“We're going to kill Applejack.”

Fluttershy has no arguments. Applejack just tried to kill Rainbow Dash, and more importantly she tried to kill her. After all they have been through, after all she did to avenge the crew, colonists and her team, Applejack repays her with attempted murder? She must die. No exceptions.

Fluttershy quickly goes around the room, gathering batteries and medical supplies while ignoring Zephyr in her peripheral vision. She will deal with him later, but for now it is Applejack and the Pryo. While gathering her supplies, Fluttershy spots an audio disk on one of the desks. Next to the disk is a pile of other disks and papers, but Fluttershy doesn't make a move to gather all of them; instead she focuses on the first one she saw, followed by quickly checking her audio band and finds that it is still operable, surprisingly. So, she ejects her current disc, slips the new one in and resumes gathering supplies while the crackling audio floods into her ear.

There is beeping, click-clacking, and humming in the background, and after a few seconds there is a deep breath and Arcos' voice comes in.

“Good evening, me! Update on my life. The food is gone, the water is basically gone, my scientists are gone, the Captain is still making a fuss because I hoarded all of the bullets and medicine, and the transmissions to and from the UEG Harpoon is still active,” says Arcos. “So, me, what have you been doing? Well, me, I have been keeping track of the state of the ship and the survivors are dropping quickly. There are a couple that have gone off the deep end and are actively hunting other survivors and Necromorphs. Attempts to communicate with the Pyschos have been unsuccessful, but the rest have taken my directions quite well, and watching them scramble around trying to collect what I tell them to in the hopes of escape is entertaining. It'll be fascinating to review the footage when this is over. Heheheh, I can already taste the raise and bonus I'm going to get for this experiment! School debt, kiss your ass goodbye!”
F
luttershy looks at the mutilated corpse of Arcos, feeling another surge of rage flowing through her. She really wishes she could revive him just so she can stomp him to death again. But right as Fluttershy is about to turn off the recording, a bubbly ringing sound comes up, and after a few seconds there is a click, followed by Arcos speaking.

“Hello, Pinnacle!” says Arcos excitedly.

“Hieroglyph, we have a situation,” says a stallion.

Fluttershy rolls her eye and grabs some magazines for her rifle and pistol.

“Oh? It can't be on my end. My end is perfect!” claims Arcos.

“The problem is from your end. A partial signal from somepony named Zephyr Breeze got out.”

“Was it just that one partial?”

“Yes. The rest were intercepted and deleted by the Harpoon.”

“Weird... Let me check something.” There is some typing and a few seconds later Arcos speaks again. “Zephyr Breeze is a colonist, registered Unitologist, mane stylist and professional slacker according to the surveillance profiles. Nothing special about this guy. He is also dead. Probably joined the infected. Where did the signal go?”

“Somepony named Fluttershy Breeze,” says Pinnacle.

Fluttershy is in the middle of stuffing her saddle with medicine when he says this, and with her freezing, her blood runs cold and she looks ahead, as if expecting to see Pinnacle staring at her. Whoever he is.

“She is in the Medical Corps,” continues Pinnacle. “Our surveillance has shown she is already speaking to the proper people for a temporary transfer. We'll pull the strings to get her on our asset's team for the experiment. I'll send you her files.”

“Oh, I do love more test subjects,” says Arcos. “And I'm already scribbling up a good plan for her. It will tie into one of my theories about-”

“Save it for the debriefing. Just remember, we need the asset and at least one other survivor for the next phase of the experiment.”

“Right, right, I understand, and while we are on the subject of test subjects. That Changeling with cancer you sent us through that 'Make a Wish' thing turned into something quite special after exposure. Would you like to hear it?”

“Again. Save it for the debriefing. In the meantime, keep broadcasting information to the Harpoon. Transmission over.”

Click.

“...Well, alrighty then,” says Arcos. “Guess it is time for me to go click, too.”

Click.

Fluttershy is frozen in place, eye wide and trembles running through her body. She can barely breathe, much less hear. She sees Rainbow Dash walking towards and looks at her, watching her speak with the words muffled. Until-

“FLUTTERSHY!” screams Rainbow Dash.

Fluttershy blinks tears away.

“Snap out of it! We gotta kill Applejack, then get hammered and laid,” says Rainbow Dash. She shakes her head and walks away from Fluttershy, tail and wings flicking. “Fuck me, I'm going to need a memory wipe of this place.”

“They knew,” says Fluttershy quietly.

“What?” says Rainbow Dash, stopping to look at her.

Fluttershy lifts her hoof to look at her audio device. “They didn't underestimate anything. They purposefully sent us underprepared.” She lowers her hoof to look at Rainbow Dash. “We're lab rats... Our team... Applejack, it is all a game for Section 0, and if we make it off this ship, they will do something to us, to her, something horrible. Maybe they'll kill us and take our brains, or torture us to death for information!”

Rainbow Dash looks at Fluttershy, then at her audio device, and she takes a deep breath and runs her hoof through her mane.

“Those assholes. All these years of service and they do this to me. To us.” Rainbow Dash quickly approaches Fluttershy and puts her hoof around the back of Fluttershy's head, pulling her down so all Fluttershy can see is her. “Look, Flutters, we're going to make it, alright? We're going to make it to tomorrow, we're going to slip under their radar and we're going to tell everypony what happened here. They will not get away with this.”

Rainbow Dash releases Fluttershy's head and props up her chin with a soft boop from her hoof.

“Chin up, soldier, we got a war to win. You came this far and you're not stopping now,” says Rainbow Dash. “We're getting off of this ship and we're going to burn Section 0 down!”

Fluttershy nods and follows Rainbow Dash to the elevator. While Rainbow Dash works on typing in a command, Fluttershy catches an odd glow out of the corner of her eye. It is an orange-ish glow.

A fiery glow.

Fluttershy's ears perk and she looks to the glow, eye wide and limbs locking.

“Oh no,” says Fluttershy.

There is a whir and Rainbow Dash looks to where Fluttershy is looking while the floor slides open behind her.

“What?” asks Rainbow Dash.

Behind them is a ding followed by a metallic clang as a platform from down below locks in place, and in front of them, a shadow stretches along the wall with the crackles of fire and the clip clops of hoofs echoing down the hall. Hoof steps that Fluttershy recognizes. Then the Pyro walks into view with a ball of fire resting in front of his flame thrower.

“GET ON THE ELEVATOR!” shouts Fluttershy.

The Pyro gallops forward, and Fluttershy pushes Rainbow Dash on the elevator before her commander can react. Fluttershy then slams her hoof on the control panel, hitting the down arrow with enough force to break the button and dives over Rainbow Dash, using herself as a shield as a rush of fire races towards them. The control panel above explodes as the fire engulfs it, and Fluttershy cries out in pain as the fire burns her, reducing much of her tail, feathers, and mane to with a molten hot pain taking over her scalp. Above the pair, sparks fall, and the floor barrier jams, and Fluttershy hyperventilates with tears streaming down down her cheeks, splattering on Rainbow Dash while the elevator speeds down. Fluttershy doesn't put up much of a fight when she is pushed off by her commander, but how she lands gives her a view of the Pyro aiming his flamethrower down the gap and releasing another stream of fire their way. Thanks to the fast descent, the fire rolls out of existence before it can touch them and Rainbow Dash shoots up, screaming madly.

“What the hell was that!?” yells Rainbow Dash. “When I get through with Applejack I'm coming for your head, jackass!” She points to the corner of the elevator, away from Fluttershy. “And you shut the fuck up! I'm going to kill you, too, when I'm done with them. Wait. No no no no.”

Rainbow Dash paces in circles while Fluttershy lays on her back, whimpering and shuddering from the pain eating away at her.

“I'm the sane one, remember?” mutters Rainbow Dash. “Yeah, I'm sane. I'm sane. You aren't real.” She whips out her pistol and aims it at the same corner. “I'M SANE!”

She shakes her head, holsters her pistol and paces in circles.

“Rarity Belle, Roid Rage Snowflake, Moonlight Aura, Comet Tail, Hothoof Trotter, Red Joystick, Gage Meter, Thunderlane Hurricane, Fluttershy Breeze,” says Rainbow Dash. That last name brings her to perk up and for Fluttershy to skip a heartbeat.

“No, not her. Not her not her not her.” Rainbow Dash turns to Fluttershy. “You okay, Fluttershy?”

“I'm still here... And real... And in pain,” says Fluttershy. She winces and rolls on her side, causing parts of her ashy mane, tail, and feathers to crumble, leaving only damaged clumps of her former pegasus beauty left. “I-I need... I need...”

Fluttershy digs into her medical supplies and injects herself with adrenaline, sighing with relief as a rush of energy dulls the pain. There are still bristles of pain running along her back, but at least it does not feel like her skin is melting off now.

“I needed that,” says Fluttershy.

The elevator stops, and the door slides open, revealing “Hangar H” painted on the large blast doors in front of the spacious area. Dim lights shine overhead, reflecting off of the metal hulls of the ships chained to the hangar floor, and at the far end is a rectangular ship with stubby wings that have large circular engines on their tips, and an orb shaped cockpit. On its side is CV-BV-10923 and its ramp is down with the Marker laying inside of the ship, giving off a red glow.

Fluttershy and Rainbow Dash draw their weapons and carefully walk across the hangar, sweeping the area as they go, with Fluttershy activating her full-face helmet. Lights flicker, and Fluttershy notices that a section of the upper level has rebars stacked up while building supplies, tools and crates line the walls, near the other cargo ships, which hold the same design as CV-BV-10923.

There is a rumble, and Fluttershy turns her cutter to the vent network above, but sees nothing, and reluctantly looks ahead while Rainbow Dash turns her scanning into tunnel vision. When the pair are a few dozen feet away from the cargo ship, they stop, and Rainbow Dash makes a loud, shrill whistle.

“Oh, Applejack! Come out and play!” calls Rainbow Dash, her voice booming in the hangar.

There is some ruckus inside CV-BV-10923 and Applejack comes out a few seconds later, covered in sweat and her rifle armed.

“What the hell?” says Applejack.

“Should have shot me in the head,” says Fluttershy.

“Get off that ship. Let's talk. Mare to mare,” says Rainbow Dash.

“There ain't nothing to talk about,” says Applejack.

“Oh, there is plenty to talk about. Betrayal, for starters. Being Section 0 is another. Oh, and you running off with that Marker to take it off this ship,” says Rainbow Dash.

“I tried to get us off this ship!” says Applejack. “But they wanted more information, and with two of the three passwords lost this is my only chance to get back home. Something that y'all can't understand!”

“How long have you been Section 0?” asks Rainbow Dash.

“None your business.”

“It is my business since they killed my team and my Captain!”

“Our team. Our Captain.”

“No, you were a rat from the start. You don't get to call them your teammates or Captain!”

Applejack's jaw tightens, and Fluttershy steps forward.

“Applejack, listen to me, you are making a big mistake.” Fluttershy waves around the area. “The Marker did all of this. We can't let you leave with it or else the same thing will happen somewhere else.”

Applejack narrows her eyes and walks down the ramp, cocking her gun. “That Marker is my ticket home.”

“That Marker killed my team,” says Rainbow Dash.

“Our team. But if I can get it back to Section 0, then their deaths won't be in vain.”

Rainbow Dash narrows her eyes, and Fluttershy steps closer with her hoof raised.

“Applejack, Section 0 going to hurt you if you go to them,” says Fluttershy firmly. “You are expendable to them, and this mission is proof.”

Applejack aims her weapon at the two. “I know how this game works. You're just trying to butter me up so you could take the Marker for yourselves! But it ain't yours, its mine! Both you geniuses screwed this up and I can fix what happened, but now y'all want to take that away from me!? You want to take away my chance at redemption!”

“No, it's not like that!” says Fluttershy. “Applejack, please listen to me. Section 0 is going to double cross you. You can't go to them and you can't take that Marker.”

Applejack shakes her head. “I'm taking this Marker and I'm going to make things right.”

“Don't do this, Applejack,” says Fluttershy.

“And y'all ain't gonna stop me.”

Rainbow Dash suddenly fires off a burst that hits Applejack in the chest. The shots echo in the hangar and Applejack stumbles backwards, falling off the ramp while Fluttershy rushes forward.

“Did you see that? Right on the bullseye!” says Rainbow Dash.

Fluttershy hops on the ramp, goes to where Applejack fell off and peeks over the edge.

Nothing.

Fluttershy scrunches her brow, looks up, and gets blinded by a blue light. A blink later, she is ejected from her spot and lands on her back off the ramp. She winces and rolls on her side, only to quickly curl up as a stream of bullets fly over her, forcing Rainbow Dash into cover. Sparks bounce off the floor and metal crates, and Rainbow Dash peeks out from her cover to fire a barrage of her own. While this happens, Fluttershy rolls on her stomach and crawls underneath the ramp with her cutter trained ahead. She briefly sees Applejack gallop past her and tries to shoot her legs, but the cutter beams miss and slice into a toolbox instead, causing it to fall over and spill its contents.

“You're dead, you hear me!? DEAD!” shouts Rainbow Dash.

Fluttershy crawls out from under the ramp, does another scan and after she sees Applejack diving behind a pile of crates, she unloads her cutter. Streak after streak zips towards the pile, cutting off chunks of metal at a time, and when Fluttershy ejects her battery to slip a new one in, Applejack pokes out and shoots at Fluttershy. The bullets ricochet off the floor, crates, and the cargo ship, and Fluttershy gallops to cover.

“Hell of a talk we're having!” says Applejack.

“I got more to say!” yells Rainbow Dash, following it up with a burst of gunfire.

Fluttershy pokes out, and quickly retreats into cover when Applejack shoots at her again.

“Y'all could've made this easy by staying put,” says Applejack.

“Applejack, that Marker is twisting your mind,” says Fluttershy.

“That's rich coming from you, Ms. Pyscho. Did a hit to the noggin get some of your sense back?”

“Psh. No,” says Zephyr, sitting next to Fluttershy.

Fluttershy glares at him, and the Marker pulses, filling Fluttershy's vision with hieroglyphs and giving her a headache while the lights on the ship flicker.

“Go for a head shot. You'll get more points,” says Zephyr.

“Shut up,” snaps Fluttershy.

Rainbow Dash suddenly takes flight, goes high towards the ceiling and circles down, shooting a stream of bullets at Applejack. The bullets ricochet off the floor towards Applejack, and the Agent uses her Artificial Telekinesis Module to bring a crate in front of her as a shield. The bullets damage the crate, and as Applejack launches it at Rainbow Dash, Fluttershy spots a stack of red fuel canisters next to her former teammate. One red beam is all it takes to detonate them and send Applejack flying off her hoofs with shards of metal going all around. Balls of fire bounce across the floor with pockets of fire scattered around, and Fluttershy gallops towards Applejack, who is trying to stand up, but is shot in the back by Rainbow Dash when she swoops down for another salvo.

The bullets bounce off of Applejack's armor, save for one that breaches and brings the Agent down, and before she can get up, Fluttershy clocks her in the face, sending her to the ground with a couple of her teeth flying out. Applejack growls, stomps the floor, and when Fluttershy goes for another punch, Applejack blocks it, hits just above Fluttershy’s fore-hoof's elbow and follows up with a hard hit on the top of her head that puts Fluttershy on the ground. Then she scrambles on top of Fluttershy and breaks off her cutter from the saddle and shoots Rainbow Dash with a stasis blob, putting the pegasus and her bullets in a field of slow motion.

Rainbow Dash grits her teeth, and Fluttershy bucks Applejack off and makes a dive for her cutter, but Applejack bites down on her tail, tugs her in the air and slams her down on the floor, on her back. The impact sends her eye spinning, and before she can recover Applejack engulfs her in an artificial telekinesis field and shoots her across the floor. Everything becomes a blur as she bounces and rolls across the floor, with each hit on her body bringing a hot flash of pain. She comes to an abrupt stop when she hits a pile of crates. The crates tumble and fall on top of her, assaulting her with more trauma. By the time the crates stop, Fluttershy is on the ground, wheezing and twitching, and watching with a blurred vision as Applejack turns to Rainbow Dash and shoots her wing while the stasis field fades.

Fluttershy's eye widens with horror as the bullets rip off Rainbow Dash's wing, and once the field fades, Rainbow Dash releases a sharp cry of pain as she spirals out of control and scrapes into the floor with a crunch, leaving a trail of blood and feathers. What follows is a loud, long scream of agony and rage, and Fluttershy watches helplessly as Applejack approaches Rainbow Dash, who is holding her bleeding face with her other wing snapped and gushing blood while the one shot off twitches in its own blood. The commander thrashes and fires off sporadic bursts of gunfire, which leads to Applejack shooting Rainbow Dash's gun from her saddle.

“FUCK YOU!” yells Rainbow Dash. “YOU FUCKING RAT! I'LL DRAG YOU TO HELL WITH ME!”

Applejack stops by Rainbow Dash, her eyes dark and her face wrinkled with a deep scowl, and Fluttershy wiggles her way out of the mess of crates, stumbles forward, and tries with painful results to get into a gallop.

“Applejack, don't!” cries Fluttershy.

Applejack kicks Rainbow Dash on her back and swiftly stomps on her throat, bringing the cries and curses to an end. Blood pops out of Rainbow Dash's throat and mouth, covering her face and Applejack's boot with blood. Her body goes limp, and as the crimson pool quickly grows around her, and Fluttershy screams in rage and all pain disappears as she gallops towards Applejack, her helmet retracting so the fire in her can be seen. Applejack shoots a stasis blob at Fluttershy, but she dodges it with a roll, grabs her cutter with her mouth and shoots at Applejack. The red lasers streak towards the Agent, and she leaps to the side while firing off a few rounds at Fluttershy. Her armor deflects some of the bullets, but one pierces what is left of the plating and digs into her hoof.

Fluttershy buckles with a sharp cry of pain, and when she tries shooting Applejack again the Agent dodges and rams her in the chest. The two mares roll over each other, snarling and dealing sharp blows to each other. It ends with Applejack pinning Fluttershy down and pressing her hoof down on her throat. Fluttershy gags and with a combination of kicks and punches to Applejack's hindquarters and face she can get the Agent off. Fluttershy follows up with jumping on Applejack's back and slams her face into the floor multiple times. Each slam brings a squirt of blood on the floor, and after the fourth slam, Applejack wiggles her way from under Fluttershy, bites on her limp wing and tugs her down

The flashes of pain and the scattered vision makes it hard for Fluttershy to focus, much less block the blows dealt to her. Despite Fluttershy's best efforts, Applejack still gets the advantage quickly and slams her into a pillar. She follows up with a punch that Fluttershy is able to block, but Fluttershy could not block the other punch to her side, and she drops, wheezing for air with blood staining her tongue and her throat bleeding with tools nearby.

Fluttershy's vision pulses, and she grits her teeth, pushes herself up again, and when she goes for another charge, Applejack headbutts her, but with a screwdriver in her mouth. Fluttershy freezes, gags and looks down, meeting Applejack's sideways glance as the earthpony has tilted her head to stab Fluttershy's lung with the long tool.

Fluttershy gags again, she can feel the blood pooling into her lungs, and she grips Applejack's shoulder as she is forced to the floor with the Agent on top of her. When Fluttershy is on her back, she is whimpering and breathing heavily through her nose while staring at Applejack with a mix of hatred and horror. As this happens, Applejack gently shushes Fluttershy again and cups her cheek with her hoof, staining her helmet with Rainbow Dash's blood.

“Shh~ Shh~ Stay quiet, Fluttershy,” says Applejack, her tone authoritative and a pained snarl on her face. “Take it easy, now. It’s almost over.”

Applejack stands up and walks to Rainbow Dash's corpse, speaking while she collects the ammo from her dead commander.

“I wish it didn't have to come to this, but you left me no choice,” says Applejack. “Our team, these colonists, the crew, your brother, they won't die in vain. I'm going to make things right.”

Fluttershy grunts and turns on her side, coughing and whimpering as she grips the screwdriver. After Applejack collects the ammo, she walks towards the cargo ship while looking at Fluttershy with pity.
“Close your eyes. Don't think about me or this ship. Think of your brother,” says Applejack. “He's waiting for you. Close your eyes. Go to him. It'll be okay, I promise.”

Fluttershy drags herself towards her cutter while Applejack boards the cargo ship. Her breathing and wheezing are heavy, and her hoof grips the screwdriver's hilt. Several seconds later, the ramp closes on the cargo ship and warning alarms sound as a blue sheen appears on the hangar door. Next, the door splits open, revealing the red sun, the dark planet, and the multitude of stars in the expanse of space. The edges of the opening have blue orbs of light, and streaks of dark blue move across the hangar door's length while the engines whir to life. An orange light shines underneath each orb shaped engine, and the chain holding CV-BV-10923 disconnects, allowing the ship to rise.

“No,” grunts Fluttershy. She grabs her cutter and aims it at the back engine. “No... No... No!”

Fluttershy bites down on the trigger, sending out a quick, sporadic stream of red lasers towards one of the ball engines. The lasers cut into the metal, leaving orange streaks in the metal hull. Fluttershy keeps shooting, and soon fire rolls out from the openings, and the engine explodes, showering the hangar with twisted metal. CV-BV-10923 drops slightly and with the flying shards of sharp metal cutting into the hull and next engine there is more fire and another explosion that shatters part of the cockpit window and rips open the cargo ship's hull. The craft whines and spins, sputtering black smoke, and Fluttershy shields her face with her hoof as the large ship scrapes against the hangar floor, coming to a stop when it crashes into one of the support beams for the upper platform. The beam snaps, the nose of the ship crumples, and the rebars on the upper level roll off and fall into the cockpit, breaking more glass or bouncing off the ship. During the chaos of the crash, an alarm sounds, the blue lights snap to red, and the hangar door closes quickly, and after the crash, Fluttershy stares at the wreckage in disbelief that her attack worked.

And now that the Marker isn't going anywhere, Fluttershy grips the screwdriver's hilt with both of her hoofs and pulls it out, gasping and wheezing, and coughing wetly as the medical foam is sprayed into her wound by the suit. For good measure, she manually sprays more on the wound, whimpering as the burning sensation plus the solidifying of foam inside her gives her a desire to puke.

With the pink-ish shells caking her body, Fluttershy pushes herself up and limps to the cargo ship, short of breath and coughing wetly. She ejects the spent battery from her cutter, slips a new one in, and aims it at the back door of the cargo ship. A couple of shots of the high powered laser for each side causes the ramp to fall with a metallic bang that echoes in the chamber, and Fluttershy increases her speed. She still stumbles a bit and takes a moment to inject herself with a few more doses of adrenaline, which brings her heart racing and leads to her twitching, but twitching aside, she is able to walk and that is what is important for her at the moment. Upon entering the ship, she works her way to the cockpit, quickly passing the Marker and the miniature warp battery along the way. Once she reaches Applejack she finds that the Agent is still strapped to her seat, and Applejack looks at Fluttershy, eyes soaked and red, and lips trembling with cuts all over her face and armor. But Fluttershy doesn't care. She aims her cutter at Applejack's head and prepares to pull the trigger.

“Wait,” wheezes Applejack, her hoof up and shaking.

Fluttershy stops, but keeps her weapon trained on Applejack.

“Don't waste your ammo. You'll need it,” says Applejack.

Fluttershy's eye drift's from Applejack's face to her chest, and she lowers her cutter when she sees rebars have been impaled into the earth pony. A large portion of cockpit window is shattered, the control panel is sparking, and blood drips from Applejack's seat, slowly spreading across the floor while emergency symbols flicker on and off on the screens.

“Warning- W-W-Warn-ning: Ddddddamage- dama-g-g-g-g-g-geeeeeeee...”

The computer's voice fizzes out, the screens go dark, and Applejack extends her hoof towards the control panel, whimpering as blood bubbles from her mouth. Fluttershy looks to where her hoof is stretching and sees the stetson on the control panel. It is a little bit torn with specks of blood on it, and Fluttershy graciously gives it to Applejack. The hat is accepted with a weak grab and a choking gasp.

“My pa... My ma... They gave me this hat before they disappeared,” says Applejack. She swallows and sniffles as she presses the hat against her muzzle, eyes closed and tears streaming down her face. “Apple Bloom can't even remember their faces... Only... Only the hat.”

Applejack opens her bloodshot eyes and looks at Fluttershy as she holds the hat to her.

“Take it... Take it back to Apple Bloom... Please,” begs Applejack.

Fluttershy has half a mind to reject her at first, but decides to take the hat, not wanting to punish whoever Apple Bloom is for Applejack's actions. That said, with the hat in hoof, Fluttershy inspects it, seeing the damage of age and the events of this day have brought it.

“My password is Bright Pear... Butter Mac... Perfect Pair,” says Applejack, her voice drifting. “Repeat it.”

Fluttershy looks at Applejack, letting her hard stare do the talking.

“Please,” says Applejack weakly.

“... Bright Pear. Butter Mac. Perfect Pair,” says Fluttershy.

“Good... Good. There might still be usable ship somewhere around here... Use the warp battery to get out of the system,” says Applejack. She looks straight ahead, her eyes getting dimmer and her breathing slower. “Make things right.”

Applejack's eyes then close and she falls limp as her chest stops moving. Fluttershy looks at Applejack's still form for a few seconds before shaking her head and disconnecting Applejack's toolbox from her saddle and carrying it to the module in the back of the ship. The battery is pulsing blue, and Fluttershy sets down her tools and after she flips a switch near the module the battery's lights dim and she starts working on disconnecting it from the module. It doesn't take long for her to do so, and once it is free, she hooks it to her saddle, clips Applejack's hat around her neck and takes a deep breath as she looks out the ship, where Zephyr is waiting, his hoof extended to her and the Marker glowing with red energy that gives her a headache. Fluttershy glares at him, breathing heavy and vision foggy. She takes a few steps forward, activates her cutter, aims it at Zephyr and-

THUMP!

Metal bends, glass breaks, and Fluttershy screams and turns to face the cockpit as the Hunter stares at her from outside. Its claws rip into what remains of the cockpit and tears it open, and Fluttershy swears and gallops out of the cargo ship. As she runs, glass and metal clatter to the floor, followed by fast, heavy steps, and Fluttershy trips over herself at the ramp and rolls off the side. She lands on her back, wincing as a flash of pain surges through her back and skull, but she quickly pushes that aside to scramble upright when the Hunter leaps out of the wreckage.

It snaps to Fluttershy and marches after her, and she curses and gallops away. The ground shakes, and she rolls over a large crate and takes a sharp turn as the Hunter's massive claws slash into it. The crate breaks into pieces, and the Hunter roars and whacks the broken parts to the side before giving chase again.

Fluttershy looks over her shoulder, panting and wheezing as she gallops, and when she sees the Hunter gaining on her she tries to run faster towards the stairs. However, the accumulation of her injuries burn and tear at once, breaking her from the inside out, bringing her vision to blur with tears and for her limbs to buckle.

Fluttershy's heart is close to exploding when she is at the base of the stairs, but the Hunter's steps are right behind her now, and she can see its shadow stretching over her, but there is no pain, no death. Rather there is a sudden dip that forces Fluttershy to grab on to the railing while the Hunter rolls away, despite its efforts to dig into the floor and leads CV-BV-10923to crash into the hangar's door. As this happens, a loud warning alarm blares and red lights start swirling around the hangar, and Fluttershy yells angrily and tightens her grip on the railing with the sharp angle making her dangle and her hind legs kick frantically.

“WARNING: SHIP IN DANGEROUS DESCENT! SEEK SAFETY IMMEDIATELY!” says the computerized voice over the speakers.

“ARE YOU KIDDING ME!?” screams Fluttershy hoarsely.

The Hunter's claws finally get a grip on the floor, leaving a long gash and trail of sparks, and when it stops it begins its climb towards Fluttershy. She hooks her other hoof on the railing, twists her body and shoots at the Hunter with her cutter, missing some of the shots, but the shots that do hit slice off its arms, leading to the Hunter tumbling away with tools, crates and other items bouncing after it. The ships tethered to the hangar floor swing and their chains groan and creak while the alarm and a loud scream stabs at Fluttershy's ears.

“Oh, Fluttershy, my dear, sweet sister. Why are you fighting?” says Zephyr.

Fluttershy's focus snaps to the stairs and sees Zephyr leaning against the railing, his dark eyes focusing on her with his head slightly crooked.

“You're only hurting yourself, you know?” says Zephyr. “Stop resisting. Become whole with us.”

Fluttershy growls and pulls herself up the railing, finally giving her hind legs a place to rest on the bottom steps. However, as soon as she gets her footing, Zephyr punches Fluttershy, and she screams in pain as the hoof feels like a knife piercing her. She releases the railing and rolls down the tilted floor while a Twitcher stabs and bites her. The chaotic scenery zips by, and Fluttershy turns the Twitcher around and lets it take the brunt of the damage when they hit a metal support beam. Broken bones pop out, its stingers break off and it coughs blood all over Fluttershy, which she reacts by punching it in the face, flattening its head with her metal boot. Then the Hunter's claws stab the floor near her, and Fluttershy screams and reels back, bringing her into a roll down the hangar as the Hunter crawls after her with partially completed limbs.

More Necromorphs fall after her, each rolling, bouncing or trying to run down after her, and when Fluttershy comes to a stop at the hangar door she can barely feel the pain, much less breathe or focus with all the metallic crashes, blaring alarms, flickering lights and screams.

One of the ships breaks loose from its chain, and it speeds towards Fluttershy with a large trail of sparks. Fluttershy swears and scrambles along the crooked floor, punching a Slasher along the way, and takes a flying leap to a ladder. Her hooves hook on it and the ship slams into the hangar door, squishing more Necromorphs and crumbling with sparks and jets of flames ejecting from its wreckage. Fluttershy does not stop to marvel at the chaos, she keeps climbing, and when she pulls herself up, she ignores the ripping pain in her body and the tightness in her ribs. She keeps running, occasionally tripping over herself and having to use the railing for support.

A vent breaks open, and an Infector flies out, followed by a Slasher. Fluttershy shoots one of the Infector's wings, making it spiral out of control and fall to the mess down below, and the Slasher rushes her, meeting a cutter beam to its head and one of its legs. With blood spraying and the Slasher stumbling, Fluttershy easily shoves it over the edge and resumes running. Then there is a roar, and she turns around and sees the Hunter breaking the railing to pull itself up. She shoots it in the head and continues galloping as the Hunter's headless form tries to keep its grip on the floor.

Fluttershy quickly reaches the door at the end and uses her Master Key Band to unlock it. There is a loud beep, but it opens anyway, and she runs down the hallway, eye flicking up to every sign she can find, which thankfully give her directions to the bridge. She does not even bother trying to kill the Necromorphs that are pouring out of the rooms and vents.

Run, run, run, run, run. All she can do is run. If she stops, she is dead.

She bobs and weaves through the slashes and charges and uses her Master Key Band to unlock another door, slip to the other side and lock it up. There are screams and bangs on the other side, which does not faze Fluttershy in the slightest. She has complete focus, almost total tunnel vision of her objective. She does not register the surroundings as much as she used to. If she can run on it, if it is stairs or a door, she is using it. If it is a sign pointing to the bridge, she will read it in the split second she allows herself to use. When Fluttershy goes through another locked door, she enters a hallway with scorched walls and charred Necromorphs, and with this bit of scenery she knows she is getting close.

Health be damned, she runs faster. She must run faster. There is no time to stop! She can taste blood on her tongue, feel her heart and lungs tearing and her joints ready to shatter, but that is no excuse to stop.
Fluttershy goes up another flight of stairs with a couple of burnt Necromorphs and flickering lights, and when she reaches the top of the stairs, she finds a familiar hallway with the blast door to the bridge. Though, all the dead Necromorphs are now burnt to shriveled, broken husks and the walls are blackened with sparks popping out of the broken electronics. The burnt bodies snap under Fluttershy's steps as she gallops towards the open door, and she slides to a stop, gripping the edge for support.

Inside, the Pyro is sitting on a chair in an elevated position that is in front of the Captain's perch, the holographic display is showing a projected trajectory, the window has been tinted and the planet's surface is rapidly getting closer. The alarm seems louder on the bridge, and the screens are all flashing hieroglyphs and double helixes with overlapping voices flooding Fluttershy's ears. Fluttershy takes a deep breath, activates her full faced helmet, and gallops towards the Pyro.

The Pyro turns just in time for Fluttershy to punch him in the jaw, and while he is stunned, she slams his head into the console and throws him out of the chair. While the Pyro rolls down the short set of stairs, Fluttershy grabs the controls and starts pulling the ship up. The information on the screens shifts from a sharp descent to a leveled path, but before Fluttershy can completely level it out, a hoof wraps around her neck and pulls her off the chair. Her hoofs kick out of reflex, shattering the screen and breaking the buttons, and when she lands on her back, the Pyro stomps on her gut and head, then pulls her up, slams her against a console and punches her in the jaw. With Fluttershy on the floor, the Pyro pushes the controls downward.

“I will not let you win!” says the Pyro. “This disease must not spread! They cannot be whole!”

“It’s the Marker doing this! Not a disease!” says Fluttershy. She gets up, and with a burst of speed she rams the Pyro in the chest, pushing him into the railing and punches him down before going back to the controls. “The Marker has to be destroyed. Not us!”

Fluttershy pulls the controls up and through the cracked screen she can see the ship leveling out again. Or at least she hopes she is leveling it out. It is hard to say with the screen destroyed. Also, the planet surface is really close now, with sharp spires and hills of black ice stretching towards a permanent twilight and a skyline of gray towers.

“We must die with the Marker! For the sake of all that is good we must die!” says the Pyro.

He butts Fluttershy aside, grabs the controls, gives them a sharp turn, and then snaps them off. The ship makes a sharp tilt, and the two ponies grab on to the railing of their platform, both dangling in the air as everything goes sideways. Buildings zip by them, and the ship shakes with broken concrete, glass, and metal flying past them, and when the bridge window shatters the two are sprayed with broken glass. Fluttershy squeezes her eye shut and holds her head down, wincing as the glass nicks her and the screaming of rushing wind assault her ears with bright orange, red and white light breaching her eye lid. Metal panes slide over the gaping hole that was once the window, plunging the room in near total darkness, with only pockets of red lights to provide illumination. Seconds later, there is a loud screech that overtakes every sound on the ship; metal snaps, multiple explosive pops shaking the ship and there are rumbles with heavy thuds against the hull of the ship. Suddenly, there is a stop and both ponies are flung from their spots and roll across the wall of the bridge, coming to a stop at the other end.

After the impact, all Fluttershy feels is pain, and she screams and sobs as every bone in her body feels like it has been snapped and glued back together. Next to her, the Pyro grunts and shifts on the ground, trying to stand as he coughs specks of blood. Sparks fall all around them, and the alarm wobbles, going from low to high pitches, and the red lights flicker with the computer screens going dim. With everything crooked and blurry, Fluttershy can barely make out the data being projected from the projector, which is barely working as is. But when it all comes to focus, her eyes widen at the sight of a blueprint of the engine room being in a shade of red, as well as a set of numbers above it.

30:00
29:59
29:58
29:57
29:56

“W-W-W-W-AR-ARN-ING. WARNI-ING-NG: WARP CORE FAI-AIL-LURE. EVACUATE IMMEDIATELY. WA-WARP DESTA-LIZ-TION Immmmmmm.... Pop.”

“Oh, no,” says Fluttershy.

Next to her, the Pyro rolls upright with a long, drawn out groan. After he stands up, he cracks his back and neck, looks at Fluttershy and aims his flamethrower at her.

“Now we end this,” says the Pyro.

Author's Note

"Oh, you thought you could kill me? That's cute."

THE END BEGINS!