Author's Note

Someone put this in a collection titled "Please don't be dead" and I'm kinda touched. But no, this isn't dead, it was just taking me time to get this out. I don't know if I'll be writing any new lyrics that have been between the sections of the chapters, but you never know.

WARNING: This chapter contains mentions of cancer, severe burns, depictions of surgery, induced disability, betrayal, blood, (lots of blood) blunt force trauma, dissociation, a seizure, vomiting, yelling, body horror?, all of that fun stuff.

And it's all going downhill from here.

The Ugly Truth

"All things can be made from a pony you see

"It only takes a little creativity."

The Pass 30s gasped in shock as the unicorns continued, but they were hardly listening as the faces were so frighteningly unsuspecting.

"They have to be from unicorns!" the faces replied together.

Sweetie Belle especially couldn't take it, her legs began to feel weak.

"Live unicorns who still have magic in full horns." The purple-eyed pony spoke.

Her pale mulberry coat with a light-gray tint.....

"Horns that could be turned into many things." The azure-eyed pony continued.

That light, shimmering gray coat.....

"Things such as lightbulbs, lenses, liquid glass."

The dark-sapphire mane and tail. The mane and tail with strokes of moderate purple and brilliant raspberry. The mane and tail curved towards her face.

"Bath salts, face masks, perfume."

The indigo mane and tail. The mane and tail with shades of mulberry. The mane and tail in perfect curls.

"Medicine, medical casts, multitudes of solvents."

Those wings and star cutie mark.

"Makeup, mane and tail products, bottled magic."

The three-diamond cutie mark.

Both of them finished together.

"And most of all....our famous necklaces! All made from the horns and more of those useless unicorns!"

Princess Twilight Sparkle and Rarity began to laugh.

Sweetie Belle's heart felt as though it was sinking and shattering all at once. This wasn't the Twilight she knew. The Twilight she knew was kind, if a bit eccentric. Who taught her magic. Who was the Princess of Friendship. Who ran the School of Friendship. And Rarity.....her own big sister. Her own flesh and blood....no....this wasn't right! Rarity was the Element of Generosity. She was a fashion designer. She ran the Carousel Boutique in Ponyville and had one in Canterlot. While the other unicorns expressed shock and disgust, and Mysty and Wonderspark felt anxiety for their friend, Sweetie Belle's heart and mind stormed with betrayal as more tears came to her eyes. And soon, she couldn't hold it back in.

"I THOUGHT YOU LOVED ME!" Sweetie Belle's anger, despair, and betrayal shot like a soaring bullet through the ears of everypony, stopping Twilight and Rarity's laughter fest.

"Huh?" Twilight wondered.

"What?" Rarity gasped as Sweetie Belle continued on, her legs hardly being able to hold her up and her infuriated voice wracked with tears.

"I thought you both cared about me! About everypony."

She whirled on Twilight and shot out an accusing hoof at her.

"You're supposed to be the Princess of Friendship! A friend would never call another pony useless. A friend wouldn't torment them in these horrible conditions! You know friendship better than anypony, and yet you're just choosing to throw it away?"

Sweetie Belle then turned to the one who broke her heart the most, pointing another accusatory hoof.

"And you! You're my own sister. The one that I've looked up to ever since I was a filly. The one I always wanted to be like. The one I always thought was amazing and kind. How could you decide to just use me as slave labor? What happened to a family being forever? I gave it my all and worked my flank off at that exam....and you know why? I did it for you both! I did it, so neither of you would be shamed like all of the other failing students' friends and families! And now I find out that you've both been torturing them?!"

Her legs soon gave out from the stress and shock and she collapsed to the floor, looking up at the two with more tears welling in her eyes.

"I.....I thought you both loved me...." she squeaked out.

Twilight and Rarity seemed apathetic at first, their faces stoic and stone-cold. But slowly Rarity's face morphed into one of fury, as she shouted back intensely.

"Of course I loved you! I worked so hard for you. Because I wanted you to succeed! I wanted you to be renown. I wanted you to go out there and pursue your dreams, because I loved you!"

Loved....past tense.....no, that couldn't mean---

"And I did too!" Twilight's own voice was just as fury-stricken. "Why do you think I busted my own flank to teach you everything I knew? Because I wanted you to pass."

"I turned down a once-in-a-lifetime chance to take my fashion beyond Equestria! Because I chose to give all of my time to you, my own flesh and blood!"

"I made you review day and night because I know what goes on here! I gave you tips and tricks that I wouldn't give any pony that I didn't think would succeed!"

Twilight paused for a moment and tried to calm herself, as did Rarity.

"We knew, Sweetie Belle...." Rarity's voice softened briefly. "We knew what went down here. That was why Twilight and I pushed you so hard....we didn't want you to end up like us...."

"I....I don't understand...." she whimpered.

"....We both run the place," Twilight began, a hint of penitence in her voice. "And we're doing it because we care about everypony. Unicorn horns can be used for so much, but the factory wasted the rest of the ponies before they brought us on. They told me there was a way that we could create new markets to avoid another Great Famine, something nopony should ever have to experience."

"And they spoke to me," Rarity added, her voice also laced with regret. "After Twilight told them about how I got my cutie mark. My know-how of gems helped me work my way up.....but then the namesake got in the way."

No pony asked.

"Starlight Glimmer," Twilight continued. "Had also been asked to help. But when she heard about this business endeavor, she wanted this entire place shut down and for the operation to cease completely. Starlight tried to stop us from going forward.....but sacrifices often have to be made for the greater good, and so we named the company in honor of hers......."

"And thus Twilight and I found ways to make use of each and every unicorn in their entireties. For instance, did you know that a pair of unicorn eyes--when hardened, polished, and painted--make amazing substitutes for earrings? They can pass for makeshift pearls so easily! Or that a unicorn's hair makes a great addition to a shirt made of the coat?"

"You.....you sadistic bitches!" a lavender unicorn snapped. "Turning living ponies into mere commodities? Into aesthetics?! How demented do you have to be to think that's okay?!"

"It's not just aesthetic," Twilight assured. "Why do you think certain disease rates have dropped or why some diseases have disappeared entirely? Why do you think so much of Equestria is in good health nowadays? Because the things we collect from these failures can go towards saving lives at a significantly-lower cost than most places. The blood we collect from some of the unicorns often go towards blood transfusions. The bone marrow for stem cell transplants. Their organs for those whose own have failed. Coats for coat grafts. Manes to make wigs for ponies with cancer. The list goes on! And I personally make sure a vast sum of the kingdom's treasury goes to giving these necessities to ponies who wouldn't otherwise be able to get them.....how can that possibly be demented?"

There was a moment of silence. Sweetie Belle didn't like that she was actually considering that maybe they had a point. If they were in the right, even just a little. After all, cancer was deadly as many a-pony knew....and there were innocent fillies and colts suffering from it. Did....did they have a point? Was this just a necessary evil?

"And we've also given Equestrians a new taste experience," Rarity added. "In fact, we found that horse meat and blood tastes quite excellent in stew and as dri--oh!"

Rarity jumped as Twilight violently elbowed her in the side, but it was too late. Sweetie Belle's stomach tossed and turned like a spin cycle and she felt that she was going to vomit right where she had collapsed. Several other ponies were way ahead of her and the splashing and hurling filled her ears.

"But rest assured." Rarity tried to speak over the mass vomiting. "Not all of them will be....dealt with. In fact, some of them won't even have their horns removed. But they might be....modified if needed."

"What in Tartarus do you mean?!" a sparkling-violet pony from Crystal Empire University spoke up as she tried to clean herself up. "I thought you said you used each and every pony."

"Oh, we do, darling. But some will be spared the inevitable in favor of our little morale booster."

With a swishing hoof, Rarity gestured to the choir that had been singing the entire time, all of them still had their horns, but there was something off about some of them. Their eyes gave off a distant glaze as their horns glowed. The movement of their mouths had a mechanical rhythm to them, making Sweetie Belle feel on-edge.

"Now as a welcoming gift," Twilight continued on while some lifeless-looking ponies began to clean up the bile that had been expelled from the ponies. "We have a little activity that we like to let each Pass 30 do. And that is to help us make a necklace. Each of you will be able to have your very own unicorn-horn necklace to keep, and you'll get it directly from the source!"

The princess of friendship sounded far too excited for Sweetie Belle's tastes.

"You better be kidding!" Mysty snapped. "I wouldn't help you do this even if you paid me!"

"Are you so sure about that?" Rarity questioned with a hint of condescension in her tone, also mixed with a warning. "If you'd rather face what most of those failures will have to go through, we can put you through a quick examination."

"Wha....what do they have to go through?" Poppy gulped, not sure if she truly wanted to know the answer to that question.

Hearing this, Twilight and Rarity glanced at one another. Sweetie Belle could just barely spy a small smirk on each of their faces.

"Shall we give them a demonstration?" Twilight asked.

"Oh, yes, I do believe such an example is waiting to be made." Rarity gave a ladylike chuckle, but a sinister undertone slithered slyly inside it like a sidewinder on desert sand. She turned to the area holding the Fail 70s. "Guards, bring one of them forward."

One guard gave a single nod and they then came together; they seemed to be discussing something. Their eyes were flicking up and down from their clipboards to each other as they feverishly debated. After a few moments, they nodded and headed for one of the rows further back. The factory had fallen practically silent by now, save for the ambiance of machinery, the creepy choir, and the hooves of the workers clicking against the floor. Of course Sweetie Belle could also hear her heart pounding against her brain as she still tried to grasp this terrifying reality; her own sister, the very flesh and blood who raised her, was running such a horrific.....there was no way she could call it a job or a career. It was too sadistic, too torturous, too terrifying......Hell. That was the only proper word she could think of. This place was Hell itself.

And it was about to get a whole lot worse.

A loud, slow, and echoing creak grated against Sweetie Belle's ears, causing her to wince. What would the poor pony they chose be put through, she had no idea, and the fact that it was taking them so long to bring them up to the front was only causing her more stress and anxiety. On top of that, with its pruning rate in terms of grading, the chances of that pony being a Canterlot University student was far too high for her liking. After several minutes, the guards began to emerge back into view with one of the Fail 70s. The Pass 30s were all anxiously curious as one of them slowly walked into view.

That was when she heard a cry of horror behind her, causing her to jump. Her anxiety put her slightly on edge and in irritation, but it soon became more than understandable when she could make the unlucky soul out clearly. The coat of the unicorn, a pastel-pink, had been kept in pristine condition along with her light-fuschia mane, a naturally wavy one. The eyelids had been pierced and pulled back, the eyes looking glazed over and blurry, causing the unicorn to stumble. But the dead giveaway was the cutie mark; a flower-bouquet.

"No, please!" Mysty was nearly shrieking. "You can't do this to her! She doesn't deserve this!"

The unicorn being escorted whirled her head around blindly.

"Baby sis?!" Poppy Starlight gasped. "Is that you?! Where are you?!"

"I'm right here!" Mysty exclaimed before breaking from the group and past the guards, grabbing her face. "Look at me please! I'm right here!"

Mysty was looking directly into her eyes, but Poppy didn't smile as she normally did when she saw Mysty.

"Baby sis...." she replied. "....I can't see you."

Mysty kept shaking her head, tears peeking over her own eyelids.

"No....don't do this to me.....please......just look at me...." Her voice, once bold, had withered away to a hoarse whimper. "Look.....and see me.....please....."

"....I'm sorry, baby sis...."

Mysty's heart was in knots.

"...No...this is wrong..."

"It's okay that you didn't pass the second part," Poppy smiled, still trying to stay strong. "You did your best--"

"I failed it on purpose."

Silence settled on the two.

"...You what?"

"....I failed it on purpose....because I wanted to be able to see you again."

"Well, you can certainly see me." Poppy gave a sad chuckle.

"Can we please hurry this up?" Twilight stomped her hoof twice in a business-like manner. "There's a little filly with that exact coat color who suffered severe burns in a house fire and another going through chemo with the same mane and tail color."

This piqued Poppy's interest.

"....How old are they?"

"The coat match filly is only 10 pony months and the mane and tail match filly is 1 pony year."

Hearing this, the unicorn gave a sad smile before fumbling with a hoof to place against her twin's cheek.

"It's going to be okay, baby sis," she whispered to Mysty. "It's not going to be in vain....I'll live on through those two fillies in need."

"But I'm a filly.....I'm in need of my sister," Mysty squeaked, her voice regressing back to a filly's.

There seemed to be a moment of silence, save for Mysty's gasped sobs as she tried to grasp the dismal reality. Her own flesh and blood, being treated like a farm animal and then used for Celestia-knows-what. It was a horror beyond horror itself.

Suddenly Twilight cleared her throat.

"Guards, make sure you're gentle with pulling out this horn and be sure to clean it extra-nice."

As if there was some sort of code, Poppy nodded.

"It'll be okay, baby sis. I'm not going to be gone forever. Just please stay strong."

Mysty tried to choke back sobs.

"It's.....it's not fair...."

"Life's not fair, kid," one of the guards huffed. "Now get back with the others before I drag you back there myself."

Poppy fumbled around with her hoof before hugging her sister close.

"....I love you, baby sister," she smiled. "Just be brave, alright? Be strong."

"....I...I love you too, big sister," Mysty choked out as she hugged her back, not wanting to let go of this moment, wishing for nothing more than to let the two of them stay like this.

Suddenly she was yanked away, crying out as she held a hoof out to Poppy who was being lead down a hallway. Sweetie Belle winced at the scream, a blend of emotions whirling inside of her. Was this really the Princess of Friendship and her big sister? No, they had to be imposters, changelings. Yes, that was it. They were simply changelings, sent by Queen Chrysalis to strike fear into their hearts. Or maybe they were just actors and the entire place was just a set for a horror movie. Sweetie Belle had always wanted to give acting a try. That was what most of her mind was saying; the logical part of it was in awe of just what lengths the brain would go to to make a traumatic situation more bearable.

Another set of guards prodded the Pass 30s towards the room Poppy was being lead to.

"This....this is not going to end well," Poppy Prophecy gulped.

"You don't need to be a prophet to see that," Cadence huffed, but a small lace of fear giving her away as they were lead deeper into the factory, unsure of the horrors that awaited them.

"Of course it may seem wrong, but it's a needed vice.

"These ponies became failures, so they'll pay the price."

The hallway was dark and chilly, each hoof clicking against a metal floor as they walked along. Nopony said a single word

The door of the room slammed shut, steel echoing against the walls before the lights flickered on, revealing what looked to be some macabre combination of an operating room, a torture chamber, and a morgue. Various machines were placed all around the room and in the center of it was a gurney bolted to the floor. Above it were four metal claws and behind it looked to be a set of corpse lockers. And all around the wall were sets of monitors. One of the workers was setting up the gurney, wiping it down with a disinfectant and drying it off as Poppy was lead to it. The guards forced her onto the gurney and chained her down with the metal claws before fastening the links to the gurney.

"Now this is just one of the many fates we have in store for them."

Sweetie Belle didn't want to hear their voices anymore; Twilight and Rarity had been leading double lives, ones that tortured other ponies no less, a complete disregard of the values they were supposed to represent. And the worst part was they didn't even seem to show any sense of guilt, no glint of remorse.

"Prior to being placed in their enclosures," Twilight continued in a matter-of-fact business tone. "They each undergo an examination to see what we can utilize from them. According to Poppy Starlight's chart, her eyes are perfect for a set of pearls, her coat for a coat graft, and her mane and tail for a wig."

A panel of the wall slid open and a group of unicorns dressed in surgeon garbs entered, one of them levitating a metal tray. before setting it down on the table next to the gurney.

"Of course for this, we always do the coat and mane first." Now it was Rarity's turn to make Sweetie Belle sick to her stomach. "Even though we do wash both prior to sending them out, it's ideal to avoid getting blood on any of it."

One of the surgeons levitated a razor off of the metal table while another adjust the gurney to look somewhat like a salon chair. Draping her mane over the back, the surgeon turned on the razor and began to carefully shave away at Poppy's marvelous mane. Each hair dropped inside of a clear container.

"Now these surgeons are professionally skilled in their craft," Rarity continued. "At Glimmering Gems, precision matters. Not a single detail can be out of place. Of course some of them don't learn as quickly as the others, but still had a grasp on it. We recently figured out how to make this work. All it takes is a slight....modification."

It was then Sweetie Belle noticed that one of the unicorns had a glazed look in their eyes, their pupils were mere pinpricks and their smile was too uncanny to her liking. Their mere presence made her tense. Once all of the mane was shaved, they moved onto the tail, simply clipping it off. After this, another surgeon took out a razor and the two both began to shave away at the beautiful coat, taking their sweet time in making sure not even a hair was left behind. In about seven minutes, they were finished, and all Poppy was left with was her muscles and tendons on display along with her cutie mark sitting right on top of it. Tiny veins within the muscles pulsed slightly as the blood rushed through them, only making Sweetie Belle feel worse, the contents of her cannibalistic meal she was given hardly sitting well with her.

"Now that we've collected those, it's time to move on to the eyes," Twilight said as a machine emerged from the ceiling. "We have created a multi-purpose device to allow the extraction of various external body parts."

The machine rotated to reveal what looked to be a large dual melon baller or ice cream scooper, except the edges of the metal dome were much sharper and each one had a small slit of sorts. It looked very well-cared for, in fact too well-cared for.

"As you can see, these scoopers are engineered to fit the average size of a full-grown unicorn's eyes." Rarity took over as the machine whirred to life and closed in on each of Poppy's eyes. "The slit in each one allows the optic nerve to slide in easily; once inside the eye sockets, and when the optic nerve is inside the slit, the scoopers sever the optic nerve. Over the years, we have been perfecting this technique to make this part of the procedure as painless as possible. Bloody eyes don't work well as substitute pearls after all. If you will all direct your attention to the monitors there, you'll see the process in its full glory."

The last sentence was not a request.

Sweetie Belle watched in horror as each scooper slowly dug underneath Poppy's eyes, the pony shuddered as the cold metal hit her skin and slid past the eyelids. She could almost feel the cold metal on her own eyes. Suddenly the monitor was lit up, revealing the inside of the eye sockets, making many of the Pass 30s recoil. It was then that Sweetie Belle noticed that Poppy's eyes bulged out ever so slightly

Soon the optic nerve became visible just a bit in the peripheral. Before anypony could say a word, the sides of the scooper moved inward quick as a flash. Poppy flinched slightly, but didn't seem to give any indication of pain. The monitor fell into darkness and the scoopers slowly brought the eyes from out of the sockets. As soon as they were removed, some of the pony surgeons fastened a deep tray underneath them, and just in time too, as blood began to cascade from them. Once again, Poppy gave no indication of pain.

"How did you show us the inside of the eye sockets in such detail?" A forest-green unicorn from Whinnyapolis wondered curiously to Twilight and Rarity, much to the shock and disgust of her fellow Pass 30s.

"Good question," Twilight replied cheerfully as if she were teaching a lesson on magic instead of presenting a fatal surgery while the scoopers slowly descended. "Inside of each scooper handle is a tiny camera. On command these cameras will flip up and a light will activate so that every part of the inside is visible. Of course as some of you may have noticed, this does cause a slight protrusion of the eyes, even with how small they are. Rest assured we're working to rectify this."

By this time, the scoopers were within reach. Two of the pony surgeons levitated each with their horns and gently set them in a box.

"But of course, we can't forget our signature product," Rarity continued as the scooper retracted. "Our unicorn horn necklaces!"

The machine rotated to reveal what seemed to be an inverted drill.

"And thus we present our factory's pride and joy; The Horn Extractor," Twilight said with a smile. "Not the most clever name, but it gets to the point."

The extractor whirred to life and settled on Poppy's horn, covering it in its entirely and settling on her maneless, coatless head. A muffled vacuuming sound could be heard as something was sucked up into a tube.

"What's it doing now?" the forest-green unicorn asked.

"Why the hell are you asking?!" the lavender pony snapped, getting close to the curious unicorn so that they were practically touching muzzles.

"I...it's not my fault I want to know things!" She backed away slightly, clearly uncomfortable with her personal space being forced closer in.

"You want to know about how they're killing a fucking pony?"

"I just want to know what's going on!"

Suddenly the lavender unicorn lashed out a hoof and punched the forest-green unicorn, making her stumble as she cried out. Sweetie Belle winced, practically feeling the pain.

"You bitch! You're as sick as those two! I don't know why I ever called you a friend."

At this, several of the unicorns turned their backs on the forest-green unicorn who had a look of betrayal on her face as she rubbed the spot where the lavender unicorn had punched her, tears forming in her eyes. The look made Sweetie Belle's heart sink. Of course she agreed that it was a morbid and sick curiosity, but it certainly didn't warrant violence against the one who wanted to know.

"The extractor is currently adjusting itself to fit perfectly on the size of her horn after removing the suppressant ring." Twilight continued as if nothing had happened. "It seems that her horn is a bit skinnier than average, so it needs to adjust its size to precision. The setting also needs to be turned down just slightly, as this necklace is particularly special, meaning we want to be more delicate with this horn." She indicated to one of the surgeon ponies who was fiddling with a small dial on the machine, as if trying to perfectly balance a light switch. Once they were finished, they backed away and another unicorn pressed a button and the drill began to turn.

A shrill scream of agony emerged from Poppy's throat, making the others wince, as the horn was slowly turned in her head, ripping it raw from the muscle tendons. Blood began to seep from the horn's socket and down her face. Sweetie Belle could see her muscles tense and release over and over as the blood slithered onto them. As the horn turned, Poppy's cutie mark began to fade in and out, slowly at first and then it began to flash quickly until

RIP!

Poppy's shriek heightened to a banshee's cry as her horn was torn right out of her head; her cutie mark was now gone from her flank, taking up residence inside of her horn. While most of her horn socket blood cascaded into the container below her eye sockets, some of it flooded over the side and fell into her mouth, causing her to cough and croak in between shrieks, spitting it out in showers onto her muscles.

"Too loud, too loud, too loud!" Wonderspark whimpered next to Sweetie Belle, her hooves over her ears and her eyes scrunched shut. Glancing around the group, she was taking in how each of them was handling this cruel display; she could practically feel the fiery fury that emanated from Scarlet, who looked as though she was about to charge at the glass to break through and save Poppy, or if not then to attack the pony surgeons who contributed to it. Ophiuchus was torn between glancing back at it and averting his eyes. The other Poppy had lost all color in her face and was hyperventilating. Rose was staring with her mouth open, her eyes bulging and Sweetie Belle swore she could see her heart pounding against her chest. Neptune was cowering beside Cory who hugged them close, covering their eyes. Cadence looked on in covert disgust, but the small tears that were dripping down her face betrayed her stoic façade. Sweat and tears flooded Lydia's body as she covered her mouth in horror. Even Gossamer couldn't hide his look of terror. Finally Sweetie Belle turned to Mysty who was standing in complete stasis, her eyes staring into the void of the factory with her body completely still. It was almost as though she were a statue, not even so much as a muscle twitched. Sweetie couldn't even pretend to blame her.

Out of nowhere, she heard metal jerking. Whirling back to the window, she could see that Poppy's body was now convulsing violently, threatening the restraints to fly loose. The surgeon ponies simply kept watch as Poppy's screams turned into gurgling rattles, blood showering the perimeter and the pony. Several minutes passed and suddenly one of the restraints launched from the chair and shot at the window, shattering it and sending glass in their direction, before slamming into the head of an amber unicorn who cried out in pain before she fell to the ground with a loud thud. Other ponies tried to shield their faces with their legs, the glass ripping into them like a rabid timberwolf while several drops of blood showered the ponies closest to what was once the window. To Sweetie Belle, this wasn't just Hell now. It was deeper than Hell, more agonizing than any eternal damnation she'd heard of.

And then.....Poppy's body fell still and limp.

One surgery pony checked over the body and undid the rest of the restraints while another swept the glass that had gotten into the room. A third brought the machine down and retrieved the horn, placing it in a box while several began to clean up the blood that had gotten onto the walls. At that moment, two more ponies arrived in butcher aprons along with a gurney, As soon as all of the restraints had come loose and the blood trays removed, they unceremoniously dragged Poppy's body off of the operating gurney and onto their own before wheeling her out, never to be seen again.

Sweetie's mind was a mixture of shock, anxiety, fury, agony, and several other emotions that she couldn't distinguish. This was the sort of business Twilight and Rarity were running? No, it couldn't normally be this violent, right? They must be just as shocked as the Pass 30s, right? She could only hope as she waited for the two to cry out in horror, to faint, to do something to show that they still had some sense of empathy.

"Somepony check on that amber one who got knocked back," Twilight ordered with a mixture of apathy and penitence. "It was bad enough to get a worthless pony's blood around the factory. I don't need to lose one that has at least some potential."

"Darling, it's not that much of a loss," Rarity told Twilight in the same tone. "You and I both know if we lose one, we have plenty more here."

No....this was all wrong. Sweetie wanted to hear Rarity's cries, her dramatics, her extreme emotions. She wanted to hear the gasps of horror in Twilight's voice, not this complete disregard. At that moment, the room began to sway as though Sweetie was back on that ship, only this was accompanied by fades of consciousness as she stumbled around the room. Her irregular heartbeat and steps echoed in her mind along with Poppy's now-silenced cries. She could hear someone calling her name, but not who it was. And she didn't have time to ask either, because soon enough her consciousness blew out like a candle.

She didn't even feel herself fall on the pile of glass shards.