast of fat rain droplets to my face that forced me to shut my eyes in defence. The morbidly obese spheres of aqua made the ground jump and splash as they hit, spreading its plague of water a few inches in the air like spores. The hurricane wind threatened to blow my hood off, so I took my available hand to keep it held firm onto my scalp. I scanned the area for the fastest route to the bus stop, standing in the rain to plot the best one.

Eventually I decided to cut down the concrete ramps leading to the LRT station and across the crosswalk. Under the flashing lights of the pedestrian crossing sign I saw my fellow unlucky souls. Most were wearing rain jackets, but some, like myself, were wearing hoodies. Everyone was hastily speed-walking across the busy street to the hospital to get some cover. The lobby of the U of A hospital was packed with refugees, staring out into the street with blank stares of mild empathy.

I looked down the street, the blue and silver bus was just coming around to the stop. I finished crossing the road and started a run to the bus stop just as it was screeching to a stop. That turned out to be a bad move. I took a bad step as I was sprinting down the sidewalk and slipped, sending me into a tailspin towards the brick sidewalk. I held my books close to my chest to break the fall, it sort of worked. My face still slammed into the bricks and the textbooks pressed into my chest, squeezing the moist air in my lungs out. I was totally soaking wet now, but at least my feet didn't get hurt, right?

A few among the crowd asked if I was okay. My chest felt like I collapsed a lung, but I really was okay. I got back on my feet, told the people who stopped to help me that I was fine and I continued speed walking to the bus. Through all my hardships I finally boarded it.

"You took quite a tumble there, you okay?" The bus driver asked with a pang of worry. A few on the bus were giggling and staring, making me feel a little embarrassed.

"Uh, yeah. I'm fine thanks," I answered mutely. I handed the woman the bus fare and made my way down the bus, trying to find a place to sit. I found a cozy spot next to the window close by, so I took it, hearing and feeling an uncomfortable squishing sensation caused by my drenched attire as I sat down and stared out the window into the city. The bus was heated well, it took some of the chill off.

Finally, something nice for a change. I assessed the damage to my books and found them to be utterly soaked. They did break my fall, kind of, but at what cost? I squeezed my text book to get some of the water pressed out before the ink starts to run, but the water I managed to get out was tinted a mild shade of ink black and pooled itself nicely on the ground next to my soaked runners. I sighed to myself in disappointment and frustration.

Oh well, I can at least play a little Angry Birds on the wait to my stop. I reached in my pocket to find my sopping wet iPhone resting neatly on my thigh. I pulled it out and clicked it on, hoping that it could even turn on. Luckily enough it did.

"April fools day. Fitting," I muttered to myself as I took note of the date. I swiped the screen to dismiss the lock screen and got a notification.

"10% battery remaining," it read. I pressed the 'Low Power Mode' button under it and clicked the off button, sliding the aluminum paperweight back into my pocket. Not knowing what to do to pass the time, I stared out the window into the rainy day. Thinking about my books and grades spurred me to reflect on my university career.

I worked hard to get in, real hard. I earned my place in that school, I studied like crazy in all my subjects, but I loved biology the most. More specifically, I loved the dissections. Nothing beats a hands on inspection of the gift of life. It was just so fascinating seeing firsthand how the incredible enigma of life functions; it's what made me want to become a surgeon. To read about and look at pictures of the body and anatomy In textbooks is way different than spelunking right in a new cadaver.

When I was in high school I knew in my heart I wanted to become some kind of physician. It wasn't until I dissected a pig when I realized that my destiny was surgery. I'd like to be doing the serious stuff, like threading pacemakers and clipping aneurysms. I have no doubt I could do it, and do it well. I just don't know if I can pass the course.

Don't get me wrong, I love the course, but I've burned out a lot of my studious nature just trying to get in. It's like ever since I was accepted I was swamped with so much homework and studying that I just kind of spaced out. I couldn't keep up and instead of going for help I just buckled. It seems like my will to study just kind of flickered out. I'm still passing, but barely. That's all I'm looking for nowadays. My grandma always wanted me to do my best in school, or at least she used to.

...

Enough with the seriousness. It's Friday! That's something to smile about! And I know a certain group of polychromatic horses waiting for me at home. It's pony night! The one night of the week when I forget about my studies even more to worship our lord and saviour Twilight Sparkle, Princess of Friendship twice as much as I do normally via unhealthy binge-watching! And with the start of season 6, pony night extends to Saturday morning, too!

I was looking forward to a specific pony, one that has made great strides in character development, even though it really doesn't really seem that way sometimes. Even though she's the most static of the group in terms of character, Fluttershy was always my favourite. She's just so adorable. It's like her cowardly cuteness almost makes up for the inherent static nature of a character named 'Fluttershy'. But there's something more to it than just pure cuteness.

I sometimes get a strange feeling when I see her in the show; little things often trigger it. Like when she flies just inches off the ground or fan-art of her doing pretty much anything. There was one scene from the episode "Putting Your Hoof Down" right at the beginning when she's feeding the animals that really triggers it. Right after she pours the food into a big heap and all the animals doggy-pile around it, there's this one scene before the mouse snatches the box of food away from her hoof when she does a strange jittery motion while smiling at the horde of woodland creatures gorging themselves on food pellets. It's only for a split second and probably only an animation error, but it was still there nonetheless.

This emotion wasn't a sexual kind of feeling, but sort of an aching, like, in my heart or chest. It's an interesting yet distinct combination that can only be accurately described as frustration mixed with cuteness, but even that doesn't describe it well. A sort of ... wanting? It's an extremely strange feeling, one I often try to push down and suppress, but I always find myself exploding with it when I compulsively look at pictures and artwork of her lying on a bed, asking for "Tummy rubs?".

The sudden stopping of the bus came as a surprise, jolting me out of my trance-like state of thought. I glanced out the window. Still raining. I flipped my hood up again, grabbed what's left of my books, and made my way out the bus. I stepped down the stairs and hopped out through the doors, instantly snapping back into reality. I remembered just how bad the torrential downpour was. The tiny liquid daggers assaulted my pain receptors once more, so I sprinted again. I crossed another set of LRT tracks, slipping a few times, but still managed to keep my balance. I had to be careful as I sprinted down the cracked and uneven sidewalk, who's seen more than it's share of harsh weather in its 60 or so years of existence. I kept my head down and turned into the walkway that led up to my house. I bounded up the concrete steps and through the screen and wooden doors. I took off my soaking wet runners on the welcome mat, setting them off to the side to dry, and walked into my room. I put my sopping wet books on my desk, grabbed a towel from the laundry room, and made my way to the bathroom for a long relaxing hot shower. It's Friday after all.

After I finished my shower and dried myself off, I put on my pyjamas and began to engage in the sacred rituals. I walked to my room, crawled under the bed covers, turned on the television, and watched my favourite episodes of My Little Pony: Friendship is Magic in a relaxed state of euphoria one usually attains after a 'hard' day at school when you don't realize just how tired your legs are until you get into bed. Bathing in the moment, knowing that this peace cannot last forever made me cherish it even more. I re-watched countless episodes, 'Dragonshy' and 'Hurricane Fluttershy' were my favourites. They always sparked that curious fire in my heart. After watching what seemed like only a few more episodes and watching plenty of PMVs, MLP news, and other brony media, I started feeling my eyes drooping, and glanced at the clock.

"10:07 PM" read the alarm.

"Only 10:07?" I would've thought my body became accustomed to the all-nighters and irregular sleep schedules by now. Not studying of course, just staying up late browsing the internet.

I turned off the TV and my laptop, pulled up the covers, and let sleep wash the day away.

Chapter 2: Fluttershy's Cross-Dimensional Adventure

Angel ran through Twilight's portal, I have to get him! Who knows what danger could be in that thing we conjured up!? I screamed Angel's name as I flew as fast as I could through my friends and into the portal. "Fluttershy, stop!" Twilight yelled, but before I could heed her warning it was too late; I'd gone through the portal of shattered purple.

It was so dark I couldn't see anything, but I felt soft and cozy all around. As I came to my senses and bugged my eyes as open as I could, I realized that I was in a bed, and not my own. I shrank beneath the covers, shuddering in anxiety and shut my eyes again. I need to know if anypony -- or anything -- is in this bed with me to make sure. I felt around the bed with my hooves and felt something warm and squishy right beside me; It felt like a pony. Maybe it noticed me!

"Oh, no! I'm so sorry Mr..."

My squeaked apology ended in dread when my probing hooves finished their prodding, telling me that this pony didn't feel like any pony I've ever felt before. I shrunk under the covers in pure dread. My eyes were adjusting to the darkness slightly, just enough so that I could just barely make out that the thing in this bed was some kind of strange creature, one I've never met before.

I leaped out of this figure's bed, threw my side of the bed-sheets over, and hovered in the air to escape its senses, my mouth agape in horror. I could hardly make out its shape, but I was confident it was like nothing I've ever seen before. What if it can't understand my language? What if it tries to eat me? What if it has claws, and sharp teeth, and eats ponies on purpose!? And... And... And!

"Oh... Oh... Oh, my!" My imagination raced as I whispered my expression of fear. I brought my hooves up to my face and started reflexively gnawing at them.

I choked down a scream. I knew that if I made so much as a peep it'd wake up and- wait, I have to find Angel! Oh, who knows what trouble he could be in? I scanned the room intensely with my crippled eyes until I saw that he was sleeping on the floor in the corner; my question answered in a heartbeat.

"Aw, silly bunny. He must've gotten tired," I whispered sweetly, my eyes melting and mouth curling a smile at the adorable nature of him. He'd always get sleepy in dark spaces. It would always be a big problem whenever we had story night at the cottage, which was almost every night. We'd all sit down in a big circle right before bed and I'd read them my favourite bedtime stories as a filly. I couldn't get halfway through the first one before he started to nod off.

I flew towards him and picked up the tiny rabbit, sighing at the perfect memories I shared with him and the animals while hovering in the air. The grotesque monster temporarily left my mind, the empty space occupied by the sweet rabbit. As I lifted his head off the ground, using my other hoof to support his head like a baby, he didn't wake up. He must be more tired than I thought! I'll make sure he goes straight to bed after we get back to the cottage. Just to be extra cautious, I checked his pulse as I rocked him in my arms, I didn't know what to make of it when I found none.

"Wh-What?" I said as my conscious mind rejected my discovery, staring down at the bunny with blank thoughts of disbelief. Eventually my motherly instinct kicked in and this numb rejection quickly sprung into terror. My lower lip began to tremble, my eyes started watering, and a stone formed in my throat as this realization came to fruition. "That's not possible!" I cried softly in disbelief, staring at the limp ball of fur. I thought quickly on what I should do, yet this activity proved difficult while panicking. A few moments passed until I remembered that CPR class Twilight made us all take a few years ago. I didn't know the exact procedure anymore, but I think I remember a few things; it seems pretty straightforward.

I rested him softly onto the floor and began the quietest, most panicked CPR I could. "Angel! Angel! Please wake up! I know you're okay! Just please wake up!" I encouraged in my soft, whispered voice. I continued my chest compressions as hard as I could while hovering in the air, feeling several snaps beneath my panicking hooves that I ignored. Maybe if I pressed harder it'd word better? I kept pumping for a few minutes, tears of worry and devastation ran down my eyes and dripped off my muzzle, spattering on Angel's forehead. I kept pushing and trying until I finally came to my senses. Angel wasn't going to wake up. The reality crippled me with immeasurable sadness and devastation, it was hard to mute my gasps and sobs of depression to keep myself hidden as blood was subtly dripping from Angel's ears and nose.

"No, no, no..." I whimpered in tears. I heard the sound of blankets shifting around; the beast began to stir in its sleep, it was waking up, I know it. I must've been too loud! How could I have possibly forgotten about it!?

Tightness took hold of my chest; I could feel another one of my panic attacks coming on. Panting heavily, the anxiety, the panic, the death of someone I loved since his birth, it was all too much to bear. The pain began to spread to my right foreleg and grew in virulence. I gasped for air, and while my lungs were full, they still felt as empty as a vacuum. I started hyperventilating heavier than before, panicking, and flew around the room quickly in circles, scanning desperately for an escape, unintentionally making a racket of struggle with my panting and flapping. I still can't find a way out. The beast's lair was still too dark. It may as well be a mummy's tomb.

The more I flew the more exhausted I became, but my wings weren't sore at all; it was like I was catching the feather flu. I started sputtering to the floor, unable to find the strength to remain airborne. Wobbling to the ground like a gunned-down Sopwith Camel, I finally slammed my face on the ground with a loud thud and equally loud

"Umph!"

The terrible monster was stirring much harder now, it was probably dreaming of eating me! A black tunnel began congealing around the corners of my vision and slowly crept its way to the centre. I mustered all my strength to crawl my way back to the bed where I first entered this awful place, my world still spinning from the crash. Maybe the portal was behind the bed-sheets! I could get Twilight, she can help me! She always knows what to do when we're in trouble!

When I finally wriggled my way to the side of the bed, I reached out and clawed at the side of the mattress with my hooves, but it proved fruitless. Tugging the sheets off was also impossible with my hooves; I could hardly get a grip with these clumsy things. I tried to yank it with my teeth with some success, but not nearly enough to pull it off. I was too weak. "Oh, if only Twilight were here!" I whimpered in a panicked whisper, wobbling to my hooves at the side of the bed.

I was still dizzy from the fall. I had to lie down or I would certainly topple over and most certainly wake up the monster and let it do who knows what to me! I struggled to pull myself onto the bed from the floor, flapping my wings as fast as I could to help me up, seizing them up in the process. I mounted the bed, sat down, and began to claw at the sheets in desperation. I tried to break through them the old-fashioned way, but I probably couldn't make a dent in them while I was still in good health, let alone in my lethargic condition.

I quickly gave up my pipe-dream of breaking through the walls of fabric and lied down back on the bed where I came into this place, just in case Twilight or somepony else came to get me.

My skin shivered; I started feeling cold. I bundled myself up in the creature's blankets with my remaining strength, and waited for Twilight's rescue; it's all I can do. They know I'm weak and helpless! They're all I can hope for now...

The creature was skimming close to consciousness now. It rolled over and wrapped its arms and legs around me as if I were a stuffed animal. I squeaked in terror and my eyes shot open in pure dread, my body shivering like a madpony in fright. The boulder on my chest grew stronger in weight to an unbearable degree, the shooting pain in my right foreleg was pulsing with agony, and pure terror was gripping my very soul in it's long, shadowy fingers. My lungs were on fire, my muscles so weak I can hardly lift a hoof, my flesh freezing, and the tunnel of dizzying nothingness has almost reached its centre.

"Twilight. Angel," I pleaded with hot tears running down my muzzle. "Don't... Let... me..." I whimpered with barely a breath. I lost the strength to finish my plea. With what little muscles I could control left, I glanced at the wall across from me and noticed something on it; a poster. With what I could make out through the encroaching blurry darkness, I saw me and my friends, all piled on top of each other. I was in front, lying on my belly, smiling sweetly at myself.

"How did it-" I thought to myself, my mouth was unable to move. Even my mind couldn't finish a thought.

The tunnel finished its journey. I could only hear my own muffled gasps of fear and the creature's breath on my face before my whole world became darkness.

-----<(20 Minutes Earlier)>-----

Twilight and company were sitting in a circle in their respective crystal thrones around the Cutie Map with Starlight Glimmer in a cheap lawn chair seated next to Twilight's magnificent throne. Fluttershy brought her pet bunny to watch over him. After an incident with broken windows, Fluttershy felt that she couldn't trust him by himself. "Alright, does everypony remember why we're all here?" Asked Twilight Sparkle to everypony in attendance.

"Uh, no! It's like 4 in the morning, Twilight! Celestia hasn't even raised the sun, yet," Rainbow Dash said annoyed, hovering a few feet off the ground, forelegs in the air to accentuate her point.

Twilight ignored Rainbow's outburst and continued. "Well, if some of you somehow forgot to read the detailed dossiers I sent you all last night, I'll give the short version," she switched into lecture-mode, "I discovered a new hidden spell in the Canterlot library made by Starswirl the Bearded. After a bit of reading through the instructions, I discovered that it was a spell designed to create a portal to cross into different dimensions!" she explained in excitement and wonder, wings wide open and forelegs in the air.

"Why were you in Canterlot, anyway?" Asked the newest member of the friendship evangelizers, Starlight Glimmer.

"I was trying to find a spell so I could find even more perfect friendship lessons for you, my pupil!" Her eyes twinkled in excitement. "This is perfect! Infinite different realities all with potentially hundreds of thousands or even millions of different friendship problems for us to solve as a group or one on one!" Twilight finished her answer with glee.

"Okay, but why didn't you tell us?" Starlight asked again.

"I wanted it to be a surprise, of course! Now I figured out that if we hit the Cutie Map with our Rainbow Power while I cast this spell, it'll cause a sort of Temporal Shift, tearing a rift between our dimension and another."

"Oh, um, Twilight?" Squeaked the soft-spoken Fluttershy.

"Yes, Fluttershy?" Twilight was eager to start the experiment, it was hard to hide.

"Are you sure it's safe? I mean, if you're okay with me asking, of course," She asked in her signature soft voice, coddling her rabbit softly, much to his chagrin.

"Of course not! Anything could be at the other side of that gateway! But that's okay, because I had Rarity design these safety suits for just such an occasion. Isn't that right, Rarity?" Twilight enthused optimistically. Everypony in attendance shifted their gaze at Rarity, curious as to what she had to say.

"Oh yes, dear. These will keep you quite safe from the grime and dirt of even the most unfavourable of conditions!" Rarity added while levitating 8 magnificently designed full body suits into the room.

Their fabric was an elegant pearl white acidic and ionizing radiation resistant industrial strength compound with magic insulation properties with a stunning clear plastic airtight face mask and simply beautiful industrial air filters and tanks mounted on the back. Plated with thin, light, yet tough matching white armour plating. Rarity always said 'white was just right'.

"Trust me darling, these magnificent beauties will undoubtedly keep you safe from any inter-dimensional harm! You have my word," Rarity said with comforting assurance.

"Oh, well that's a relief!" Fluttershy sighed with relief.

"Ok, everypony! Are we all ready?" Twilight openly asked.

"Wait, we're doing it now?" Fluttershy asked nervously.

"Fire up the Rainbow Power!"

The Elements of Harmony promptly levitated into the air, and in a great flash of light transformed into incredibly gaudy versions of themselves. With more tattoos than a rebellious filly and freaky, downright ridiculously long hairstyles with matching highlights, they concentrated intensely.

Starlight watched enviously in the corner.

With Twilight's eyes glowing a radiant white, great beams of light erupted from each of the elements in their respective colours, collecting into a magnificent sparkling rainbow that flowed in a circular pattern around the Cutie Map; eventually swirling into an upright oval shape in the centre. The Elements of Harmony faded in their brilliant light and slowly descended back down to the castle floor. The mane 6 laid spent on the ground and quickly morphed back into their normal forms. Twilight, still in a daze, rose to her hooves and quickly cast Starswirl's spell on the swirling rainbows before they could dissipate.

A lavender beam fired out of her purple protrusion and encased the rainbows in purple. The purpleness flooded into the circle of rainbows, creating a swirl of grape-cough-syrup purple, and effectively tore the multiverse a new purple one. The swirling dissipated. Leaving what looked like a pane of translucent glittery purple tinted glass surrounded by a multicoloured twisted-rainbow frame of steel levitating in the air.

"I could've done that." Starlight said to nopony in particular.

"Okay, gang! The portal is up and running and tests to scout this new plane of existence should begin whenever we're ready!" Twilight exclaimed excitedly, levitating everypony's custom made suit to their respective owners. A few early-birds flew in from the window, curious about the commotion, and perched themselves on the roots of the old Golden Oak Library on the ceiling.

"I dunno, Twi. Maybe it'd be better if we held off for a while, maybe wait until we know this here portal won't collapse on us while we're still adventurin' in there 'er somethin'?" Applejack warned with a concerned tone. Applejack's question and Twilight's response to how good of a question that was went unnoticed by Fluttershy. She noticed the avian group on Twilight's ceiling-roots and was busy comforting them, telling them that there was nothing to be afraid of from the commotion like she did all those years ago. She was feeling rather spacey after exerting herself from using Rainbow Power, anyway. She was always the least athletic.

"Ooh! I wonder if any of the ponies there like welcome parties?!" Pinkie Pie asked openly, brimming with excitement.

"We don't even know if there even are ponies there, and if there are I'll be sure to know everything I can about them!" Twilight responded with gusto.

----------

While everyone was busy circled around the portal with Flutters busy conversing with birds, her initial comforting words evolving into small talk, Pinkie lecturing Rarity on how 'spectacular' of a party she's going to throw the alternate universe dwellers, Twilight and Applejack being rather concerned as to the stability of the portal, Rainbow Dash expressing her concern of the security against inter-dimensional spies to Spike, and Starlight Glimmer getting lost in the castle again, Angel Bunny was cooking up an idea. A poorly thought out idea.

"Fluttershy would so freak out if I jumped in there!" The bratty rodent thought to himself. "She'd be so torn up looking for me. Hilarious! Then she'd feel so bad she'd never nag me ever again!" The child thought to himself.

He waited for the perfect opportunity when Fluttershy, totally enveloped in her conversation, loosened her cuddle on Angel. That's when he executed his escape. He shot Fluttershy a devious smile while she was busy talking to the ceiling, bounded out of her arms, and sprinted at his top speed, leaping headfirst into the portal beneath everypony's noses. He never expected the portal to be covered with a pane of solid glass. He didn't know about his aneurysm either.

He jumped through the glittery pane and into another dimension, his brain balloon bursting and squashing his brain with a spray of blood and a mighty

CRASH!, killing him. Unbeknownst to Fluttershy.

"ANGEEEEEL!" Fluttershy cried, reaching her hooves at the portal and abruptly ending her conversation. She flared her wings flew at top speed across the room, knocking a few of her friends off balance in a mad dash to follow Angel into the portal.

"Fluttershy, stop!" screamed Twilight, noticing the portal destabilizing already. The rainbow steel was splitting back into its photon form and quickly eroding into nothingness. It was too late. Fluttershy jumped through the remaining shards of glitter glass and into the portal after Angel. The rainbow gateway collapsed with a loud metallic crunch behind her, its remains dissipating into nothing.

The remaining 6 just stood in shock, staring at the air she left behind her.

Chapter 3: Fluttershy Ruined My Bed Sheets

"What're we gonna do, Twi?" asked Applejack after eons of silence, still partially stunned of what just happened before her.

"I- I don't know, Applejack, but what if we plug the turkey with the billiard balls?"

"Sounds like a sure deal!" Applejack said, her face slowly transforming into a red delicious apple. "That ought to get Buttershy back in one piece!" Applejack continued.

As she trotted over to a bird, pool balls in hoof, she tripped and slammed on the floor with a loud "Umph!" Severely bruising her apple-y forehead.

Twilight made a farting noise with her mouth and Applejack responded by hissing in disgust, apple juice squirting from her head-wound.

The golden rays of sunshine shimmering through my window put an end to my eccentric dream of Applejack and Twilight stuffing billiard balls into turkey anuses while making flatulent noises. The once previously dark room had become filled with sunlight, brightening my senses to a mysterious figure in my bed.

I groaned to myself in confusion, noticing another lump on my mattress besides me. I rolled myself over to the right to investigate.

"BWHAAAAH!" I screamed in surprise, seeing a yellow alien face staring right back at me. I jumped halfway out of bed and toppled onto the floor face down with a thump.

"Wh-what was that?" I asked myself, climbing back on my feet and gazing upon the strange entity on my bed. "Who are you?" I asked it with a twang of fear. I took a second look, rubbed my eyes, and noticed many details I failed to catch in my quarter-second view: a head with a long, pink flowing mane that hid kind, sleeping eyes; her butter yellow fur and flattened, floppy ears; and an adorable curved muzzle poking out of the covers, resting its head on my pillow. Deep in slumber.

"Is, is that? No, that's impossible! Is that?" I grabbed the blanket and pulled half of the covers off the mysterious form, revealing its top section. It was unmistakably her. Fluttershy is in my bed lying on her left side. She looked exactly like she was hovering in place in the air, but instead lying on my bed.

"I-I-I can't believe it!" I stuttered in shock. I approached her side the bed with intense excitement and disbelief, the feeling in my heart tingling wildly. A few moments passed, and reality kicked in. "I can't believe it," I said to myself in monotone, dampening my impossible hopes early. This had to be a fake. Someone in a Fluttershy costume for sure. No, a really expensive plush doll. But who would break into my house just to pull a prank? Is it a burglar? Why would they be dressed as Fluttershy?

I climbed on my hands and knees and crawled towards her on the bed, being careful not to trigger anyone to jump out at me or something. The closer I got, the more realistic she looked. Little details became more noticeable: individual black eyelashes, a little swirl of fur on her chest, unbelievably lifelike hair, complete with shine; and smooth, leathery yellow lips, of which were a few shades darker than the rest of her coat.

Once I arrived at what had to be an imposter, I inspected her to confirm that the Fluttershy in my bed was just an ultra-realistic plush. No cosplay is this lifelike.

I gently prodded her furry chest and, feeling the signature squish of body fat, my glimmer of hope exploded into an inferno of excitement while my heart soared along with it. I reached my arm out and started curiously petting her wing lightly and caressed her soft, warm fur in awe, confirming my impossible suspicions. Careful not to wake what is most definitely the real sleeping Fluttershy, I stroked her wavy mane, feeling ... something cold and wet under my other hand. I glanced at what was causing the intrusion of my investigation and discovered a huge dark splotch on the blanket, the diameter of which stretching from the middle of her belly and ending at the end of her flank, and my hand was right in the middle of it.

"Oh, shit," I said to myself. I raised my damp hand and looked at my palm, which now smelled strongly of ... No. Hell no. I threw the rest of the blanket off her body, noticing the sudden stench of urine and feces and the repulsive sticky sound the latter made when I uncovered it, confirming what I suspected. A large, fresh urine stain. She probably ... lost control while she was sleeping.

"Oh, God. How the fuck did I miss that?" I sighed to myself.

I looked at the base of her long pink tail and yellow flanks, now tainted brown with a gush of a cold, adhesive stew of fecal material. Her signature trio of butterflies spattered with brown. Some of it looked flattened down, too. I checked myself for stains. "UhhhhheeeeEEEEEEWWW!" I yelped with a quick remembrance of what my hand was soaked in, coupled with the clammy fecal material on my leg prompted an immediate hot shower. I jumped off the bed and hobbled towards the bathroom for a long hand washing and thorough cleansing. As I was speed walking out of my room, holding my hands out like I was sterile, I glanced at the clock as I left, '8:14 AM'.

Being careful not to touch anything with my 'Flutterpiss' hand, I waddled to the bathroom, washed my hands thoroughly, threw my pyjama pants down the laundry chute, and gave myself a very lengthy shower. After I finished my decontamination, dried myself off, brushed my teeth, washed my face, shaved, clipped my nails, and doing anything that might halt my return to that horrid house of stench to get dressed. A sarcastic quip came to mind.

"At least I know for sure that's the real Fluttershy," I quipped to myself sarcastically. I stopped for a moment, realize what I'm reacting to, and came to my senses.

"Oh, come on! It's just some number 1 and 2. I used to clean up after the dog all the time. It's not toxic or anything." I looked to my hand. "I guess I just got a little re-sensitized to it. It's not like she has Ebola, and as far as I know the worst thing that she could ever bring over is the Feather Flu or Ponypox, and as far as I know she's only ever faked having that last disease," I said to myself, my anxiety faded, but still slightly disgusted.

Remembering the episode that gag came from reminded me of the new episode airing today. I peeked my head out the bathroom door to the hanging clock in the hallway. '10:49'. Damn, missed it. I'll just watch a stream later, but who cares about that right now? Fluttershy somehow made her way into my bed, and promptly soiled it as well.

Which reminds me. I should try to wake up Fluttershy. I can't just have her sleeping in her own shit. The sheets are done for sure, but I can wash the blanket and flip the mattress. She can use my shower to wash off the mess. It's okay if she has a few incontinence problems, I can always buy her some diapers if she needs 'em.

I walked back down the hallway from the bathroom in my undies, bringing my undershirt up to my nose to protect my facial protrusion from the nonetheless awful smell. I stepped back into the room, the stench almost just as bad as when I left it. I approached Fluttershy without the concern of waking her up I had before, so I strode casually towards her tainted depression on the bed, knelt down, and tapped her shoulder. I noticed a slightly tugged out portion of the otherwise taut sheet, but thought nothing of it.

"Hey, Fluttershy, wake up," I said softly into her flopped back ear. "I have to flip the mattress," I continued "You're going to find out pretty soon why," Fluttershy didn't budge, not even her ear twitched. "Come on, Flutters," I said in a louder voice, shaking her shoulder repeatedly. She felt slightly colder than before. It must be because I threw off the blanket.

After several minutes of attempting and failing a somewhat peaceful awakening, I grew slightly frustrated with her rock-like slumber and decided to take a more aggressive approach.

"Hey, get up!" I shouted, administering a series of hard slaps to her wing, dare not touching her flank for sanitary reasons. Despite the rude gesture, I still didn't even arouse a stir. "Fine, have it your way," I muttered. I turned her body upright, a sickening squishing noise coming from her rump, her wings partially unfurling and forelegs flopping to their respective sides, mouth hinging agape. "You're gonna need air sometime," I whispered in her ear with a prankster's tone.

I wrapped my hands around her muzzle and plugged her nostrils. Asphyxiation will get anypony out of the deepest sleep eventually. Giggling maniacally, I waited for her to spring awake, wings snapping open and forelegs flailing or something. A pang of confusion and worry struck me when I felt no resistance, and no attempts at inhaling or exhaling. 5 seconds passed and my pang of worry turned to fear.

"What?" I asked myself in confusion. I released my hold on her muzzle and my anxiety grew stronger when there still wasn't any release of breath. I snapped my eyes to her chest, and seeing no rising or falling, my worry gradually built to alarm.

"Fluttershy?!" I asked in a panic. I pressed my index and middle fingers on her carotid, trying to find a pulse. There was none. "Oh, shit," I sighed with dread. I shuffled to her bedside and hurriedly placed my hands on her chest and began CPR.

"C'mon, Fluttershy!" I encouraged her. "Wake! Up!" I said in between compressions, bouncing her body up and down on the bed. After a minute I began to lose hope. After two, I stopped trying to revive the undoubtedly dead Fluttershy. "No..." I whined, my heart plunging.

I stared at her corpse. Just to be extra sure, I lifted her saccharine eyelid, it was already stiff from rigor mortis. Her cornea was shrouded in a murky cloud of fluid. What did I expect? I released her eyelid, expecting it to snap closed, but instead it kept open, leaving Fluttershy in a permanent, dead wink. Staring through the boundaries of death, through the murk and mud in her eyes, and to the ceiling.

I stood up, staring at her restful cadaver with growing melancholy. After what seemed like an eternity, I said to myself, shock replaced with disappointment: "I- we could've done so much together," I said with a 'what a shame' tone. "She's gone," I continued. "Why did it have to be her? Of all ponies it had to be her," I continued my improvised eulogy, "She didn't deserve this, she's too innocent," my chest continuing it's dive.

I knew I had to swallow the bitter pill sooner or later from experience. "She's gone. Gone forever and there's nothing I can do," I whined. "It's not like I didn't try to save her, it was just ... too late for her. I felt her eyes, she must've died a while ago," I rationalized, the disappointment fading slightly. "It was always too good to be true, anyway," I sighed. "Wait, who's going to take care of her anima-" The day before sparked through my mind, possibly ignited on the subject of ponies. The flier at school made a prominent appearance. "Wait," an idea snapped into my mind, grin creeping across my face, my spirit rising from the abyss.

"Maybe there's still something we can do." I stared at Fluttershy, and her grotesque wink, and sized her up.

Chapter 4: Fluttershy Soup

"It's a good thing Fluttershy wasn't here to witness what we did to those turkeys," Rarity commented, looking down on the crystal floor. Dead turkeys were strewn about in the throne room, their rumps stuffed with pool balls.

"Yeah, I don't know why we thought that would work," Twilight responded shamefully.

"Well what do we do now? Can we still save Fluttershy?" Spike asked Twilight, his tone anxious.

"I don't know, Spike. We need Fluttershy for the portal spell to work again. Without her, I don't know if we can do anything at all, especially now that we're all out of turkeys," Twilight answered, quickly losing her confident composure. "Oh, it's all my fault! I wish I never got that spell in the first place! Fluttershy would still be here, not in some Celestia forsaken parallel universe," Twilight continued in tears, plopping on her haunches and burying her hooves in her face. "She must be shivering in fear right now, we all know how she gets!" She hunched over, her head nearly touching the ground and finished, "I'm a terrible friend," Applejack can't stand to see one of her friends in such a funk. As the emotional anchor of the team, she tried to comfort her.

"It's okay, Twi. None of us knew this would happen, includin' you. Just promise to remember that it just ain't yer fault," Applejack trotted to twilight's sobbing side, eager to give some support. "Nopony expected Fluttershy to just charge through us like an angry manticore, an' you even tried to stop her! Just promise me you won't go beatin' yourself up over this, Okay?" Applejack laid a comforting hoof over the tops of her shoulders. These words of comfort bounced right off Twilight's mind, not making much of an impact.

"And hey! We'll find a way to bring her back! Gettin' all sad won't get us any closer to rescuing her, so let's get on to finding another solution! Should I run over to Fluttershy's and grab her chickens?" Pinkie Pie offered, trying to lift everypony's spirits. Twilight got up from the ground with a weak smile, appreciating the support of her dearest friends, even if they didn't help much.

"Uhh, I don't think that'd work, Pinkie," Rainbow chimed in, killing off another bad idea before it begins. "Hey Twilight, how about I fly to Canterlot and find some more books? I can get there and back faster than you can say 'Zap Apple Jam'!" Rainbow offered with determination, shooting in the air. "Just tell me what to pick up!"

"Wait, maybe we don't have to go to Canterlot at all!" Twilight said in excitement, her eyes and ears lighting up. She remembered the spell. "Maybe the same spell I used to open this thing could tell us another way to summon it again!" Twilight darted to the Starswirl's scroll on the floor.

"Marvellous thinking, dear!" Rarity added.

Twilight picked up Starswirl's spell and scanned it. She saw some strange numbers or numerals on the bottom, ones she's never seen before, but other than that there was nothing helpful. "Mmph. Nothing. It says we need all elements for it to work. Looks like we will have to go to Canterlot after all."

THWACK!

"Was that a bird?" Starlight asked.

"It's just the mail," Spike answered.

"I'll get it!" Twilight responded, anxious to get moving. She bolted to the large crystal doors and flung them open to see the local mailmare, Ditzy Doo. She was lying on the entrance to the castle in a heap of mail.

"Oh, hi Princess Twilight!"

"Hi, Ditzy! It's just Twilight by the way. Any mail today or did you just crash into the castle again? I'm kind of in a really big hurry here so if we could speed this up that'd be great!"

"Oh, sorry," Ditzy said in a sheepish tone, climbing out of the pile of packages. "It's just so big it's sometimes hard to avoid," she explained herself, catching herself trailing off. "Oh, right! The mail. No, you don't have any, I'm afraid. I was just at Fluttershy's delivering her mail when I saw she wasn't home. I came over here to see if you can look after it until she comes back." Ditzy explained. "You never know about those shifty animals. One time I caught a turkey rummaging through her mailbox! It looked like he was looking for something specific. I don't know what a turkey'd want with some magazines; they can't even read!" She began her tangent, much to Twilight's anxious dismay. "You know I once found a whole stack of Playcolt buried in her backyard once!" She started getting even more off topic, like she always does. "Boy that mare sure loves her Playcolt, I swear it's all she reads. She must REALLY like the articles." She continued.

"It really is nice chatting with you Ditzy, but I really have to go!" Twilight explained hurriedly, levitating the letters and packages in very discreet looking packaging in Fluttershy's name out of Ditzy's pile.

"Oh, what's the problem? Maybe I could help!" Ditzy said enthusiastically while pushing her pile of mail back in her saddlebags with her hooves.

"Oh, there's not much you can help with, but I appreciate the off-"

"Us and Twilight opened a portal to another dimension to find more friendship problems and have more welcome parties, but Fluttershy and Angel jumped through it before we knew it was safe and the portal collapsed on her and now she's stuck in a totally different dimension with nopony to go to for help so us and Twilight are going to Canterlot to find another way to open the portal to get her back!" Pinkie said, interrupting Twilight, finding her head poking out the right side of the door.

"Er- yes. That it is why it is imperative that we get moving immediately!"

Twilight said, aching to get going already.

"Oh, I don't know much about that kind of stuff, but I know somepony who does!" Ditzy said, eager to help.

THWACK!

"That's the last of 'em!" Spike said as he chucked the last dead turkey in the dumpster. He glanced at the castle entrance to find a guest. "Oh, hey Ditzy!"

----------

THWACK!

Fluttershy flopped hard into my bathtub. I have to be more careful, She's the only one we have. I shouldn't think like that. She's a sentient being who deserves respect, especially in death.

I turned on the shower, sending ice cold water raining down on Fluttershy's tummy. Her forelegs were resting parallel to each other on her chest, unable to flop as they did before because of the fibreglass hull clutching her sides. Her hind legs followed, doing a sort of spread towards the tap. It's a good thing she has no genitalia, or this would be awkward.

Her expressionless wink is unchangeable now. I'll try making her look more restful later, but rigor mortis is setting in fast. I need to clean her up quick before she gets stiff as a board.

I flipped her on her tummy, the crusty feces became moist. I sprayed her flanks and tail with water, sending flakes of shit to fly off and down the drain, washing them clean. I ran my fingers like a comb through her incredibly long tail while spraying it with water to ensure that all the waste is washed away down the drain where it belongs. Her butterflies are sopping wet, but free of any mess. I need to make her presentable for her big night.

That's morbid, this is serious. She's the only pony on Earth so I can't fuck this up. Some of the guys at the viewing party would probably love to help once they got their socks back on, maybe one of them can sneak her into an MRI when nobody's watching. As far as I know this is a sudden death case. The MRI could give us a general overview of her anatomy and maybe even the cause of death. I hope there are a few temps there who know how to work it.

Where am I going to take her after we get the results come back? The dissecting room, of course. I'm sure they have a few empty spots. I've dissected more than a few cadavers in there. U of A prides itself on its 24 hour dissection lab. They have scalpels and dissection tables, but I'll have to go hunting around the morgue to find the jars and embalming fluid. After determining the cause of death on the MRI, we take out her organs for specialists at MIT or somewhere to analyze. But how am I going to even get her there, and where will I keep her until then? It's not like I can just waltz in there with a dead pony on my back. One bridge at a time, Matt.

Maybe I should just bury her. Maybe she just deserves a peaceful rest.

No. As much as she probably would've wanted, I simply cannot let possibly one of the greatest scientific discoveries in history rot in the ground. Not only is she the first alien on earth, that we know of, she is also a purely fictional character existing in the real world. It's not like we can ask her where she comes from or how she got here, the most we can do is learn how she ticks.

She probably has regular horse anatomy, I should probably read up on how to dissect them, too.

...

Maybe I should just make it public.

My trance of thought was interrupted by knees shivering in a shower of cold water. The bathtub was overflowing. I snapped out of my head and onto what's causing the blockage. Flutter Butter's inconveniently long tail was plugging up the drain.

"Oh, no," I sighed. I bent down and grabbed her tail with both hands and pulled. Her putrid tail rose out of the drain as I lifted, encrusted in her own shit once more, but allowing the water to drain. The water was tainted a mild shade of yellow from the urine previously dried on her tummy. It drained away. It, and the flakes of feces floating in the Fluttershy soup.

I concluded that her body at least was clean enough, so I plunged my arms into the icy water and dug them under her corpse. Scrunching and wiggling my fingers under her furry body to get a better grip. I lifted her up and out of the tub and placed her body on the floor, her legs moved slowly to their natural positions. Rigor mortis was continuing its conquest over the winking Fluttershy. I kept her tail in the tub to wash it again.

"Where's my Mane and Tail?" I joked. Letting my frustration flow down with the broth.

Chapter 5: Fool's Gold

"Hey, Doc!" Ditzy barged through the Doctor's doors, followed by Twilight and her friends in a sprint.

"Hmm? Ah, Ditzy! So good to see you again!" The Doctor's head poked out from the TARDIS to meet his guests. His house was packed with complex machinery, vacuum tubes, and strange devices which do who knows what. Ditzy would always get lost.

"Doc, we really need your help!" Ditzy exclaimed.

"What is it, miss Doo?" the Doctor asked with a pang of concern, leaving the deep blue box and shutting it behind him as he rushed out to meet her.

"Oh it's just awful, Doc! Fluttershy's trapped in another dimension!" Ditzy explained.

"The kind one? Great wickering stallions, that's terrible! How on earth did she get there?"

Twilight took over the rundown while the rest of her friends made their way into the lab. "My friends and I were trying to find some friendship problems to solve, so we opened up a portal to another dimension and Fluttershy's rabbit jumped in, so she jumped in after it and the portal crumpled shut after her. We can't open it again without her, so we were going to go to the Canterlot Library to find a solution, but Ditzy thought you could help. Would you happen to know any other way to bring her back?" Twilight explained hastily and out of breath.

"Hmm, it definitely seems like something she would do, that is if I knew her, of course." The Doctor responded, raising his hoof to his chin, stroking it inquisitively. "Oh, yes! I'm actually getting close to discovering a way to enable interdimensional travel on command, I was actually working on it just now," He digressed. "Wait, if you somehow managed to open an interdimensional portal, then that means ... you mean to say there's a spell for it? Again?!" He shouted in frustration. "Blast!" He cried in fury, kicking his hoof. "Well, it was bound to happen again sometime. Why actually learn about the laws of nature when magic can do all the work for you!" He heatedly sidetracked. Twilight was offended. What he said about her life's work stoked a fire in her belly, but she ignored it. He sighed once more, finished his rant, and asked, "Well, may I see it anyway? It could help me fix up a way to get your friend Buttershy back," his hoof extended towards Twilight.

Twilight pushed back her negative first impression of The Doctor. Saving Fluttershy came first. After all she's the princess of friendship, she knows you can't judge a book by its cover. The first impression Fluttershy made and how awkward and pushy she was rose to her conscious mind, the nostalgic memory tainted by the dire predicament made her eyes water and grew a stone in her throat. "It's Fluttershy, and thank you for taking the time to help us." Twilight corrected in a slightly creaky voice. She levitated Starswirl's scroll out of her saddlebag and to the Doctor's outstretched hoof. It's ok. We'll get her back in one piece she comforted herself, taking deep breaths. The strategy Cadence showed her really helped calm her tears.

He unfurled the scroll and scanned for information: things like instructions, coordinates, warnings, et cetera. "Hmm, yes," he mumbled. "Ditzy, could you pass me some stationery?" He asked his closest friend, and also his only friend.

Ditzy looked confused and cocked her head. "Statio- what?"

Twilight levitated a quill and slip of paper from her saddlebags and to The Doctor. "Oh, that's alright! I never leave home without some!" She made an effort to be friendly anyway, she sensed he didn't see many ponies.

"Oh, thank you, Twilight!" He said with gratitude. He turned to the group and pointed at the symbols Twilight found before. "These numbers down here are coordinates, see? They're almost same ones I use for the TARDIS."

"You could've just said 'pen and paper'," Ditzy mumbled, staring at the ground mildly peeved, but it passed quickly.

"Excuse me, sir. I know you're very rushed, but might we at least have a name?" Rarity inquired.

"Oh, I'm the Doctor," he answered, scrawling down the coordinates on a sheet of paper and straightening his green bow tie, looking rather smug.

"Doctor who?" she replied.

Ditzy budded in, "Oh, he's just being mysterious. His name's Time Turner, but just call him Doctor. He likes it," Ditzy added.

"Ditzy!" Doctor said with an annoyed inflection, shifting his eyes from the scroll and to his companion. It seemed rude, but still managed to be playful. He did another read through of the spell to ensure he didn't miss anything.

"So's there a way to bring her back or what?" Rainbow asked The Doctor rather brashly, hovering in the air and being very careful not to tangle herself in The Doctor's various dangling contraptions.

"Please hold your enthusiasm, miss Dash, and get down from there! Those are priceless artifacts from my travels!" Rainbow did as he asked. Not just to be polite, but because this stallion may be the only ticket to getting Fluttershy back in one piece. She was never one to let a friend of her's down, especially In what might be their darkest hour. Offending what may be their only hope didn't seem like a good idea. The Doctor continued, "I'm working on it, but unfortunately the TARDIS I input these coordinates to can only travel through time and space, not dimensions."

"Wait, time and space?!" Twilight asked excitedly, her face lighting up. Such a feat was accomplishable with a skilled enough unicorn such as herself with the right spell, but to see an earth pony accomplish it was unheard of to her, and all without magic, no less! She noted to ask him about the way this 'TARDIS' worked.

"Oh, don't be so surprised. You've done it before yourself, remember? I took it to another dimension once but that was just a whole kerfuffle I did under extreme circumstances and one that I wish to never repeat as long as I live. That's why I was making modifications to do it again, but easier this time around," the Doctor elaborated.

"This is quite a collection, Doctor. Where did you get all this stuff?" Starlight inquired while experimenting with a plasma ball.

"Er, what? Oh, made it myself mostly. A few souvenirs, too. Sorry, but the inquiries of guests are not my greatest concern right now," The Doctor answered as quick as he could. Finishing up his 3rd read through, he felt confident that he got all the information he needed. There wasn't much, though. Just a bunch of magical jargon. He understood it, but magic and science don't really mix, and since magic failed to help it wasn't much progress to their predicament.

"So what's next, Doc?" Applejack asked, observing the strange blue box he was working on, among other contraptions. The Doctor rolled up the scroll and tossed it to Twilight, bouncing off her horn and catching her off-guard, startling her. "Oh, and what is that thing yer workin' on, anyhow?" Applejack inquired.

"What? You've never seen a police box before?" The Doctor answered with a sly smile. "And to answer your first question, well, I'd have to finish the Temporal Shift modifications to the TARDIS, which could take a while."

"How long are we talking about, Doctor?" Twilight asked as she levitated the scroll back in her saddlebags.

"Check back in 12 hours, and use that time to get some rest. You all look quite exhausted," the Doctor prescribed. He trotted over to the TARDIS to continue his work. The Doctor walked in, followed by an uninvited Pinkie trailing his flank. The rest of the 7 got ready for a day trip to the Canterlot library by the door, finishing up their various curiosities.

"Boy, it sure is spacey in here!" Pinkie added as she trotted into the TARDIS, Pinkie commented, gawking at the ceiling.

"Yes, that's almost what they all sa- wait, why are you in here?" The Doctor said, ushering Pinkie out. "Please, miss Pie. I need solitary space to work properly!" Pinkie smiled at the Doctor anyway as she was led out of the TARDIS.

"Oh, sorry! It's just such a great place for a party, though! Fluttershy's 'Welcome Back' party! Ooh! Or maybe an 'It's okay, we come in peace!' party for the aliens we meet when we rescue Fluttershy," Pinkie continued.

"Yes, that's very nice, Pinkie. Now let me work! Check back with me in a few, well, 12 hours, and I'll have the Temporal Shifter online by then. Go have fun in Canterlot with your friends 'till then!"

Twilight and the rest of the gang were just about ready to leave to catch the next train. "Oh, good, Pinkie's back. We were just about to leave, you ready?" Twilight asked Pinkie.

"Ready when you are!" She responded.

"Oh, and Doc, thanks again for helping us," Twilight thanked with gratitude as she and the gang trotted out the door and to the train station.

The Doctor peeked his head out of the TARDIS again. "Oh, you're very welcome, Princess Sparkle! Oh where did I put that ... Ditzy? Could you fetch me something from the tool shed? Ditzy?" There wasn't a trace of her anywhere.

"Uh, doc? Where's your bathroom again?" Ditzy called back sheepishly from the labyrinth of contraptions.

----------

Fluttershy was stuck in her natural resting position on her back. You know the one. Forelegs flopped, hind legs spread, oddly sexual despite the lack of lady-parts, et cetera. She was clean as a whistle and stiff as a board on my bathroom mat. It's time to fix this for good.

"I thought you'd be more timid, Fluttershy," I morbidly kidded to her pornographic corpse with a cheesy grin. The plan was all laid out.

First I'm going to cross her forelegs over her chest, like you usually see in funerals and stuff. Then I'll shut her legs and extend them so it looks like she's lying on her back, assuming she isn't rock-hard by then.

The lactic acid building in Fluttershy's muscles will soon make modelling my life-sized Fluttershy impossible, at least until it passes. Rigor mortis only lasts a few days.

I grabbed her left foreleg and tried to pull it up to the sky. It was rigid and tough, very tough, but still malleable. I had to push with gusto to get it to move, but it did eventually. I shifted the appendage over her heart, or where I'd believe her heart to be. The other leg was the same toughness, much like partially dried Plasticine. I crossed it with the other leg, her hooves atop her breast. Now time for the hind legs. I have to close her legs together before I can extend them.

Surprisingly they were much stiffer than the forelegs. I would've assumed the opposite, since there's more muscle to stiffen up. But that doesn't matter now. Again I started with the right leg. It was incredibly difficult to press them together. In the struggle, and to help make a stable corpse to push on, I pushed Fluttercorpse against the wall. As I struggled to get her legs in place, I knelt on the ground and pushed my shoulder to the side of her leg to push them together. A few cracking noises could be heard coming from her left wing as I pressed my weight on her body against the wall. "Damn, well there goes one," I said matter-of-factly. We still have the other. Chances are they're symmetrical.

Her legs were in place, but bent in such a way as to look as if she were partially tucking her legs in, or maybe rearing up a buck while lying on her back. I needed extend her legs to the sky before I straighten them down. I took hold of the bottom side of the gaskin and the top half of the shin and tried with all my might to bend her stiff haunches, leaning into it for extra power. As I was mustering every ounce of strength to make Fluttershy finally look peaceful. As her leg almost completely extended, a thought crossed my mind. If Fluttershy's a pegasus, she has to be pretty light to fly, especially with such proportionately tiny wings. Birds have evolved a way to get around this. I wonder if she has-

SNAP!

Hollow bones.

I looked at the site of the snap. The shin broke near the joint connecting both halves of the leg. It shredded its way through the top muscle and jutted out through the leg, right in between my hand and the joint that connects both halves of the appendage. Chunky maroon blood was oozing out of the wound, dripping and plopping out of the protruding area around the bone, squeezed out by my applied pressure, and tumbled down on my other arm in thick streams.

"Ah, shit," I sighed to myself in frustration. I dismissed it for now. I'll fix it when she's done, it's almost fully extended anyway. Her leg was almost totally extended in the air, time bring it back down to earth. I put my right hand over her broken bone and my left over her gaskin and pushed down, putting my upper body over her and straightening my arms, like I was a bear trying to bust into a garbage can. Slowly and surely, it eased down to the ceramic tile. Now for the other one.

Using the same technique as last time, I extended her leg in the air, being careful not to snap another bone. I used a method similar to threshold braking. Using just enough pressure to shift the stiff muscle, but not quite enough to snap another brittle, hollow bone. It worked this time, so I was able to fully extend it like I planned.

I finished pushing down her left leg, stood up, and looked down at my work in its entirety. It looked ... off.

It wouldn't be so much for a human, but she isn't a human. I critiqued hind legs: they were bent unnaturally. Her legs weren't meant to extend or bend that far for any extended period of time, except that one time in "Hurricane Fluttershy" when she was crying under a tree talking with her animal friends after she was laughed at in the track. Even then her legs were pretty extended, but not fully like I did here. One of them was noticeably higher than the other, and her leg was still horribly broken, brown bone sticking out and chunky blood stagnating around it. The only thing that didn't look fully unnatural were her forelegs crossing her heart. It didn't look too uncomfortable, but you could tell they weren't designed to bend that way. The effort I exerted to make her look at peace only served to make her look more grotesque. At least she wasn't flashing her crotch at everyone who walked by anymore.

I snapped my gaze at her face. It didn't look restful in the slightest. She just looked dead. Tangled hair, gaping mouth, tongue flopping down her throat, obstructing her windpipe; and that damn wink staring into the soul of everyone unfortunate to make eye contact.

"Well that was a waste of time. What now?"

Well, I have to find a place to put her until the party at 6. What about the fridge? No, she wouldn't fit in there. Even if I took everything out she still wouldn't be able to squeeze in such a tiny box.

Well, what about a place to hide her?

Not many people to hide from. I don't live with anyone, and my neighbors aren't terribly nosy. I could put her on a table, or even back in the tub. I could fill it with cold water and cool her off that way! Perfect!

I bent down, worked my arms under her, and raised her up. Eyup. Stiff as a board. No changing anything now. I carefully lowered her back down into the bathtub, let her go, and drew the cold water. The fluid splashed on her dull-yellow hind hooves. Her extended legs prop her head and shoulders out the tub and up the wall, so they'd rot while the rest of her stays fresh. I'm not keen on damaging this national treasure and famous celebrity any more than I already have, so literally breaking her in is out. I guess she'll just have to manage. I looked back at the drain and sure enough her tail was already between her legs and back down the drain, plugging it up again.

I pulled it back out again, surprisingly not filthy this time thank god, to put the proper plug in. I planned the day while the makeshift corpse locker was filling.

So how am I going to get her to the morgue? I don't have a car.

Well, I could ride my bike back to school for the party and while I'm there I could see if anyone would like to 'see something they wouldn't believe' and drive us all to my house. We'd stuff her in the trunk and hop off to the hospital. The party's over at 10, right? So we'd get here at about 10:20, and if they're the most unexcitable pricks in the world, get her trucked off to the hospital before 11. The biggest problem would be the time we'd get there. I doubt that would be a problem. Most'd just spend an hour just getting their jaws off the ground. When everyone has had their time with her and we finish our after-party, We'll drive her to the hospital at a solid 1 AM. Should be pretty dead then. We could run into a few doctors, but they shouldn't bother us.

The tub was almost full now, so I shut it off. To be honest it looks like someone snuck in and killed her while she was having a bath. The bloody leg wound tainted the water red, and her gaping maw, tangled hair, and winking dead eye completed the look. But there's not much I can do about that.

I looked at Fluttershy one last time before I left her for the rest of the day.

Now to clean up the mess.

Chapter 6: Overwatch

Gentle light woke me out of the gagging darkness. The bitter coldness replaced with warmth, and the agonizing pain was all but gone, but substituted by grogginess instead.

I opened my eyes to discover I wasn't in the creature's den anymore. I wasn't anywhere. As far as I could see, there was only white. My long pink mane floated into my field of view, so I stretched out a hoof to push it aside. I gazed down at my body to discover my legs floating aimlessly beneath me. I tried to paddle with them in this strange place, but to no avail as far as I could tell. I extended my wings and flapped them, trying to fly and hoping to gain some response that way. There was none. Not even the sensation of air filling them as I tried, either. I'm floating in a vacuum, and with no way of propelling myself, I'm helpless as well. Confusion and fear gripped my conscious, sore head. I craned my neck and widened my eyes in all directions, trying to find any deviations from the blinding pearl, my own mane being a frequent annoyance.

"Hello, Buttershy. Try not to panic. You're in safe hands now," A familiar voice rumbled through the nothingness.

"Princess Celestia? Where am I? Where are you? What is this place? What happened?" I pleaded for answers to her disembodied voice, fear penetrating my larynx.

"Yes, my little pony. I'm Celestial. You're in Heaven now, but that's okay. I'm here with you. Just be calm, everything's alright now," Celestia's voice continued to calm me. My panic ebbed, comfort and relief were taking hold. Until I realized something was off.

"Wait, Buttershy? Celestial? You're not Celestia! Who are you?!" I shouted to the void in my soft voice. Distrust and anger were taking their places in my tone, demanding an answer. It can't hurt me. It's just a voice.

The voice sighed. "Alright, ya got me. I'm not Celestia, but you are dead. You have my word there," It's voice morphed into that of a young stallion mid sentence. He sounded in his late teens or early twenties at most. My anger faded, and the discombobulation in my mind was slowly being resolved.

"So, um, could you answer my questions? I'd really appreciate it. Oh, and sorry for yelling," I asked it with sheepishness in my tone. I shouldn't have yelled. It was incredibly rude of me, regardless of the circumstances.

"It's alright, butters. After what you've been through, you deserve it. You're really in Heaven, but you ended up here just barely. I'm everywhere, and this place is sort of like a personal pocket dimension where I dump dead peeps for all eternity. That good enough for ya?" It explained.

"I'm dead? But how is that possible?" I asked. The thought of my own death sunk a hole in my gut, but the more I thought about what happened before I passed out, the more obvious it was.

"I dunno. You just did. Next time, don't jump into strange portals, 'kay, sweetie?" He taunted in a playful tone. I was still pretty confused. What did it mean by 'just barely' or that he's everywhere? I needed some more answers before I can trust this guy. But first I need to correct him on my name.

"Uh, just so you know my name is Fluttershy, and I still have a few more questions," I asked and corrected it.

"Shoot, but one at a time this way around, please. It's less confusing for the both of us."

"I get that I'm in Heaven, but what do you mean by 'just barely'?" I inquired.

"Oh, don't play coy. I know what you do with your turkeys when you read yer Playcolt. Luckily your innumerable acts of kindness just barely outnumber the horrific sex crimes," It answered. My face turned red as a tomato, my insides crumpled with embarrassment.

"H- How do you know about that!?" I squeaked quietly in mortification, my face exploding with red. I tried to curtain my face with my mane, but I couldn't get it to hide my shameful face with the usual facial gestures. It just floated where it pleased. In a tangled mess.

"I'm everywhere, remember? It's hard not to look when it's happening right in front of you. You are one sick puppy, you know that? Boy when your turkeys died it must've been a relief," It answered my question in disgust.

"What? You mean they died? Not them, too! How? Oh, my poor babies!" I begged for an explanation. I always made sure they were okay after I was done, I didn't know it was that bad! Why didn't they say anything? Tears were rapidly blobbing on my eyes, unable to escape them from the weightlessness. I covered my face with my hooves, crying. Losing Angel was more than enough grief for this mare for a lifetime. Angel! What about him?

"Where's Angel?!" I yelled in tears through my moist hooves.

"Yeah, Twilight and her buds stuffed 'em up with pool balls in a desperate attempt to reopen the portal to get ya. It was kind of a knee-jerk reaction, but I bet they were still surprised with how many they could fit in there. I mean, I know why they could, and you do too, but we already dealt with that. As with your bun, he was way too abusive with you to go unpunished. You wouldn't do it 'cause you're too much of a, what's the word? Pushover? So I did it instead. Yep, he's getting exactly what's coming to him." He answered my question. Sure Angel could get a little bratty at times, but he was just a child! I could never punish someone so innocent! And what's that about pool balls? Wait, who's going to take care of my animals! Oh my goodness they must be so worried! And hungry! What am I going to do!? Spike can't handle them all by himself! This is all too much to take in, I need a minute to process all this!

"This- this is all too much to take in, I need a minute to process all this!" I cried to the voice, gasping in-between sobs. I curled into a ball, sobbing intensely. My mane and tail floated freely around me, tears blobbed on my face and soaked my hooves. I cried loudly, bawling and gasping.

"Take your time," It tried to comfort me.

I spent what seemed like ages mulling over my situation, all the while curled up in the fetal position, sobbing all the way. I cried for Angel, I cried for those poor turkeys I abused and their terrible undeserved deaths, I cried for my animals that I abandoned to starve, my friends of whom I will never see again, and I cried for myself. How I got myself killed. If only I tried a little harder I wouldn't be here. I would've found the portal and I'd be back with my friends, at Angel's funeral...

No! I can't let myself crack! Not now of all times. I need to ask him if there's any way I can get back home. I have to let my friends know I'm okay, and to get somepony good with animals to take care of the cottage while I'm gone. And not to look in the cellar. Oh, what's his name again? Goodness! I forgot to ask him his name!

"Yeah, I mean... just, uh. Take your time to orient yourself or whatever," the voice said awkwardly. I uncurled myself, drying my eyes with my hooves.

"Sorry, I don't think I caught your name, mister?" I asked, breathing deeply and eyes bloodshot.

"Oh, uh ... 42. Are you okay?"

"42? That's an interesting name. Do you know if there's a way back home from here?" I said, my eyes still red and voice recovering. I wiped the last of the tears from my eyes with my soaked hooves.

"Sure, but I don't think that's a very good idea."

"Why not?"

"Well, let me just show you," A black, bit-sized ring appeared in front of me. It exploded in size, about the size of Twilight's portal, but much clearer instead of the purple glass. It was like looking through an open door.

Through the portal was me, or more accurately my body, lying in somepony else's bathtub. Bathing in blood red water. My body looked contorted in unnatural positions beneath the murky crimson water. My mouth gaping, mane tangled and messy, tail stained red with what I could assume was my own blood, and most disturbingly, one eye was closed, but the other was open in a grotesque wink. Dead and cloudy, staring right back at -- and through me. I started feeling faint, my head feeling light as air, eyes flickering and taking short breaths, I passed out. Only for a few seconds. I'm no stranger to fainting, I do it all the time, so I recovered quickly and averted my eyes to my repulsive counterpart. I asked 42, nausea swelling in my stomach, "Is- Is that me?"

"Yep. You see, you died for a reason. If I shoot ya back in your bod, you'll die again before you can say 'hello, world!'. This dimension that you've let yourself into just can't support pony life, so pffft! Ya died. It was actually pretty sad seeing you struggle. Pathetic, not to mean any offence. But hey, make rash, get trashed. Make rash decisions, I mean. That portal you jumped through crumpled shut after Angel smashed right through it. He was pretty lucky compared to you. He had a massive aneurysm and it burst like a balloon when he smashed through. But you, oh boy, it was like watching a chicken running around with its head cut off. There were a couple reasons to why you died, you wanna hear em?"

"Uh, not really," A sinking feeling took over and the nausea grew in virulence. Knowing that through all the struggles I made to get myself back were in vain. "Why am I in the bathtub?" I asked 42. It seemed like all the effort I expended to keep it from eating me were also in vain. Now my body's stewing in my own blood to be this thing's dinner. Fluttershy soup. I always wanted my remains to be fed to animals, so it's like I could keep taking care of them even after I'm gone, but I wanted them to be my animals! Not some inter-dimensional ... thing! "Is he going to eat me?" I asked nervously, biting my hooves. They tasted salty.

"Oh, no. He did that so you wouldn't rot as fast. The water's bloody because he, uh, broke your leg," 42 elaborated. A weight left my chest in relief.

"Well it's good to know that I'm not going to be anypony's dinner, but why did he break my old leg?"

"Yeah that doesn't matter, but don't worry. You're in good hands. Your undertaker is a big fan, and your friends are trying as hard as they can to retrieve your, uh, remains," The portal snapped closed in an instant; banishing the horrific puppet of myself back to the whiteness it came from.

"Oh, thank goodness," I noted what he said about my friends trying to get me back, and I'm happy that they haven't given up on me in my time of need. I just wish I could tell them that I'm gone and to stop trying. I'm not worth the effort anymore, there's nothing to save. Wait what was that he said about being a big fan? "What do you mean by 'big fan'?" I remembered the poster I saw in the creature's den. The one with me and my friends on it. "How does he know me? Or my friends for that matter?"

"Oh, yeah. This is a little awkward. How do I put this in a way you'd understand? You and your friends are characters in a really popular, uh, book series. Yeah," the revelation made me anxious with self consciousness.

"You mean they know me? How much do they know, exactly? How much does he know?" I asked nervously. Knowing that the creatures in this universe could know so much about my life made me cringe in embarrassment.

"Enough for you to be a fan favourite, and specifically his. And don't worry, they don't know about your, er, 'nighttime hobbies'. But they know all your adventures you've been on, that you're an animal caretaker, you're scared of dragons, you have- er- had a pet bunny named Angel, you lived in a cottage, et-cetera et-cetera. They also know your friends, too," A question rose in my mind.

"If I'm just a book character there, then how do they know what I look like?" I knew it was a stupid question the moment I asked it.

"Erm, author's rendition. Hey, you wanna see your new caretaker? He tried his best to fix you up. He even tried to save you while you were lying dead in his bed."

"Uh, okay..." The portal snapped open, and I saw the creature I thought was my greatest enemy. He was in his bedroom, the one I was trapped in. It looks like I left quite a mess in my struggle. There was pee and poo all over his bed-sheets, and a dried pool of blood in the top left corner of the room that he was mopping up with some paper towels and something in a spray bottle, just under the poster. His room was adorned with many things I didn't understand. There were shelves with pictures of what I assume to be family members, awards, and a few stuffed animals of me and my friends, but mostly me, and posters with images of the same that say 'My Little Pony: Friendship is Magic' on them. There were so many questions I had. How did the creator of the book series know about me? Were the books accurate?

I saw his bed, of which I passed in. The covers were thrown almost completely off. They were white with blue horizontal stripes and the pillows were brown with darker shades crisscrossing them. The sheets that I, um, relieved myself in, were off white with vertical alternating stripes of light and dark brown with a gush of brown feces and dark splotch of pee next to it. Across from the bed was a wooden dresser that had a thin but wide black rectangle on a matching stand resting on top of it with a plastic statue of me resting next to it. There was a rectangular light blue rug on the bed's right side, but not the left, as the bed was pushed up against the top right corner of the room. The door was next to the dresser's left side, so the first thing you'd see when you came in was the blood. It's strange to think that all that time I spent panicking to find the door, it was right there, and that it never would've helped me anyway.

But was most interesting was the creature. He was unlike most things I've seen before. There were a few chimpanzees that look a little bit like him in the Canterlot Gardens, but he was something special. He was roughly six feet tall, about two higher than me. He was crouched on two legs and wore blue pyjama pants and a white undershirt. He was bending down back towards me, cleaning up what had to be Angel's blood, or possibly mine, on the wooden floor. He didn't have any coat, but he did have a brown mane right on the top of his head and, compared to the chimpanzees, smaller ears as well. It was crouching down, muttering angry things to itself while it mopped up Angel's mess.

Poor Angel. I'm really grateful that this stallion, or ape-thing, took the time to take care of my body and not just eat it or throw it away. Without warning, it suddenly turned around and I saw its face look right me. I jumped and tried to cover my face with my wings.

"Can he see us?" I whispered to 42. There's no use asking, because of course he can. I parted my wings from my eyes slightly, enough to see that he's looking right into my eyes extremely curiously.

"Nah. This portal's like a near perfect two-way mirror. We can see him, he can't see us. He's probably looking at a bug or something," 42 answered. I folded my wings back at my sides, a little embarrassed.

"Oh..." I whimpered. The creature looked strange, but not unlike a monkey or chimp. His face was notably flatter than any ape I've ever seen. With smooth, fair skin, short nose, brown eyebrows, pink lips, and deep brown eyes brimming with intelligence. He looked a little frustrated. I can understand why. I certainly wouldn't want to clean up a mess as big as this, not that I would mind.

To think this creature was the thing I was so terrified of was silly with hindsight, but at the time I think it was okay to be scared.

"That's him? What's their name?"

"Yep, that's him. His name's Matt."

"A Matt? That's a weird name for a type of animal." I inquired, puzzled yet a little bit excited. It's always a rush to see a new animal, even if it is at the other side of an interdimensional portal. I've heard of some silly animal names before, but nothing like that. Why would you name a species of animal after a floor furnishing? Or maybe it's the other way around.

"Oh, no. His name is Matt. He's a human," 42 corrected.

"A Human? What're they like?" I asked giddily.

"Well, that's kind of a tricky question," 42 responded.

"Are they kind and gentle? Loving and caring?" I asked again with the same giddiness as before. Holding my hooves up to my heart, smiling sweetly.

"Uh, a lot of them are..."

"What do you mean? You mean they're mean and nasty?" I pondered to him, my voice losing its sweet tone for a more concerned one. I lifted a hoof to my mouth in worry, my eyes reflecting the same, and letting my spare leg dangle with the other two.

"Well they don't have the most peaceful track record, but this one's cool, I promise."

"Oh, well that's a relief! But are they?"

"Like I said, a lot of them are. Humans, or people, are a mixed bag, mostly. You got mostly really nice people, and you got a few really sucky ones. But the thing is they all have reasons for being like that, you dig? They're not like you, where ponies are on the whole kind and lovey-dovey 'cause they were born that way until some factor acts on them. That factors a little bit into people, but not quite so much. It's more about how they were raised and where they went to school and stuff. But I can't make these generalizations, since no two humans are alike. One's always going to find different solutions to different problems, or something like that. They all think differently, like you. They got aspirations."

"Oh that's so wonderfully wonderful! Are there a lot of these people? Where do they live? What do they eat? How do they sleep? Oh! What about-"

"Jeez, lady. Hold your horses. Heh, horses. Remember our 'one at a time' rule?"

"Oh, right," I hushed my racing mind when an image of my friends shot through my mind. Staring at my new caregiver, I asked the question that mattered most to me, "Can I see my friends?"

"Of course," The portal snapped closed and reopened in an instant. They were in what looked like the Canterlot library, studying intensely.

----------

Chapter 7: Cleanup Crew of One

I walked into my room to find it exactly how I left it this morning: with an incredibly unpleasant task to do. The covers were thrown almost completely off the bed, piss and shit stains all over the sheets, and- what's that in the corner?

There was something small, white and furry lying in a pool of reddish brown in the corner of my room. I approached it with curiosity. Step by step it became more clear as to what it was.

"Is- is that a dead animal?" I asked myself. My question was answered when I finally arrived at the oddity. Yes. It was a rabbit. A very small rabbit, a bunny perhaps. I was mildly perplexed as to how a rabbit got in my house in the first place, but it snapped in my head almost instantly.

"Angel?" Looks like Fluttershy didn't come alone; it was definitely him. Small, bratty old Angel. But he didn't look bratty, he looked dead. The rust coloured puddle was most definitely dried blood. It was trailing out of his ears and nose and in a puddle under his head, where it aired and crusted into his fur and on my floor. He looked pretty gross. I wondered how he died until leaned in and took a closer look at his corpse.

He was lying on his back with a strange dent imprinted in his forehead. Must've been head trauma that did him in, but how did he get it? His chest cavity was a little bit squashed down, looks like some broken ribs. Maybe Fluttershy tried to revive him but there wouldn't be much hope in that. He's got a dent in his head. He was resting much like Fluttershy was, forelegs flopped and hind legs spread. His jet black eyes were wide open in shock, almost like someone bopped him on the head, and his tongue was comically flopped out of his mouth and dangling on his bottom right lip. His whiskers were bent and twisted, and the fur under his head was stained brown with his own blood. But what chilled me was the trail of crusty brown blood trailing from his nose down to the floor and his ears doing the same. That must've caused the puddle.

"Oh, jeez," I commented, staring down at his corpse in disgust. "I'll need some paper towels for this."

I left the room to retrieve some paper towels, a shopping bag, and wood floor cleaner. I came back into the room, looking at the carcass with frustration.

"I have to clean up this jerk, too? One corpse is enough, thanks," I growled to myself. What's the point in getting angry over it, anyway? It's here, and I guess I just have to deal with it.

I walked back over to the carcass and ripped off a sheet of paper towel. I laid it over Angel's hind legs and widened the plastic bag with my other hand. After I got a good grip on his legs, I lifted him up like game. His body was stiff and rigid like Fluttershy's. His tongue flopped around to his nose as I lifted him off the ground. I carefully plopped him into the opaque shopping bag along with the paper towel. Now for the blood.

I sprayed some floor cleaner onto the rusty blood. It moistened up a little, and I ripped off a sizable wad of paper towels. I crouched down over the mess and wiped it up. It spread it around more than soaked up, so I sprayed more cleaner to mop it up easier. It seemed to work, as the blood was wiping off nicer than before. The current sheets I were using became too saturated, and lost their absorbent properties. They started dripping off blood instead. I threw the thick sopping wad of paper towel into the bag, blanketing Angel's corpse with his own bloody rags. As I was grabbing some more paper towels, I heard a strange noise that sounded like some kind of twinkling, almost like the sound effect pixie dust makes in movies, or possibly even wind chimes. It was extremely faint, but my ears still picked it up.

I turned around in curiosity to be met by the most peculiar shimmer in the top right corner of my room opposite to me, just hovering in the air. I stared at it for a while, trying to make sense of what it could be. There was an eerie figure in the shimmering light, shifting and floating with the waves of light. It made a quick motion once I think it noticed my looking, and kept still since. I kept staring at this strange oddity, until suddenly it just vanished, like a circle just shut around it with incredible speed. I felt a pang of curiosity and confusion from this event. Could it be related to Fluttershy somehow? Oh well. Strange shimmering lights in my room isn't at the top of my list. Cleaning up Fluttershy's mess was. I got back to it, I can look into it later.

The blood was almost entirely mopped up now. I threw another bloody wad of paper towels into the bag, relieved that I was almost done with Angel. There was still a little red stain where his head used to be, so I sprayed another few squirts on the stain and wiped it around, but there was still a faint mark of red. I sprayed it again and wiped harder, but nothing changed. It was soaked into the wood, I can't get it out. I shrugged it off, figuring it was good enough for now. The bed was my next priority.

I stood back up and grabbed the plastic bag full of bloody paper towels and dead rabbit carcass and made my way outside to the trash bin. I walked out of the room and into the hallway. I was just about to head out the back door when I saw the bathroom door, open just a creak. I walked over to the bathroom door to close it when I peered inside. I didn't know what I expected. Fluttershy was still there, bathing in bloody water. Thankfully her dead eye was aimed at the ceiling this time, spraying it with dead, negative vibes. I smelled something a little bit off when I was shutting the door again. It wasn't the smell of death, no, this was the aroma of ... vanilla? Is that what pony corpses smell like? Vanilla?

I finished my visit and shut the door all the way, clicking it in place. Giving the little mare some privacy while she bathed. I continued out the back door, still in my socks and pyjamas. I stepped out of the house and onto the concrete steps, they were as cool on my feet as was the air on my skin. I stepped down, careful to avoid any rocks, and made my way down the sidewalk through my backyard to the black trash bin. I flipped the lid open and lifted the bag over it, ready to drop it, until I hesitated. With Fluttershy's face in my mind, I thought about what she would've wanted.

Would this be what Fluttershy would want? Just have her beloved pet she cherished for who knows how long thrown in the garbage? I hovered the plastic bag over the bin, contemplating if I should bury him instead. After a few minutes of fighting it over, I decided against it and released my grip. Angel and his blood rags fell in with a satisfying THUNK! Fluttershy wasn't here. Fluttershy's dead. She can't care, can she? I'm already spending enough of my free time cleaning up after her, I'll be damned if I have to dig a hole for some bratty cunt, too. I flipped the lid back down and walked back inside to finish my maid-work.

As I came inside, I stopped in the kitchen to wash my hands before I tackled the sheets and bed. The garbage can has a lot of germs on it, I can't get sick now. I dried my hands and made my way back to the bedroom, excited to get the sheets and blanket over with. I made a passing glance at the closed bathroom door as I walked by.

I made my way back into the room, shifting my attention to the bed. The gush of shit and piss puddle was still there, as expected. I made my way to the scene of the crime and was about to pull of the sheets when I saw something again that made me remember something of interest I saw before I started this whole cleanup operation.

I usually keep the sheets nice and tight so it'd be more comfortable, but there was a flap on the side that was pulled out. Upon closer inspection I saw that it had teeth marks and saliva on it as well. I took a second glance at the sheet on the mattress itself, specifically where her body would've rested. There were very subtle, but noticeable scratch marks. Worn, whitish grooves in the fabric where her midsection would've been. It's almost like she was trying to claw her way through. It looks like Fluttershy was trying to get something or to something from under here before she died, fairly desperately it seems. I shuddered at what must've been a horrible death to drive somepony to claw in desperation, images of being buried alive come to mind, but my curiosity was piqued. I walked to the top left corner of the bed, threw the pillows on the floor, lifted the top mattress, and pulled the sheet off two of the corners. I let the mattress fall back down on top of the other, flipped off the sheet on her side, and saw something curious.

There was an oval of burned fabric in my mattress, right beneath where I found Fluttershy in my bed. "Woah," I mumbled with inquiry to myself. Is this where she got in? From where? Why? So many questions popped in my head. Is it still open?

I cautiously reached my and down to the centre of the burnt fabric and pressed down. Nothing but a slightly damp pee stain and burnt fabric. "How peculiar," I mumbled to myself, noting the ashes that rubbed off on my fingers. I rubbed my thumb and middle finger together, the ashes dissolved in the urine, making a char-black paste in my fingers. I inspected the burn mark for a while, pondering my questions, when I remembered my priorities. I had to throw out this sheet. It was already half off the bed, but I needed a garbage bag to put it in.

I went back into the kitchen to get one, washing my hands to clean my fingers, made a passing glance to the bathroom, and came back. I pulled the rest of the sheet off, stuffed it in the garbage bag, and tied it up. I turned my attention back to the mattress and noticed that it had a pretty big splotch of urine on it, along with the singed mattress and suggestive brown mark. I bent down, took hold of the underside, and flipped it over, effectively banishing the singed mark and foul stains to the dark side of the bed.

With the mattress sorted out, I grabbed the knot on the garbage bag and carried it out to the bin, compulsively glancing at the bathroom door again. I lifted the lid and peered inside. Angel's shopping bag coffin was still there of course. The bloody rags were clearly visible as the bag was slightly open, but the rabbit couldn't be seen under them. I threw the bag containing the putrid sheets in the bin, burying Angel in a way. Burying him with Fluttershy's soiled shit rag. A part of me found that poetic in some strange, ironic way. I flipped the lid back down and walked back inside to wash my hands again. Now to take care of the blanket. I walked back into the room and picked up the stained covers, rolled it into a more manageable ball, and carried it to the basement washing machine.

Walking back down the hallway, again glancing at the bathroom door out of habit now, I descended the creaky steps to the basement. It always gave me the creeps and awful memories, I hardly go down there unless I had to do the laundry or something, like now for instance. I finished walking down the steps and quickly turned left to the washer and dryer, averting my gaze to the door leading into the rec room and temporarily holding my breath, releasing it when I entered the laundry room. It had very little furnishing and hardly any paint. It had wooden walls, cold floors of concrete, and tubes and air ducts running across the ceiling and to the boiler and furnace, which was opposite of the washer and dryer, and a laundry chute from the bathroom into a basket next to the washing machine. It heavily reminded me of a bomb shelter.

I opened up the washing machine. It was old to say the least. The corners were rusting and it made a really weird rattling noise when you turned it on. I opened up the top and threw the blanket ball in. It wouldn't quite fit, so I pushed it down with my hands to compress it. I reached down to the floor for the detergent and picked it up. I cracked it open and smelled the fresh, intoxicating scent of laundry detergent. I poured the lid full of it and transferred the thick blue soap in the machine, right on top of some crusty feces. I shut the washer, turned it to "Bulk", and pressed the start button. While I was down there I picked up a new sheet and carried it upstairs.

I was excited to finally finish cleaning and put this whole thing to rest for now. I walked back into my room, breathing a sigh of relief, when I noticed something yellow and something else off white lying on the floor that caught my eye, just in front of the dresser. I stopped for a moment, furrowed my eyebrows, and curiously approached them. It was a feather. A single yellow, birdlike feather and a piece of what looked like bone.

"What the?" I mumbled to myself in curiosity. I tossed the sheet on my bed and bent down to get a closer look. Upon closer inspection, the bone was instead a tooth. I picked it up and inspected it. It wasn't a whole tooth, just the chipped tip of what looked like one of the two top incisors. I shifted my eyes to the butter yellow feather and picked it up with my other hand to inspect it as well. Its barbs were ruffled and agitated. As I was pondering the use of this as evidence and how freaked out the people at the party would be, I realized a vital flaw in my plan while eyeing two of Fluttershy's remains.

How would I know they'd want to come with me when the party's over? It'd be pretty late. People'd probably just want to go home, and I can't just say 'Hey, I got the REAL Fluttershy in my bathtub, dudes! Come to my place!' They'd think I was crazy. But if I show them these they might be curious.

I put the proof in my pocket for safekeeping.

I returned to the bed to put on the sheets and finish my work. I stood at the foot of the bed and took two corners of the folded sheet and snapped them upwards. The sheet unfurled into its rectangular form in midair and floated to the mattress, waving like a flag all the way down until the sheet settled to the bare mattress. I took one corner of the sheet and lifted the matching one on the mattress, stretching its elastic in place. I did the same with the other 3 corners, working my way around the sides with my fingers to ensure the tautness I preferred. I took the pillows off the floor and threw them back on the bed, finishing my job for now. The blanket would take about another 40 minutes to wash, and another 30 to dry, so my work was done for now, thank God.

I walked over to the dresser and turned on the TV and grabbed my laptop and killed time. Now without things to clean, I was busying myself with trying to get the image of Fluttershy out of my conscious mind until it was time. Pony wouldn't work anymore like it did before.

Chapter 8: Dissection Preppers

The time flew by. Catching up on Netflix, reading the latest news, listening to music, watching the latest pony episode, doing laundry, etcetera. Maud was hilarious as always, of course. All in all it was a very relaxing Saturday. You know, besides the alien corpse in my bathtub of whom looks exactly like a cartoon character and may in fact be that cartoon character, it was a pretty okay day. I glanced at the clock. 5:15 PM. It's almost time to get going.

I shut my laptop, turned off the TV, and got up and out of the bed to get ready. I glanced at the red ring of stained blood on my floor, dismissing it as something to do later. Overall I was excited for the party, but I was way more excited to show everyone my new pony.

I stepped out of the bedroom and into the hallway, the pungent sweet reek of vanilla assaulting my nostrils. I speed walked down the hall, past the bathroom, and into the kitchen. I cantered to the cupboard under the sink. I swung it open and grabbed some air freshener. The constant pungency of vanilla was starting to make me sick.

I flipped my shirt over my nose and walked back down to the bathroom. I have to make sure the intense stench of pony-death doesn't drive them away before I go. I creaked open the teal painted bathroom door and entered. The vanilla penetrated my defences almost immediately and charged at my nostrils anyway.

I approached the bathtub and shot the can of air freshener in front of me, my arm fully extended and index finger primed on the trigger. I came up to Fluttershy and yanked it, spraying wildly at the corpse. I ran the spray of freshness across all corners of her face and shoulders, including her evil-eye. I sprayed it in her messy mane like hairspray as well, just to be thorough. The rest of her was submerged in murky bloody water, so I didn't worry about that. The stench of horse-death was finally overpowered by the fake smells of spring. I stared at her for a while. And when I satisfied with my work, I pulled my shirt down from my nose.

Staring at her lifeless corpse, specifically her gaping maw, I remembered the chipped tooth in my pocket and became curious of her dental condition. I bent down over best pony and looked my gift of a horse in the mouth. They were surprisingly human looking teeth, and sure enough, her front tooth was chipped at the halfway point. The top left one, to be exact.

While I was there I might as well test a fan theory, so I moved to pinch the top right corner of her lips at both ends. The inside of her lip felt slightly moist and fleshy, while the other was furry and slightly sticky from the air freshener. The lips themselves felt dry and cracked as I ran my index finger over them to pinch both sides, inside and out. The teeth bumped over my finger as I got a grip. I lifted her lip up, uncovering her gums, too-human teeth, and, yep. Fangs. The top two canines were extended slightly, running a little over the bottom two and ending in a point.

"Ah, fangs. Should I start calling you 'Flutterbat' instead?" I joked to her morbidly. "How's your bath? I ran it just for you," I continued. "Listen, I'm going to have some company over later, does that work with your schedule?" I asked the corpse. "Well, I don't care what you think! They're my friends and I can have them over if I want!" Okay. This is getting weird. I left the can of freshener on the counter, I have a hunch I'll have to spray her again when I get home.

I walked to the door out of the room, peeking back at my uninvited house-guest as I left. The sun was shining through the window that was above head-level on the wall left of the sink and mirror. It was shining on her face, the light brightening all her features. Her tangled mane, radiating butter coat, flaccid ears flopped to the back of her head, dry as a bone dead eye staring at the ceiling, damp red mouth glistening, and pure white teeth shining. The crimson tide shimmered, she being still as stone within it as expected.

I stared the sight for a while. I saw the same repulsive thing all morning and afternoon, but the way the sunlight just radiated off her was so incredibly photogenic, especially for a corpse as gross as this. A surreal harmony of beauty and the gruesome. Wait, photogenic!

I whipped out my smartphone and clicked it on. I swiped the camera symbol to the top of the screen, turning on the camera function. I tilted the phone horizontally so I could get more of her in the shot. I raised it up to eye level, steadied myself, and snapped a picture, immortalizing her repugnant form. It was a surreal experience. Fluttershy herself was disgusting and deformed, but the way the light just bounced off her almost made her beautiful again in a weird, gross, corpse-y way. I made sure to take plenty of shots as proof of her existence. Digital photos never lie! When I show them these, they'll definitely be curious.

I realized what I was photographing and cringed at the depravity of my actions. It's good to have photographic evidence, but this was way too morbid. I'm no serial killer, so I clicked off the phone and slid it back in my pocket. I shut the bathroom door and walked back to the bedroom and took a gander at my current getup.

"I can't go dressed like this," I said to myself, commenting on my pyjama attire. I guess I just never bothered to change out of them, so I opened up the ancient dresser to find something more presentable.

I found the perfect set: blue jeans, yellow t-shirt, and red zip up hoodie. I put them on. After that, I walked to the bathroom to freshen up before I go. The scent of air freshener overpowered me, but in a better way than before as I walked into Fluttershy's makeshift tomb. She was still having her bath, but I couldn't spare time to chat. I rubbed deodorant on my armpits, brushed my teeth, and washed my face. They might be off-put if I smell like a walking bakery. I left the bathroom, making a passing glance at her as I exited. I whipped out my phone again, 5:40. I needed to get moving if I wanted to make it on time.

I strode to my front door and put on my runners, grabbed my helmet, and left the house. I checked my pockets to ensure that the proof of my outlandish situation was still there. They were.

I hopped down the porch stairs and to the side of the house where my bike was chained up. It was a good bike. A little old, but still of a high quality. It was a mountain bike with thick wide tires, light and sturdy aluminum frame, and bumpy rubber handlebars. I slipped the helmet on my head and clicked its straps together, firmly grasping my skull. It was a cool spring day, a slight wind blew past me and sunlight seeped through the canopy of trees and elated me with the lively, joyful tone of spring. A stark contrast to what I dealt with all day.

The pleasant beams of sunshine radiated off my path as I rode down the worn in streets, the wind rushing past my face with vigour. It's like the world itself was oblivious to what I had in the tub and just continued with its happy tune, but beneath the disguise it knew what I was harbouring.

I stopped at the red light, making two satisfying bump bumps as my tires passed over the LRT tracks. I rode across the intersection, signalling with my left arm to make sure not to get hit by any cars, and turned left up the road. Making sure to keep to the right side of my lane, I rode past the glass and brick "University of Alberta" sign, followed by a wide open yet fenced in field. I watched the setting change from residential zoning to campus grounds, the aforementioned sign officially marking that transition. I kept riding and passed under the glass walkway connecting the hospital to the ECHA. I got off my bike an walked up the concrete ramp to the bike racks and locked it up to the spiral of steel among its own kind. I speed-walked into the school through the double glass doors.

The interior was of a very modern architecture. I checked the time on my phone, 6:03. I have to get to 2-100, or they'd surely start without me.

I turned into a pair of steel doors and pushed push bar to enter the concrete stairwell. I climbed to the second floor and pushed past another set of steel doors to be bathed in red tinged light. It's from the coloured glass windows. Personally I think they give the place a nice touch. I continued down the line of doors. 2-045, 2-67, and finally to 2-100. The door had a paper printout of Pinkie Pie on it, saying "MLP Viewing Party: 6-10 PM. Please Knock" in black comic sans. I did as the sign commanded.

I waited a few moments until someone answered the door. "Hey! You must be here for the party, right?" A tall young man greeted. He had dark skin, short curly hair, and deep brown eyes. He wore a white t-shirt with black shorts. He was roughly 6'3 with a lanky build with a deep, warm voice.

"Yes, I am! Glad to meet you ... " I greeted him back, prompting him to reveal his name with a smile on my face.

"Marcus, and you?" He answered and gestured me inside, exuding an air of welcoming with a wide smile. There was a surprising lack of attendees, even less than I expected. There were two other people in the room, they looked fairly similar to each other. They were sitting on a couch in the middle of the room, staring at a screen in front of them. A white glossy projector hung from the ceiling, playing the title screen to the first season of My Little Pony on mute. The lights were on, so the image was pretty faded. The two on the couch turned their heads towards me, so I shot them a welcoming smile. There was a plastic fold out table carrying various treats. A bag of chips, two 2L bottles of soda, Coke and Diet Coke, a bowl of trail mix, and red solo cups.

I turned my head back at Marcus. "Matthew, Matthew Crier," I shook his hand. "Did you organize this?" I asked him, trying to make small talk.

"I did, I was scared nobody else was coming, actually," He said with relief.

"Nice," I said, complimenting his party. "Who are these two?" I asked as I entered the room. The one on the left stood up and turned around. He was fair skinned with dark brown hair and blue eyes gleaming with excitement. He was roughly 5 foot 10 and was wearing a pink t-shirt with Pinkie Pie's cutie mark on the top right.

"I'm Danny, pleasure to meet you!" He shot out his arm, "What's your name? Oh, right, you're Matt! Excited for the show to start? This is my brother, Andy. Say hi, Andy," He spoke with incredible enthusiasm, shaking my hand likewise. He reminded me of Pinkie in a lot of ways.

"Hey," Andrew said in a deep, many voice. He stared at his phone, not looking up to greet me.

"So what are you studying here?" I asked Danny.

"I'm going to be a pediatrician, I just love kids, you know? But not in that way, believe me. Tell 'em what you're studying, Andy,"

"Forensics," Andy replied flatly.

"I told him about the party and he just had to come, so he did! He was so excited! You should've seen his face!" Danny elaborated gleefully.

"Yup," Andy nodded.

"I'm training to be a surgeon, myself" I shared. "What are you training for, Mark?" I turned my head back at Marcus who was just shutting the door.

"I'm training be a oncologist at the hospital, In fact I'm finishing up my last year now. I'm a temp there," Mark said. It's like the stars aligned for me. Someone who knows the hospital and a forensics guy? Holy shit I'm lucky. I bet I can count on Danny to encourage everyone to come to my place after the party, too. He seems like the energetic type. "You can put your helmet on the table, if you want," Marcus suggested. I noticed I still had it on.

"Sure, thanks," I said, unclipping the straps and slipping it off my head. I walked over to the table and dropped it next to the cups. I approached an empty spot on the couch and sat down next to Danny who sat hunched forward, excited for the show to begin. Marcus picked up a remote.

"It doesn't look like anyone else is coming," Mark said with mild disappointment. "Oh well, I'm starting it anyway," he announced and clicked the play button. After a few moments, the theme song had begun to play.

Everyone was quiet for a while, but Danny really got everyone to open up. We had loads of fun. Cracking jokes, sharing stories, and just generally having a good time. Danny just hoovered down the snacks, but nobody really seemed to mind. He said that he worked part time as a party planner, which was cool. Andy mostly stayed quiet and watched the show, but he'd answer all the questions you'd ask. He was a lot like Maud, fittingly enough. We shared our favourite ponies. Danny's was Pinkie, of course. He said he could relate to her on a spiritual level. Andrew's was Maud, and Mark's was Applejack. I shared my affection for Flutter Butter, as well. Nobody but Andrew was really watching the show, but we couldn't imagine it off. Eventually the conversation shifted to how we first got into pony.

"It's just so happy, you know? The colours, the aesthetic, the setting, it's just all so pleasant. Andy's the same," Danny said.

"Yeah, that," Andy commented. I chimed into the conversation.

"Yeah, I'm the same. I only got into the show last month, actually. It came at a good time, too. I was in a pretty dark place at the time and its happy tone just helped me cope. Even after I'm out of that I still watch it 'cause it's just good," I shared my thoughts.

"It's good, right? I got a lot of flak from my roommates about it, though, so I just kept it to myself, mostly. Bringing it up when it comes up," Mark added.

The discussion continued, until a funny story about Danny and how he tripped and fell down the stairs when he was a kid, broke both his arms. The way he said it made it sound funnier, though. That got us talking about our living arrangements, anyway.

"Andy and I still live with mom and dad. We live out in Red Deer, so we drive here," Danny shared.

"I live in a dorm on campus. It's okay, I just wish they'd be more quiet sometimes," said Mark.

"I actually live in my own house," I bragged.

"Like, a house? Not apartment? How much is rent?" Mark asked in disbelief. We were already pretty tight friends already. I'm elated. I never really had friends like this for a while. I mostly shut out the world to study in my high school years. I forgot how good friends can be.

"Well, that's just kind of the thing. My grandma died recently, last month, actually. She didn't have any mortgage on the house and it was in biking distance from the school, so I moved in," I shared.

"Wow, sorry about that," Mark replied with sympathy. The room went quiet for a while, but Danny was there to cheer it back up with a joke about how he fell off a tree.

The chat lost energy at around the last few episodes. We mostly just watched them until the last one ended and the credits rolled. Butterflies of excitement rose in my gut. It was finally time for the proposition. A grin crept across my face. How would I even ask them? A few seconds passed when I decided to play coy.

"Any of you got a car?" I asked casually.

"Yeah, Andy and I drove here, why?" Danny answered curiously.

"I gotta show you guys something you can't believe," I said with awe in my tone.

"What is it?" Mark asked.

My breathing accelerated and a rush of adrenaline shot through me. I reached in my pockets and grabbed the flutterproof. I held both the yellow feather and the chipped tooth in the same hand and presented it to them.

"Is that a feather?" Mark inquired.

"Yup," I answered.

"What the other thing?" Danny asked.

"It's a chipped tooth," I tried to ease them into the big reveal.

"Uh, okay? Why are you showing us this?" Mark asked.

My smile grew. "They're Fluttershy's," I revealed.

"... What?" Mark asked again, looking at me like I was crazy. I had to show the photos to get them to believe.

"Are you drinking enough water?" Danny asked curiously.

"Are any of you scared of blood?" I said trying to be as non-creepy as possible. It was a stupid question, of course they're not. I whipped out my phone and loaded up the Photos app.

"Oh shit, no," Mark said, super creeped out.

I loaded up the photos of Fluttershy in my bathtub. They were nice shots, though. I showed the pint-sized pegasus to my colleagues. "You know who that is?" I said giddily.

"Holy fuck," Said Mark with a hint of surprise, but mostly disgust.

"Is that? Is that?" Danny asked, at a loss for words. Andy was speechless at the macabre sight.

"Yup. It's Fluttershy. How do think I got the feather and tooth? I found her lying dead in my bed this morning," I explained. I swiped to a close up of her mouth. The chipped tooth seemed to be a perfect match for the broken one I brought. There was a long silence as I swiped through the photos I took of her. When I finished, Mark asked something after eons of silence.

"Why is she in the bathtub, why is the water bloody?" I answered his question with "I tried to move her body to look more at peace, but I accidentally broke her leg and squeezed out some blood. I put her in cold water so she wouldn't decay," I answered.

"I'm still having some trouble believing this, how do we know you're just not really really good at Photoshop?" Danny asked skeptically. I challenged him with an invitation.

"Why don't we all drive over to my place and see for ourselves?" I asked the group tauntingly.

"You're on!" Danny accepted the challenge.

"Wait, guys. He could be tricking us or something," Mark added in a cautious tone. I refuted his accusation.

"Come on, that's crazy! And besides it's three of you versus one of me. I promise I'm not a serial killer. When did I ever give the impression that I was a serial killer?"

Mark sighed, "Just a few seconds ago, and nobody accused you of being a serial killer, so that makes you even more suspicious." After a few moments of contemplation, he sighed and made his decision, "I'll go too. If only to even our odds. It's not like I have anything else going on tonight. Sure," Mark hesitantly accepted the invitation. Alright! I got everyone on board! Now just to convince them to help me dissect her, but that can wait for later.

We turned off the projector and lights and exited the building. It was totally dark outside, but the city was well lit. Danny led us to his car and we all piled in. Danny drove, Andy was shotgun, and Mark and I were in the back. I told Danny where to go and we drove back to my place. We all walked in and just as I predicted, the air freshener wore off, the scent of vanilla was strong again.

"It smells like a bakery in here," Danny commented.

"It's the smell of pony-death," I explained. I led them all to the bathroom and introduced Fluttershy to everyone. I was expecting a bombardment of questions, but they all just stared for what seemed like hours with wide eyes. Mark reached down and touched her face, confirming to himself that she was real. They were all visibly repulsed. Danny broke the silence and asked,

"What were you going to do with her?" I made my final proposition. I had to get them all to come. I needed to make this sound as sympathetic and sane as possible.

"I was going to take her to the hospital. Find out how she died," I answered. Danny looked at the corpse, and back at me.

"Can we help?"

Chapter 9: Dimension Hoppers

"Uuuuugh!" Twilight groaned in frustration. She finished another educational book on fringe dimensional theories, and once again finding nothing that could help her. Just a bunch of 'physical impossibilities'. She slammed it closed and threw it in the 'done' pile. She turned to the location of the 'to read' pile and, to her dismay, discovered it vacant. Now without the constant stimulation of reading material, Twilight felt the dry burn of thirst in her throat. She levitated a glass of water to her lips and took a sip, the cool liquid soothing her esophagus as she swallowed. She was so caught up in studying a way to generate interdimensional portals that she forgot to drink.

She looked around for her friends in the cavernous atrium and discovered them all napping on the books she gave them to read. Twilight gave a deep, throaty grunt in annoyance, furrowing her brows. She knew from the start that even if they understood all the material it wouldn't have been much help anyway. She just wanted something for them to do. She's read every book in this library a hundred times and knew them all by heart, yet somehow thought reading them again would help.

There was a large golden hourglass in the centre of the deep blue floor, of which Rainbow Dash was snoozing upon, buried in books and a copy of Daring Do resting open over her snoring face. Ancient texts were strewn all about her old home. Piled in mountains or hanging from statues of the two sisters. The massive intricate glass window gave a fantastic view of the stars, the magnificent pure white and gold castle in the foreground and regal towering stone statues of the two sister's heads completed the royal aesthetic. Twilight looked around for a clock, but found none. Instead she turned up from her desk and gazed out the window. The window was facing almost directly north. Remembering her extensive experience with memorizing planispheres, she guesstimated the time using the constellations. She tracked the Big Dipper and used the two pointer stars to find Polaris.

"Hmm, Cepheus is just below Polaris, right above the north wing of the castle. So if I'm not mistaken, it should be just about 10 PM," Twilight mumbled under her breath, gesturing with her hooves to the stars to help her navigate. "So we still have about an hour before the final train leaves for Ponyville," She continued. She hadn't forgotten about Time Turner. He was their best hope now. Twilight raided the entire library dozens of times trying to find anything on interdimensional travel. The only ones she could find she just read, even the incredibly rare Starswirl the Bearded's spells that were even remotely close to what she was looking for all required the element of kindness to work.

She grew more anxious of Fluttershy. It's been 18 hours since she trapped herself inside the portal with Angel. Fluttershy wasn't exactly known for her survival skills, and she is yellow for a reason, but it is possible that her talent with animals could be an advantage.

While Twilight was gazing out into the night worriedly, she saw a faint glimmer of light just above the window, in between the two white frames running vertically that cut the window in thirds. Twilight tilted her gaze upwards and cocked her head, squinting her eyes in curiosity. She approached the strange oddity slowly as it shimmered, careful not to agitate it, until Pinkie Pie was woken up by Twilight's hoofsteps. Pinkie rubbed her eyes with her hooves and noticed Twilight trotting curiously to the window and asked cheerfully, quickly regaining her bearings,

"What'cha lookin' at?" Pinkie chirped. She rose to her hooves atop her pile of books, jumped off, and cantered to Twilight. Twilight snapped out of her daze and looked to Pinkie to explain herself.

"Oh, I'm just trying to tell the time," Twilight answered, mildly embarrassed at the silliness of the answer.

"Well you're not going to find it lookin' out there, silly!" Pinkie chimed cheerily. She produced a golden pocket watch out of thin air and flipped it open. "It's about eleven ''o clock," Pinkie said. The number sparked immediate panic in Twilight.

"Wait! You mean eleven eleven!? We have to get to the train station NOW!" Twilight's horn lit up as she grabbed Pinkie and the rest of her friends in a purple aurora, lifting them out of their leather-bound makeshift beds and galloped out the door with friends in tow. They have to hurry, or they'll have to wait until 6 in the morning for the next train. Time Turner said he'd be done an hour ago, plus the hour to get to Ponyville makes it two.

"Hey, what's the big idea?" Pinkie asked, annoyed at being abducted without her consent. Twilight grunted from the intense magical effort to lift everypony off the ground, but she still sprinted full speed down the long winding steps to the train station.

"We have to get going, or we'll miss the train!" Twilight answered in between gasps. The cool night air rushed past Twilight's face, her burning trachea slightly soothed by the cool air, her face blushing and chest pounding with every step. Her friends still levitated off the ground by her effort, still half asleep.

"Hmm, Daring Do?" Rainbow Dash mumbled in her sleep.

They finally arrived at the train station, and just in time. Twilight levitated the conductor the correct amount of bits as she galloped into the passenger car, levitating her half-awake compadres with her. Twilight found a comfortable seat next to a window and promptly sat there. Other than them, the train was completely empty. Using the last of her stamina, she plopped everypony into their own seats in comfortable positions so they could continue their slumber.

"Hey! I never said you could whisk me away like that! What's wrong with yo-" Pinkie abruptly slammed deep into sleep, interrupting herself with her own snores. Twilight was used to staying up late to read, but Pinkie and company weren't. Twilight sat in her seat with spike sleeping next to her. She kept panting and gasping like an Equestrian Games sprinter, her chest burned, lungs and legs aching from the intense burst of physical activity. She turned her gaze to the window, her own breath fogging up the glass. After a few minutes her body compensated the oxygen deficit and she stopped panting, but her muscles still felt like rubber.

Twilight didn't care about her pain. She stared into the thousands of stars, anxious to find Fluttershy. She couldn't stop thinking about her, even when she was studying she was still in the back of her mind.

She kept wondering if there was more she could've done. She should've warned everypony about going through, and she knew Fluttershy was too distracted by her birds to overhear anything that she and Applejack were talking about. Twilight was never really paying attention to anypony but Applejack in the first place after the portal was spawned, but she never expected Fluttershy to scream bloody murder and barge right past her in a split second, either. Twilight was eager to hunt down Fluttershy and apologize, but she didn't know what for. Does Twilight even want to find her? Because what if something happened to her? Chances are the world she bounded right into was an inhospitable wasteland, she's probably already dead.

Twilight shuddered at the thought. The interdimensional portal spell was Starswirl's last composition, maybe it was his last for a reason? Twilight started taking deep breaths, trying to quell her dread. Twilight was a mare of science, ironically. She never believed that accepting a happy lie was better than a cruel truth. It was so easy to say to say to other ponies, but when you yourself are in a situation that demands one of the two, it's much more difficult to find the correct answer.

"You okay, Twilight? You look more stressed than usual, and sweaty," Twilight turned her head to her faithful assistant, who noticed her poor condition with sympathetic eyes. He must've woken up from Twilight's huffing and puffing.

"Oh, it's nothing. I'm just a little worried about Fluttershy," Twilight acted casually, hoping to dissuade him from any more questions about her condition. It failed, her deep anxiety shone through her disguise.

"No, even I can tell it goes deeper than that, Twilight. You were really torn up at the castle this morning, more than most of the others. Something else has to be bothering you," Spike wanted to give his lifelong friend some much needed emotional support. He was her assistant, after all.

Twilight sighed, "I guess I'm more than just a little worried," she admitted, her ears flopping backwards in mild sheepishness, her eyes darting to the floor, trying to avoid eye contact.

"That's the Twilight I know, but I know that's not all of it. Come on, I'll keep it a secret," Spike wasn't going to give up so easily. He couldn't stand seeing her so distraught without knowing why. He prodded deeper and took a guess, something he remembered from this morning. She was the only one to blame herself. "I overheard you saying this whole thing was your fault way back this morning, do you still believe that?" Twilight finally cracked.

She sighed once more before her emotional catharsis, "Kind of. I know it's not my fault she got trapped, but I feel I could've done more to keep it from happening, you know? I could've studied harder, or warned everypony about it. I just feel responsible, I guess," she revealed sheepishly, but she was glad to have someone to talk to, even if she didn't know it.

"Well that's stupid. She's not your responsibility, Twilight. She blasted in there on her own to fetch her bratty pet, and she would've jumped in there after him whether we tried to stop her or not. It was nopony's fault but her own, whether you believe that or not is your choice," Spike's harsh-truth approach hit Twilight hard with its aloof truth. "Just don't beat yourself up over something you had no control over. Promise me that, okay? Now get some sleep while you can, you'll need it," Spike finished his speech on a warm note and felt like he got his point across to Twilight well.

"I guess that's true," Twilight responded, her eyes looked to the window in contemplation. It was true, Fluttershy really would've gone in anyway, even if we stopped her she'd just keep fighting until she broke free. We all know how passionate she is about her animals, and as Rainbow Dash learned when she tried to get her to see the dragon migration, you can't force Fluttershy from doing something she really doesn't want to do. Spike was right about Fluttershy not being her responsibility. She's a grown mare responsible for her own decisions and her own actions. Maybe she just didn't understand the ramifications of barging headfirst into strange new universes, but she shouldn't have been so rash in the first place. Ultimately it was her fault that she got herself trapped in there, but that doesn't mean we shouldn't try to save her to the utmost of our abilities. We're still trying our hardest to get her back, but that doesn't mean any of them should lose sleep because of guilt. Twilight felt more at peace with this new take on the situation at hoof, and thanked her dearest assistant, "Thanks Spike."

"Don't mention it, now get some sleep already, you're going to need as much as you can get," Spike lied back down on the off-white seat and followed his own advice.

"Alright, Spike," Twilight laid down much like her companions, and for the first time all day, she slept. Roughly an hour later, the squeaking of the train stopping startled everypony on board awake. They were all visibly confused at their new surroundings.

"Uh, Twilight, where are we?" Rainbow asked perplexed, rubbing her eyes.

"We're back in Ponyville," Twilight announced, yawning herself awake.

"How'd we get here, exactly?" Rarity asked politely while fixing her mane.

"Twilight carried us all here or else we'd miss the train!" Pinkie explained.

"Huh, I wish ya would'a told us 'er somethin'," Applejack added, feeling a little violated, but understood Twilight's reasonable motives.

"Sorry about that, let's get off this train already! We've got to check back on Time Turner as soon as possible!" Twilight led the group out of the train and onto the train platform. It was nighttime. The train station was on the outskirts of town, and barely lit by a few lanterns among the cool spring night, a few moths fluttering around the warm glow. The gang trotted down the wooden ramp to the dirt road to town, passing under a hanging sign bearing the train station symbol and turned right at the small blue-green guesthouse. They passed the rugged white wooden fence marking the entry to Ponyville proper. Dew was collecting on the tall blades of grass, shining in the moonlight, dampening their legs as they trotted past.

Houses of various shapes and sizes dotted the rolling hills, their windows black. They cantered into the softly lit town, only illuminated by a few streetlights and the blue-white glow of Luna's moon. Nopony was awake to see them trotting to Time Turner's lab, the serene night shattered by the clopping of hooves down the cobblestone road. Twilight was still stressed. Even though she no longer felt guilt over Fluttershy's mistake, she knew that the faster they get to her dimension, the higher Flutter's chances were. She was desperately hoping he was still awake. They arrived at his home, which was right in the centre of town. Twilight rapped on his door with her hoof. The door flung open within seconds.

"Ah, you're back! Good to see!" The Doctor ushered them inside the brightly lit room. The TARDIS taking centre stage.

"Oh, thank goodness you're awake!" Twilight exclaimed with relief as she and her friends gathered next to the TARDIS. Dozens of paper cups and blueprints littered the floor as they cantered in.

"Science never sleeps, and neither do I!" The Doctor shouted with enthusiasm.

"How'dya do that?" Pinkie asked, looking for some tips of her own to stay up later. Sleeping always got in the way of baking and party planning.

"Lots of coffee, my dearest Pinkie," The Doctor answered. "Lots and lots of coffee," He trailed on, gazing into oblivion. Twilight snapped the scatterbrained doctor back on track.

"So, is the machine up and running?" She asked giddily.

"Well, yes and no. Can the machine travel through dimensions? Yes. Can it use the coordinates you brought over? Well, no. But not to worry! I found a fix for that! All you need to do is bring me a pinch of your friend's DNA and the device can lock on to her with an accuracy rating of roughly 15-20 meters, so you probably don't need to travel far, but still you might need to do a bit of searching depending on the environment we happen to end up in," The Doctor explained, jittering.

"Not to worry! I'll have some of her DNA in a jiffy!" A purple sphere of light engulfed Twilight in a flash. She teleported to Fluttershy's cottage to grab some of her genetic code. An awkward silence gripped the group for a few minutes as they waited. Rainbow twiddled her hooves in the air and Applejack kicked her hoof.

"Sooo, do you have a marefriend?" Rarity asked casually, testing the waters.

"Erm..." The Doctor scrunched his face and avoided eye contact in embarrassment, his face blushing subtly.

Twilight popped back into existence, boasting the thousand-yard stare and carrying a jar full of long, curly, and crusty salmon pink hairs and white flakes of dandruff in her wing. The horrific sights she saw in Fluttershy's cellar can never be recounted. Nothing big or small shall never match the horror she witnessed. Her cellar was cleverly hidden under her living room rug, and for good reason. Almost every surface was crusty for reasons too repulsive to ever explain in words. So many bananas. Sweet Celestia the bananas.

"Oh, thank Celestia she's back," Rainbow muttered under her breath. The tension of the awkward advances Rarity made dissolved into the past along with Twilight's notion of Fluttershy's preconceived innocence.

"Ah, Twilight!" The Doctor snatched the jar from Twilight's wing, smiling gratefully. "This is perfect! How did you get so many samples?" The Doctor asked casually.

"DON'T ASK!" Twilight blurted, eyes wide and face scrunched. She learned things tonight about her beloved little sex-fiend of a pegasus she would've rather stayed in the cellar. Forever. Everypony in attendance were visibly confused, but decided to follow her instruction and leave it be.

"Alright, everypony, follow me into the TARDIS. We're about to get going if you're all just about ready. Allons-y!" The Doctor invited, excited to brush off his encounter with Rarity. He trotted into the blue wooden box, flinging the doors open inwards. Everypony followed him in.

"You sure do got a lotta space in here," Applejack commented, gawking at the ceiling.

"I know, right? Perfect place for a party!" Pinkie Pie pulled out her party canon, jumped up in the sky, blew her party horn, and was just about to fire a round of confetti.

"Ah, ah, ah! No party cannons in the TARDIS! I've seen the mess that thing makes at the 'Welcome to Ponyville' party you threw me, and unless you want to stay behind, you'll put that back wherever you found it," The Doctor warned the party enthusiast. Pinkie's face drooped from an excited grin to a frown, quickly floating from midair back to the ground, blowing her horn softly in disappointment. She bucked the party cannon out of the TARDIS. "Chin up, you can throw a party at your residence when we retrieve your acquaintance, Butterfly," The Doctor added, trying to keep everypony's morale high before another potentially life-threatening adventure. "Is everypony here? Where's Twilight?" The Doctor peeked outside the TARDIS to discover Twilight in the exact same position she teleported in with, still as a statue. "Well come on then, love! We can't go without you, of course!" He shouted. Twilight snapped out of her daze and cantered to the TARDIS.

"Coming!" Twilight yelled as she ran into the Doctor's device. She was taken aback by the surprising space inside. "Woah! It's ... It's,"

"Bigger on the inside?" The Doctor smirked smugly.

"Yeah," Twilight responded in awe, mouth hinging agape. She didn't know of any spell that could accomplish something like this, and she's been studying magic her whole life.

"Finally, somepony excitable!" The Doctor responded with glee.

Twilight remembered something critical, "How does it work?!" She asked excitedly, jumping up and down in excitement, grinning like a madmare.

The Doctor grimaced sheepishly, "Uh, it's a bunch of, erm, wibbly-wobbly timey-wimey stuff?" His eyes shifted around the alien locomotive, sweating ever so slightly.

"Oh, come on!" Twilight said jokingly, "You can go in-depth with me! I know all the jargon!"

"Well, um, in truth I don't really know. I kind of ... stole it?" He said, tapping his hooves together, eyes darting.

"What?"

"Don't we have a pony to save?"

Twilight gasped, "You're right! Rarity do you have the suits?"

"Oh, darling of course I do," Rarity levitated a rack of 8 different full sized body suits. Specialized for each pony / dragon. Their cutie marks sewn in patches on the flank. Except Spike. He didn't need one, he was recognizable enough already. Everypony put them on. Twilight put her brown saddlebags over the tight fitting white body suit, Rarity cringed at the clashing colours, but kept it inside. They were hard to put on, but the fabric was surprisingly breathable, and the plastic masks were actually quite comfortable. Rarity went around and turned on everypony's (and dragon's) air tanks and filters, and cool, fresh air flowed freely through their suits. Twilight lifted the fabric flaps and checked for her various instruments neatly packed inside. Atmospheric analyzers, magical detectors, the works. The one bearing Fluttershy's mark remained vacant, still lying crumpled on the floor. Rarity felt a pang of sadness as she recounted her reassuring words that morning.

"Right! All I need to do before we get going is put a little DNA in the analyzer," The Doctor said with enthusiasm. He twisted off the lid and reached in, until Twilight screamed,

"DON'T TOUCH THAT!" Twilight shot her hoof out, her eyes bugged, her neck muscles flexed, pulling the corners of her mouth into a frown. The Doctor confusingly agreed with a cocked brow. He instead tilted the jar into the glass reservoir, tumbling the mixture of curly hair, dandruff, and something crusty clumping it all together into a glass reservoir in the TARDIS control panel. The analyzer's lid snapped shut and bathed the funky follicles with green light, whirring loudly in the process.

"Yes! It worked!" The Doctor ran around the TARDIS' industrial control panel, flipping levers, turning knobs, and cranking flywheels. The TARDIS screeched and rumbled like a siren as he worked. Everypony lost their hoofing and wobbled, except the Doctor. The lights fading in and out with each cry of the machine. The commotion finally ceased, leaving 5 wobbling ponies and a dragon trying to regain their hoofing.

"What does that mean?" Twilight asked anxiously, her heart pounding.

The Doctor trotted to the door and pulled both doors open, florescent light pouring in, revealing a sterile white hallway just outside. Doors with numbered labels lined both walls of the corridor.

"We're here."

Chapter 10: Flutter Cutters and Prowler Shies | Part: 1

THWACK!

Fluttershy slammed hard onto the steel dissection table. I glared at Danny and scolded him "Hey, careful! We don't want to break anything important!"

The dissection room was a fairly large open space with about a dozen tables and the same amount of sets of equipment. Mark had to look around for all the things we needed. Things like jars, preserving fluid, and labels, but we got everything we needed eventually. We locked the door so no curious passersby intrude on us and spoil the 'public' phase prematurely. Mark said that he couldn't use the MRI alone because he didn't really know how to use it that well, so we just jumped straight to the dissection; both a good and bad decision:

Good that we can get to the autopsy quicker, and bad because we'd be going in blind on a completely alien body. Still, I couldn't be more excited to finally have her under my knife. Sadly I forgot to research how to dissect equines before I left, so I'm really scared about botching this. I can't fail this, I just can't.

"Sorry! My fingers slipped!" Danny excused himself sheepishly.

"It's okay, just, she's already messed up already, yeah?" Fluttershy was still in the position I broke her into, but now her coat below her shoulders was stained slightly red from soaking in her own blood for so long, and her incredibly long mane had a line of red separating where it was dyed a pinkish shade of red, and where it remained its original salmon tone. Her tail was totally dyed red, since it was completely submerged. We all became so accustomed to the overpowering vanilla that we hardly notice it now.

Before we start the dissection, we need to examine the body and take plenty of pictures of it so we can show it as proof when we make this public. I whipped out my phone, started recording, and begun the examination:

I stammered to start an opening description "Okay, uh, yellow fur stained red, pink mane and tail, gigantic melon-sized green eyes, uh, yeah. Pretty much like Fluttershy from the show 'My Little Pony: Friendship is Magic', I mean," I probably wasn't the man for the description job, sadly. Actions speak louder than words, anyway.

I started examining and I recorded her from as many angles as I could. I stopped talking since I didn't really think that was necessary, as everyone began their own expeditions on her and I was so inept at explaining it. A picture is worth a thousand words, right? So a video must be worth, like, 30,000 a second.

I circled my prey just like the others when I came down to her groin. I began to rethink my idea of making her look more peaceful, as it was getting in the way of actually confirming the sex of my Fluttershy, but in all honesty I'd be surprised if she had any at all. I told them what I had to do. They were all a little bit disturbed, but they understood after I explained why.

It took the guys and I a lot of effort to crack and snap her legs back to their original resting place, but we did it. The fur on her chest where her arms used to be crossing her heart was still her original pale yellow, like a sunburn on your tummy with your hand over it, outlining your hand in the burn, except the UV rays were blood and the hand was her front hooves. Danny noted how that her original position looked pornographic and made him uncomfortable, but I didn't really listen to him. We all knew what I was about to do was going to look oddly sexual, but it needed to be done. For science.

I knelt down over her groin right between her skyward legs to inspect her privates, making sure to record that whole region thoroughly. After a few moments of living a rather perverted stallion's dream, I confirmed what I suspected: she's totally bare down there. There's nothing but a tiny puckered anus right below her huge tail and an even smaller pinprick urethra just above the groin area on her lower belly. I shuddered at the mess these two tiny things caused me this morning.

They were incredibly small -- almost like they were designed to be hidden -- but why? The censors, of course. They can't have huge horse anuses parading through Ponyville proper, can they?

Two small bags of fat that hid nipples under her fur were lined horizontally -- one on each side above her urethra and behind her flank. They were the same colour as her fur, and also seemed to be designed for a low profile. They were really more like bumps than actual teats, but they were still there nonetheless. If not for the gratuitous bite marks all over them I probably never would've found them in the first place.

I questioned why she had so many bites on them for a few moments until I finally concluded that she probably nurses her pets. Gross, but it rose a new question: She doesn't have children does she, so how would that work? Do horses have to bear children to produce milk? I don't know enough about alien horses to make any conclusions, but the fact that they're there in the first place means they have to give birth to young somehow; I I just don't know how they 'do it'. Maybe it's magic? Or maybe they're just hidden somewhere incredibly clever?

I moved on to her flanks. Each of them were adorned with a trio of pink and blue butterflies to symbolize her natural talent with animals, tinged crimson, of course.

Other than that she was remarkably unremarkable -- other than being an alien from a world previously thought as existing in a purely fictional universe until earlier today -- she had nothing interesting other than the lack of genitalia. She looked exactly like she does in the show, right down to the wings, but tinged a possibly permanent shade of yellowish-red.

I took dozens of pictures, along with the video detailing every angle, nook, and cranny of Fluttershy's corpse. After I was done with her photo shoot, it was time to begin Fluttershy's organ harvesting / autopsy / dissection party. Yay. I gave the phone to Danny to record the procedure; He didn't seem to want to do any cutting anyway.

I grabbed my scalpel off the surgical tray and was just about ready to make the incision above her right shoulder; I would cut down the collarbone, which she had for some reason. Why does she have a collarbone? Shouldn't she be a horse? Do horses have collarbones? Well, we're about to find out.

There was something surreal about an autopsy. There was always an air of respect out of the human who gave their body to us, but this wasn't a human. It was a cartoon character, and it exuded a sense of ... alien curiosity instead of any sense of respect. Along with vanilla; it exuded that in spades. "Okay, you guys ready?"

"Yep."

"Sure."

"Nngh."

"Alright," As I hovered my scalpel over the butter-yellow pony, I hesitated. The memories of this buttery burden flashed through my memory just as I was about to start. All the adventures she's been on, her caring nature for animals, her adorable fear of dragons, her breaking of Rainbow's ribs, it all bounced around so suddenly.

I came to realize in seconds that it was all real now that she's here, and it made me think. Even though she's probably not even from our world -- maybe even our own universe -- I still knew her. I knew her mannerisms, her reactions to things, her likes, dislikes, and fears, her life in general all by heart. That's when that strange feeling in my heart sparked again, and it urged me to stop.

My cold steel came to rest on her fur, yet dared not cut through it. The feeling in my heart grew, and it made me swell a stone in my throat. I started to become remorseful of the things I did to her today: breaking her leg, crushing her wing, bending her so grotesquely in a vain attempt at making her seem at peace, when we just broke her back to the way she was anyway, I wanted to undo it all. Even though she didn't know me, I still knew her. She was there for one of the toughest times of my life and didn't even know it, and now she was right under my scalpel.

It was weird.

"You alright, Matt?" Mark asked.

"Uh, yeah," I answered with a creaky voice. It was obvious that I was having some issues with this, and it made the whole situation awkward.

As I was trying my best to suppress what were quickly becoming tears, something ominous caught my eye again: the strange shimmering sparked into existence once again with its telltale wind-chimes -- just catching the corner of my eye in the corner of the room -- right next to the door. I turned my head to see the spectre again, beneath its sparkling glass. The shadowy figure inside was squirming, struggling, and seemed to wriggle in terror. It seemed to claw at the shimmering from the other side. It gave me the chills, whatever it was. I was contemplating whether or not I should actually tell somebody about this, and the first time I saw it in my room, until my attention was snapped away when Andrew interrupted my observation.

"Here," Andrew took a scalpel from the tray and shuffled to my position. He bumped me out of the way, and cut for me.

He sunk the blade in her flesh with no remorse, treating her as if she were some nameless corpse instead of someone dear to the hearts of children everywhere. Yet to my surprise, the blade glided with expert precision down to the centre of her collarbone. Peeks of red shone through the flabby cuts of skin and fur. Andrew hastily started again at the other shoulder and cut down to meet the other cut with speed, impressing even me. He cut down perfectly down the chest cavity, just enough to puncture the skin and muscle, but leaving the organs unscathed. He finished the cuts and with some gumption, pried open Fluttershy's rib cage to reveal a plethora of organs, and a shocking surprise. Andrew finished a diagnosis:

"She's a human," Andrew was right.

"What? That's ridiculous!" I blurted at him.

Andrew didn't say a word, he just shuffled positions and began slicing open her gut, again with expert precision. He cut down the diaphragm horizontally, leaving a trail of red muscle, fat, and other tissues peeking through the slit of skin and fur, arcing across her barrel from one side to the other just below her ribs, forming a sort of wave of cut flesh.

Once the scalpel reached the other end of her belly, he moved on to her pelvis. He used the same technique as the chest. He started at one side, and slid the scalpel like butter through the Flutter to the other. He finished cutting the basis of a kind of flesh curtain, so it was time to cut it open. He moved the scalpel to the centre of the top cut, pierced a hold for the scalpel, and slid down, making sure to cut through the tough muscle and sinew of her underbelly while keeping just above the organs. The fat above seemed to convex slightly, much like a balloon. His scalpel passed through it without skipping a beat, and the balloon in her stomach popped; that allowed the death-gas to escape her GI tract.

When scalpel finally met the bottom incision near her groin just above the nipples, the stench of vanilla -- now combined with the foul odour of feces -- blasted our nostrils with its combined strength, shattering through our acquired tolerance like a rocket-powered battering ram and caused us all to retch at its detestability.

"Oh sweet Jesus," Danny commented on the overpowering stench. He used his unoccupied hand to lift his shirt over his nose. The pleasant aroma of fabric softener dulled the pungent malodorous vanilla and gas mildly.

Andrew took hold of both sides of her soft, furry yellow-belly -- unfazed by the horrific stench -- and peeled it open, revealing the snaking tunnel of the intestines, a pinkish stomach, dark purple liver, and just below the lower intestine on the left side, tucked away in the folds of Fluttershy's digestive tract, was an appendix.

----------

Everypony in the TARDIS stared at the aperture to another world with wide eyes, the Doctor still standing next to it. He broke the eerie silence with a cheery

"Allons-y!" He gestured his hoof out the door and turned back to the group, "For you."

"Wait, why aren't you coming?" Twilight asked, annoyance in her tone.

"Well I don't know what sort of unimaginable interdimensional terrors could be out there, and you all look quite prepared. Besides it was you who wanted to come here in the first place, and I merely offered a taxi service," he argued effectively.

"But, you look like-"

"Also I don't have a suit to protect me."

"But there's a spare on the floor!"

"Yes, that one with the flappy wing pockets and is entirely too small for me?"

"But- er- ugh! Fine!" Twilight groaned. She didn't have time for this. She looked at the door nervously, and by extension the cold white hallway outside. She gulped and hesitantly stepped to the door nervously while the rest cowered behind her, just inches from her tail. The Doctor shuffled back to the control panel to make room and to watch from a distance.

Twilight reluctantly peeked her head out the door with her eyes shut, gradually passing her head through the door like a slightly speedy glacier. The realization hit her like a ton of bricks the moment her horn passed through.

The sensation to what Twilight felt is akin to a bat suddenly going deaf, or an eagle suddenly blinded. In response to this incredible system-shock, she pulled her head back from the magical dark, felt her 'hearing' return, and revealed to the rest of the crew something vital to the success of the mission: "There's no magic here!"

Rainbow looked puzzled. She shrugged her hooves and asked dismissively, "Why does that matter? Isn't magic supposed to be everywhere?"

Twilight turned to her hovering sky-blue friend with frustrated eyes and explained loudly, "Have you forgotten that we're in a whole other dimension? Not another planet, but an entire dimension!? This place could've never even heard of magic, and magic is the whole reason we're all alive right now!"

She gestured a hoof to Rainbow, "You can't fly without it," she swung her hoof to Applejack, "you'll lose all your strength," and finally to herself, "and I can't use magic!" She shifted to lecture gear, "Magic surrounds us, it binds us, it penetrates us. Every cell in our bodies depend on it. If the natural presence of magic is cut off, our heart and lung systems in the medulla oblongata will go haywire, causing intense heart palpitations, difficulty breathing, drastic vasoconstriction, extreme lethargy, and your cells will start degenerating at an incredibly accelerated pace from extremely rapid cell wall destruction and immunodeficiency, allowing the magically independent decomposing bacteria in your gut to go into overdrive! It's like air. If you get cut off from it, you'll live off what you already have in you, and unless you can't get back to it, you'll die," Twilight tried as hard as she could to emphasize this, and it worked. Everypony in attendance knew the dangers now and quickly grew sombre faces, because Twilight just accidentally discovered and announced the terrible truth about their lost friend at the same time. A balloon popping could be heard near Pinkie's position.

"So does that mean? Fluttershy?" Pinkie squeaked in complete devastation. She looked just about ready to bawl. Her voice was creaky, her eyes watery, mouth quivering, and mane all but popped of its liveliness. Twilight's face snapped to a shocked expression as she came to realize as well as her friends that Fluttershy is dead, and Twilight can't help but feel her eyes water as she felt her incredible guilt surface again. The terrible remorse swelled along with her tears, but she can't get distracted now. She had to boost everypony's morale before one of them suggests to scuttle the mission altogether. Coming all this way for nothing wasn't an option.

"I guess so, but that's okay!" Twilight tried to mask her overpowering sadness and crippling guilt with a happy tone.

"What do you mean by 'okay'? Fluttershy's dead!" Rainbow responded angrily, throwing her hooves in the air, her eyes welling with tears. Losing your oldest friend can take a toll on you.

"It's okay because I remembered that I have a spell back at the library that can bring anypony back to life!" She didn't. Well she might, but at least it made Pinkie's mane spring back to life.

"Well either way we still have to retrieve her! I simply cannot stand allowing one of my friends to decay in some Celestia forsaken tartarus!" Rarity exclaimed dramatically.

"But what about the magic?" Spike asked.

"Remember when I said these suits were 'magically insulated'? What I really meant was 'Magic Insulator'," Rarity explained.

"Actually you didn't say anything about the suits, but what about monsters?" Spike raised a valid point. Nopony in the history of ever could predict what the natives could be like. Twilight failed to stammer an answer and mulled this over in her mind when The Doctor jumped in.

"I may offer some helpful advice? The best solution is to run back here as fast as you can. Works every time!" he prescribed. He seemed independent of the sadness caused by the death of Fluttershy, but then again he hardly knew her.

"Okay, but what if we get lost?" Spike continued his role as devil's advocate.

"It's only 20 meters, Spike. Even though we're all used to the imperial system, I'm sure we'll be fine," Twilight and the gang -- except The Doctor -- were psyching themselves up to go where nopony -- except maybe Starswirl the Bearded -- has gone before.

----------

"You're still crazy," I said as I looked down at Fluttershy's blood drenched innards, but the evidence didn't lie. Everything inside was an exact replica of a human cadaver; right down to the arteries, everything was in their proper place for a human. She even had a human gallbladder and appendix. But she wasn't a human, she's a horse isn't she? Everything else is cartoon equine but her guts, but ... Why are her innards caked in blood?

Ah, must be massive internal bleeding; that's be how she died, but what caused it is the real question. I ended the dissection section and initiated the autopsy portion of our operation, there wasn't much to dissect, anyway. I turned back at her chest cavity -- where most of the blood seemed to come from.

I did a look-over of her entire system, trying to trace the blood concentration to the source of the trauma; this led me to her heart. I noticed something a little off about her ticker as I inspected it for any cuts or ruptures, so I reached down and inspected it closely.

After a few moments, I noticed something interesting: there was a small tear in the pericardium.

"Look," Andrew usurped my investigation again. He took a scalpel and carefully worked it up the meaty sack containing the muscle, clutching it tightly for support. Chunky red blood gushed out as the pressure applied by his hands squeezed it out with a sickening squirting noise. Andrew finished cutting open the pericardium and flapped both sides open -- like a butterfly's wings -- to reveal a gory mess of what I assume was once a heart.

"It's like it ... exploded?" Mark asked curiously.

"Yup," Andrew confirmed. "See the left ventricle? The one that pumps the blood across the body? It's totally ruptured, and the aorta is just split in half," Andrew made his diagnosis. Looks like we found what killed her, but why? What would cause a heart to explode in the first place? I honestly don't know.

"Just look at her arteries, they're tight as a tiger. It could be what caused the ruptures," Andrew elaborated. Looks like we know how a heart can explode now.

"Ew," Danny remarked, still recording the whole procedure with my smartphone.

"Well, she always did have a weak heart," I joked.

"That's kinda gross, Matt," Danny commented. Ah well, ya can't win 'em all. Now for the harvesting!

"So you got the jars?" I asked, reaching for the large pair of surgical scissors.

"Oh, sure. I didn't know we were doing that yet. What were you gonna take out?" Mark waddled to the jars. Each one was filled with a clear preserving fluid, all labelled with different major organs except for a few extras just in case.

"How about the lungs," I suggested like a kid in a candy store. There was a lot to do before she was scooped clean, might as well take out the larger organs first.

Mark took one of the larger jars named "fluttershy - lungs" and dropped it on the side of the table with a loud CLANK!.

"Hey, careful! You might bust it!" Danny warned.

"Sorry" Mark apologized as he screwed off the lid.

I grabbed a pair of surgical scissors and started snipping at the bronchial tubes. The cartilage was stiff and rigid as my scissors snipped through the tissue -- almost like construction paper -- sounding and feeling like it, too.

The tingling in my heart was mostly silenced, but it was still giving me a gentle urge to halt my progress. I can't stop when we're this far in; there's no turning back now.

Once the lung was free, I grabbed the two floppy sides of the lung at their sides, and dug my fingers underneath them for a better grip. After I gained a good grasp on it, I lifted it out, making a nauseating tearing noise as the membranes severed underneath. I plopped it in the jar; the fluid splashed a little as I dropped it in. I snipped and ripped the other one out, too, sploshing it right next to its buddy. The fluid in the jar started getting tinged red because of the blood they were caked in from the ruptured heart, but it's no big deal. Danny was getting more and more disturbed by the minute; his stomach was churning and his skin was turning white.

"If she's a human -- or at least her innards are -- then why are we cuttin' her up?" I answered that question quickly.

"Because she's still an alien. We could learn a lot from the chemistry of her guts. They may look human, but they might still surprise us," Once the jar was full of lung, it was time to start on another organ.

I decided to pick the stomach at random, so I asked "Mark, do you have the jar for the stomach?"

"Sure," Mark handed me a smaller jar labelled "fluttershy - stomach" and placed it on the steel table next to Fluttershy, taking the lung jar back to the trolley where the other jars were, and rested it on top.

"Thanks," I aimed my snippers to the bottom of her esophagus -- right where it connects to the stomach at the cardiac sphincter -- and snipped it away. The nagging sorrow in my chest was growing, so I pushed it down further as I asked "Do you have a jar for the, uh, 'contents'?"

"Oh, uh, sure," Mark handed me an empty unlabelled jar with a hint of disgust. I grabbed it, murmuring a

"Thank you," as I dug my fingers under her cold, pink, slimy stomach.

Once my grip was in place, I positioned the jar so that the hole I just cut was inside the jar and wouldn't spill any of her dinner in her partially hollowed out carcass. I squeezed the muscular bag like a tube of toothpaste, running my fingers from the bottom pyloric sphincter to the upper cardiac. As I worked my way through, a horrible, putrid, sour stench assaulted my nostrils as the black, mushy slime oozed out and into the jar.

Danny gagged -- making sure to record every last bit I squeeze -- and trying not to hurl in the process. Most of it was out now, so I took my middle finger and thumb down to where the end of the stomach meets the duodenum, squeezed them together against the slimy smooth texture, and ran them over her stomach and to the cardiac sphincter as I pushed out the very last of the vile mush.

"Okay," I said, lifting the stomach up so I could get a clear cut at her pyloric sphincter. I took the scissors and snipped it off, the elasticity of the stomach stretching the connecting tube down as I made the last few clips as I held the muscular bag in the air. I dropped the scissors in the hole where her lung used to be temporarily so I could use it to open the jar.

I moved the now free stomach over to the jar and plunked it in, making a noise akin to dropping a pebble in a pond. Danny looked like he needed a break, fast.

"Uh, I'm just going to go to the bathroom real quick," Danny announced queasily.

"'Kay. Just pause the video, we'll start again when you get back," I responded. I took the scissors out of her chest and plunked them back on the tray with a clink. Danny speed-walked out of the room -- the smartphone still in hand -- and into the hallway.

----------

Chapter 11: Flutter Cutters and Prowler Shies | Part: 2

They were in the morgue of the hospital, but right now Danny wished he was in the atrium. Nice open space, the huge skylight; it's just what he needs after witnessing something so disgusting. But Danny couldn't just abandon his new friends when undertaking something like this, especially while he was in the possession of one of their smartphones. The tight hallway didn't help with his nausea, either. He didn't know they were going to harvest her organs, he never agreed to that. They know how she died now. The entire reason why he came has been fulfilled, and now he's stuck with the camera.

He noticed something a little bit off about Matt. He just seemed a little too excited about all this, more than any normal person should. But if that were the case then why did he hesitate at first? Why did he almost cry right before the cut? Matt was seemingly a nice guy, but he was confusing to Danny. His philosophy was to be happy and to make others happy whenever possible, but Matt wasn't happy as far as he could tell; he wasn't unhappy, either.

Danny was walking down the white halls to the bathroom, bathing in silence, when at the end of the hallway he saw a strange glimmer just hovering in the air; just where two hallways met in a T intersection, right in the centre. As he came closer he noticed something else in the shining twinkle: an ominous dark-ish blur that made strange motions beneath the twinkling. He couldn't see much, but it seemed like it was beckoning something. Danny continued on to his journey to the bathroom with his head cocked in curiosity -- still enveloped in silence -- when that silence was broken.

By the whirring of fans.

Danny was confused. With a cocked brow, he lost interest in the glimmer and cautiously approached the source of the strange whirring at the end of the hallway, the T intersection. gentle fear was gripping at his heart but he pressed onward, but he was determined to discover the source.

The strange noise grew stronger as he stepped closer. It was still a ways away, but he saw something coming around the right corner: It was a strange, white suited, four legged figure with strange brown packs adorned with a symbol that he couldn't make out from this distance, followed by five others that look very similar, except for a strange stubby lizard creature accompanying the one with the brown satchel. All of them had patches on their sides that were all too familiar to him as he came close enough to recognize them. Danny froze when he saw these symbols, and the strange aliens halted their progress when they noticed Danny.

The equines and Danny stared at each other for what seemed like ages, until the lizard one broke the silence:

"Uh, Twilight!?" The lizard began. He was dressed in the same fashion as his peers but with no mark, yet was as still as a statue next to the one with the saddle bags. "Sh-should we start running?!" It squeaked with terror, still staring at Danny, who was staring right back.

"Not yet, Spike. Let's see if it can understand us," the equine with the purple star patch whispered back to her quivering companion. The strange white suited creature cautiously approached Danny, and began to speak to him.

"G-greetings! I'm Twilight Sparkle, from the land of Equestria! H-have you seen our friend? She looks a lot like us, but she's more yellow," She was practically shivering in fear, struggling to make herself heard to Danny. Danny still just stood awestruck by what he thought he was seeing while the horse attempted her first contact.

Twilight noticed the silver rectangle in his palm and tried to be friendly; if it even knew what that meant. "What's that in your, uh, claw thing?" Twilight could've asked Fluttershy what they were called, but she's a little bit too dead right now. Danny looked back at Matt's phone and gasped in fear; his eyes bugged wide in terror. The video of Fluttershy getting gutted like a fish was still on display.

"Oh, fuck," Danny clicked the phone off and blurted without thinking, "No, I- I haven't seen Fluttershy anywhere," Danny immediately recognized his mistake, and his stomach dropped.

"Oh, that's oka- wait, how did you know her name was Fluttershy?" Twilight asked hopefully.

"Fuck," Danny muttered to himself. He could feel his legs revving up and his guts floating light as air as his fight or flight response kicked in. Danny chose 'flight' and turned on the ball of his foot in the other direction, using it to kick off his sprint.

"Fuckfuckfuckfuckfuckfuckfuckfuckfuckfuckfuck!" He panted to himself in intervals as he dashed at top speed back to the dissection room, gripping Matt's phone tightly in his fist as they swung.

"Wait! What do you know about her!? Have you seen her!? Answer me!" Twilight and company started sprinting in persuit. He knew something about Fluttershy, and whatever it was it wasn't good; maybe even worse than death. The rest of her skeleton crew in tow, Applejack tried to convince Danny to slow down mid-gallop.

"It's okay! We ain't gonna hurt'cha! We just wanna talk!" Danny didn't slow down; he kept up his sprint to the doors of the dissection room. Rainbow Dash was about to take off and tackle him to the ground for answers, but Twilight stopped her.

"Are you crazy?! You're gonna get yourself killed!" Danny overheard this, but ignored it. It wasn't really that high on his list right now; running away from the mane 5 was.

The horses were gaining on him just as he was closing in on the door. He tiptoed and leaned his centre of mass back to slow down as fast as he could; trying desperately not to overshoot the door. The interlopers were just a few feet behind him as he flung open the door, propelled himself inside, and back closed again, locking it just as Twilight tried twisting the knob. Danny pressed his back against the door, keeping it shut.

"Jesus, Danny! Where's the fire?" Matt asked surprised, and a little sarcastic. Twilight interrupted Danny's answer.

"It's okay! We just want to know where she is! We're not going to hurt you!" She shouted through the thick wooden door as the knob jiggled again.

"Is that-"

"Yep! All five!"

"Jesus Christ," It took a moment for everyone to process this new information, but Matt finally whipped everyone in gear. "Cover the body for God's sake! Mark, hide those organs! Danny, keep recording! This is awesome stuff!"

Everyone did as they were told with haste. Mark carted the glass jars to the far corner of the room, Matt covered the butchered Fluttershy with a white sheet, Andrew packed up the tools and hid them under Fluttershy's table, Danny clicked on Matt's phone and started the Camera app, swiped it to the video mode, and began recording the door and all the sounds from the other side. It wasn't a perfect plan, but it was the best one he could come up with in literally two seconds.

"Please?! We're really desperate!" Twilight pleaded, trying to make herself heard over the ruckus.

"That's it! I'm buckin' down this here door and askin' 'em myself!" Applejack announced. She spun around, reared on her front legs, winded up, and bucked as hard as she could at the door with a grunt. The door curved in and split halfway down the middle from the force of her buck with the loud, crunching KRACK! of splitting wood.

"Applejack, stop!" Twilight shouted at her in vain. She knew that using earth pony strength meant using magic. Applejack was wasting what little she had left bucking down a door. It was no use trying to stop her; she winded up for another strike.

"Fucking hell!" Matt yelled in the commotion. Applejack thrusted her hooves at the centre of the door, blasting it in twain with another loud KRACK!, sending splinters of wood flying into the room. Everyone inside shielded themselves from the blast of kinetic energy and shards of door while the dust was settling.

"Alright 'cha bunch a yellow-bellies, where's Fluttershy!?" Applejack trotted hastily into the room with a scowl upon her face, followed by the rest.

Twilight took a moment to analyze the surroundings: the steel tables, the kits of surgical instruments, the rubber gloves on their hands, and the white sheet covering something in the middle of the room. Slowly it dawned on her why Danny was running. He was hiding something grisly.

"What's under the sheet?!" She yelled at the group of dazed humans.

"Nothing!" Danny yelled right back.

"We were just doing an autopsy, it's nothing unsavoury!" Matt defended.

"Is that so?" Twilight trotted to the table.

"No, stop!" Matt tried to halt her investigation.

"Why? Is there something I shouldn't see?" Everyone in the room stood still in dread as the pony trotted cautiously to her mangled friend with the rest of her crew hanging back at the door.

Twilight was just at the edge of the table. She already knew what was under the sheet. The pink tail drooping down from the cover and coiling up on the floor was a dead giveaway.

"Is that?" Spike asked nervously from across the room. Twilight paused for a moment, contemplating whether or not to uncover it.

"You said you were doing an autopsy?" Twilight asked the group of petrified humans. None of them responded. Twilight finally made her decision.

"Okay, here we go," She said as she nervously yanked off the sheet, blowing them off their hooves with vanilla -- even through the filters on their backs -- causing Twilight to turn her head away from the corpse before she could even get a look at it.

"Ugh! What's that smell!" Pinkie blurted.

"It's the smell of death," Twilight answered grimly.

"That's what death smells like? It smells so good!" Pinkie expressed. Twilight shrugged off the disturbing comment and turned her head to the table, and immediately fainted.

"Twilight?!" Rarity galloped to Twilight's position, saw what was left of Fluttershy, and fainted right on top of Twilight.

"What the hay is going on over there?" Applejack trotted over to reconnect with her long lost friend and gazed down at her butchered corpse. "Oh, ugh, oh, that's, uh, urmph!" Applejack heaved in her plastic mask, sploshing it with mushed up apples spewing from her mouth. The bitter acidity biting at her tongue was a stark contrast to the saccharine taunt of vanilla.

"What's going on over there?" Pinkie asked curiously, cautiously trotting over to the crime scene. Rainbow held out a hoof to stop her in her tracks.

"Wait, Pinkie. Uh, maybe I should check it out first," Rainbow Dash cantered to the corpse and stared down at it with wide eyes. She was shocked at first, but that shock turned to sadness and a sickness of the stomach, and then anger.

"What is it?" Pinkie asked from across the room. Rainbow turned to Pinkie and yelled:

"Nothing you want to see! Just ... stay back there!" She knows that Pinkie would never be able to recover after seeing a sight as grisly as this, but Pinkie remained curious.

"Is it Fluttershy?"

"Uh, yeah. It's really bad. Don't look at it," Rainbow re-covered Fluttershy's butchered corpse with the sheet. Gradually, hate built up in her system. Fluttershy was the weakest of the group, and her longest friend, so Rainbow felt the incredible urge to avenge her. She was the element of loyalty, and she would live up to that title with gusto.

"How dare you!? Kill and butcher her for some ... science experiment?!" She screamed at the pinheads across from her, seething with rage. Rainbow revved up for a full cavalry charge.

"She was dead when we found her!" Matt yelled back.

"Yeah, well, you still cut her up, you pinheads!" Rainbow rebutted their claim to innocence.

"Who you callin' pinhead?" Danny asked in a challenging tone.

"Shut up! I'm gonna press you into jerk cider for this!" Twilight was regaining consciousness just as Rainbow propelled herself at top speed at the group of humans; her eyes shut and teeth clenched.

"Nyaa!" The startled group of med students collectively yelped and hopped out of the way of the charging bull of a pegasus. Rainbow Dash didn't stop running. Her eyes were shut as she bashed headfirst into the drywall, her head going straight through.

"Urgh!" She struggled to pull herself out of the wall, but she was having some trouble. Twilight regained her hoofing -- close to vomiting herself -- and stumbled back to the corpse. She tried to nudge the sheet under Fluttershy, trying to wrap her up like a Flutterito.

She muttered weakly: "Applejack. Help me lift her," Applejack's stomach was almost done convulsing the Applejack brand apple sauce out of her GI tract; she was crumpled on the floor as she finished. Eventually the farm-pony stood back up and wrapped her hooves around the corpse when she was done heaving the chyme out of her stomach. The vomit pooled down her front legs as she rose upright; soaking them in vile while breathing heavily. The foul scent of vomit nipped at her nose-hairs as she began to feel weak.

The vomit was leaking out of a tiny tear in her suit.

"A'ight, just, hrrngh! Just gimme a second," Applejack dug her hooves under Fluttershy, ready to carry her out back to her home world.

Twilight looked around for an available mare. "Pinkie, no, Spike. Find the organs," she asked the lizard in a weak daze.

"What? Oh, uh, alright," Spike scanned the room for any jars or any vessels that could hold butchered organs in. The very implication of Twilight's request made his stomach churn, but he eventually found a trolley with some full looking jars cleverly hidden in the corner of the room and dashed to them as fast as his little legs could carry.

Matt was finished giggling at Rainbow's hilarious blunder after hearing the pitter-patter of spike's feet running across the linoleum tiles. He snapped his attention to the source of the sprinting and snapped into action.

"Hey! You can't take those!" Matt ran to the trolley, intercepting the purple-green thief and grabbing the jars containing her lungs and stomach before he could. "Off limits!" Matt tried to run to the door and make his escape, but Pinkie tackled him down to the floor before he could.

"Oh no you don't!" The ball of furry pink knocked the wind right out of him. Matt fell down on his back; the jars sent crashing to the floor in front of him, spilling broken glass and preserving fluid all over the floor. The organs slid like a melting block of ice across the ground, slipping around to who knows where.

Rarity was regaining consciousness now. She was used to fainting -- if only for the sake of drama -- so she recovered quickly to see her pink friend in a struggle with one of the locals.

"Don't worry Pinkie! I'm coming!" She got up and galloped to her position.

"Grab the organs!"

"What?" Rarity asked confused as she slipped on Fluttershy's lungs mid gallop. She flew backwards into the air and slammed down on the floor on her back with an "Oof!" Rarity rolled back to her hooves and got up. When she did she saw what Pinkie was asking her to do, and what she slipped on. "UuueeeEEEW!" She sucked up her disgust quickly. She had to grab these or else there was no chance of bringing Fluttershy back to life, so she used her hooves to scoop up the lungs and stomach, cringing and almost throwing up the whole time. She'd love to use her magic, but she didn't want to kill herself trying to revive a dead pony. The living came first.

"Urgh! Get offa me!" Matt grunted as he overpowered Pinkie's pinning maneuver; lifting himself up to his feet. He saw rarity scrunching her nose, eyes shut tight, as she was scooping up Fluttershy's insides timidly. Matt didn't mind getting up close and personal to innards, so he snatched them right out of her grasp.

"Hey! Those were ours!" Rarity yelled.

"Finder's keepers!" That's when Rainbow Dash escaped from her makeshift prison and shook off the bits of drywall from her coat. Mark, Andrew, and Danny stepped back and out of her direct field of vision. Danny made sure to record every single moment. She was readying herself for another attack, and Matt being the only target in her immediate vision, chose him.

"Alright you barrel of horseapples! Time to bring the pain!" She was about to start her second charge when Mark and Andy piled on top of her while Danny recorded it.

"Hey! Hands off!" Rainbow yelled with rage. She bucked and bucked, but the two humans stayed firm, clenching the folds of her suit to keep themselves from getting flung off.

"Get outta here, Matt! Run to ... uh, a scientist or something!" Mark commanded. Matt sprinted to the door following the wise guidance of his friends when Pinkie charged at Matt once more.

"Hey, get back here! We need those!" She said as she was gaining on him.

"Why? She's already dead!" Pinkie leaped into the air -- arms and legs wide -- and landed right on top of him again, knocking him to the ground with another "Umph!"

"We need them or else we can't bring her back to life! Have you tried eating without a stomach? Or breathing without lungs? I haven't!"

"What are you talking about?!" Matt rolled onto his tummy, tucking Fluttershy's insides under him just as Pinkie reached for them.

"I just told you, silly!"

"Whatever!"

Twilight and Applejack were just about ready to carry Fluttershy's body back to the TARDIS; the pungent carcass was now wrapped in her own Shroud of Flutter when Applejack collapsed from weakness, dropping Fluttershy back down on the table.

"Urgh!" Applejack grunted as her face met the floor. A terrible pain was starting to grip at her chest as she clutched at her heart. Twilight pretty much totally regained her bearings after fainting to notice this and take action.

"Applejack! What's wrong?!" She asked.

"It's, urgh! It's my chest!" Applejack moaned in choked gasps, lying on the ground in pain as tongues of darkness licked the corners of her vision. Twilight scanned her body for any evidence of damage, and to her horror she found a pool of vomit leaking out of Applejack's leg, gushing out a bit of vomit with each convulsion she made.

Her suit was compromised.

"Oh, sweet Celestia," She muttered under her breath. She had to get back to the TARDIS. Fast. She searched the room for another available pony. Pinkie was busy batting her hooves at Matt's sides trying to get him to turn over, Spike was too small to carry her, Rarity was, uh, crying? But what about,

"Rainbow Dash!" She shouted to her friend. She was still busy bucking off the stubborn humans while one pointed his aluminum rectangle at them from afar. She stopped bucking and snapped her attention to Twilight, then to Applejack, and knew something was wrong.

"Get Applejack back to Time Turner as fast as you can!"

"You got it!" Her momentary rest let the two young men on her back ease up their grip just enough for her to take them by surprise and escape, sprinting out of their grasp like a greased hog. "Don't worry Applejack! I'm comin'!" She shouted as she scooped up her limp person with her outstretched wing and flung her on her back. "Hold on, Applejack!" She encouraged with determined loyalty. She galloped as fast as she could out the door and followed the glimmering star that led them there back to the TARDIS. She'd get the Doctor. He'd know what to do. Now that Applejack is in serious condition, Fluttershy has been retrieved, and the locals being less than cooperative, it was time to get the buck out of here.

"Rarity! Stop crying and get over here!" Twilight commanded. She was still propping up her side of Fluttershy with her hooves.

"What?" Rarity sniffled to Twilight, confused.

"I said get'cher flank over here and help me carry Fluttershy!" Twilight commanded. This was not the prime time for her drama right now.

Rarity sniffed and got up on her hooves, "Alright, I'm coming!" She trotted back to the corpse to assist Twilight. She dug her hooves under her side of the body, taking comfort that she was at least wrapped in a sheet, and lifted her up with a grunt.

"Hrrng!" They both emoted as they lifted their fluttery friend off the table and stood up on their hind legs. They trotted off to the door with haste, careful not to let the corpse fall out of their weak grips. Twilight called spike back to her side,

"Spike, stop whatever you're doing and get over here! We're going right now!" Twilight and Rarity were halfway to the door -- trotting as quickly as they could -- when Mark and Andrew tried to make a motion to stop them, unsure if they even should, when Danny stopped them with a sympathetic gaze and an outstretched arm.

Danny raised Matt's phone to keep recording. It worked, they both agreed to let them have her. Pinkie was now trying to lift Matt from his side, attempting to roll him over like a turtle, but every time she did, he just rolled right back over again. Twilight and Rarity stopped at Pinkie's position.

"Pinkie! C'mon! We have to go, like NOW!"

"But we can't leave without her stuff! Oh, c'mon! Give 'em up already!"

"Never!" Matt shot up from the floor, caught Pinkie off guard, and dashed to the door. Pinkie followed suit, and so did Twilight and Rarity. Danny ran after them to keep recording and Mark and Andy just followed to see where this'd go. Matt sprinted down the hallway past the bathrooms and took a right at the intersection at the end of the hall to make a speedy escape out the fire exit. It's too bad that the TARDIS was parked right in front of it.

Rainbow Dash had taken off her cumbersome suit and the Doctor was standing over Applejack, administering some kind of medical treatment. Both were clearly visible through the open doors. They were only a few feet in. They were standing above Applejack, who was lying on the ground unconscious with a medical-looking device hooked up to her. Her suit has been removed as well as Rainbow's.

Rainbow's hoof comforted her cheek as she slept, worry and sorrow sinking into her, until she heard something from out of the TARDIS. She tilted her head out the doors and her eyes grew wide with surprise at who was there. She saw Fluttershy's organs in his arms as he ran. Matt realized who was in the TARDIS, and he promptly spun on the ball of his foot 180 degrees and sprinted away from the enraged sky-blue mare to find another way out.

Dashie's face quickly scowled in anger as she rose from Applejack's injured body, and got ready to brawl. Full bore. "Hey! Get back here and fight like a stallion!"

"No!"

She chuckled to herself at the challenge, "You're on!" Rainbow flared her wings and bolted out the door, leaving a rainbow trail behind her and taking the Doctor off guard before he could warn her about the lack of magic. She knew about the risks, but what mattered to her right now was taking back what was theirs, grinning the whole while. Her bull rush was funnelled by the tight hallways leading directly to her target. She closed in on Matt. There wasn't any chance of barging into any walls this time.

"Eeep!" Matt shrieked as Rainbow Dash lurched her head at his legs and bit his leg, pulling him off balance, "Urgh!" He emoted as Rainbow tugged at his pant leg, sending him plunging to the floor face down, causing Fluttershy's insides to fly through the air.

Rainbow gasped as she jumped into the air, catching them before they even fell to the floor. "See ya!" Rainbow wasn't even feeling anything wrong, but chose not to test her luck. She booked it as fast as she could back to safety in the TARDIS. Pinkie, Twilight, and Rarity were just coming up around the corner. Pinkie had her nose pressed against the floor in front of them; sniffing vigorously for Matt's scent.

"Pinkie, that's not going to work. You've even still got your mask on," Twilight said.

"No wait! I think I'm getting something!" Pinkie turned to her left, and bumped her forehead into the wall. "Ouch!" Pinkie rose from the floor, nursing her head with her hoof and looked around. "Where'd he go!?" She exclaimed. She turned her head around to find Matt down the hall, resting on his back, seeing stars. "Ah ha! Found you!" Pinkie ran to her target, leaped into the air, her hooves splayed out to her sides, and landed right on Matt's chest.

"Hoogh!" Matt grunted.

"Where'd you hide 'em?" Pinkie pressed.

"Rainbow Dash took them, you prick!"

"Oh, okay!" Pinkie leaped off his collapsed body and hopped back to Twilight and Rarity as they were entering the TARDIS with Fluttershy's body still carried by their front hooves.

Twilight groaned as she dropped Fluttershy to the ground, the body making a thud noise when it hit the steel floor.

"Oh, thank goodness that's over!" Rarity exclaimed. "Now let's head home!"

"Wait! How's Applejack?" Twilight asked.

"Oh, she'll be just fine. Just extreme tachycardia and some minor outrageous vasoconstriction is all," He explained, his voice dripping with blasé.

"Well, at least she's alright, right?" Twilight asked in concern, staring at the orange lump lying on the floor.

"Right."

"Let's go home, gang! We've got a friend to reanimate!" Pinkie encouraged. Twilight hoped to Celestia that she had a book she somehow didn't know about that could actually bring somepony back from the dead. "Let's get a hoof on!" Pinkie exclaimed with her hoof in the air.

"Right!" The Doctor trotted to the control panel and began flipping levers, turning cranks, and spinning flywheels as the TARDIS revved up. It screeched and whirred in intervals. After about 10 seconds, the ear bleeding grinding stopped as the TARDIS finished its interdimensional journey with a thud.

"Alright, everypony!" Twilight exclaimed as she levitated Applejack, Fluttershy, and her organs off the floor and out of the TARDIS. The rest of her friends followed suit out the double doors, when Twilight was greeted by an extremely peeved Starlight Glimmer.

----------

"I can't believe we lost the whole thing," Matt whined. They were back in the dissection room cleaning up and putting away the stuff they took out for the dissection that only just got started with. "We had the world's greatest treasure in our hands, we were literally in it! And then some horses in a TARDIS just shanghaied it from us!"

"They didn't shanghai us into anything, they just stole her," Andy corrected.

"Whatever! You know what I mean. She's gone, with nary a stomach nor lung to our name," he continued his woes.

"Uh, are you forgetting something?" Mark questioned.

"What?" Mark asked frustrated. In response, Danny held out Matt's phone, "This, the tooth and feather in your pocket, and the jar of black stomach slime to be exact. There's also some of Applejack's puke on the floor if you feel like mopping that up."

A grin crept its way across Matt's face. An Idea popped in his head as he remembered the last stage of the plan. He grabbed the jar of vile gut fluid and jogged to the door.

"Hey, where are you going?" Mark asked.

"I've got to upload one helluva YouTube video!"

Chapter 12: The Revenant

"Okay, now let her down gently," Twilight commanded to her friends as she was double checking the spellbook. Applejack and Rainbow dash were lowering Fluttershy's body down on the Cutie Map, the exact centre of the pentagram she painted. Unfortunately -- while they were lowering her -- Applejack's hoof slipped under Fluttershy's head which sent her skull crashing down on the map, right on top of Arimaspi territory, causing a loud thump to reverberate throughout the throne room. Twilight looked up from her book to shoot a peeved look at Applejack.

"Sorry!" She excused; her face scrunched slightly in embarrassment.

Twilight sighed, "It's okay," and went back to reading.

The pentagram was located in the dome like throne room of Twilight's castle, acting as the circle encasing the pagan symbol; it was massive to say the least. The lines passed in-between the crystal thrones and painted over the slick diamond floors with blood. They collectively converged on the Cutie Map, trapping it in a pentagon with Fluttershy's corpse laying on her back on the centre with her head pointed to the centre of the two bottom spikes of the star. Her innards, chest, leg, and belly were sewn back into their proper places by Rarity's handiwork, much to her displeasure. There were two empty buckets of blood in the corner by the door, but Twilight opted instead to call it 'Deep Crimson' paint.

"Is this good?" Rainbow asked. The initial shock of seeing her friend in such a state has long ago worn off, as it has for everypony else. Twilight looked up from her book and inspected the arrangement; she noticed that it wasn't good.

"No, she's upside down," Her horn lit up and encased Fluttershy in purple sparkles, lifting her off the ground and spinning her 180 degrees to the proper position, and plopped her onto the cold hard crystal with a thump. "Unless we want to summon every single monster trapped in all of tartarus, the pentagram has to be right side up," she warned.

"Aight," Applejack acknowledged.

"Okay, we're almost ready to begin the ritual," Twilight announced. She picked up her book with her magic and flipped the pages in her book until she came to a page entirely covered in Latin chants. She dropped her open copy of 'Supernaturals' on the table next to Fluttershy's winking face; a shiver ran down her spine. Even though they got used to the overpowering stench of vanilla and looking at her insides before Rarity sewed it back together, that wink still gave Twilight the chills. Rarity refused to touch it when she was sewing her up, so it just kept staring at any unfortunate soul to look upon it. "Okay everypony, stand on a point in the pentagram," She commanded. Twilight trotted to the top spike of the controversial symbol while Applejack and Rainbow Dash took the bottom two with Rarity and Pinkie Pie taking the sides.

"Uh, Twilight? This seems pretty weird," Rainbow expressed with skeptic, nervous eyes. "I mean, I'm not nervous or anything, but this seems a little ... "

"Anti-Celestial?" Twilight finished her sentence. "Don't worry, it's all perfectly natural," she reassured. Twilight looked around for a spare bucket of blood. Finding none, she called out, "Spi-ike?" she asked in a sing-song voice, "Can you bring in some more blood?" she shouted out the door. Everypony else's eyes shot open in surprise.

"You mean that wasn't paint?" Applejack asked, but this question went ignored by Twilight.

Spike walked in through the massive doors carrying two full buckets of turkey blood. They had a huge surplus in the dumpster, so Spike just capitalized on that. "Here you go!" He dropped the buckets on the floor next to the Cutie Map, clanking and spattering a few drops on the floor.

"Perfect!" Twilight trotted to the buckets of blood and dipped her hoof in the chunky crimson stew with an excited smile. "We didn't need this much, but thanks anyway!" She thanked her faithful servant kindly. She pulled her hoof out of the bucket -- dripping in maroon red blood -- and brought it to the corpse's face.

She stuck her tongue out and her eye squinted in concentration as she brought it down on her forehead, being extremely careful not to mess it up. She drew an 8 and a = sign directly right of it. After that, she crudely painted a capital D, and to finish, a ~.

"Eight equals D squiggle-line?" Asked Rarity.

"Yes! It's an ancient equation meaning that infinity equals the relative dimension, sort of."

"Sort of?"

"Sort of."

"Uh, why's it on her forehead?" Rainbow asked.

"The book said so, now let's get this ritual started!" Twilight cheered. She trotted back to her point on the star -- her right hoof leaving behind a trail of blood as she trotted -- and announced: "Okay, everypony! Repeat after me! Spike, get out of here!"

"Okay!" Spike jogged out of the room quickly to leave the mares to their questionable activities.

"Alright! Repeat after me!" Twilight levitated the book from the table and read the chant. "42 est decorus."

"42 est decorus."

"42 est frigidulus."

"Educ retro nos amicus Fluttershy."

"Educ retro nos amicus Fluttershy." The chant was finished. Twilight looked around the room, and to Fluttershy. She felt a little bit frustrated when nothing happened.

"What?! Nothing happe-" Twilight's complaint was interrupted by Pinkie.

"Look!" Pinkie pointed her hoof to the ceiling roots. Just under the centre of it was a familiar twinkle, with the accompanying shadowy figure staring through; the same one that guided them through the hallways of the other dimension straight to Fluttershy's corpse. As she was pointing, the crystal floor started rumbling and her hoof shook in the air. She reconnected it to the floor to regain her balance, yet there was none to gain on the shifting diamond.

"What's happening?!" Rarity cried. The rumbling continued developing in strength to an incredible degree. Everypony was slipping and sliding across the floor with frightened faces as the earthquake grew in power. Then, from the centre of room, the pentagon surrounding the Cutie Map started splitting into a trench. Groaning and cracking, seemingly tearing apart from the inside. The trench grew into an abyss in a matter of seconds, the great divide forcing and cracking itself into existence from the bowels of the earth. Cracks of diamond jutting around it in crags, it created a maw of shattered gemstones around the Cutie Map. Once the crack grew about 10 feet in length, the rumbling ceased, leaving 5 shaken mares to recover from the incredible earthquake that created the crystal rift.

"I-is it over?" Rainbow squeaked fearfully. From the depths of the great divide surrounding the howl of wind.

"I don't know," Twilight cocked her head in curious fear after she said this, and trotted to the dark abyss cautiously. The edges of the divide were slightly illuminated with a pure white glow as they were growing in their brightness gradually. Twilight peeked her eyes over the cliff on one of the vertices and was startled as a pure white tentacle of what looked like a tunnel of rushing air screamed its way up the trench with a furious volition.

"Yaa!" Twilight yelped. She jumped back as quick as she could -- landing on her haunches roughly 4 feet from the cliff -- and just in time. The squiggling pillar of pearl white air blasted out of the trench with a loud screech, akin to a hawk's cry, accompanied by 4 other pillars of the same, all converging on the twinkle in the air, latching onto it as if they were magnetic. The ponies were awestruck, their mouths gaping and mane blown back from the force of this awesome power rushing into the guiding light. To the amazement of everypony, the twinkle grew. Cracking and spider-webbing like breaking glass. The spark grew in size. The shadowy figure became clearly visible now, and it took form into some kind of pony. It was a wobbly, shifting image, but it was still recognizable. As the very air itself cracked and fractured, the shadow pony was clear as crystal.

"Fluttershy!?" Twilight shouted in surprise through the cries of the wind, her mane blowing wildly as the ribbons of light pulsed into the twinkle. The figure seemed to recognize that name. It turned its head to Twilight and waved enthusiastically. The shimmering cracks didn't look like they could take much more before the whole facade crumbled, and that's when they did. The twinkling around the shadow erupted into a shower of sparks, freeing the shadow out of its cage. The glittering shrapnel seemed to dissolve in midair, leaving only an ominous ghost floating near the ceiling. The winds stopped flowing out of the trench and instead they swirled around, seemingly searching for something. The ponies gawked at the display, craning their necks to the ceiling with their rumps plopped firmly to the ground.

One of the snakes of light snaked to a stop near the ghost, seemingly sniffing it. The shadow cowered in fear. Bringing its hooves up to its face and swung in its hind legs to its tummy, curling into a ball. That didn't stop the pillar from its job. It latched itself onto her skull, snapping it out of the fetal position. The ghost of Fluttershy flailed her entire body, trying to dislodge the snake from her head with her hooves, yet it was fruitless. Her hooves just passed through it as if they were nothing. The other ribbons of wind locked onto the first one's position, snapping their 'heads' to the ghost. Two ribbons latched themselves onto her front hooves and tugged them tightly outwards. Fluttershy struggled even harder now. Kicking furiously at the two ribbons locking onto her hind legs. They didn't even flinch as the shadowy hooves passed through them harmlessly. They latched onto them with ease, pulling Fluttershy's ghost tight in opposite directions. As if she were just about to be drawn and quartered.

The other ends of the tentacles had no trouble detecting her bodily form. The tentacles connected to their respective limbs like magnets snapping to iron; locking tightly into place. The one connected to her head split into three at its tail end and snapped to her eyes and mouth. The closed eye shot open in a flash as the snake of light connected to it. Fluttershy's corpse slowly lifted off the ground, pulled up like a puppet by its strings. Darkness started flowing through the ribbons of light like a pipe pumping oil while the ghost seemed to shrink in the air. As the darkness flowed and Flutterghost shrunk, the stitches Rarity used to seal up Fluttershy dissolved as if a wave of healing were passing over her, vaporizing any trace of damage she had in her previous life. The suggestive markings on her teats vanished as the wave passed through her body, as well. The ghost was rapidly shrivelling up as the snakes of light gorged themselves furiously. After a few moments the ghost was totally dissolved, pumped back into her body by the snakes, merging into one as they finished. The corpse was still unmoving, dead.

The ribbons of life lowered Fluttershy back down to the crystal table softly. They unhooked themselves from her appendages and snaked to the respective corners they came from, the centre of their merge hovering directly over Fluttershy's heart. The ribbons flowed back into the abyss much more peacefully this time, like a peaceful river flowing downstream, causing their merge to drop down on her chest, urging the body alive. The ground shifted and rumbled back to its original form once the ribbons left, leaving almost no trace of the awesome event, except a gasping Fluttershy.

Fluttershy laid on the cold hard map, panting for several minutes while the entire group just stared at her, eyes bugged wide and jaws practically hitting the floor. Fluttershy stopped panting after she finally got her bearings and sat up on the map, looking at her hooves and body curiously and with an incredible sense of joy. Her gaze shifted to her teats when she noticed the marks she made during her 'happy time' were gone.

She sighed in relief that such incriminating evidence was gone. Thinking about her pets made her remember something crucial. She gasped again. "My animals!" she screamed in utter terror, her eyes exploded in shock and her smile of joy all but gone, replaced by a face of pure terror. She shot off the table and bolted out the door as fast as she could to her cottage, pumping her wings as hard as they could go, leaving the awestruck ponies to themselves, still staring at the table.

Spike was walking back to the throne room to ask if the ritual was a success when he saw Fluttershy bolting down the halls at a speed that would give the Wonderbolts a run for their money.

"Fluttershy?!" He asked in surprise.

"NO TIME!" The panicked pegasus yelled as she barged right past him, knocking him off his feet and onto his rump.

"Oof!" Spike grunted as he was knocked to the floor. Fluttershy squeaked as she slid open the front doors and bolted out to her pets. Spike jogged to the throne room to find it exactly the way it was before the ritual. Even the pentagram was missing. He saw Twilight gawking at the cutie map and asked, "Was that really Fluttershy?!"

"Uhuh" She mumbled in response, not even turning her head.

"Why does she have a dick on her forehead?"

Twilight smiled sheepishly.

Chapter 13: Second Zephyr

"C'mon, Fluttershy!" Rainbow Dash was trying to push Fluttershy through the double doors of the TARDIS. Her hooves firmly stationed at each of the corners of the doors, bringing unpleasant flashbacks for Rainbow on the day of the dragon migration.

"Why? To get captured by some scary hairless ape?! NO!" Fluttershy argued at her chromatic oppressor.

"Are you sure you want to miss out on learning about an entirely new ecosystem, chock full of new animals to meet?" Twilight encouraged from the inside of the TARDIS.

"On second thought ... YES!" Fluttershy screamed, face obviously strained from countering Rainbow's strong wings with her measly legs.

"Fluttershy, please! We know so little about this new world and its incredibly intricate ecosystem! You're the perfect one to study it!" Twilight continued.

"Thanks, but, no thanks!" She squeaked, her eyes firmly shut. Grunting with incredible effort to counteract Rainbow's attempts at pushing her through.

"Come on, Fluttershy! We brought you back from the dead, it's the least you could do! You owe us!" Rainbow Dash argued, frustrated at her ungrateful welt of a friend.

Fluttershy's expression melted from fearful coward to one of anger, eyes squinting and mouth frowning in utter fury. "I said ... NO!" Fluttershy let herself get thrown in the TARDIS then took to the sky, revving up for a good bucking before she made her escape until she was captured in Twilight's field of magic.

"Oh no, you don't!" She exclaimed. Twilight hogtied the cowardly pegasus in her magic and brought her to the ground. Her field keeping her in the air disappeared, but the sparkling bindings on her hooves and wings remained, keeping her restrained. Fluttershy did not like that one bit. She growled in rage, grinding her teeth and thrashed wildly on the ground in a fruitless attempt at escape.

"Be still, Fluttershy! Doc, fire up the TARDIS!" Twilight commanded, keeping a careful eye on Fluttershy's struggles. "Are you coming, Rainbow?" Twilight asked over the growls and groans of Fluttershy to Rainbow, who was still just at the entrance of the TARDIS. the Doctor was contemplating on whether or not he should obey the princess' demands. His eyes shifted to empathy at the conflict the revenant on the floor was having, but who could disobey a direct order from royalty?

"Nah, they need me at Wonderbolt headquarters," she excused. "Hope it goes well with her," Rainbow wished to Twilight, gesturing a hoof to the squirming Fluttershy. She took off out of the Doctor's laboratory and into the clouds, leaving a desperately struggling Fluttershy flopping on the floor like a dying fish. The Doctor was morally conflicted. To see Fluttershy's best friends be so blasé about her struggle and how they just tied her up and threw her into this mission she never wanted to go on angered him. When he abducted people to go on adventures he always made sure they were at least consenting. Was this what it was like when he dismissed their woes with such apathy? When he treated Applejack's deathly heart condition so lightheartedly? He hovered his hoof over the lever ever since the princess commanded a few moments ago, yet dared not pull.

"It's no use, Fluttershy. Here, put this on," Twilight levitated a gold diamond necklace to Fluttershy. "It'll protect you from the magic vacuum," she explained. She slipped the necklace over her head for her, it was no easy task with a head that mobile. Fluttershy stopped trying to struggle her way out in a matter of minutes while Twilight and the Doctor watched her burn through her oil in suspicion and conflict respectively as Fluttershy kicked and thrashed the last of her fuel away and laid curled on the floor, depleted of her fighting vigour. She faced away from the Doctor and Twilight and to the wall in crushing defeat and dread, panting like mad. Twilight trotted over to her friend's aid within a few minutes after she had some time to cool off. She trotted across the clanking steel floor and knelt down.

"Hey, there's nothing to be afraid of. The girls and I have explored here plenty of times, and we're okay," Twilight comforted, a little bit nervous of a surprise attack.

Unsurprisingly, she didn't answer. She just seemed content with having a staring contest with the floor. "Okay, well you think about it. I'll just be waiting over by the Doctor if you want to talk," Twilight got up from the floor and trotted back to the control panel next to the Doctor. As she walked, Fluttershy rolled over to turn to Twilight, head flopped on the floor and mane tangled and messy, her legs still tied up in the most uncomfortable of manners. She whined softly to Twilight with a nervous frown and huge eyes,

"I'm still scared," she squeaked, quiet as a mouse. Twilight turned her head to face Fluttershy with sympathy, even though the answer was painfully obvious. Twilight trotted back to the mess of a Fluttershy to give her some more encouragement.

"I know that what you went through was hard. Nopony should ever have to go through what you did. Harry eating almost all of your animals in your absence when we forgot to call a sitter, watching your own autopsy, dying in one of the most unheard of and horrible ways ever known to ponykind, having a crude depiction of a penis stained on your forehead for weeks and weeks on end, no matter how much you washed," she trailed off.

"Thanks for reminding me," Fluttershy answered sarcastically, turning away from Twilight and back to facing the ground, rolling to her other side.

"But we still need your help. There's an entirely new world out there teeming with life. None of us have the same level of expertise as you do with animals, and we can't go any further into researching this world's vastly complex ecosystem until we do. Aside from the Everfree, It's the first one we know of that has the ability to operate entirely on its own. It confuses us, and you're the best shot we have of understanding it," Twilight encouraged in a soft, gentle tone. "Well, you keep thinking about it," she finished. She laid a hoof on Fluttershy like an alien touching down on another planet, attempting some level of comfort, but failing. Twilight wished Applejack was here. She always knows how to give a pep talk. Twilight trotted towards the Doctor when Fluttershy spoke up, turning to face Twilight,

"Okay, I'll go," Fluttershy finally said in a tone weak as thin, brittle glass. Fluttershy couldn't leave her friends hanging. Rainbow was right. She died for her foolishness and it was their combined effort that undid it. The least she could do is meet a few animals. Twilight turned to her and smiled softly, then turned to the Doctor.

"Okay, let's go," Twilight replied in an encouraging, yet soft tone. She turned to the Doctor, "Somewhere pretty, please," the Doctor did as he was asked and flung the knobs and switches, but with a confused expression. The transportation of the vessel caused the entire structure to rumble once more, as it has hundreds of thousands of times. It stopped moments later at their destination as the screaming of the Doctor's device slowed to a stop. Twilight trotted to the door and pulled it open with magic. "You ready, Fluttershy?" Twilight unbound Fluttershy from her magical shackles. She rose to her hooves, fixed her mane, and turned to Twilight. She walked to the door slowly and nervously. Her necklace swinging like a pendulum around her neck, shivering in fear. Sunlight poured in through the door, a portal to a beautiful realm of pristine wilderness. Twilight walked out casually and waited beside the door, leaning on the TARDIS to wait for Fluttershy. She let the poor mare take her time to face her fears. Again.

Fluttershy shut her eyes tight as she tiptoed next to the door, the warm summer air breezing past her coat and the soothing sunlight seeping through her eyelids. "Okay, here I go," Fluttershy squeaked, her voice quivering with fear. She remembered a tactic for facing her fears Pinkie taught her a few years ago and repeated it as best she could by memory.

"A hop," She jumped on all fours, crouching down to the floor just before the door, eyes shut.

"Skip," She leant on her front legs, lifting her hind ones in the air like she was rearing up for a buck, but brought them down; kicking her off into the air a few feet forward and through the door, the smells of summer breezing into her nostrils as her face zoomed to the ground.

"Oof!" She face-planted head first on the grass. Twilight snapped her attention from the incredible scenery to Fluttershy's crumpled form, her hind legs dangling in the air.

"Fluttershy! Are you okay?" Twilight offered a hoof to Fluttershy.

"I guess I forgot to jump," She answered sheepishly with a little smile. Twilight giggled as Fluttershy took her hoof and used it to push herself up, opening her eyes to a fantastic world.

Fluttershy's pupils exploded in excitement and beauty, taking in as much of the crystal blue lake perfectly reflecting the majestic rocky mountains like an aquamarine mirror. Seemingly billions upon billions of towering evergreens shrouded the land below like grass blades. She plopped on her haunches, taking as much of the godly pure sight as her retinas could ever manage as the warm beams of alien sun soaked in her skin. Her mouth was cracked open in pure joy, curling into a smile of wonder. Her eyes twinkled in amazement.

"Well, what do you think?" Twilight asked, relieved to see that reconnecting her to her love of nature brought her out of some deep cuts in her past, even if just for a little while.

She responded to this question by beaming a smile wide as a mile, not even looking at her when she uttered "It's just magnificent!"

"Do you want to see the animals? They're everywhere around here," Twilight encouraged her even deeper love of animals to flourish. It worked like a charm. Fluttershy turned her head to Twilight, her eyes brimming with excitement, and mouth smiling pearl white teeth in the same. Her very being radiated pure happiness. "I'll take that at a yes," Twilight gestured Fluttershy to follow.

As they scaled down the path, Fluttershy was disappointed at the lack of animals she saw. Hardly a squirrel crossed their path without so much as a glance,

until Fluttershy saw something on the lake. A canoe dock, to be specific. A pang of anxiety ran through her. "Twilight? Are you sure we're alone here?"

"What do you mean?" Twilight turned to Fluttershy curiously to listen to her evidence. She pointed a hoof at the canoe dock with dreadful eyes. Twilight took notice and tried to calm her nerves.

"Oh, that thing? It's miles away! I wouldn't worry about it," Twilight tried to reassure her, but instead sounded a little dismissive, but it sort of worked. Her face loosened up, but her ears were still twitching on high alert for any humans.

About a mile down their nature walk, Twilight pointed something out, "Look!" she nudged Fluttershy out of her nervous trance causing her to jump, and pointed to a rotting tree to the left of their path about 11 feet in the forest, swarming with bees. "You wanna try working your magic?" Fluttershy was elated to find some kind of fauna besides themselves here. She shot Twilight a smile, and fluttered over to the swarm, practically buzzing with her own excitement.

"Hello! My name's Fluttershy. It's always nice to meet a new swarm," She introduced herself to the prickly pollinators as politely as she could, landing a few feet away from the decaying tree. She felt more at peace and relaxed now that she has some creatures with her. She always felt soothed by them. She could connect with them better than with almost any pony she knew, and in most cases, vice versa. She was right up next to the rotting bark of the tree, face to face with a seething wall of bees, leaning in to hear their response. Finding none, she leaned in a little closer, curiously.

"Hello?" She bent down closer, bringing her muzzle so close to the fuzzy backs of the bees she could almost feel the tickle of their fuzz. She kept waiting for a response with excited, open eyes. After a few seconds, a curious bee crawled on her muzzle, waggling its bottom and sniffing for nectar. Possibly confusing her for a strange variety of moving dandelion. "Oh, hello! What's your name?" She asked her furry acquaintance kindly, however, the sudden shaking and moving of her muzzle as she greeted flung the poor thing around, frightening it considerably, and stung her right on the nose.

"Youch!" Fluttershy jumped back from the swarm a few feet onto her haunches, bringing her hooves up to her nose to nurse her wound. The bee buzzed off and back to the hive to resume its duties, not even giving her a second glance. No bee has never stung Fluttershy before, she was always so kind and considerate to them they never had to. They always at least acknowledged her words with a waggle, but these bees didn't even seem to care she was there. She brushed the stinger off her nose and started to worry, her brows creasing in sadness. "Was it something I said?" she gasped, "Was I too intrusive? I'm sorry!" She apologized to the bees, yet they didn't even acknowledge her. Fluttershy got up off the ground, brushing twigs and leaves off her flanks as Twilight called out to her,

"Is everything okay over there?" Fluttershy turned her head to her.

"Oh, It's nothing. I think I just offended them by accident," Her conscious mind quickly tried to formulate an explanation on the fly, "I don't think I know their language or mannerisms yet," She gestured to the bee swarm. A small welt was beginning to form on the tip of her nose from the sting.

"Okay, well, do you want to move on? There's still a lot of ground to cover! I think I saw a dog or something around here one time, I'm sure he'd be more reasonable!" Twilight encouraged. At that moment, Fluttershy felt nature's call.

"Just a second, I, uh, have to go," She squeaked to Twilight, her cheeks blushing with embarrassment. Her voice volume dampening as she finished her sentence and crouching slightly in shame, shifting her eyes in awkwardness.

"Well, okay, I'll just wait here until you come back," Twilight turned her back while Fluttershy found a place to 'go'.

Fluttershy trotted deeper into the wood, gawking at the forest ceiling as she tried to find a place discreet enough for her tastes. She looked deeper among the trees and found a thick gathering of shrubbery; about one and a half times her height. She glanced back at Twilight and noticed that she travelled quite a ways away from the path, almost out of earshot. She was so enveloped in nature that she didn't even notice. She pushed her front hooves into the bushes, pulling them apart and finding a small clearing in the forest. Just far enough away to feel a good sense of privacy for a pony of her nature, and enough space to swing a dead cat.

She carefully tiptoed into the patch of grass and into the centre of the clearing. Before she went she did a final sweep of privacy around the shrubbery to ensure that no bird, beast, or human would catch her in the act, spinning in circles around the bushes. Once she was satisfied with the privacy of her improvised toilet, she crouched down just slightly and relaxed, sending a stream of pale yellow urine flowing out of her urethra. She still remained on high alert; ears twitching for the slightest stimuli and eyes peeled for the tiniest rustle. She was still on her tiptoes as she urinated, soaking the dirt in it, morphing it into a vile mud below her belly. She spattered her hooves with it just a little with a continuous splashing noise as she doused the ground in urine. She was just finishing up until she heard a rustling in the bushes directly in front of her, causing her to jump and stop prematurely. Her face exploded in red like a tomato as she shook with embarrassment.

"Wh-who's there?" She squeaked through her trembling lips. The rustling continued until the head of a lone grey wolf emerged from out of the bushes. Fluttershy sighed in relief until she heard it growl and saw it bare its teeth. Fluttershy didn't understand why any animal would be angry at her, especially considering her special talent was working with animals and that she had done absolutely nothing to offend it. After a few moments of processing this unheard of event, she concluded that it was just intimidated by a new face in the forest. It just dawned on her that none of these animals have ever seen ponies before, and concluded that the reason why she must feel so alienated is because she was an alien. They felt strange around her. After all, she is technically from an entirely different dimension. In that moment, she was determined to finally give a great first impression.

"you almost done in there?" Twilight screamed into the wood, yet her attempts at communication went totally unnoticed by Fluttershy. She was too enveloped in communicating with her new friend.

"It's okay, little guy," She started. Fluttershy put on her most welcoming smile and sweetest motherly eyes she could and offered a hoof to the dog. All a genuine attempt at friendship in the most universally recognizable way she could manage. A hoof for friendship. But the wolf continued to growl, snarling at the gesture, and continued his prowl out of the bush with his head low to the ground. His intent was clear to almost anyone but herself, an intent Fluttershy never expected with her flawless experience.

"There's no need to be afraid," she tried to calm the poor wolf. She carefully walked towards him, her hoof still offering friendship until it was right in front of the dog's face. The wolf's face wrinkled and scrunched at the buttery appendage jutting in front of his face. Fluttershy raised it over his head to pet him, but the wolf's muzzle tracked its movement over his head, turning his head side to side as it was directly above his head, trying to get a clear view.

Fluttershy brought down her hoof slowly to his head, that's when the wolf struck. His jaws opened wide and snapped at Fluttershy's outstretched hoof, clamping down on it with his incisors with the strength of a bear trap.

Fluttershy winced in pain and inhaled sharply, a tear ran down her cheek from shock. This is the first time in her life that an animal has ever struck her, and it took her by surprise. It took a while to process what was going on, but once the wolf started thrashing it from side to side, sending spurts of blood spattering to the dirt and digging fangs deeper into her flesh, that's when it registered with her. Her face morphed into a terrified expression as she began to choke out a scream.

"Fluttershy? Is everything okay?" Twilight called from the path. She was gone for a while now, and that sent a surge of worry through Twilight. Fluttershy didn't hear her, though. The wolf was too busy ripping her leg to ribbons.

After the initial shock wore off and her arm thoroughly mangled, blood freely flowing out of the wound now, she batted her hoof at the angry dog, hoping to dislodge him from her leg. To her utter terror, with every strike she made, it only increased the wolf's vigour. Fluttershy was starting to panic. She unfurled her wings, hoping to take to the skies to shake off the angry beast in midair, silently screaming with every breath she took.

She pumped her wings, taking to the air quickly. She pumped harder and faster, panting heavily. She knew exactly where to go. "Twilight!" She screamed, her voice choked with tears, making it barely audible to anypony but herself. She was a few feet off the ground now, but she didn't even know where she was. She was deep in the forest, and the path was nothing but a distant memory. She tried shaking off the dog, of which was standing on his hind legs, but his jaw held firm, wriggling and growling furiously. That's when 3 more wolves pounced out of the bushes, launching themselves at Fluttershy's left side, catching her off guard as she was busy with the one on her hoof. She was only about 4 feet off the ground when they struck.

One wolf dug his teeth into her hind leg, his sharp incisors puncturing the soft skin and tough muscle of her hind leg, sparking a new source of pain. Fluttershy's head jerked to her left, squeaking in intense discomfort. She saw the other wolves about to strike, causing her to go into a frenzy of fear. Fluttershy pumped her wings even harder and bucked like wild, causing the wolf to fly backwards behind her while his brothers hooked onto her wing and her other front leg, grinding their fangs into her soft flesh, much to Fluttershy's displeasure. Their combined weight and crippling of one of her wings slowed her ascent significantly, but kicked her into overdrive. Fluttershy screamed bloody murder, bearing a face embodying pure terror. Her good wing flapping almost as fast as a hummingbirds just to stay airborne, yet she was still gaining height faster than she thought she ever could with so much weight.

----------

The wolf barked in pain as he landed on the forest floor. When they sent Gunther to distract it they didn't know it could fly! He rose to his paws, regaining his bearings as quick as he could. The hunt was still on. He snapped his attention to their prey and realized that they were going to eventually lose their catch if he didn't do something quick. It'd eventually shake off his buddies eventually, and when that happens it'll fly away, never to be seen again. It'd be a shame to lose such an incredible, yet strange catch. He wondered what it tasted like. The wolf took a minute to think amidst the growling and screaming. What he needed was a perfect strike. One that'd bring down this strange flying ... deer thing right out of the air. He stared at his prey for a minute, until he noticed two small lumps of something soft and squishy on its underbelly, behind its dangling tail and dangerous legs. They were small, barely noticeable, and definitely hard to hit, but they sure looked sensitive. He finished his plan. He knew exactly where to clamp his jaws to end this hunt for good.

The determined dog charged up for a risky attack. If he was noticed before he struck he'd get bucked, and if he failed it'd shake off his buddies and get away. Despite his pack's best efforts, it was gaining air fast. He had one shot at this. The wolf charged at full speed to the underbelly of the yellow beast until he passed under the tail as it swung like the pendulum of a grandfather clock, acted upon by the uneven flight of the small yellow deer. Mid-sprint, he glanced up at the squishy lumps. They already had a few bite marks on them, but that didn't matter to him. He reared up on his hind legs, and propelled himself up as far as he could, muzzle wide open. It was just enough. He felt one of the furry bulges of fat caress his nose, triggering him to clamp down as hard as he could. The taste of skin and distinct texture of curly hair greeted his taste-buds. As his teeth dug deeper into the bulge of fat, puncturing the skin, the irony taste of hemoglobin overpowered the taste of skin and fur, yet the texture remained. The blood was sweet.

-----<(Literally One Second Earlier)>-----

Fluttershy was trying to flail her front hooves, but the dogs were too heavy. Instead, they swung like pendulums as they thrashed around, desperately trying to bring her down to the ground. She forgot all about getting back to Twilight. All she cared about now was escaping the wolves' fierce death grip and flying to safety, wherever that may be. That goal was severely hindered by the one wolf currently busying himself with breaking every bone in her left wing, leaving her to work with only her right while the other had its delicate hollow bones cracked and snapped under the wolf's jaws. She pumped it harder than ever before, the wing screaming in its own way with tire and pain with the burden of lifting 3 heavy animals and herself, but it worked. She was still gaining air. A pant of relief coming as another one of her screams escaped her mouth, as she was about 11 feet in the air. The wolves seemed to be coming loose, dangling in the air and feeling their jaws lighten in loss of confidence as they realized just how far up they were. She smiled in relief until an incredibly sensitive, intense, and cripplingly powerful pain exploded in her teat.

"Eeeep!" Fluttershy squeaked. Her face exploded in blush and her nose scrunched in indescribable pain, eyes blasting open in shock. The intense agony coming from her privates was a far cry from the pain than what the other 3 wolves were inflicting. This pain was so incredible it caused her natural reflexes to kick in and overpower her fight or flight response. Her hind legs shut in to protect her underbelly, trapping what she felt was a rather cunning furry wolf between her legs, biting like hell at her most sensitive organ. Her right wing instinctively shut closed with a snap, sending her plummeting to the ground face first. She landed on the forest floor with an incredible

THUMP!

Fluttershy's fall landed her right on her front hooves, knocking the wolves off her front legs and dazed the other two, but sending her forehead to slam with force into her own warm piss puddle. The wolves dislodged themselves from Fluttershy in shock, just enough for her to make her escape. She got up to her hooves and tried to fly with her good wing, still with double vision from the impact. She pumped it hard again, gaining a few feet of air, but without the stability of the other or a wolf to keep her balanced, she wobbled in the air and sputtered straight to the ground once more, bashing her head on the soft grass, a deceitful facade to hide the rock-hard dirt underneath. She opted to sprint instead. She wearily got up to her hooves, her head spinning, forelegs crying, and tried to gallop through the bushes she came in. But as she tried to move her hind legs, the same sensitive pain she felt when the wolf bit her roared back to her consciousness as she tried. She yelped in pain and collapsed to the floor, her shredded forelegs stretched out in front of her, and her hind legs outstretched behind her caused her teats to slam down on the dirt, sending the crippling pain coursing again, causing her to yelp in pain once more.

She craned her neck behind her while she was lying on the ground to find the wolves just rising on their feet, wobbling in their own confusion as they tried to regain their bearings. Fluttershy turned her head to the forest shrubbery in front of her and opted to crawl instead, trailing blood behind her in streaks from her mangled legs and fun-bags.

"Somepony, anypony! Help!" She screamed at the top of her lungs into the forest.

"Don't worry! I'm coming!" Twilight charged into the forest long ago to find her. Her extremely familiar screams of terror didn't go unnoticed. She galloped deeper into the forest to aid her panicking friend, yet as she galloped into the pines, hooves clopping loudly on the grass floor, she noticed that the further she travelled the harder it was to find her. Fluttershy's cries of pain were hard to pinpoint in the massive shroud of evergreen. Twilight looked in all directions, desperately trying to find where she might be. Twilight was closer than she thought, but the shrubbery Fluttershy chose to conceal herself was too effective, hiding her crippled form almost perfectly.

"Twilight! Help!" Fluttershy screamed again, the wolves were almost ready for another strike.

"Where are you?" Twilight spun around the forest, she was desperately thinking of a plan B. The trail she came from was almost out of sight.

"Help!" Fluttershy screamed again, but it was fruitless. It didn't help Twilight find her. It only made Twilight more high-strung, until she remembered the Doctor's tracking device.

"Hold on for just a few minutes, I'm getting the Doctor! Wait here until we come back!" Twilight charged back out to the path, taking to the sky above the evergreens once she left the dense forest. Hovering just above the treetops, she wasn't very subtle. She flew as fast as she could to the TARDIS.

"No! Don't leave me!" It was too late, Twilight was gone and the wolves have all but regained their bearings. They charged at her again. Even though Fluttershy didn't want to see them. She was staring straight as a statue at the bushes in front of her, petrified in fear, yet she could still hear them snarl and their paws pitter-pattering on the muddy blood and piss dirt and grass rang through her ears to her utter dread of what was next to come. Her legs pathetically crawled to the shrubbery, cringing at the pain in her groin and legs. It wasn't enough.

Two wolves grabbed at her hind legs and tugged her to the centre of the clearing. Fluttershy screamed as loud as her lungs could allow, shutting her eyes as hard as she could manage as her limp body was dragged along, her front hooves trailing in front of her head across the ground. The dirt and friction rubbing, grating into the open wound was agonizing, yet she kept her eyes clenched. She didn't want to see what was coming next. Nature was coming next.

The wolves dragged her over tiny puddles of her own blood, staining her coat small streaks of reddish brown until they came to her splotch of urine. Fluttershy was dragged to the centre of it, her stomach lying in the middle of the vile mud. She rolled on her side and curled up into a ball protecting her head, throat, and belly, trying to make herself last as long as she could. But is was of little use. Two wolves clamped down on her sides and rolled her on her back, but Fluttershy responded by bucking as hard as she could in an attempt to take one out in sheer desperation, yet all she hit was air, exposing her privates to the wolves. They had no problem with that.

The same wolf that brought her down knew exactly where to strike. He thrusted his muzzle at her intact teat, just as Fluttershy realized how much she goofed, but it was too late. The wolf ensnared the tiny flesh-bag in his maw, clenching as hard as he could, ripping into the squishy flesh, tugging at it, causing detestable noises of ripping flesh to emanate from her crotch. Fluttershy seized up with intolerable pain, locking her legs extended in the air, exposing her fragile underbelly to the ravenous dogs. They took no time at all to capitalize on this opportunity.

Two wolves thrusted their maws at the flabby, soft flesh of her underbelly. Feeling slightly tough and clenched abdominal muscles on their noses as they dug into the pale yellow flab, ripping it off her skeletal muscles with a bit of effort. Fluttershy screamed in agony, wincing and keeping her eyes glued shut and squirming like mad, each jolt of motion caused the wolf gnawing on her privates to clamp even harder down, sending her into another spell of crippling agony.

While one wolf was trying to keep her in place by biting her weak spot, and the other two already feasting on the belly, her forelegs protected her face, throat, and chest. The fourth wolf wanted to end this quick and stop her squirming for good. He trotted up to Fluttershy's cowering face, which was buried in her own hooves, screaming and sobbing insanely. He leaned down and nipped at her forehead, trying to egg her to come out, but instead got her to sink deeper into her shelter as she squirmed in pain, crying loudly into her hooves. The canine would have none of this. He turned his attention to the ridiculously long mane. He got an idea. he grabbed her long pink mane and tugged, forcefully pulling Flutterturtle's head out of her shell. Her neck was totally exposed and sopping wet eyes pointed directly to the sky, only thinking of the pain, and home.

He had to strike fast, Fluttershy's head was already snapping back into the mild comfort of her hooves, so the wolf did was came naturally. He thrusted his jaws at her neck, but as Fluttershy's face was snapping back into the fetal position, his mouth bit directly on her gigantic eye instead. He clenched his jaws as hard as he could anyway, sending a deluge of blood and vitreous fluid pouring down her cheek, mixing with the tears in a slippery flood. He reeled back from the strike, bringing with him half her eye and her entire eyelid.

Fluttershy screamed a guttural roar of agony. She instinctively bucked her hooves, causing a wave to ripple down her body. Culminating at her teat, which a wolf was clutching. This buck kicked him backwards off of her, but he never let go of her teat. It was at this moment that Fluttershy discovered new levels of pain that she never thought it was possible to feel. The wolf landed on his back about a foot away, gnawing on the fuzzy bag of flesh, pouring blood out of its sensitive capillaries. It had been completely torn off her body, leaving a gushing red spot of pulsing flesh where it used to be, right next to its mangled cousin.

In this incredible, life changing pain erupting like Krakatoa from her crotch, Fluttershy couldn't control herself. She voided her bowels loudly on the ground below her, splattering her flowing tail with a thick stew of brown. Her conscious mind just can't take so much agony and stress, so, she fainted, like she has many times before in her life. Her body went limp, her legs relaxed and dropped to the filthy forest floor, soaked in mud created by her own blood and other fluids. Her eye shut while what was left of the other stayed open, as there was nothing to close, her body relaxed in its natural position on her back. One eye shut while the other remained open in a grotesque, broken wink the wolves had made. Her wings unfurled slightly, the crippled one hinging out like a broken door, feathers ruffled and bloody. her forelegs flopped to their respective sides and hind legs doing the same, spreading wide, revealing her shredded teats, tiny, filthy brown puckered anus and damp pinprick urethra. Her mouth drooped agape, revealing pearl white teeth, yet her fangs were nowhere to be seen. Her head fell back into the dirt, exposing her throat, effectively putting it on display for the ravenous dogs.

The wolf that bit her eye, in the heat of the adrenaline of the hunt, thrusted at her exposed throat. Fluttershy didn't care. She was unconscious and unflinching to the attack. The wolf locked its jaws around her neck, gripping tight, and thrashed at her neck, shaking it vigorously as his brothers continued to feast on her abs. A sickening gurgle sputtered to life in her windpipe as blood poured in from her gushing carotid. The hot, runny crimson fluid spewed from side to side with each thrash of the wolf's jaws. Fluttershy's unconscious body convulsed in pain, the tear in her throat spewing a red mist through her improvised tracheotomy with each attempted gasp and exhale her slumbering body took.

The wolf took her bloody neck in a tighter grip, feeling the hot breath pumping out through the gurgling blood into his maw. With one quick motion, the wolf jerked her neck side to side.

KRACK!

The gurgle of blood stopped, it only flowed now. The involuntary twitches of agony ceased as well.

It was done. The wolves began their feast amidst the cover of the shrubbery. Until they heard a bear's

ROOOAAR!

The wolves jumped up from their fresh kill on alert and paused a moment, still as stones. Once they heard footsteps of what they had to assume was a hungry grisly, they jumped up and opted to scurry away, leaving the mangled and broken remains of an unfortunate pegasus in their wake for the hungry bears to take.

"Woah, that's realistic!"

----------

"Oh, shit! Waddup?" 42 greeted, just as Fluttershy was regaining her bearings in the weightless dimension. Fluttershy opened her eyes, relieved that the pain and terror was finally over. Her limbs, mane, and tail dangled aimlessly in a very familiar fashion. Fluttershy took a moment to process what just happened to her and flicked her eyes in all directions, only seeing blinding white light, and realized where she was.

"Oh, ponyfeathers!"

Chapter 14: One Wolf's Trash

I walked down the wooden pier to my canoe, the dock making the distinct clunking squeaky sound when I tread upon it. It was a warm summer day in Banff National Park. The beams of the sun's life-giving illumination shone onto my face, warming it in the most pleasant fashion. Lake Moraine was everything I hoped it'd be. Beautiful, pristine wilderness.

I came up to my canoe. Cherry red with two paddles stacked messily inside like scissors in the middle. The craft itself bobbed lazily in the lake's low mid-day tide. I swung off my backpack and tossed it in, making a satisfying thumping noise as it smacked into the bow, sending the boat rocking bow to stern subtly. Now it's my turn.

I placed both of my hands on each side of the canoe before I stepped inside, being very careful to walk in the centre line as to not capsize the boat. The canoe wobbled a little as I tiptoed, but my hands slid to keep up with me, keeping me in line. I carefully stepped over the wooden seat and sat on it. I reached forward to the twin paddles in front of me and grabbed the topmost one, bringing it up to my lap and resting it on both sides of the boat. I tilted my neck back for a moment, taking in the beautiful atmosphere of nature in the summertime and a deep breath of fresh air, just glad to escape the drama for a while.

When I posted that video I never knew just how far it'd go. I always just assumed that it'd just be a strange curiosity with most people, or just simply admired as a work of super-genius level special effects to everyone who didn't believe my cries of truth. But nope, it blew up. The first million within a single week was crazy, the hundredth the next was just plain madness. Our video was featured on almost every brony news site multiple times, and even some actual news sites from the sheer popularity of it.

The universal reception was that most people watched it as a dare. It was spread around like that Two Girls one Cup video a few years back. Everyone was recording their reactions to it and putting it up. They were just so infatuated and disturbed at the same time at the incredible realism that it took effort not to gag or click away. Every crease, nook, cranny, and cut was clearly visible in high-def. Everyone felt the action scene after the autopsy was tense and exciting as well, a stark contrast to the alien curiosity and repulsiveness of the autopsy. I have to give Danny some credit, he has some real talent with the camera. But because it was so good and professional-looking, it just made it look even more staged. Overall the video looked so professionally done that even a few special effects companies approached us and asked if we wanted to work with them, we had to decline. We did get invited to be interviewed at a few pony cons, we agreed to those.

I said in the description, the interviewers, and to everyone that approached me, true as blue, that everything was real, that nothing was staged. Nobody took me seriously until a few weeks after when I made an explanation video detailing the evidence featuring the feather, broken tooth, and jar of bile. That's when it blew up a second time. It was almost as popular as the original video. So many people actually believed me that it even got people in high places, in universities specifically, to email me and ask to analyse these samples. I gladly handed them over, but all they discovered was an ordinary chipped human tooth they linked to some chick who was actually named the Ukrainian equivalent of Fluttershy living in one of those weird outskirts towns about a mile outside Chernobyl. You know those people who refused to leave and just set up camp like a few miles away? Apparently she has some kind of horrific chronic kidney disease now related to that. And with the composition of the vomit: bile and all the enzymes and proteins that come with it, partially digested hay, various vegetables, and turkey semen. As with the feather, they concluded that I just dyed an obscenely large turkey feather yellow, which would also explain the presence of semen in the stomach as a kind of gross joke.

After those results from actual qualified scientists came back, all hope of people believing in my claim of truth was shattered. Everyone continued to, or started to believe that we were just a few special effects prodigies looking for some YouTube fame.

If only I still had the body. Hard, undeniable proof. They couldn't dismiss that, they can't. But I don't have the body. All I have are my words, a feather, some girl in Ukraine's tooth, and a jar of bird cum. All of which confirmed fake by professionals. I spoke to Danny, Andy, and Mark when this whole thing started and they all had my back, but since they all helped with the procedure, ergo the video, their words of validity carry just as much weight as mine.

It was truly a surprise to me that this became a whole phenomenon, a meme if you will. All of us thought it was insane when it got so much traction, but what was more insane was when I discovered the details of YouTube's monetization system.

Even with just my share of the YouTube booty I could afford to go on a road trip. Thank God for that. Nobody else but myselfs on a canoeing getaway. A whole week to just relax and ... what the hell?

My skybound gaze caught a peculiar purple dot, just skittering over the treetops on the other side of the sparkling lake. I cocked my eyebrows and squinted my eyes to make it out. Whatever it was, it had wings and a horn.

" ... Twilight?" No. It couldn't be her, she doesn't even have that hazmat suit on, but what else could it be? I tracked the strange purple dart as it bobbed in and out of the treeline. It wasn't very subtle.

"This calls for an investigation!" I proclaimed my excitement, pointing my index finger up to the sky in sheer determination. I took the paddle resting on my lap, plunged it into the water, and took off.

Within seconds I was out on the pale blue lake, paddling with volition fuelled by my curiosity with each alternating stroke. After a while, I came to a rocky beach on the other side, pretty close to where I think I saw the UFO.

I found a nice clear path near a good place to dock, so I took it. I paddled hard. One stroke on my left, another on my right as I propelled the canoe to the shore. It eased to a stop as it found its place in the mud, but it was still pretty far away from solid land.

Again holding both sides of the canoe and walking in a straight line down the boat, I made my way to the shore. It wasn't very deep mud or a very heavy canoe, so I had very little trouble pulling it away from the water and onto the rocky beach into the trees. My choice of runners wasn't the best, as they still got soaked in the mud, despite the shallow depth of it.

After the vessel was securely docked and runners annoyingly squishy, I grabbed my backpack from the bow of the boat and swung it over my shoulder and onto my back, digging my other arm into the second strap for maximum stability. I made my way down the trail into the woods.

As I trotted up the trail, trying to follow the ones that lead to what is most likely Twilight Sparkle, I remembered something. Something I was looking forward to using. I took off my backpack and opened it up. In it was snacks, a water bottle, basic first aid stuff, all the essentials. But among them was a strange oddity. A little scratched up whistle, the end of which had a brown plastic rendition of a bear's head looking rather surprised at the end. It was a strange little thing I found in a puddle while at a road stop in Canmore.

As I was still walking up the trail, I dug it out from the mounds of trail mix and water bottles. I zipped up the pack and swung it back over my shoulder and inspected the artifact.

It was definitely a strange thing, but I can make a pretty good guess as to what sound it makes. It had a steel tube about 3 inches in length which had a black rectangular piece jutting out the back that had a curved wedged end, about one inch in length. At the other end was a plastic model of a grisly bear's head. Its lips formed an 'O' shape where one of the holes were. There was a plastic ring or bulge just under the head where its neck would be with another hole; a triangular one which started at the base of the bear's head and peaked about halfway on the bulge of plastic. Overall the whistle had 4 holes: one where you placed your lips, a circular one right where the steel tube starts, the triangular one on its 'neck', and the one where the bear's mouth was. I held the whistle in the palm of my hand; it fit rather nicely. I flicked my wrist a little to jump it into my fingers, held the wedged end up to my lips like a pencil, and blew.

ROOOAAR!

"Woah, that's realistic!" I exclaimed at the surprisingly loud roar of the tiny whistle. It really was almost like a real bear's roar. I slid the tiny whistle in my pocket as I walked along.

About 5 seconds later on my hunt for what was totally Twilight Sparkle, the air greeted me with a fresh breeze of summer air. As I took it in, I started to notice a strange, foul stench on it. It was very faint, but I dismissed it as run of the mill animal droppings.

Soon enough I came to a fork in the road. Just after the two trails split, there were two signs between them in front of some thick shrubbery and what looked like a map under the sign. I took notice and read them.

The first one was the most noticeable. It had a 'fork in the road' symbol, but the map just below it was in a wooden display case with a glass laminate, the top tilted a few degrees towards the reader to make it easier to read. It pretty much just told people that even though the trails split they'd reconnect again in a few kilometres, leaving quite a bit of foliage between them. Staked just beside the wooden box and the sign, there was a wolf spotting warning.

The wolf sign made me a little bit nervous, but I concluded that it must've been forgotten there or they would've shut down the trail and told me on one of those signs. Maybe they did on the part of the trail you're supposed to start on, but I wouldn't have any way of knowing. I just decided to make my time here brief and leave it at that. I took a few moments to think about which direction I should take, but in the end it didn't really matter, they'd just reconnect in a few miles anyway, so I started on the right.

As I started my trek, that horrible stench grew in strength in a matter of seconds. It seemed to be coming from the shrubbery behind the signs and map, and it was much stronger now than when I first noticed it. What was more disturbing was that the smell wasn't just the telltale smell of feces, but some other smells were burning my nostrils, too.

The scent of blood, and not ordinary blood. It had the irony aroma of blood, like putting your nose up to warm nickles, which was previously overpowered by the sickeningly sweet smell of pony-death, but there was something more to it this time. The scent of ... sweetness? Honey? But most of all, the one that really stood out to me was the most faint, you'd almost have to look for it to notice.

It was the all too familiar smell of vanilla.

My eyes shot open at the realization that this new aroma meant, and my curiosity snapped from a mild interest to a burning desire at the thing behind the shrubs.

"Is that?"

I stared at the bush, totally forgetting about Twilight. It was about 6 feet high, about as tall as I was. It was a dark green hue and full of tiny leaves to absorb the ambient sunlight. A hope grew in my stomach, the strange feeling in my heart tickled my aorta once more.

"Could it really?"

I knew she had to be dead or else she wouldn't be emitting the telltale vanilla, but I ignored that fact. I stepped past the signs and display case towards the shrubbery, stopping just before the wall of green. I stared at the bush with wide eyes, my heart pounding and stomach filled with excited fluttering butterflies. I had to know if I could trust what my senses told me was true. I gradually dug my hands into the green and turned my hands clockwise to the best position to uncover whatever was behind the shrubbery.

Slowly, I spread open the bushes, pushing a portal in the wall of branch and leaves, my heart racing to keep up with my excitement. Once I saw her butter yellow flank, mysteriously lined with red, my excitement got the best of me.

"Fluttershy?!" I tore open the bush, uncovering everything, and gagged.

My expression morphed from one of excitement to one of terror as I processed what I saw.

Fluttershy was in her natural resting position, the one I know. Her forelegs flopped to their sides, mangled, chewed, and looking like stringy, bloody strands of roast beef which held onto the bone loosely. Her hooves' keratin was scratched and chipped by what looked like fangs. Her hind legs were spread as if she were trying to impress a stallion, yet there was nothing there. One of the two small lumps of teat I discovered was still present, but it was mangled, ripped, and chewed behind its fuzzy veneer. The other was totally ripped off her body, nowhere to be found by her person. It left a crimson red patch of exposed muscle and nerve endings where it used to be. Trails of dark red blood soaked in her coat, paving a thick maroon road further down her groin to her shit-splattered tail. Rogue drips paved their way down her sides, painting her flank and butterflies in streaks of her own shimmering blood as they made their way to a putrid pool of urine.

Her hind leg, specifically where her calf would be, didn't go without a beating. It wasn't as bad as the front legs, but still had distinct fang marks and streaks of blood running down to her pony-thigh. Her right wing looked fine, but her left was broken, shattered and mangled. Her yellow feathers were ruffled and misaligned in all directions, tainted red by the ruined wing's blood. Her underbelly was totally ripped apart. The flabby pale skin and fur that covered it was all but ripped to pieces; bloody ribbons of it littered the ground below her in thin shreds. Her abdominal muscles were ripped out in stringy strands of muscle fibre, allowing her small intestinal tubes to spill out onto the forest floor in a bloody heap of thick pink noodles.

But despite it all what disturbed me most was her face. It wasn't the nip marks on her forehead, or her neck, which was completely mauled beyond recognition, leaving jagged cartilage of her trachea jutting out and soaking the dirt and grass beneath her in a mud of blood. No. It was her eyes. One was shut peacefully, as if she passed in her sleep, dreaming of her cute animal friends as her last memory before she drifted away, while the other was utterly destroyed almost beyond recognition.

Her eyelid was totally ripped off, leaving her large, melon-like eye utterly exposed. There wasn't much of it left. The middle of her eye, the cornea, iris, pupil, they were all torn out, leaving her with a rigid bite mark of where they used to be. Vitreous humour and blood mixed together in a vile cocktail, shimmering on her cheeks and gelling in a puddle beneath her head, soaking her tangled, messy mane in the mixture. The bite created a jet black cavern in her skull, peering into her huge oculus like a lake of gel in a mountain, pouring its fluid down her face as if it were a lazy river.

I gagged at the sight, my stomach twisted, my mouth dropped and salivated with the expectation of vomit.

"I ... I ..." I stuttered out in shock and disgust. I covered my mouth when the horror show reminded me of the wolves. I looked at the ground, some of it was muddy with Fluttershy's own blood and waste, and sure enough there were paw-prints in the mud around her mangled carcass. "Holy shit," I exhaled to myself. I had to get out of here. Fast.

I jogged to her mangled body, I just can't pass her up. I need people to finally believe me. I don't know or care how she got here or why, but I still need her.

I jogged through mud puddles of her own blood, shit, and piss to what was left of her body. I crouched down and dug my hands under her head and croup and lifted her up, gagging at her detestably mangled face and my uncomfortable proximity to it. I flung her over my shoulder, this proved not to be wise, as her shit-caked buttock and tail were right next to my face, causing me to retch with its horrible familiar stench. The feeling of her intestines squishing against my shoulder didn't feel comfortable, either.

I sucked it up and trotted out of the bushes, leaving ripped shreds of her skin and flesh behind for the buzzards. I heard a strange mechanical groaning noise as I ran down the trail carefully, as not to trip over the roots jutting out of the ground. I didn't care about the ominous noise, as I was running like hell from it anyway.

I jogged out of the treeline, careful not to let Fluttershy fall off my shoulder, and made my way to my canoe. I swung Fluttershy off of me and held her face first in front of me and tossed her back-first into the bow of the canoe. She flew through the air, her legs drifting towards me as she sailed, as if she were falling from a cliff, yet her face was locked in a state of sleep as if she fainted when she fell.

THWACK!

Fluttershy landed hard on the canoe floor, her head snapped back with an awful crack against the bow and out of the canoe, sending her obscenely long mane to sink into the water. Her hind legs flopped to occupy the space between her body and the hull, shit-caked tail flowing between them both. Her front legs dangled aimlessly out the boat and into the pale, shimmering blue water. They tainted it red with what little blood she had left in them.

I threw my backpack in the centre of the canoe just on top of the paddles, causing a clattering noise of wood from them as they jumbled to a halt.

I took hold of the stern of the canoe and pushed it back into the lake, the hull grinding against the stones and pebbles of the rocky, muddy beach.

Once we were far enough from the shore, I stepped in the boat. I walked down the centre to the seat, swung my legs over it, and sat down. I grabbed a paddle from underneath my backpack and plunged it into the water, using it to push off.

I paddled as quick as I could to the dock on the other side.

----------

The TARDIS whirred in and out of existence as it screeched and groaned periodically. Soon enough, the blue box stopped its whirring and materialized 50 feet away from its target.

"Let's go!" Twilight exclaimed with determination. She flung the TARDIS doors open and jumped out, dripping with anxiety.

"Would it hurt to be a little more careful with my property?" The Doctor asked sarcastically as he casually followed Twilight out his door.

"No time!" Twilight answered. She pounced on the ground and scanned the area in a concentrative state, until a gentle breeze wafted through, causing some shrubbery roughly 5 feet away to rustle as it flowed through it.

"Ugh! Do you smell that?" Twilight asked, putting her hoof up to her nose to block the smell of urine and feces.

"Unfortunately I do," The Doctor answered. Twilight remembered why Fluttershy left in the first place, which at least answered the existence of the smell. Figuring that a mare as shy as Fluttershy would want a private place to relieve herself, she deduced that she must've chosen the space behind the bushes as a makeshift toilet.

"Wait, she might still be over there, behind those bushes!" She darted to the foliage, the Doctor followed suit at a trotting pace.

Twilight bounded through the thick bushes, landing in the middle of a strange, red streak in the dirt. "Fluttershy?!" She shouted into the clearing, yet to her dismay, nopony was there. She scanned the clearing only for Fluttershy and traces of Fluttershy's whereabouts, skimming past the streaks of red and ribbons of shredded flesh littering the clearing of grass and dirt for evidence of her presence as flukes or something. "Where are you?!" She yelled to the bushes and trees with her tone heavy with worry. The Doctor squeamishly squirmed his way past the bushes and acknowledged the shredded bits of yellow flesh and the pools of blood and other body fluids Twilight purposefully ignored. His eyes widened in surprise, gagging in response and putting his hoof up to his nose as he quickly pieced together what happened.

"Urm, Twilight?" He asked for Twilight's attention.

"Not now, Doc! We have to find Fluttershy!"

"I think we just did."

"What are you talking about?"

"Look," he gestured to the shreds of red and yellow flesh. Twilight picked one up with her magic, bringing it closer, and dropped her mouth in surprise and dread when the truth unveiled itself.

"Y-You mean?" Twilight choked out, dropping the shred of flesh on the ground with a splat.

"Yep, see these paw-prints? Wolves must've gotten to her," he gestured to the wolf tracks on the ground," the Doctor became less disgusted and evolved into a more inquisitive state, yet still pretty grossed out. This wasn't his first time seeing such gruesomeness. "The body isn't anywhere to be seen, so they must've dragged her back to their den, so it mustn't be too far. I doubt you'll be able to convince them to give her back to you, though."

"It can't be wolves! Fluttershy's great with animals, it's her special talent for crying out loud! She's in less danger with animals than she is with an- an- uh, an ice cream cone!" Fluttershy was lactose intolerant, so at least one half of her argument was fully known to be true.

"Just look at the proof. I hear you're a mare of science, correct? Then look at all this evidence. Shredded bits of yellowish skin and flesh, puddles of blood, urine, and feces just everywhere, paw prints and," He looked closer, "There's even an imprint of a pony-ish figure in the mud! With yellow feathers right next to it! What do you make of that?"

Twilight couldn't accept what to make of it. She had to be missing something, like wolves dragging a body would leave a trail, not an imprint, for instance. Not only has one of her best friends probably just died, she died twice. And this time the weight bore directly on her shoulders.

"I-I don't know! I just, I just," Twilight sighed and sat down on the forest floor, tearing up quickly. She buried her face in her hooves and sobbed. "Oh, it's all my fault!" She said in between gasps. "I forced her to come here! If it wasn't for me she'd still be alive!" She continued her woes. "I literally dragged her here kicking and screaming! And for what? For her to die again? To be mauled to death?!"

The Doctor looked at her with empathy in his eyes from a distance. He didn't want to talk to her, he felt he'd done enough already, but he had to get them out of here. It wasn't safe with the estimated proximity of the body, ergo wolves. Then again, the dogs would probably be satisfied for a while on a whole pony, but then there might be other hungry packs out there, tummies growling for fresh cut Flutter. The Doctor knew from experience that bad things usually don't come in singles. He has to try to get Twilight out of her funk before the cries of bloody murder Fluttershy probably made when she was horribly mauled to death attracts other predators.

"Twilight? You hear that?" The Doctor didn't hear anything.

"What?" The depressed Sparkly Twilight pondered.

The Doctor gasped to accentuate his act for the sake of drama, "I think I heard a bear!"

"A bear?!" Twilight got up to her hooves in nervousness, effectively temporarily knocking her out of her funk.

"Yes! We must leave immediately!" The Doctor started to jog out of the bushes to the TARDIS, expecting her to follow suit.

Twilight sighed, "Can it just wait a few moments?" Twilight figured out pretty quick that there wasn't a bear, he was a bad liar. The Doctor contemplated this for a moment, under the circumstances of just losing a friend less than a minute ago, he nodded. He trotted back into the TARDIS to set the Temporal Shifter to take them home while he let Twilight come to terms with her loss.

Twilight walked out of the bushes, the constant reminder of her deceased friend sickened her with guilt and sadness in the trees themselves. She walked slowly through the forest, taking deep breaths in an attempt of gaining fresh air, yet only getting more reminders of Fluttershy. The wolf-bait used to love all of nature's bounties. The trees, animals, bugs, birds, she loved it all with a passion. Twilight turned her head, trying to find something to focus on other than reminders of her overwhelming failure. Eventually she saw a splitting of population in the dense trees, a portal to an almost perfect view of the lake.

She turned to it, taking in as much of it as she can. It took her mind off of Fluttershy for a moment, and that's what she needed. She sat in the forest towards the view, taking it all in, totally forgetting the 'bear' the Doctor warned her about. After a few moments of peace, Fluttershy emerged again from her subconscious, along with the incredible guilt that name carried now.

"Fluttershy would've loved this," she began her improvised eulogy. She stared out into the beauty, her conscience plagued with the yellow pegasus.

"I'm so sorry," she continued, a tear welling in her eye and voice starting to crack. She stared down onto the lake and saw a cherry red canoe paddling away from her. It was pretty far away, but she could make out two figures. One was a man who was paddling the boat, and the other must have been woman with long hair, sleeping peacefully on the canoe, letting the lake rock her as she slept. The man's body blocked most of the woman, and it was incredibly far away, but Twilight could tell she was very deep in slumber. Twilight smiled at the sweetness of romance, yet continued thinking about the one she lost twice among the trees.

Was this just meant to be? Was she meant to die here the first time and this is just the universe collecting what's due? Or was this just the nature of life itself: all that lives must eventually die. But was this the result of the nature and balance of things? Or was this just Lady Luck, frowning upon an innocent, well, kind of innocent sweet pegasus at random? With the body gone the way of the holiday turkey there was no hope of reviving her again, but even if they did would she just find some other way to kill herself once more?

Twilight had to come to terms with the truth, however bitter it may be.

"We'll miss you, Fluttershy," she finished in a creaky voice, making peace with Fluttershy's death while staring peacefully at the canoe on the lake, paddling to the other side.

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