My Little Among Us

Holo-Twi cocked an eyebrow. "Dash, can you...turn yourself on?"

Holo-Dash nodded. "Yep, and I can watch and listen while off too. See, the problem with eggheads is they always want to test things instead of just listen. Like come on, AJ wasn't a good actor! She got over me gettin' chopped way too fast. I'm the one with half a mind missin', not her!"

Holo-Twi breathed a sigh of relief. "Oh good, for a moment I was worried it was Pinkie."

Pinkie nodded. "Yeah, come to think of it, I'm a total noob voting Rarity. It should be obvious that Rarity couldn't vent from O2 to Medbay. Pfft, I pretty much forgot how to play."

There was a sudden banging on the door.

"Help!" came Rarity's voice. "It was AJ! My horn can barely cast anything, darlings!"

"RARITY!" Spike yelled as he slammed on the door controls.

Holo-Twi gasped. "Spike, no."

The door controls sparked as the door slid open, and Rarity fell in.

Spike gasped as he looked her over. Her mane was nothing but a scorch mark across her head, her horn was cracked and sparking, her one unsinged ear had been replaced with a scorch mark, and she was covering one eye with a forehoof...her only forehoof. Her back end fared better, with only a bit of scorching from one leg's hock to the tailbase in an arc.

Rarity got her breath as a green tentacle crept towards her, then blasted it, knocking herself back as well. "Well...it's a good thing Pinkie's flamethrower aim isn't great and my mane is...er was quite large to take the brunt of it..."

The green monster stomped down as it formed first Lightning Dust's face, then AJ's. "Urgh, yeah, really hit me harder...but thankfully for me, I had just gotten past needing that body..."

Holo-Dash growled. "Was there anything left of her in there?"

AJ chuckled with a disturbing mixed voice of both ponies. "Oh, all of her is in here, just...twisted like a good lassoin' rope. We were once Lightning Dust and Ocellus, and Applejack. Now we are...much more. It's a shame you denied us the chance to add Twilight to the mix..."

Holo-Dash spat. "I'm breaking up with you!"

AJ smirked as her mouth formed an unnaturally-wide grin. "Oh, I'm sure ya are breakin' up, sugarcube..." She spat out a bone at Holo-Dash's crystal, which cracked.

Holo-Dash looked down. "Oh horseapples, you little wit-" She looked at her hooves forming glowing cracks and screamed as her brain crystal exploded and she poofed.

Holo-Twi screamed. "Ah! I don't wanna end up like the other two holograms! Spike, Pinkie, stop staring and help Rarity kill the thing!"

Rarity tried to shoot a blast from her horn, but it fizzled out as she winced in pain. "Darlings...I'm afraid I can't keep this up with all the pain I'm in..."

Pinkie kicked over one of the treatment beds, revealing a party cannon on a pivot, and a switch set to 'auto'. Within seconds, she had it pointed at AJ and blasted her repeatedly. "On it, sister! Get on the bed and hold still, that thing won't keep the impostor off us for long!"

Spike hurriedly applied wet rags to Rarity's burned areas, and grabbed bandages and anesthetic, trying not to look as Pinkie got to work.

Pinkie hummed a tune. "Hmm hmm hmm, patching up a pretty pony..." She soon had Rarity bandaged up, and gave her a potion. "Drink this. Spike, um, clean up her rear, I may not be a doctor, but I know that stuff meant for the toilet doesn't belong in bandages!" Pinkie then carefully put an eyepatch over Rarity's bandaged eye, and strapped a peg leg to her foreleg stump.

Rarity made some pained noises as Spike cleaned her, then took a swig and weakly chuckled. "This...ungh, should do for now. Thanks..."

AJ jumped forward as the cannon's salvo ended with only smoke and a sputter.

Spike gulped. "Um...got anything else to stop her? You kind of...emptied me out, completely!"

"Emergency dragon fuel, go!" Pinkie shouted before pulling a 2 liter bottle of diet cola and a can of beans out of her tail and shoving them into his mouth. "Uh, Twilight, Rarity, got anything to make his tummy work extra hard? I don't know if mentos will work with dragonfire."

Holo-Twi nodded. "Rarity, uh, I think knows a spell to deal with a full belly fast..."

Spike flailed, barely breathing as his belly swelled.

Rarity gasped. "But my horn can't focus...I mean, the magic can form, but I can't direct it, and this spell needs direction to hit his digestive system!"

Pinkie pulled the bottle and can out of Spike's mouth, then slammed his mouth down onto Rarity's horn. "Problem solved!"

Rarity groaned in pain, but then closed her eyes and flared her horn.

Spike whined as his stomach glowed, then belched off of Rarity's horn, leaving it further singed.

Pinkie then cartwheeled over to a storage locker, and pulled out a party bazooka. "That should do it. Now, I'll hold her off while your tummy gets bubbly! EAT CONFETTI YOU JERK!" She fired as AJ's long tongue lashed out at her, knocking it away.

Spike soon retched, then promptly unleashed three belches in a row as fireballs right at AJ's side.

The long tongue ballooned and swatted at the fireballs, getting singed in the process. AJ started sweating like crazy, and panting.

Spike let out another fire belch, sending AJ scampering down the hall. "I think she can't stand the heat, we just need to hold her down for another big burn!"

Pinkie wiped some sweat from her brow. "Sorry, but I'm not exactly fireproof, mister. I can only pin her from far off. Let me get my emergency decoration artillery while you two get her to the garbage area's airlock."

"On it!" Spike chased after AJ into the garbage area, and managed to grab her tail, pulling her back while blasting fire onto the panel for the hallway door.

AJ snarled and extended out the tongue into a central mouth with four branching tentacles that lashed at him.

Spike belched fire at the mouth, making it whine, but was taking a beating from the tentacles, and now pinned down.

Suddenly, a present embedded itself in one tentacle, and then burst into streamers.

Pinkie came to the doorway of the Medbay with a colorful artillery piece, now wearing her helmet. "Somepony call for a tentacle party and not invite Pinkie? How inconsiderate! At least Maretime Bay has the excuse of being in the future!"

Rarity rushed over to Spike's side, stumbling on her peg leg, and panting, as she put a shield between them and AJ. "Spike...I can't...do this for long with my horn like this!"

AJ giggled. "Somepony could use a pick-me-up..." She then melted into a puddle, and slithered around the shield as presents sailed overhead.

Rarity blasted magic in the direction of the goop, but a bit of it flew onto her face, and the rest soon followed, going down her throat. She then breathed heavily as she looked at Spike. "Spikey-Wikey, darling..."

Spike gulped. "Y-yeah?"

"Finish the job, please..." Rarity retched violently, and turned her head away. When it came back, it was Lightning Dust's smug grin, then AJ's. "Oh but you can't...and now...I have a horn. Ooh baby, do I have a horn, darling!" Rarity promptly put up a shield in front of Pinkie, and charged her horn. "Bye-bye, Spikey Wikey!"

Spike then let loose a pillar of fire, and the shield separating Pinkie disappeared.

When it cleared, Rarity stood cross-eyed. Her horn was nothing but a charred base. She panted a moment.

Spike gritted his teeth as he kicked her in the stomach and between the legs as hard as he could.

Rarity grunted in pain and wheezed. "Ooh...ow...I appreciate wanting her out of me, but...it may be too late, darlings..."

Spike rolled away towards Pinkie and started to tear up a bit. "No, it can't be! Please, Rarity, fight it!"

Pinkie put down her helmet's visor and latched it just before a blastwave hit them, knocking them over. Pinkie laid on her back, while Spike was on his stomach.

Rarity retched. "Hurt...yourself too...did you, fiend?" The goo creature emerged as Rarity's tongue, barely holding its shape and not just becoming a puddle. "Spike...help..."

Pinkie stood up quickly and looked around. Her party artillery was toast, and her singed legs weren't cooperating. She looked to Spike and slammed a hoof down on his back while raising his tail with the other.

A torrent of green flames sputtered out at as Rarity ducked to the side, and the creature was blasted clear away, leaving only a thread connecting it to Rarity.

Rarity began trudging slowly towards the reforming mass of creature, stopping to wheeze at the airlock controls. "Pinkie...get me over and blow me out of here!"

Pinkie looked at her a moment, then sighed. "Rarity, I might be able to do that but...I can't leave Spike without you! So...." She grabbed Spike and gave him a deep smooch. "Pass it on to a white pony we both love." She flung him onto Rarity. "HIT IT, SISTER!" She then grabbed onto the reforming creature's main mass and began wrestling with it.

Rarity gasped, then coughed around the thread in her mouth, and breathed heavily as she looked at a nearby storage crate. "I...goodbye, Pinkie." She grabbed a nearby hose, and tied herself to the heavy crate, then stared a moment to Pinkie with a tear forming, before slamming down on the open button and hugging Spike tightly.

An alarm blared for a moment before the doors flew open, and the air rushed out around everyone.

Pinkie and the creature were flung out as Rarity watched in horror, crying as her tears flew away and the rushing sound died down, replaced with silence.

The creature wrapped around Pinkie. Then, the thread connecting it to Rarity went taut, making her cry out.

Spike weakly moved, gasping for air as he watched the air rush out. He finally turned away, and weakly shot out a small fireball from his rear that struck the thread connecting the main creature body with Rarity...and out it went into the void.

Rarity looked on as the thing rushed away, and she fell onto her side.

The airlock doors suddenly closed.

Spike grabbed Rarity and dragged her to medbay. "Come on...please don't die..."

The door closed behind them as Rarity began to gasp for air.

Spike threw off his helmet. "Twi...?"

Holo-Twi smiled at him. "Yeah, oxygen's back to normal. Are you okay?"

Spike shook his head. "We got the creature out. That's it, right?"

Rarity weakly stood up, and puked over the edge of a medbed.

Holo-Twi shook her head. "I'm...getting something from Pinkie's helmet..."

Pinkie's voice, laden with static, came in over the comms. "Twilight, Spike, Rarity! I, UNGH, don't have much time..."

Rarity gasped. "Pinkie? Oh dear Celestia, is the creature...?"

"Eating me?" Pinkie chuckled. "No! And that's the, GAH, problem! This thing's tryin' to, urngh, hack my system! My helmet's keeping it out of my head for now, and, AGH..." Pinkie breathed heavily for a moment. "I'm typing on my belly to put up firewalls, but...it found the backdoor, so, grah...it'll be in my maneframe soon!"

Rarity snarled in disgust. "This monster knows no bounds of dignity!"

Spike bit his fingernails. "Rarity, never mind that, if that thing has control of Pinkie's powers...Pinkie, you need to make it go near the engines, then we could burn it!"

Pinkie shrieked. "It's getting in! It's in my head! Wow it's HUNGRY. And its tentacles are like my tail...I can almost get them to do things, I think. Um...but I need a distraction. Anything you guys can do?"

Holo-Twi grunted. "Sorry, but as much as I'd like to say otherwise, the ship's hull doesn't have any cannons like you wanted...Pinkie, now's a good time to think of some final words..."

Spike put up a finger. "Pinkie, I've got an idea! Think...about food, about that hunger, about digesting food! Maybe you can make it digest you!"

There was a short pause, before Pinkie replied. "Yeah, it's lights out, right...okay, done, OUCH, OUCH, ungh...I got it movin' to the ship's thrusters, but...OW! Oh gosh, I'm just a head on a skeleton now, love you all, and Spike, remember to kiss Rarity EXTRA hard for me since I can't, b-buh..." Her voice trailed off, and then was cut off by static.

Holo-Twi blinked. "Okay, that was disturbing, but...the creature's just about in position, and this might be a little early, but I know we have nearly twice the fuel we need! BURN BABY BURN!"

The ship shook as the engines roared to life, a stream of a bright blue glow of superheated hydrogen blasting directly into the creature.

Holo-Twi grinned as she saw a satisfying explosion behind the ship. "Phew..."

Rarity suddenly slumped and faceplanted.

Spike gasped. "I-is she gonna be alright?"

Holo-Twi put on a grimace. "I think so, but she needs a doctor, and you're the only one who can operate on her now. I'll get out the medical info and try to guide you...I have faith in you, but don't expect us to save everything she still has attached..."

Spike saluted and gulped. "Understood..."