“Fluttershy... It's me... I know we don't talk much, but I don't know who else to talk to. I don't know how I'm supposed to... It's just all wrong. All of it. It wasn't supposed to be this way and now... Now I don't know what else to do.”

Zephyr’s audio ends abruptly, and a light aquamarine colored unicorn mare with a straight light cyan and white mane pushes a button on her side of the table. This causes the holographic display of the audio and Zephyr’s photo to flicker away.

“Is that what started it?” asks the mare, Lyra, wearing a white jumpsuit with blue cuffs and bands tracing her limbs. “Is that why you went to the Bon Voyage?”

Across from her is Fluttershy; her hoofs are cuffed to the table and her wings are bound to her sides from straps on a padded white jumpsuit. Her eyes are weighed down with thick black bags, but only one is her normal blue eye while her other one is a blue lens. Remnants of her burns have left faint cracks around the robotic eye, up to her ear and down her neck, plus there are faded stitching scars across her throat. And her long pink mane and tail have been cut, with the mane barely reaching her shoulders and her tail a stub.

“It was,” says Fluttershy quietly.

“And it was there where your team died and you discovered something on the ship, correct?” says Lyra.

“Yes,” says Fluttershy.

“What did you find?”

Fluttershy silently glares at Lyra.

“What was there?” asks Lyra. “What did you find on the Bon Voyage?”

“The Marker,” says Fluttershy. “You knew what it was, what it did, and you knew Zephyr was already dead. You sent us there to die.”

“No, we didn’t,” says Lyra. “What happened on Onyx and the Bon Voyage was a catastrophe, no one is denying that, but we are not to blame.”

Fluttershy’s nostrils flare and her throat tightens as tears roll down her cheek, but something in the corner catches her attention, so she looks past Lyra. Zephyr is standing in the back of the room, head limp and colors gray with black pools for eyes. The air around him has become dark, and the darkness spreads with red mist and hieroglyphs of the Marker appearing on the walls.

“Fluttershy, were you ever in direct contact with the Marker?” says Lyra.

Zephyr walks forward, and Fluttershy locks her eyes on him while the darkness surrounds Lyra with the red mist wrapping around her limbs and seeping into her ears.

“Yes,” says Fluttershy, her voice quivering.

“What did you see?” asks Lyra. “What did the Marker tell you?”

Fluttershy is silent, and Lyra sighs.

“Look, we only want what is best for you, but we can’t help you if you don’t talk to us,” says Lyra.

Zephyr climbs on the table and sits in front of Fluttershy, blocking her view of Lyra as he leans closer to her.

“You never answered my calls,” says Zephyr.

Zephyr extends his hoof to Fluttershy, and she grits her teeth and leans back in her chair, her chains rattling as she trembles.

“Fluttershy?” calls Lyra.

“You abandoned me when I needed you,” says Zephyr.

“Fluttershy!?”

Tears streak down Fluttershy’s cheek, her breathing has become labored, and her eye burns while her mechanical lens ticks, and Zephyr leans closer, his hoof still outstretched.

“We’re broken because of you. Fix us. Make us whole,” says Zephyr.

“Fluttershy!” yells Lyra.

There is a bright flash of light, and Fluttershy blinks quickly. After the first few blinks, a wave of nausea rushes over her, rapidly making her groggy. Her eyelid twitches as the robotic lens for her augmented eye adjusts to the light, and her head feels loose, her brain feels like it is detached from the rest of her body and her mouth is dry.

“Fluttershy? Fluttershy, can you hear me?” asks a stallion with a soft voice, his features obscured by a flashlight on his shoulder.

The room is a blur, and the light shining in her face is only bringing pain to her, so she lifts her hoof up to shield her eyes. With her hoof blocking the light, Fluttershy can see some padded walls with hieroglyphs and double helixes drawn on them with various colors (mostly red). There is also a red swirling light outside her door, as well as a ringing alarm and an announcement she cannot understand.

The flashlight in front of Fluttershy turns off, and she blinks the colorful floating blobs away, which also focuses her vision. Once her vision is focused, Fluttershy sees an old, heavyset stallion with turquoise eyes, a thick light gray mane, tail and mustache, and a pale green coat. He is wearing a black jumpsuit with green double helixes woven into the sleeves, and green collar and cuffs, as well as a battle saddle, and when he smiles and puts his hooves on Fluttershy’s shoulders, her muscles lock and her eyes widen.

“Dad?” stammers Fluttershy hoarsely. “Are you real?”

The stallion, Weather Breeze, nods, his eyes shimmering from tears.

“Yes, I am real, and I’m here to rescue you,” says Weather. He gently pulls Fluttershy up and does a quick inspection of her, his face becoming more distraught as he realizes how thin her frame is and the number of injection marks along her skull and neck. “By the Marker, what have they done to you?”

Suddenly, a griffin moves into view, brandishing a rifle saddle and covered in armor decorated with helixes and hieroglyphs. Fluttershy immediately tries moving back, but she is held in place by Weather.

“No, no, it’s okay, they are here to help us,” says Weather.

“We really need to get out of here,” says the griffin. “The Harvesters are breaking through everything. If we don’t leave now-”

“I know,” says Weather shakily. He gently pulls Fluttershy out of the room, being mindful of her wobbly steps. “Fluttershy, sweetie, we are going to get you out of here, but you need to follow our instructions, okay?”

“What’s going on?” asks Fluttershy.

Her heart races and her eyes snap past her father’s shoulder to look at other armored escorts, each with Unitology markings on their suits and scanning the area with the lights on their weapons. As the lights sweep over the walls and doors, Fluttershy sees more hieroglyphs, double helixes, and other forms of graffiti painted on the walls and glass doors of cells where patients are muttering, pacing, or cackling. The nearby door is locked with a red emergency sign projected above it, and it is being welded shut by a pair of unicorns. Seeing this, Fluttershy shakes her head and tries stepping back, despite Weather keeping his hooves on her shoulders.

“No… Not again. Not again! I can’t do this again!” cries Fluttershy.

The door thumps and muffled shrieks on the other side make the unicorns jump back, and the griffin aims his rifle at the doorway.

“Weather, we need to go!” barks the griffin.

Weather presses his hoof against Fluttershy’s neck, and after a quick poke from a syringe, energy floods through Fluttershy’s veins, bringing her to gasp and tremble with her heart feeling heavy. The patients are now screaming and banging on their cells, and there is muffled banging that brings the unicorns to swear and gallop away from the locked door.

“Fluttershy, stay with me,” says Weather, cupping the back of her heard and bringing it so their heads are touching while pulling her further into the hallway. “You’ll be fine if you stay with me.”

“But what about them?” asks Fluttershy, glancing at the patients.

“There’s nothing we can do for them. All that matters, is you.”

A pair of blood-soaked scythes suddenly puncture the locked door, and the door bends open with sparks popping out and the emergency message flickering away.

“Harvesters!” screams one of the unicorns.

The escorts shoot into the doorway, bringing the creature to reel back with sprays of rust colored blood splashing out, and more high pitched shrieks come from the darkness of the hallway.

“Get the Oracle out of here!” barks the griffin.

Weather shoves Fluttershy forward and the two gallop away while three sets of gunshots and screams echo in the hallway. The pair gallop past more glass doors, showing more patients inside howling, screaming, banging, and laughing while the gunfire disappears and glass shatters behind them. With each glass breaking, the hellish screams get louder, and over the chaos, a voice speaks through the intercom.

“This is Pinnacle. Black Hole Protocol is in effect. Execute with extreme prejudice,” says a stallion.

The two pegasi round a corner and continue running down the hallway, passing more glass cells with patients trapped inside, and the lights above flash off one by one. Each light turning off creates a patch of darkness with only flashing small red lights to break it. The pockets of dark and light make the sharp shadows of the Necromorphs flicker in and out of view, each time getting larger and their screams getting louder while they break the glass and silence the patients.

The pair take another turn, go through a door, and Weather quickly locks it, and resumes galloping with Fluttershy next to him. He takes her to an elevator, hits the button and quickly turns to aim his rifle down the hallway while the elevator ponders on whether it wants to show up or not. While they wait, Fluttershy cannot help but be impressed with what she has seen of her father. What she has seen is a far cry from what she remembers him as. But that aside, a thought nags Fluttershy.

“How did this happen?” asks Fluttershy.

The elevator opens and Weather pushes her in. After he joins her, he hits the emergency close button and keeps his eyes on the hallway as the door closes.

“I don’t know,” says Weather, “but your mother and I have arranged to get you off Sparkle Station and take you somewhere safe.”

Fluttershy stares at her father with the only sound being the muffled alarms and the humming of the elevator. Seconds later, the elevator dings and the pair look at the door as it slides open. Once it opens, they see a Slasher slicing a goat’s head from his body and ripping his ribs out. After the body drops, it looks at them, roars, and charges.

Fluttershy shrieks and hits the emergency close button while Weather shoots it with his rifle. The bullets tear into it, making it jerk as blood pours from its wounds, but it doesn’t stop. Weather keeps shooting, and the Necromorph’s legs break off with splinters of bone and mangled flesh. Its roar is weak with blood oozing out of its mouth, and it crawls towards them using its scythe claws while Fluttershy bangs against the emergency close button. The door finally closes with a pleasant ding when the Slasher is almost at the elevator, and Fluttershy hits the next floor down. The elevator starts moving again, and Fluttershy collapses against the wall and slides down to the floor, clutching her heavy beating heart as she tries to swallow air. But as soon as she does that, the door opens again, and Weather shakily reloads before stepping out.

The light of his gun is unsteady as he sweeps the darkness, illuminating a massacre. Torn up bodies lay in puddles of blood with splashes of red along the walls and cracked windows. Tipped over furniture and spilled contents litter the area, and on the wall, a large television with a hole in its screen lights up more corpses and drowns out the alarm with its electric static. At the far end of the darkness is a partially open door, letting bright light from the hallway bleed into the room.

Fluttershy stumbles out of the elevator, breathing heavily while clutching her heart and leaning against the wall, and Weather gives the room one more sweep before slowly moving forward. The elevator closes a few seconds later, cutting off the light, and Weather goes to Fluttershy’s side to help her stand.

“Are you okay?” asks Weather.

Fluttershy swallows and rubs her heart again, feeling its hard beats against her ribs.

“No… My heart… It’s bad,” says Fluttershy.

“Oh dear. Okay, there’s got to be something we can find to-”

A whirring and bang brings him to silence and Fluttershy’s eyes to widen, and when a shadow stretches on the wall past the cracked windows the two pegasi crouch down. They wait in silence, each holding their breath as the shadow moves along the wall, with the alarm covering whatever noise is being made by the steps.

Several seconds later, the door opens again, and the shadow moves faster and connects to a goat in a white lab coat over a white and red jumpsuit running down the hallway. He looks over his shoulder and screams before a barrage of bullets hit him. Each bullet striking him releases a burst of flame that chars his body and leaves his uniform smoldering. When he collapses, his flesh is sizzling, and an earth pony covered in black armor with red lenses on their helmet approaches him. The body structure points to the pony being a mare, and the black armor has a collection of fresh scratches and dents, a jet back, claws on the boots, and has a battle saddle with red gems glowing in its barrel.

Fluttershy and Weather watch the armored mare stand near the goat, and both flinch when she puts two more rounds in his head, leading to red smoke rising from his skull, and the pair bite their tongues when she goes to a door on the other end of the hallway. The door slides open, and she goes into the next section, disappearing in the darkness. As soon as the door closes, Weather quietly goes to the window and peeks out, looking from one end to the other, and then he goes to the jammed door and grunts as he pulls. The door screeches and groans, and Fluttershy takes a deep breath before walking to her father.

“Who was that?” asks Fluttershy.

“I don’t know,” says Weather, grunting and giving the door another pull that allows it to move a little bit more. “But we best avoid her.”

Weather gives the door one more tug that brings it to move the rest of the way, and with it comes a loud, long screech that echoes in the area. The old stallion looks in the direction the stranger went, and then the direction he came from, and steps out, looking at the latter.

“This way,” says Weather.

Fluttershy follows Weather, grimacing when she steps into the hallway. The trail of blood reflects the bright lights, and on the wall is a broken screen displaying an emergency message that fuzzes in and out of clarity. The door Weather approaches opens without any trouble, and it leads to a brightly lit lobby with torn up bodies, pillars placed equally apart and destroyed tables, flipped chairs, and torn couches around smaller smashed tables with a long wall displaying a sunset and tropical beach. Then it flickers to an urban café. Then to a forest with a waterfall. Then to a blur of distorted images that collide with each other. The other wall has the same set up, but the screen has been destroyed, leaving its burnt interior exposed with sparks popping out every few seconds.

“The pharmacy is just a bit farther. There should be something there for you to use,” says Weather.

Fluttershy nods and quietly follows him, trying with questionable results to keep her breathing under control. They go through another door and are immediately blinded by a flash of fire and both shield themselves with their hooves as shards of glass fly and scatter across the enclosed walkway. Metal groans and fire crackles, and when Fluttershy lowers her hoof she gasps at the sight of a burning vehicle on what’s left of the walkway. It rocks back and forth, and inside the cockpit, the pilot struggles in their seat as the fire eats away their uniform and flesh. Their agonizing screams and sobs are dampened by the roaring fire, and when Fluttershy runs forward she is tugged back by Weather and locked in a hug.

“No! What are you doing!” cries Fluttershy, tears streaming down her face and her hoof outstretched. “Let me save him!”

“There’s nothing you can do for him!” says Weather.

“I can save him!”

“No, you can’t!”

That is when a black mass with bright white eyes and covered in blue flame breaks through the pilot’s door. The pilot’s skull and bones are now exposed and blackening with his muscles dripping off as his attempts to break free weaken, and the burning creature shrieks and releases a large burst of fire. The explosion knocks Fluttershy and Weather back, and the gutted craft plummets out of view. Seconds later, the walkway groans as pieces of its foundation fall, crashing into the walkway below.

“Run!” yells Weather.

The two scramble to their hooves and gallop across the hallway. Fire nips at Fluttershy’s hooves and the hallway buckles with loud groaning and snaps. Sparks fly out of the walls and pieces of the floor pop out of place with glass shattering. Weather is the first to reach the door at the end and he slams his hoof against its control panel, bringing it to open right as the walkway snaps loose. As the walkway falls, Fluttershy leaps into the doorway and slides across the floor, clutching her heart and gasping for air. Weather then closes the door, goes to Fluttershy’s side, and helps her stand up, but she wobbles due to weak knees and one of her hooves clutching her heart.

Weather pats Fluttershy’s shoulder, and then he turns on his light and scans the area. The lobby is spacious with pillars placed in even increments, and lights flicker above with the intercoms spewing out loud fuzz. The lights reflect off pools of blood without bodies and briefly light up torn furniture and a broken receptions desk. Off to the side, a dimly lit poster has a picture of doctors in white lab coats over white and red jumpsuits, all smiling with a message below: We’re Here to Help!

Weather walks forward and Fluttershy hobbles after him with a frown and heavy breaths going through her nose. As he walks, he keeps sweeping the area with his light, showing more blood splatter and slashes on the walls and floor.

“Fluttershy, I know you’re mad,” says Weather, “but there was nothing you could do for him or those patients back there. You would have died trying to stop the inevitable, and I couldn’t let that happen. You’re too important to us.”

“Who’s us?” mutters Fluttershy.

“Your mother and I, of course.”

Fluttershy looks away, rubbing her heart and briefly seeing Weather’s light illuminate a mannequin in a white suit with red bands similar to what she wore when she was in the Medical Corps. The light quickly leaves it, though, and shines on a sign that says ‘PHARMACY’. The door beneath it is broken open with blood and strips of flesh coating the jagged edge, and a thick trail of blood goes towards a jagged hole in the wall. Near the hole is a door with a green glow and ‘MEDICAL ADMINISTRATION’ above it. Though, the sign is flickering, and Fluttershy looks at the hole in the wall again while Weather peeks inside the Pharmacy room.

“It looks clear,” says Weather. He waves Fluttershy towards him, and as she approaches, he goes inside and does a quick sweep. “It doesn’t look like they had time to loot anything.”

Fluttershy steps past her father and immediately begins going through the aisles, breathing heavily and her heart thumping loudly. Every aisle has rows upon rows of canisters with names of patients and bar codes. Fluttershy goes towards a computer in the back, which is still open with “A. Redheart” at the top corner. Fluttershy’s eyes lock on the name for a moment before she looks at the keyboard while Weather stands guard. She stares blankly at the letters and numbers, and like a lightbulb flashing on, she remembers what she needs to look for and types in “Heartamony” in the computer. Once the name is entered, its location is displayed as: R10-01-12.

Fluttershy leaves the computer and goes through the aisles, eyes flicking to the numbers as she passes the shelves. From R01, to R02, to R03, on and on the numbers go until Fluttershy finds R10, and she cranes her neck and takes a step back to look at the labels on the top shelf. Fortunately, the dim light is just strong enough for her to see the labels, and when she finds Heartamony she stands on her hind legs and paws at the container until it falls from its slot. After that, she scoops it up, and pops the lid off. Her hoof shakes as she tips the container, and two 20mg cylinder-shaped capsules fall into the bowl of her hoof. She swallows the pills dry and coughs and gags as she leans against the shelf. The shudders that follow leave a wave of painful tingles through her spine and limbs, but after the pain subsides, the tension eases on her heart just a bit. However, that doesn’t stop her from sliding to the floor and rubbing her chest.

“Are you okay?” asks Weather, kneeling next to her and placing his hoof on her shoulder.

Fluttershy nods.

Weather hesitates. “Do you forgive me for what I did back there?”

Fluttershy looks at Weather crossly, and he sighs and stands up, using Fluttershy’s shoulder as a crutch. Once he is up, he undoes his saddle and holds it out to Fluttershy. At first, she doesn’t move, but after a silent begging nod from her father, she gets up and lets him place it on her.

“I know you don’t understand what’s happening, but you will eventually, and then you will know why I did what I did,” says Weather while adjusting the straps.

“I already know what’s happening,” says Fluttershy. “This happened to Zephyr before he died.”

Weather stops in the middle of tightening, and after a brief moment of shaky breathing he turns Fluttershy so they are face to face.

“Fluttershy, sweetie, I need to confess something, about you and your brother. I… made a mistake,” says Weather. “You were my children, and I wasn’t a good father. I wish I could fix what I did, but I can’t. Your mother feels the same way, too. If we could take back what we did to you and Zephyr, especially you, we would in a heartbeat. We just… We only wanted what was best for you, and it didn’t work out that way. If we survive this, will you forgive me for what I did?”

Fluttershy's breathing hitches and she swallows a hot, wet lump in her throat. “Can we talk about this later? … Please?”

Weather nods and finishes her straps. “We can.” He readies his rifle and steps back. “Gather up as much supplies as you can. We’ll need it if we’re going to survive the Harvesters.”

“Necromorphs,” mutters Fluttershy as she goes to raid the shelves.

A couple of minutes later, Fluttershy has finished stuffing her saddle with Heartamony, pain pills, adrenaline, and bandages. She hasn’t said a word to her father, and he hasn’t spoken a word to her either. During this quiet time (or as quiet as the alarms and the distant screams would allow), Fluttershy’s thoughts run wild.

Weather’s apologizing to her for what he did now? After all these years? A little late on that, and she doesn’t trust the apology, either. He and his wife had plenty of time to fix things, but they chose Unitology over her and Zephyr. Now Zephyr’s gone, and Fluttershy isn’t sure if she’ll last much longer. She barely survived a Necromorph infestation on a colony ship and now she’s experiencing the start of one on a space habitat. They are considerably larger than colony ships in every way. Some might call them space cities, or space city-states depending on who is asked.

Fluttershy pushes out the thought of size comparisons between habitats and colony ships. and glances at Weather. He is staring out the broken door with a distant look in his eyes. The dim lighting is making it hard to see his detail, but she can see his ears and wings drooped and a sag in his stature. Seeing him like this softens her heart a little bit, and she takes a few steps forward, but stops herself before she can reach him and looks away.

Is he playing a trick on her? Deception isn’t a foreign concept to him or his wife, after all. They may look soft and speak softly, but if Fluttershy has learned anything from her parents, it is that they will bend to the strongest will and lie to preserve themselves, even if it means going against their children.

But then again… His stature does look genuine. Maybe he really is sorry. Or maybe he perfected his trickery. She hasn’t seen him in a long time, so it is possible.

Fluttershy looks at Weather again, takes a deep breath, stiffens her posture, and walks towards him with her head held high and steps steady. Once she reaches him, she stops and looks him in the eyes. She sees a shimmer in them. But the shimmers could be fake tears. Actors do it all the time… But Weather has never been a good actor. Only a good liar.

“Are you really sorry?” asks Fluttershy.

Weather looks at her, nodding. Fluttershy keeps her eyes locked on him, wanting to believe him, and he looks at her, blinking the tears from his eyes.

“We need to go. We’re lucky we haven’t run into any Harvesters yet,” says Weather. “We can talk about what happened to you and Zephyr when we meet with your mother. Maybe then we can work things out when we're together.”

After that, Weather leaves the room, gives the lobby a quick scan, and motions Fluttershy out when he determines it to be safe. Fluttershy carefully steps out and follows him down the lobby, ears flicking and eyes scanning the area as the alarm and distant screams flood the air. They pass the jagged hole in the wall, and when they reach the Medical Administration’s door, Weather opens it, stops, and looks at Fluttershy.

“I almost forgot,” says Weather. “This little trinket is important.”

Fluttershy watches the old stallion digs into his pouch and pull out a small tube-shaped device with an ear clip and straps. He quickly works on strapping the device to her shoulder and clipping the appropriate piece to her ear, and once he is done, the device beeps and flashes green.

“This communicator is connected to your mother,” explains Weather. “She would really love to talk to you and is waiting with Seer Asama Zaeem at the Citadel with a ship. We’ll get you to safety and-”

Weather suddenly stiffens with a blue glow surrounding him, and Fluttershy’s eyes widen as he is lifted off the ground. As he is levitated, Fluttershy looks down the lobby and sees the black armored mare at the lobby door she and Weather came from. The fire from outside is cut off from view as the door closes behind the Agent, and she has her hoof extended and her Artificial Telekinesis Module band glowing, enveloping her hoof in the same blue aura covering her father.

“No. No!” cries Fluttershy.

Fluttershy grabs Weather’s hoof and tries in vain to pull him down as the Agent walks down the lobby on three hooves with the fourth still extended. Weather grunts and strains himself to look at Fluttershy, and she looks into his eyes before looking at the approaching Agent again.

“Please don’t do this!” begs Fluttershy.

“Fluttershy, run,” says Weather.

With a flick of the Agent’s hoof, Weather is launched into the jagged metal surrounding the wall’s hole. The metal rips through him and he goes limp in an instant as thick drops of blood dribble to the floor.

“No!” cries Fluttershy.

The Agent lifts her hoof again, the module glows, and Fluttershy dives through the doorway and hits the emergency close button right as an invisible force grabs her. The door slams shut, the restraint disappears, and Fluttershy bucks the terminal, causing the lights around it to flicker off and a thud to echo from the door. Then Fluttershy gallops down the walkway with a slight limp due to a pain in her back hoof. Her heart thumps loud and heavy, and her steps become wobbly as her hoof presses against her chest. Her breathing turns to wheezes and she collapses on the floor, her wet eyes locked on the outside chaos. There are crisscrossing covered walkways with a small, spearhead crafts with stubby orb shaped wings circling around, shooting a stream of bullets at a group of Necromorphs running across the opposite walkway. On another walkway, a small team of security officers shoot into the horde while doctors try to escape, only for them to be slaughtered by Necromorphs that break through the vents.

Fluttershy pushes herself against the wall, trembling and hyperventilating with her face rapidly becoming soaked in tears. Then she gasps when Leapers jump on the security ship and start tearing into its hull and wings, putting it into an uncontrollable spin out of sight. As Fluttershy watches the carnage, her communicator activates, projecting a light amber, obese mare with cerise eyes that are magnified by her thick glasses; she also has a heavy mane and tail that are the color of raspberries.

“Fluttershy? Fluttershy, can you hear me?” says the mare, Posey Breeze.

“Mom? Mom, I can hear you!” says Fluttershy, jumping to her hooves.

“Where’s your father? His vitals went flat, and his communicator isn’t working.”

“He’s dead. He was murdered! I couldn’t save him! Now the pony who killed him is after me!”

“It’s okay, dear.” Posy takes a deep breath and wipes her face before looking at Fluttershy again. “I’m glad you’re alright. I can send a group to come get you. Just tell me where you are.”

Fluttershy shakes her head. “No.” She looks over her shoulder. Nothing. She looks back at Posey. “Please, don’t send anypony for me. I’ll come to you. Nopony else has to die because of me.”

“But, Fluttershy-”

“Mom, I’ll be okay. I’ve done this before. I’ll see you in a little while… I… I love you.”

Posey smiles. “Just get here as fast as you can. I’ll be waiting for you.”

Fluttershy nods, disconnects, and limps down the hallway while looking over her shoulder. The screams of the dying, the roars of the Necromorphs, and the distant thuds of explosions clash together, and hellish fire rages on the walkways and out of the rooms. Red and black smoke has gathered at the top of a glass dome lined with curved metal that forms a five-point star at its crest, shrouding the outside cosmos and their gas giant neighbor with smoke.

After a minute of walking, Fluttershy comes across a door at the far end of the walkway with a dead unicorn mare laying in a pool of blood. Their eyes are still open, and when Fluttershy is close enough she reluctantly inspects the body, finding that their throat has been ripped open with a crude weapon. She searches the corpse and finds nothing, so she opens the door and steps inside the room.

The room is dimly lit with weak flickering lights above, and the light from the raging fires brings a red tint to the room. Fluttershy swallows and continues forward, stopping when her hoof steps in a puddle of blood. She gasps and pulls back, finding another dead unicorn, and she looks up and takes a step back with her hoof to her mouth. The room is littered with corpses, broken furniture and computers with shattered screens or smoking from small fires inside them. All of the bodies are laying in blood with various stab and slash wounds, but the fatal wounds are not the work of Necromorphs, and out of the corner of her eye, Fluttershy sees one of the computers flashing a series of images.

She approaches the computer and sees the images are double helixes with hieroglyphs, as well as photos of the Onyx Marker. There is also a muted video on loop that shows a light purple unicorn mare wearing a white jumpsuit like Fluttershy’s with a horn cuff, talking to the camera. Fluttershy stares at the video, noting that the mare’s mane is flat, three toned with dark blue, purple, and pink, and has bloodshot, violet eyes. The mare looks familiar, and Fluttershy pushes the volume button on the computer, bringing the mare’s voice to crackle through the speaker.

“I didn’t kill them, the monsters did,” says the mare, rocking in her seat. “They killed them and they’re coming for me! My time is running out. Our time is running out. Tick tock tick tock tick tock tick tock. Make the ticking stop!”

“Tell me about the Marker. What did it tell you?” asks Lyra off screen.

“The ticking won’t stop. Make the ticking stop!”

“Focus, Twilight. What did the Marker tell you?”

Twilight whimpers and roughly rubs her ear on the table. “Time is running out. Tick tock tick tock tick tock tick tock. The clock is ticking!”

“Is that what the Marker told you? Was the Marker counting down while you were on Onyx?”

Twilight shifts to rubbing her other ear against the table as her eyes dart madly around the room. “We’re running out of time. We must destroy the Marker before it kills us all!”

Suddenly, a golden aura wraps around Fluttershy’s waist, and she screams as she is lifted into the air and slammed on the table, breaking the computer. Fluttershy gags and coughs as she tries to stand, and the magic returns, blasting her into the observation window. The window cracks, and Lyra steps out of the shadows, holding a broken, bloody piece of metal as a knife with her magic, and her torn uniform is covered in blood with scratches covering her face. She grins at Fluttershy, and her golden eyes and magic flare from to red and green.

“Oh, it’s you. It’s really you,” giggles Lyra. “You’re alive. The plan worked!”

Fluttershy stands up, albeit a bit wobbly while the unicorn uses her magic to disconnect a green band with a small projector and a set of buttons on it. Once the band is off, she tosses it to the observation window and steps closer to Fluttershy, passing one of the corpses.

“Pinnacle said the Black Hole Protocol was in effect. That means we all must die. You, me, them, all of us,” says Lyra. “We all have to die. But I told them where to find you. Oh, yes, I did! I did! And they got to you in time!”

“You told my dad where to find me?” says Fluttershy, sniffling and torn between looking to the door for the Agent and keeping her eyes on Lyra.

Lyra giggles and nods. “I did! But I need more. I need closure. I need forgiveness.”

Fluttershy’s hoof is grabbed by Lyra’s magic and she is pulled forward with a ring of gold, red and green aura wrapping around her neck. Fluttershy struggles in the grip and tries striking Lyra, but the unicorn is keeping her just out of reach, and has grabbed the striking hoof with magic.

“Do you forgive me?” asks Lyra while raising her crude knife.

“W-What?” asks Fluttershy.

“Do you forgive me?”

“Put the knife down.”

“Do you forgive me?”

“Please put the knife down! We can make it out if we work together. The two of us. That sounds nice, right?”

Lyra jerks Fluttershy forward with her magic so that their muzzles are almost touching, and she pins the pegasus' hooves to her sides. Fluttershy can smell the horrid stench in Lyra’s breath, she also sees her reflection in her shifting pupils.

“No. No, no, no.” Lyra gently traces Fluttershy’s cheek with her knife and cups her cheek with her hoof as she shakes her head with a twisted smile. “None of us are escaping this."

"We can if we work together!" says Fluttershy desperately.

Lyra giggles and shakes her head and lifts the knife up. "No we can't. We're all going to burn for what we did to you."

"No, please don't!"

Lyra then stabs Fluttershy’s back and rips it upward, tearing the bands holding her wings down. Her wings snap open, the aura disappears, and Fluttershy drops to the ground, holding her chest and gasping for air while Lyra steps back and uses her magic to grab her hoof band and Fluttershy’s hoof. Fluttershy tries resisting, but the magic is too strong, and in a quick moment Lyra’s band tightens around Fluttershy's hoof, and there is a flash of green light before a white circle appears. After that, Fluttershy holds the band up to her face, twisting her hoof to get a better look at it before meeting Lyra’s eyes.

“Find 23. Find 42. Kill 0,” says Lyra. “Forgive me.”

Lyra plunges the knife in her throat and tears it sideways, completely opening it. Blood gushes out, and Lyra gags and collapses against the observation window, coughing blood with more squirting out of her wound in thick ropes. Seconds later, her limbs go limp and she slides down the window, twitching with her uniform soaked in blood and more pumping out and spreading on the floor.

Fluttershy stares at Lyra’s corpse, hoof to mouth and eyes watering. She doesn’t hear anything besides her own breathing, and after several seconds of stillness her eyes shift to Lyra’s band. She licks her lips, and lightly pokes on the display, bringing up a menu of audio logs, with the most recent being a few hours ago. So, she clicks on that and hurries towards the exit while the log plays in her ear.

“This is Lyra Heartstrings, code named Muse. I’ve just finished killing everyone on my team and I am currently destroying the research. We all must die for what we did. Every one of us. I can already feel myself slipping into the dark and if I didn’t kill them, they would have been taken, too. But, honestly, I enjoyed killing my partners, and the voices praised me for it. Make us whole, they said. Make us whole. Heheheh, so romantic, yet so sinister… I hope I have the strength to kill myself before I am taken. I hope I am forgiven for what I did. This Lyra Heartstrings, lead researcher of Sparkle Station Xenology Department signing off for the last time.”

The audio clicks off, and Fluttershy opens the door, looks to the right, where there is darkness and flickering lights, and to the left where there is a raging fire slowly eating away the corridor. She takes a deep breath and goes right.

Author's Note

And so Fluttershy gallops off into another wonderful adventure!