The Incredible Flutterhulkby FanofAwesomenessChaptersPrologueYears LaterHuntedTurnaboutGoing HomePowerplayHulking EncounterTrotmierAbominationEnd CreditsPrologueFluttershy couldn't help but worry about her friends. Ever since Rainbow's tryouts, they had been drifting farther and farther apart. Twilight was so busy with her work at the company with Rainbow Dash now, Rarity was off in Manehattan, Applejack was busy proving more food on the farm and Pinkie... just kind of disappeared. As Fluttershy was walking around her cottage tending to the mostly empty animal houses, she heard a knock at the door. She jumped and squeaked, hiding behind her hair for a moment before walking over and opening it. "Miss Fluttershy, I presume?" asked a unicorn in a suit. "Yes," she replied quietly. "I'm Agent Coltson from the Solar Homeland Intervention and Lunar Defense agency," the suited unicorn stated. "I've heard you're quite the expert on animals and would like you to help us with a project we've been working on." "Oh, I'd love to," Fluttershy said. "But I can't leave my animal friends behind." "I'm afraid I'm going to have to insist," Coltson said. "We can take them with us if you would prefer." "That would be wonderful," Fluttershy said. "I'll go pack my things." "We can take care of that," Coltson pushed. Please come with me." Fluttershy hesitated briefly, but complied. If the Equestrian government was calling in Fluttershy for something about animals, she had to do everything she could to help. ******************************* "Please step inside," Coltson asked as he held open the door. "This is where you'll be working while you're here, so we tried to make everything as comfortable as we could for you." "Thank you," Fluttershy said, walking into the somewhat homey room. It was wood paneled with everything at her cottage right where it should be, only a little more spaced out due to the size of the room. There was also a bookshelf on the far wall with a worktable in front of it. "It's very nice." "I'm glad you like it," Coltson said. "Now please wait here while I go get the Director." As he left, Fluttershy walked over to the bookshelf. Glancing over the titles, they all read something along the lines of biological sciences. That, or some sort of advanced animal cataloging. Only a few minutes had passed before Coltson returned with the Director, a slightly larger-than-average alicorn with a dark blue coat and flowing mane and tail of the night sky. "Princess Luna!" Fluttershy said hastily with a bow. "There's no need for such formalities," the Princess stated. "In here, we are colleagues. You may call me Luna, or Director, whichever you think is best." "I'm sorry," Fluttershy said. "I had no idea I was going to be working with you." "Actually," Luna said, "You'll be working with a general. I have other duties to perform here. I simply thought it best for a familiar face to explain your job here. "You will be working to enhance and transfer small animal abilities to ponykind without bringing harm to the animals. With your past and advanced knowledge in the field of animals, we figured it was best you work on this. All materials needed will be provided. All you need do is ask. There is research material and a few other things to get started over at the bookshelf." "Oh my," Fluttershy said. "I'm not sure I can do that. I don't know as much about science as Twilight does." "We will work on tying communication to her when we can, but you were the ideal candidate," Luna explained. "You will also have access to all of our files and many of our best scientists." Another pony came trotting up to Luna and whispered something in her ear. "I apologize," she said. "But it seems I am needed elsewhere. Please work as fast as you can. I will see you again, Fluttershy." Fluttershy was at a loss. She barely knew anything about science. She could consult on this, but that could disappoint Luna. Finally, she decided to just work with it and hopefully be of some help. Years LaterTen years had gone by since Fluttershy had been brought in on this secret project and it was almost done. She had found the most useful combination of animal abilities for ponykind and was already synthesizing a solution to transfer them. But something was missing. A catalyst was needed to pull everything together so it didn't end up being a useless injection. That's when she discovered the magnificence of radiation. It held the perfect catalyst to jump-start the process and solidify the mutations. Hopefully, it would work. But, fortunately, if it didn't, there was no harm done. It wouldn't be any amount a normal equine wouldn't be able to handle. Of course, on the extremely off chance something did go horribly wrong, they would be out of an animal expert. Fluttershy had volunteered to undergo the process. The machine buzzed, snapping Fluttershy out of her thoughts. She had been thinking a lot more recently. Without all of her animal friends right in the room, she was let focus on the problem at hoof. She carefully pulled the solution out of the machine and put it into a deep freeze container before trotting over to her bed. It had been a long day preparing it and tomorrow it would be tested. She could only hope it worked. ******************************* "Is everything set up in there?" asked one of the technicians behind the glass. "It looks like it," Fluttershy replied. "Good," he said. "We don't want something popping loose in the middle of this thing." "That won't actually happen, will it?" Fluttershy asked. The technician chuckled. "You've been working with this stuff for ten years and you're still afraid of it?" Fluttershy blushed slightly, hiding a little behind her mane. "Well you have nothing to worry about," he reassured her. "It'll be over before you know it! That is, once we get started. Where's that general that's supposed to be here?" "Right behind you," came a gruff voice from the doorway. The technician jumped before stepping to the side and turning. The General was in his usual military uniform with another scientist with him. "It looks like we can start, then." Fluttershy looked out at the three ponies in the room in front of her. It was only something small and the chances to go wrong were tiny. That thought didn't help calm her nerves when the door shut and locked, though. Taking a deep breath, she moved over to the machine. Closing her eyes, she sat down on the main panel and felt restraints close around her hooves. It took everything she had in her to not panic out of this thing. Then the process began. Hissing filled the room as the solution was pressurized and loaded into the injector. Opening her eyes slightly, Fluttershy could see the metal arm move towards her. Her eyes froze onto the machine as it pressed against her foreleg and injected the liquid into her system. Letting out the breath she had been holding, she slumped a little as the arm moved away. Then another sound caught her attention. A slight humming started to come from the thing she was still strapped into. She looked around and saw the white panel move in front of her, lining up crosshairs over her head. She held her breath, not wanting to breathe in radioactive air as she was hit by low levels of gamma radiation. Yet another sound caught her attention again. Something was hissing that shouldn't be. The injection was complete, and nothing else was pressurized in the room. What could be causing that sound? Fluttershy started to get lightheaded from holding her breath. She wouldn't be able to hold out too much longer. A beep sounded, signifying the end of the test. Fluttershy let out the breath and started to greedily suck in air as the panel moved away to clear her view- -Of three ponies panicking in the other room! "What happened?" Fluttershy asked loudly, trying to figure out why they were all frantically pushing buttons and flipping switches. For some reason, though, she was still light-headed. Her breathing sped up some to try and bring in more air, but it only made things worse. That's when she saw the emergency lights flashing. Something had gone terribly wrong and they were trying to fix it, but what was it? What could have gone wrong. A sharp pain filled Fluttershy's chest, quickly spreading across her body. Her muscles tensed and stretched, pressing against the restraints around her hooves. Bones crackled as they shifted and grew, Fluttershy almost completely blacking out from the pain. Her coat began to change as well, mottling to a yellow-green color. The restraints snapped and she continued to change, growing and mutating. By now, her entire coat was green and her muscles had enlarged significantly. Sirens became audible through the glass as the ponies behind it continued to panic. Finally, it stopped. But Fluttershy had lost herself in the pain and rage. She glared at the others as she smashed through the wall into the other room. The technician who had been working on the machine the most was thrown to the side in her blind rage and hit the opposite wall with a snap of bone. The general pulled his weapon and fired at her, but the bullets just bounced off of her skin. She swept out a foreleg and brought him down as well, snapping a leg in the process. The last pony was on the ground in a heap. Fluttershy stopped, beginning to realize what she had just done, but only vaguely aware she had done it. She screamed in anger as more sirens filled the air and she fled through another wall. ******************************* Fluttershy awoke with a start, a quick beeping filling the small room she was in. She closed her eyes and slowed her breathing, waiting for the beeping to stop. It was a little difficult, that memory had stirred up a few emotions. But eventually, she calmed down enough to stop worrying about another incident. She was still worrying though, even after three years. Incidents happened, though not often anymore. Maybe someday, she would finally be rid of this...thing that had come to live in her mind. Maybe. Until then, living far away from where she could hurt ponies was the best idea. She needed to keep them safe, even if others didn't. She checked her security systems and went off to work, rubbing the top of the head of a stray dog she had brought in. It was going to be a long day, and she didn't have much time to get it started. Author's Note So here it is! My second story in Phase One, and hopefully a little better than my first. I'll be trying to get updates up approximately every two weeks, at the latest. Enjoy! And thanks to my editor Jarkes for helping me get this out. Hunted"I told you to find her!" screamed the General Thunderbolt. "She is a threat to ponykind and needs to be handled!" He was having enough trouble keeping his own troops under control, he didn't need the added ponies from that organization Luna had put together. "Get me a line to Luna." "Yes, sir," one of the ponies said, tapping away at a console. "And make it quick," he added, sighing a little. After all of this time, they were still no closer to finding her than when she had run the first time. The screen ahead went blank, quickly filled with an image of Princess Luna. "What do you want, General?" she asked, clearly annoyed. "I want full authorization to end this," he said. "What we need to do is kill her, not try more experiments! She is a threat to everypony on this planet-" "And a friend not just to my sister, but to me," Luna interrupted. "I want you to find her and help her, and if I find out you were trying anything else, you will have to answer to me." The General bit back a growl of frustration. "Fine," he said after a moment. "But at least stop sending in your agents for their 'help'. They're just getting in the way." "I understand," Luna said. "I had something in mind already anyways." "Thank you," he replied. "And if there's any information you have on her, it would be very helpful to tell us now." Luna smirked a little at that. "I have told you everything I can," she responded. "I'll call my agents back and you can continue your search immediately." With that, she ended the call. "Somepony tell me they have something on where this Pegasus is," the general said to the entire room. ******************************* Luna sighed, thinking about what that general would end up doing without her involvement. There were many risks involved, and she didn't like to think about the outcomes of those risks. This could end very badly, and she should have fired him long ago, but he was an effective general. Ponies listened to him and he followed orders, even if it wasn't always to the letter. Thinking a moment, Luna started tapping keys on her computer. There was something she could do to keep an eye on this general. It wasn't the best of moves, but it was the only thing she could do at the moment. "Ma'am," came a voice on the other end of the call she had just made. "Coltson," she answered. "I need you to keep an eye on General Thunderbolt for me. I get the feeling he might be up to something again." ******************************* Fluttershy trotted down the steps of her apartment to the small main street. It was strange living in an area only slightly touched by Twilight's advancements, enough to get by but only so. She always felt a small pit form when she thought about all the good that could be done if the technology were simply given to them, soon followed by the bad. It was such a shame there were some ponies who would go out of their way to hurt others. But she couldn't dwell on that thought. She had to get to work at the bottling plant and get through the day. Maybe this time there wouldn't be any trouble. Unfortunately, only a couple hours into her shift, something did happen. "Hey Fluttershy!" came a call from above. "I think there's an animal hiding in the compressor shaft. Do you think you could help get it out?" Fluttershy didn't waste any time moving up there to see what was going on. If there was an animal up there, she had to try and get it out before something happened. Once she got up there, she could see the slight outline of a raccoon hiding in the small space. "Come on out," she said quietly, trying to coax it into safety. "You don't have to hide in there." It hissed at her. Ever since that experiment, animals had been less and less responsive and it really wasn't helping in this case. "You really don't want to hide in there," she said, trying to be as soothing as possible. "It's not safe." The raccoon looked at her for a moment in understanding. Slowly, it moved forward, making its way out of the small area. But once it got close to Fluttershy, it hesitated. The understanding in its eyes quickly vanished, turning into a defensive nature as it moved back a few steps. It bared its teeth and hissed, giving Fluttershy a very weary look. "It's okay," she said. She moved forward to try and comfort the animal, but it took her kindness as a threat and lunged, jumping off of her and across the ceiling bars to a window outside. Fluttershy yelped and flinched, feeling a few of the claws dig into her shoulder. She looked in the direction of the raccoon, a small tear welling up in her eye. All thoughts of the animal vanished when she felt a small trickle of blood run down her leg, though. Her eyes went wide and she took a step back from the edge, but a few drops had already fallen to the bottles below. She barely saw it past the grating, but it was enough. She hit the emergency shut-off switch and jumped from the catwalk, gliding down to the lower level. The belt had stopped moving and she was hoping above all else that everything was fine. The drop had to have landed on the belt. She sighed in relief when she saw the drop on the black surface, quickly picking up a cloth and wiping it off. It had been a close call, but she had been lucky. She didn't have to worry about anything except for her pulse now, which had jumped to a rate that made the meter beep. She leaned against a wall and calmed herself, knowing everything was going to be fine. Not noticing the small bit of red on the inside of an empty bottle. ******************************* "Sir, I may have found something," said a computer pony in the room. "What is it?" General Thunderbolt asked, annoyed. "It looks like a case of gamma poisoning," she answered. "Somepony opened a bottle of some of that imported soda and got a little more kick than he was expecting." The General's eyes widened. "Where was that bottle manufactured?" "It looks like somewhere by the Griffon Mountains," she answered. "Get me a team," he continued, walking towards the door. "I want the best soldiers you can get your hooves on and I want them yesterday!" Author's Note Sorry this was so late. I'll be trying to get the next chapters up a little faster. TurnaboutFluttershy walked through the halls of the factory as she made her way out of the building. Something caught her attention, though, when she walked past the production line. Somepony was pushing to get a date with another pony a little too far. She walked back and over to the two ponies. "Hello," she said. "What do you want?" asked one of them, his voice sounding a little more on-edge than most. "I was just wondering what was going on over here," she replied truthfully. "Is there a problem?" "No problem," he answered. "I was just asking the mare here out on a date." "It didn't sound like asking," she said. "It was a little too loud to be asking." "What's it to you?" he asked, taking a step forward. "Are you the police of asking?" Fluttershy took a step back. "I just want everypony here to have good working conditions," she said. "Yelling doesn't promote a healthy environment." "Well maybe an unhealthy one is needed," he responded, moving toward her again. Fluttershy met his eyes. "Don't make me angry," she said, a fearful calm creeping over her. "You wouldn't like me when I'm angry." "Yeah, right," he said, lunging forward. Fluttershy moved to the side, caught him in the air and spun, throwing him to the opposite side of the room. A quick beeping started coming from her hoof. Fluttershy quickly turned around, trying to calm her pulse. Soon enough, it slowed down, the beeping going silent. That is, until she was tackled by the mare the colt was pushing around. "Thank you," she said excitedly. "I didn't know what to do and he was pushing and I was scared and-" Fluttershy held up a hoof, cutting off the other mare. "You needed help, so I helped," she said. "You don't need to thank me." "Not many ponies would have done that," she said. "You deserve my thanks." She quickly bowed her head and trotted out of the room. Fluttershy sighed a little, following soon after to go back to her apartment in the hills. Hopefully, things would calm down a bit and there wouldn't be another incident. Hopefully, she could stay here for at least a little bit longer. Others didn't plan for that. ******************************* General Thunderbolt grinned at the team behind the mirror. They were the best soldiers of this generation from all over the world. One of them was from the northern Zebra Empires, his stripes setting him apart from the others. A griffon also stood there, surprisingly, her wings spread at-the-ready. Another had weapons from his home strapped to his back, unique armor on his hooves as well. One even held the infamous bat-wings of the Night Guard along with the signature armor and new weapons. The General hardened his gaze, stepping out in front of the small group. He looked over each and every one of them, noticing the smaller details he hadn't seen earlier. A few scars here and there, noticeable muscle structures, various stances and alertness. He stopped in the middle and said, "You have each been picked to apprehend a very special subject. She is a yellow Pegasus pony by the name of Fluttershy. She is to be brought back here, alive. Am I understood?" "Yes, sir!" they all said in unison. "Good," he replied. "Now move out and bring me that Pegasus!" All of them turned around and ran or flew over to the waiting helicopter. They filed in and it spun up, flying off toward that isolated town in the south. The General couldn't help but grin. After all these years, he was finally going to get her. He was finally going to get what he wanted. Everything was going great, but that didn't mean he should take chances. He'd had situations similar to this before. That's why he brought up the live feed from the Night Guard's armor when he came into the situation room. Now all he had to do was wait. ******************************* Fluttershy was quiet for a time. It wasn't unusual for her to be quiet, but it was a much more solemn quiet than before. She had come to this place for a specific reason, and that reason had just failed. Her miracle-cure for what had happened to her had started to work, but it ended up causing a much more dangerous reaction afterwards, shattering the microscope slide with the blood sample. She shook her head a little, trying to clear it. There had to be something she hadn't tried yet, some solution she hadn't thought of. Maybe she should just go home and ask Twilight or Rainbow Dash about it. Maybe she should try to find Rarity and hope she knew something about it. At this point, she was even considering finding Pinkie Pie to see if her unique sweets would help. For now, though, all she could do was stay as calm as possible. She couldn't get angry, and she couldn't get afraid. She had to stay in one place and wait a little bit longer before going anywhere. She had to think of a good reason to leave without causing suspicion. She needed a plan before leaving so she could stay off the radar. The dog she had brought in perked her head up and looked at the door a few seconds before a quiet beeping came from the security systems. Fluttershy looked over to the computer and saw a few masked ponies moving up the stairs. A griffon was waiting at the bottom, watching the team as they moved up. Her eyes went wide and she took a step back. Looking around, she grabbed the saddlebags she kept for emergencies and tightened them. She moved to her bed and arranged some pillows, hoping it would buy her a little more time to get out. She took one last glance around the room before making it to a window and jumping out, flapping her wings a few times to get some air before dropping to the ground. She took off at a quick jog, trying not to move too quickly to keep her heart rate down. She glanced back a few times, but didn't see anything behind her. Barking came from the direction she left from until it was cut short. A pang of pain and anger surged through her, kicking her pulse up a few beats, but she quickly got it under control and kept it steady. She kept running until she ran into a stallion she hadn't seen move into her path. The two of them stumbled and fell to the ground. The stallion groaned a little, quickly followed by quiet chuckling. "Well this is a pleasant surprise," he said, the voice sounding oddly familiar. Fluttershy got up and looked at him, recognizing him from earlier that day. He was giving her a sinister grin, and Fluttershy took an involuntary step back. A few others came up behind him, each of them wearing a grin of their own. She felt a small spike of fear run down her spine, the beeping at her hoof becoming more insistent. She looked around, hoping for a way out, and saw it in the form of one of the ponies charging her. She jumped up, kicked off his back and launched herself over the others and half a block away without so much as a skipped breath. She kept her momentum up by rolling down the sidewalk and continuing her escape. A few shots rang out from not too far behind and sparked against the pavement beside her. She sped up a little, trying to keep up the pace without boosting her heart. The beeping at her hoof sped up a little, but not enough to worry about. She could focus on that once she lost these ponies. That wasn't too far down the road, though. A quick glance around told her the factory she worked in wasn't too far away from here, and that was the perfect place to lose those soldiers. Soon enough, she had found the factory and was hiding in a small, dark corner. Her heart was beating faster than she would have preferred, but it wasn't dangerous yet. The beeping would giver her away, though, so she tried to calm herself down a bit. The sudden appearance of three stallions didn't help with that. The one she had now seen three times that day moved forward and hit her in the gut, not giving her a chance to fully realize what was happening. She cried out, but the others only attacked, each of them with similar vigor in their brutality. None of them listened to her warnings and her cries to stop. Not until the beeping became almost a single note ringing throughout the factory as the strap holding the device was broken and it was flung across the room. All three of the attackers were similarly thrown when a large, pony-shaped mass of muscle stood up. It was easily three times the size of an ordinary pony, probably more than that. Screams turned into growls, snarls of attackers into quivering fear. More shapes moved in the shadows. Rattling gunfire erupted from a balcony and needles bounced off the hide of this giant creature. The pony using the gun looked up briefly, waiting for it to fall, but was instead flung into the ceiling when it ran under the metal framework and stood up taller, throwing front hooves up in the process and tearing through the metal and walls into the next room. The sound of weapons reloading soon filled the small space and bullets started flying. Some of them sparked off the production floor, others off the hide of the creature. None of them did anything but make it more angry. Green eyes glowed bright, looking around the factory floor and finding a forklift. The beast picked up the machine and threw it at the gathered group of ponies firing at it. A snarl escaped its lips as it turned around and jumped through the roof and off into the distance, away from the factory. ******************************* "What happened?!" screamed the General. "Where's my live feed?!" "The connection is dead, sir," one of the ponies in the room said. "There's no more transmitter." The General screamed, throwing papers off his desk. "I want ponies on the ground doing cleanup work as soon as you can." Muttered agreement and acknowledgements came over the room. There was nothing else to be done at this point. They had just lost the one chance they had at capturing her. "Sir, I think I have something," said one of the ponies behind him, her tone urgent. "It's a radio signal from that factory." "Put it through!" he said, hoping beyond hope it was one of the soldiers. Fortunately for him, it was. "General Thunderbolt!" came the oddly accented voice of the zebra. "I need extraction ASAP! Get me out of here!" "Do it," the General said. "I want the soldier back here for debriefing within the next twelve." "Yes, sir," came the replies of a few ponies around the room, each of them working to notify the nearest soldiers and transport. "Maybe this one will be able to help us even with this mess," the General muttered. Author's Note Sorry for such a long wait, but here it is! I really hope to be able to get the next chapter out a lot faster than this one. Thank you for being patient with this, and thanks to my editor Jarkes for helping me get this up here. Going HomeFluttershy woke up with a headache. It always happened like this. Someone would try something and that thing would come out. Then she would always have a hangover after that didn't help at all. At least this time she didn't end up in a pile of rubble. Anything to help brighten her mood would help. After walking a couple of hours in what looked like a jungle, she eventually found her way to a main road and got a ride from a few friendly ponies heading into town. Of course, not long after getting there, she realized she didn't have any money to do anything with. Any cash she had with her was lost when she turned. That wasn't the only problem, though. If she couldn't find a way to get rid of this thing inside her, it could hurt a lot more ponies. She needed a way out of this. But she didn't have any options. Every possible solution had already been tested and none of them had worked. She needed a way out of this, but she also couldn't bring her friends into it. Not with the general this close to her. If he thought they knew anything, they would be at risk of being captured and interrogated for weeks before they were thrown into a secret prison where they would never be found. But maybe there was another way out. Maybe there was someone she could talk to that would know about this and maybe, just maybe, they would be able to help. Now there was just the problem of getting home. ******************************* After a couple days of begging, some storytelling and animal work, Fluttershy finally earned enough money for a trip back home. Granted, getting past all of the security there wasn't exactly easy, but it could've been a lot worse. And now, she was standing in front of the institution that had grown in her wake. Even after the failed testing, there was still the facility that held all of the research and more. All she had to do was get in and get everything she needed before heading to one of the researcher's houses for help and she could get out of this nightmare once and for all. And hopefully she would be able to keep the general from finding the pony who helped her. That plan did require breaking into a highly secured lab in the middle of the day without being recognized by anypony she might have worked with. She looked around and found a delivery pony trotting by with a bag of something that smelled good. Glancing at the shirt he was wearing, she started to get an idea. A quick change and some theft later, she came right back to the facility in her light disguise and carrying bag with some hot sandwiches. Now she just had to hope they changed the guard since her time working there. She trotted up to the desk, bringing the attention of the guard up from his magazine. He looked at her and blinked, huge muscles straining under his uniform. "Hello," Fluttershy said quietly. He grunted and scanned over her with his eyes, his expression never changing from the stoic gaze he held before. "I'll need to run a scan of your face through the system," he replied. "I'm running late on this delivery," she continued. "Do you think you could just send me up?" "It's protocol," he said, looking at her blankly. "It'll only take a minute." Fluttershy sighed, trying to look stressed and ignore the steady pounding in her head. "Look, if my boss hears I made another late delivery, I'll lose my job. I have another meal here I was planning on eating, but you could have it if you let me up." He looked from her, to the bag, and back to her in a few seconds before grinning slightly. "Sure," he said. "Just don't tell my boss." She smiled and gave him the extra meal, watching as his grin turned into a full blown smile from the free food before heading up to the research center. Half way up the stairs, she paused and held a hoof to her neck to check her pulse. A little high, but not as bad as it seemed when she was talking to the guard. Now if she could only get over the guilt from tricking him. Maybe I should go back and apologize, she thought briefly before smashing that thought. She couldn't do that right now. Maybe after this was over she would come back and explain everything, but now was not that time. Carefully, she made her way into the computer lab, making sure the hat she had taken hid her face from every camera. There weren't many ponies in right now, probably because it was lunch break and most of them were out with friends for their short break. But the couple ponies inside gladly took the rest of the food she had brought with her to not pay attention to what she was doing. It was nice to have techies as easily bribed as the door guard. She typed in the credentials needed to get into the system and hoped they were still valid. Fortunately, they hadn't changed their password in the three years she had been gone. She quickly went through the files, checking the main drive for any materials from their past. That time ended up wasted, though. None of the research was there, but there was one more thing she could check. The mainframe should have held everything. It took five years for any project to be destroyed completely, so the information should've still been there. But after a few minutes of searching, she found nothing related to their work. Not even the names of the researchers turned up anything useful. Fluttershy sighed. This wasn't working. She needed the original research to be able to create a cure for whatever this thing was. She needed something to help get rid of it before the general could find her again, and there was no guarantee that would be too long from now. She signed out and quickly snuck out the back, hoping the guard would think she passed by him while he was reading his magazine and wouldn't start asking questions. The last thing she needed was more ponies looking for her. Besides, how was she supposed to break into a former colleague's house to ask them for help from a cell? ******************************* "What was that thing?" the zebra asked, his voice almost eerily calm. "And why didn't you warn us it was there?" "That isn't important," General Thunderbolt said. "You survived. I'll need you in debriefing in an hour." "I thought this was debriefing," the zebra replied. "This was me checking to see how bad you were doing after," Thunderbolt said. "Well I wouldn't be the only one to check on if you had told us what we were going into," the zebra said. "Who was that anyways? Another little detail you left out? How did they know we were coming?" "That was her," Thunderbolt said. He blinked. "Beg pardon?" "That was Fluttershy," Thunderbolt explained. "It's the reason I wanted her brought in." "She has all that power?" the zebra asked in amazement. "How?" "It was an experiment," Thunderbolt continued. "She got away. But now we have you." The zebra chuckled slightly. "I'm not sure you understand," he said. "I barely survived that. There's no possible way I can take that on in a fight." "Not yet," Thunderbolt said. "But there is a way you can." PowerplayFluttershy sat calmly in the chair as she waited for her colleague to get home. He would probably be a while, but she never could tell what was going on with him. That and she wanted to make sure he didn't just flip out when he saw her sitting there. From what she had heard, the accident had broken his back and paralyzed his back legs, so seeing her like a ghost from his past probably wouldn't end well. Hopefully, it would end better than last time. But right now, all she could do was wait and try to stay as calm as possible. ******************************* "Name," the doctor pony said to the zebra sitting across from him. "Brown Sky," the zebra replied. "You are aware of the procedure?" Sky nodded quickly. "Is your next-of-kin current?" "Don't have one," he replied. The doctor nodded his understanding before closing up the file he had been writing in. "Did he tell you exactly what you were getting into?" "I was told what it would do," Sky responded. "I don't really care what else there is." "This procedure isn't exactly painless," the doctor said. "It'll take three injections, and those will hurt. A lot." "The less I know about it, the better I'll do during it," Sky said before the doctor could say anything else. "Let's just get this over with." The doctor nodded before General Thunderbolt walked into the room with a vial of something held in tongs in his mouth. He walked over to a machine and put the vial in, waiting for it to secure before letting go and walking over to look at Sky. "I'll see you when it's done," he said before walking out of the room. Sky laid down on the table he was sitting on and felt the straps secure around his hooves before being flipped over. Not long after that, he felt a needle slide into his back and something hot being pushed into his body. He took deep breaths, but it didn't seem so bad. At least that's what he thought until a needle pressed into his spine and went into the bone. Blinding pain flashed through his body and his vision went white before that same hot sensation was flowing through his bones. One more injection, he thought nervously. Then you can handle that mission. Just one more- Pain coursed through him, cutting off his thoughts. The last thing he knew was that pain before he fell out of consciousness. ******************************* "What are you doing in my house?!" asked the grey scientist. "How did you even get here?!" "Please calm down," Fluttershy said. "How can I calm down when you, of all ponies, just broke into my house?!" Fluttershy winced a little at that. It was a bit of a touchy subject when you had been the one to paralyze him, even if you weren't exactly yourself at the moment. He had a good point, too. Breaking in probably wasn't the best of ideas, but it was the only one she could think of that didn't get her sent directly to jail. "Please, Hoofton, just listen to me for a moment," she said, trying to reign in control of the situation. He sighed, shaking his head. "You have five minutes, and unless you convince me otherwise, I'm calling the cops when that time's up." Fluttershy nodded. "I need your help to fix what happened to me." He laughed. "And why would I do that, even if I knew how?" "Because if you don't, there's somepony else who will take it and use it to kill." He moved a little closer, the wheelchair keeping his hind legs up squeaking slightly. "Thunderbolt is after it," she continued. "He wants the thing inside me to be able to make an army of them. If that happens, what would stop him from taking over Equestria? What would stand in his way of conquering anyplace else?" "How do you know he doesn't just want to contain you?" "Tranquilizers," she replied. "If he wanted to keep me from hurting ponies, he wouldn't be using them. He'd have killed me a long time ago if that was all he wanted." Hoofton hummed for a moment. "What you're asking me to do is treason against one of the most influential ponies in our country." "I'm sorry," she said, glancing at a clock. "I didn't know where else to go." He sighed. "I can't do much," he started. "But I can give you the research with all of my notes. It's not much, but it's a lot better than nothing." "Thank you," Fluttershy started before he raised a hoof to cut her off. "I can also give you a name," he said, taking out a piece of paper and beginning to write on it. "This pony might be able to do something to help. He's not that big a fan of the way things are going right now, so cooperation should be easy enough to get from him." "Thank you so much," she said before turning toward the back door. "One more thing," he said, catching her attention before she could leave. "A word of advice. Keep your head low. Thunderbolt will be looking for you, and if he's after that thing, you have to make sure he doesn't get it. I know you've been hiding for a long time now, but when ponies think they're close to the end, they get sloppy. So watch your back." She looked at him for a second, nodding in understanding. He was telling her what he was going to do once she left. He was obligated to do so because of his job, and she couldn't blame him for that. Besides, she knew how to hide. And she didn't have to keep hiding for long, anyways. Once it was gone, he could do whatever tests he wanted, but he was never going to get his hooves on that monster. ******************************* "How're you feeling, soldier?" Thunderbolt asked. "Like I could take on an army," Sky replied. "I assume you're not just here to check in, though. Got a mission for me?" "Looks like it," Thunderbolt said. "I was just contacted by one of my researchers at our facility. She's here, in Equestria. And we might just have a lead on where she'll be." "Just point me in the right direction and say the word," the zebra said. "I'm itching for a little payback." "You make sure you stay under control out there," Thunderbolt warned. "First sign of side effects, and I'm pulling you until everything gets sorted out. Understood?" "Yes, sir," Sky said. "Couldn't be more clear." Author's Note Thanks again to Jarkes for editing and helping me a little with the names. I'm not sure where this story would be without your help. Hulking EncounterFluttershy watched outside the library carefully to make sure there weren't any ponies looking for her. It was pretty easy to spot if they were, so that made things simpler. And she had a good escape plan if she needed to get out in a hurry. Of course, if there were ponies looking for her, she might not be able to get out without another incident. Before she could get too nervous, Fluttershy walked up to the library. It was nothing like the one back in Ponyville, though. This one was built during the big Technological Revolution they had gone through with the start of the war with the Griffons. Concrete pillars held it up and windows let bright sunlight through into the huge building. On the left, a large sky bridge ran across to the school nearby. If she was going to find this pony referenced by Hoofton, she was going to need some more information on him. Maybe a phone number or a current location. If she was going to find anything about him, this would be the place to find it. This library was the biggest one in the country and they held personal records inside. Getting into the records room, though, could prove to be a challenge. She walked in, hoping she could move fast enough before anypony caught her scent. ******************************* Brown Sky checked his gear. He wasn't going to need all of it, not with this strength running through his veins. Everything seemed simple. Everything seemed easy. "Sky," General Thunderbolt said from behind him. "You're not clocking out on me already, are you?" "No sir," he replied, his accent thicker than before. "Just jitters. Nothing to worry about." The general chuckled. "Just keep your head clear out there and you'll have nothing to worry about." "I'll keep that in mind," Sky said. "Now let's get moving. She's not going to capture herself." ******************************* "Please just let me in," Fluttershy said, trying her best to push down the rising guilt for tricking this pony. "I just forgot my badge and I need to get in there for a project I'm working on." "I'm sorry, miss," the guard replied. "I can't let anypony in without their badge. It's protocol." "I won't do anything illegal," Fluttershy said, pulling as much truth as she could. She needed to get in there to find out more about this other pony before they found her, and at this point, that could happen at any second. "I promise." The guard looked around a little before looking back at her sternly. "Only this once," he said, moving to the door and sliding his own badge through the scanner. "Next time, I won't be so nice, so remember your badge." Fluttershy nodded her thanks quickly and trotted into the room. It wasn't much; mostly filing cabinets and bookshelves of records. It was lit comfortably, but could've easily been brighter. Granted, usually ponies weren't looking for another pony who would know enough about science to be able to help remove a radiation, anger-induced creature of mass destruction while the military was scouring the planet for said pony. She looked down the row labelled with a 'T' and sighed. This was going to take a little longer than she had expected. ******************************* The rattling of the transports helped Sky focus on the task at hoof. He wasn't supposed to get involved unless she changed. That in mind, maybe a little bit of persuasion would be needed so he could finally see how he felt in combat. It hadn't even been two days and he was itching to go back into the heart of the battle. He glanced over to the other troops sitting in the truck. They had no idea what they would be fighting. They didn't know how impossible it would be for them to take her down. But if he could get involved, then they would have her in a matter of seconds. His combat style and superior abilities would make sure he was the only one capable of handling this situation properly. He started whistling a short tune as they rode to keep his mind calm. There would be plenty of time for excitement in a few moments. Then he would prove he was the only one for the job. He would prove his superiority. He would prove his power. He almost lost his tune as a small grin cracked his face. ******************************* Fluttershy scanned the page as quickly as she could. It had everything she needed to find the pony she needed, but it had taken far too long to find the file. She was already rushing as it was, but now, things were just getting dangerous. The amount of damage she could do in this area... She closed the file, making sure she would be able to properly remember everything she found. After having to think for a few moments, she just put the file in her saddlebags. She could look at it when she needed it and find him once she disappeared again. She just had to hope she could get out of there fast enough to stay one step ahead of Thunderbolt. She nodded to the guard as she left and he nodded politely back. She turned and started walking out of the library when she heard gravel crunching around the corner. She peeked her head out around the corner to see what it was only to dart back inside when she saw. Military transports had arrived. They'd found her, and there was nothing she could do about it but run. Her hoofbeats echoed through the library as ponies turned to watch her in confusion. She had to get out of there. She had to leave before they found her. A second beating sound soon greeted her ears and she had to slide around a corner and rest for a moment because of it. Her heart rate had skyrocketed, and if she couldn't get it under control soon, she would be leaving through the transports that had just gotten there, and probably not without hurting or killing other ponies. But if she didn't get out of here fast, she could end up changing and getting out the same way. Fluttershy took a deep breath to calm herself before she started running as fast as she could toward the sky bridge. ******************************* Brown Sky looked around as he left the transport. It looked like a library, but it had a glass tunnel connecting it to another building beside it. More trucks pulled up there and he saw ponies leaving in a hurry with far more books than he would've expected ponies to carry at one time. He looked back to the building Fluttershy was supposed to be in. Ponies were running out of it, probably trying to get out of the way of the incoming military personnel. He let out a quick, quiet laugh. They wouldn't get in the way if he got his chance. They'd be thrown out of it instead. He moved forward, but a short call from behind him caused him to stop. He glanced back at the general and nodded, stepping back to his original spot. He would have to be patient if he wanted his chance. All he had to do was wait until she was in that glass bridge. Once she was there, he would have his time to shine. And if he was lucky, he would be able to bring her to his side and they could take what they deserved. ******************************* Fluttershy's heart hammered in her chest. Things were getting out of control. Everything was going wrong. She could barely focus enough to get to the bridge so she could get out of here before anything happened. She burst through the doors, pounding across the way as she fought to stay in control. Just a little further and she would be able to calm down enough to get out before she turned and avoid the military ponies before they found where she was. She had to skid to a stop when she saw them on the other side of the bridge waiting for her. She spun around to go back, but the doors quickly closed and the armored ponies behind them watched carefully, their weapons shifting on their backs as she scrambled around in the middle of the glass tunnel. It was almost too much for her. She almost changed right then and there, but was able to barely hold onto herself and keep from panicking. If they weren't coming in there, they might try to talk. If she could convince Thunderbolt to let his guard down for just a moment, she might have a chance to get out of this without another incident. Her breathing started to even out, but only just, when something broke through the glass beside her. She jumped and spun to see what it was, but another one came through before she could get a good look and she had to drop to avoid being hit by it. Smoke started to fill the room and her eyes started to water. She moved down the hall in a panic, but the doors had already been closed. Her heartbeat echoed in her head, speeding up every second that gas was in there with her. She lost control and fell to the ground screaming as her body changed. ******************************* "Sky! What in TARTARUS are you doing?" Thunderbolt yelled from behind as Brown Sky fired a third grenade of tear gas into the bridge. "That's it, I'm pulling you from the-" A roar echoed through the oddly quiet field in front of the library as something leapt from the bridge. It soared high before landing in front of the military ponies and baring it's teeth. Her teeth, Sky reminded himself. This was the moment he had been waiting for. He ran up to her, hooking his hooves around a nearby tree and launching himself onto her back from thirty yards away. He landed and rolled across the mutated form, scrambling to find purchase on the mottled-green fur. He found enough grip to flip himself over and land on her face. He swung his body up, letting it drop down enough to drag her face with it. When he got close enough to touch the ground, he dug his rear hooves in and put his entire strength and body into pushing her down. The creature fell forward and tumbled over Sky, crushing one of his hooves under her immense weight. He screamed briefly before rolling to the side and looking at Fluttershy. She got up and glared at him, watching him carefully like a threatened predator. "I am the new you," Sky said confidently. "I can beat you in anything you try against me." She growled at him. "Is that the best you've got?" She turned around, facing the other military ponies. She looked at them for a moment before one of her hind legs shot out faster than Sky thought possible. The sheer impact of the hoof crushed his bones, agony searing through his body as he flew across the field and into a tree. He felt a sharp burning in his spine before going limp. He couldn't move. He couldn't scream. Everything was on fire, nothing but pain in his mind. He couldn't look away, either. He watched as the soldiers fired, trying to stop her from getting out. They tried futilely to contain her, but they couldn't. Nopony would be able to stop her. ******************************* "What happened out there?!" Luna demanded. "Half a dozen military vehicles destroyed, almost four times that in casualties, and you lost her?! I sent you in there to keep an eye on Thunderbolt and keep him from doing anything like this!" "I did everything I could to keep them in the base," Coltson said nervously. "He wasn't going to let anything keep him grounded, though. And if I had raised the alarm, they would've left sooner to get it done." Luna sighed, pressing a hoof to her temple. Thunderbolt was giving her a headache with everything he was doing. He was too careful to let anything slip past him and he was so blinded by his determination, he didn't realize what he was doing. "I'm pulling you back," she said after a few seconds. "We can't risk him finding out about this. If he does, he'll go to my sister and have this agency disbanded. Besides, I think I might have a new job for you." "I understand," Coltson replied. "Where am I going next?" "I want you to start keeping an eye on a company for me. It's called Sparkle Industries." Author's Note As always, thanks to Jarkes for editing this chapter. Only a couple more and this story will come to a close, so keep an eye out for new chapters. TrotmierGeneral Thunderbolt looked over the reports of what happened. He lost his lead and by now, she could be anywhere in Equestria, possibly even outside of it. Everything he had going his way had gone wrong, and now he didn't even have a soldier to fight her if this happened again. Brown Sky had every bone in his body shattered and his organs were only partially working. He probably wouldn't make it through the night, according to the doctors. Brown Sky. What had he been thinking? He knew the plan. He was ordered to stay back unless he was needed. If he hadn't started gassing her, they might've been able to take her in without incident. Instead, almost two dozen ponies had died, and reports were still coming in on some of the ones who had survived. A knock on his door snapped him out of his thoughts. "Come in," he said, closing the files he had on his desk. A messenger opened the door and looked at Thunderbolt hesitantly. "Well, what is it?" "Forensics might have found something big," the messenger said. "They found her saddlebags." ******************************* Fluttershy woke up slowly. She kept her eyes closed to keep the headache from getting too bad as she shifted into a sitting position. After a couple of moments, she opened them and looked around to see where she was. It looked like a reservation. Trees were everywhere and it was raining a bit, though not too much. She couldn't quite tell exactly where she was, but judging by the noises in the distance, she was near a city. Hopefully it would be one close to this doctor Trotmier. If it was too far away, she would never reach him before she was found again. Fluttershy stood carefully, making sure her hooves didn't go flying out form under her. The transformations were getting harder and harder to deal with. It could be a sign that the other her was starting to become more dominant, but she didn't want to think about what that could mean. It was almost too frightening to even consider, especially for her. She held up a hoof to her chest and remembered what Twilight had taught her so long ago now. When everything had started changing and things just got out of control, Twilight had shared her technique to help Fluttershy with her confidence. It had worked for a time, and still helped her stay calm when she started to get scared, but it didn't help her with anything else. It was the first thing she tried when she realized what the trigger was. After taking a few deep breaths, she started walking. It could take a while, but she was closer to a cure than she had ever been. If everything went well, she wouldn't see Thunderbolt until it was done. If not, things would get ugly in a hurry. ******************************* "It took a while to piece the papers back together, but we have a lead on where she might be," a scientist said to General Thunderbolt. "It looks like the profile for someone called Doctor Trotmier." "What do we have on him?" Thunderbolt asked. "Not much," the scientist replied. "What we do know is that he's a chemist." "That's it?" Thunderbolt asked. "If she's looking for him, then there has to be a bigger connection." "There is," the scientist continued. "He's been researching the effects of various chemicals on the equine body as well as dabbling in radiation research. Gamma research." Thunderbolt froze. He barely continued to breathe. She was going to take it from him. After everything, she was going to take away what they had been working towards. Every ounce of research they already had was inside that thing, and she was going to be so selfish as to take that away from him. She had to be caught quickly, before she had the chance to meet with this Trotmier pony. The problem was, if anything happened and she changed, they wouldn't have anything to fight her. That beast was nigh unkillable. "We also have some news concerning Agent Brown Sky," the scientist said, interrupting the general's stream of thoughts. "Have we found his next of kin yet?" he asked. "That... won't be necessary," the scientist said. "He's made a full recovery and should be on his way here in a few minutes. The doctors have never seen anything like it, and neither have I." Thunderbolt chuckled. "Of course that stallion would make through that beating," he said under his breath. "When he gets here, send him to my office. I want to have a little chat with him." ******************************* Somehow, Fluttershy had made it to the one place she needed to be. She didn't know exactly how, but thanked her luck for taking her there. It didn't take long to find the apartment. It was easy enough to get to, but remembering which one was a little difficult. The moments before the transformation tend to be a bit fuzzier and she had lost her saddlebags when it happened. Hopefully, they hadn't been found too quickly by the soldiers looking for her. If they did find it, then she could have less time than she thought. Of course, it could also end up as a trap if they knew. Hopefully, neither of those were the case and she would be able to fix this soon. When she knocked on the door to the apartment, there wasn't an answer. She knocked again, but still nothing. She glanced down the hall briefly before giving her attention to the lock on the door. it wasn't too complicated, but it would still take a minute. Fluttershy didn't have the advantage unicorns did when it cam to opening doors, but she could still get in. The sound of someone clearing their throat caused her to jump and her heartrate with her. She slowed down, taking deep breaths to calm her heart before something happened that she couldn't risk here. Fluttershy turned around and looked at the unicorn stallion behind her. His deep blue coat practically shimmered purple in the lighting of the apartment building, accentuating his aqua-blue mane. He had hard silver eyes that were boring into her, a scowl on his face as he stood there. "It's a lot easier if you just ask," he said. "Sorry," she replied. "I didn't realize you were here." "I caught that," he replied. "Now is there a reason for you trying to break into my home or am I calling the authorities?" "This is your apartment?" she asked. "You're Doctor Trotmier?" "Yeah," he said. FLuttershy let out a small sigh of relief. "I came here looking for your help." He looked at her, a little surprised. "You're the mare Hoofton told me about?" he asked in awe. "I'm sorry, please let me get that for you." He unlocked the door, an orange glow surrounding the lock and door knob as it opened. "How much did Hoofton tell you about my work?" "He told me you were my best bet at fixing this," Fluttershy said as she walked into the homey apartment. "Oh, it's much more than that," he commented. "He gave me some research data a few years back and I've been working on it ever since. The effect the radiation had on your genes is amazing! I've never seen anything like what happened to you." "Do you know how to get rid of it?" she asked. "I could," he replied. "But it comes with risks. I can only do it using your blood to target the appropriate mutations andfilter out any leftover gamma radiation. That on top of actually having to induce an episode to make sure I hit the right thing without killing you. That and I'm not entirely sure it'll-" "How much of my blood do you need?" Fluttershy interrupted. "And how long do you think it'll take to examine it?" "I already have what I need," he replied. "What?!" she questioned. "How?!" "Hooftong sent it over with the other data," Trotmier explained, walking over to a large door. Inside was a walk-in refrigerator with what must've been gallons upon gallons of Fluttershy's blood. "It wasn't enough to really do anything with, though, so I had to concentrate it and make more." "You need to destroy this," she said. "Once this is done, all of it needs to be burned. It's too dangerous to just keep around." "If you say so," Trotmier said, walking out with a couple of bags of blood. "It'll take me a minute to get everything set up, but then we can strap you down and get to business." She let out a small sigh. "Please just hurry." ******************************* "After this, you're done," Thunderbolt said to Brown Sky as he paced in his office. "The only reason I'm even letting you join in on this mission is because you are a necessary precaution. Understood?" "Yes, sir," Sky replied. "Good," Thunderbolt said. "Now go prep for the mission. We're leaving as soon as everyone is ready. We're catching Fluttershy tonight, and we're going to revolutionize warfare with her." Author's Note Sorry for getting this out so late. Also sorry for staying so close to the movie throughout the story. But this small beast is coming to a close soon, so you'll get some better writing soon enough. As always, thanks to Jarkes for help editing. AbominationFluttershy took deep breaths as she lay on the table, straps being secured over her hooves and forehead. A purpleish solution sat in a jar on a machine that was connected to her by a small tube. Another tube was strung across to a filtration machine that would clean her blood as the solution was pumped into her, hopefully curing her of this monster that had ailed her for so long. After these long years, she would finally be rid of that thing. "Now remember," Trotmier said. "I can't guarantee this will work. It's not like this has been done before." "I need to do this," Fluttershy said. "Your call," he replied, levitating a small piece of rubber over to her. "You're going to want to bite down on this." Fluttershy nodded and bit carefully on the rubber, preparing for what was going to come next. There was only one shot at this, especially since if it didn't work, Trotmier probably wouldn't make it out of this. It was a huge risk, but it needed to be done. He approached with a wishbone-shaped device and put the sides by her head, activating it when the sides were around her temples. An electric shock ran through her body and her heart rate jumped, blood running faster and faster as the transformation began to take hold. She bit down hard, pain sopiking as bones shifted and skin stretched. Her coat began to change from yellow to a mottled green, but the other machines were already working. The purple liquid was cooling her blood as it flowed into her system and the streams of red that were being directed out were quickly being purified of the radiation inside. The table below her strained under the change in weight and started to bend down, tubes being pulled tight. The strap around her head gasve way from the drastic change in size and the buckle flew off and broke through the window. The serum took hold, though. Bones shifted back, the transformation fading away. Everything calmed down, Fluttershy panting from exhaustion after the experience. The mechanical whirring slowed down, eventually going silent as she closed her eyes in contentment. It was done. She couldn't even feel the presence any more like she had for years. It was gone and she could finally be at peace. "Thank you so much for this," she said as Trotmier unstrapped her. "It's not quite done yet," he replied. "It's almost there, though. As long as you can go a few hours without turning, it'll take full effect and you'll be done with that thing for the rest of your life." "I think I can make it a few hours," Fluttershy replied. "I hope so," he responded. "Because I don't know if it'll work a second time, and I'm not sure I want to try." "I don't want to have to try again," she replied, sirens in the distance and getting closer with the rumble of trucks. She walked over to the window and looked out, watching as a military convoy approached. A light in the sky slowly grew bigger as it approached, probably an aerial escort. "I think that's my ride." "Then you shouldn't keep them waiting," Trotmier said. "Make sure to destroy my blood," Fluttershy repeated, looking at him carfeully. "You've seen a small part of what it turned me into. Please keep that from happening to anypony else." "I'll take care of it as soon as they leave," he replied. Hoofsteps sounded on the stairs as soldiers ran up them, but for once, Fluttershy wasn't scared. Her heart pounded steadily in her chest as they broke through the door and surrounded her. That zebra she had encountered watched her carefully as he moved, weapons trained on her and ready to fire. "You've been a pain in my flank," the zebra said. "General's been trying to get you for a while, so I hope he gets what he deserves from this." "I think he just might," Fluttershy said as the others restrained her and led her out of the room. Outside, he was waiting for her. "You look calm for somepony who's been running away for years." "I don't have a reason to run anymore," she commented. Thunderbolt looked at her in mild shock and frustration. "You better not've taken it from me." All Fluttershy did in response was grin. ******************************* "I'll finish up here," Brown Sky said, motioning for the others to leave the room. They nodded and filed out as he turned towards Trotmier. "You know what she was." "I can keep my mouth shut," the scientist said nervously. "I'll destroy everything I have and-" Sky shot out his hoof and knocked Trotmier back a ways, hitting him in the throat to shut him up. "I want what she had." Trotmier coughed, looking shocked. "I think you have a little something already," he choked out between coughs. "I'd have to study what you have before I do anything else or the result could be... an abomination." Sky glanced around before picking up a small metal object and crushing it between his hooves. "On the other hoof, this could turn out great and it could be a great experiment." Sky watched as the machines were set up differently and the liquids changed out before laying down on the table and waiting for everything to be attached to him. Once it was, mechanical whirring and buzzing filled the room. He felt something soupy enter his bloodstream and let out a heavy breath of minor pain. It wasn't too bad, though he had expected something else. When it hit his heart, he could tell. It felt as if it had stopped for a few seconds only to start hammering in his chest, trying to burst its way out. He let out a scream as he felt bones and muscles shifting and changing. His coat started to mottle before falling off completely. His front legs and hooves changed, molding into the limbs of a primate with hands and fingers. His hind legs shifted to accompany a bipedal creature, some of the bones not shifting properly and breaking out of the toughened hide in sharp spurs at the joints. His snout shrunk, not quite able to keep up with the massive transformation. Soon enough, the pain subsided and disappeared, leaving Sky in a larger form that could only be described as a monster. All of the changes left him feeling one thing, though. He felt the raw power of being in this form and knew what he could do with it. He was a god with this kind of strength, he knew what he had to do with that kind of power. He had to use it. ******************************* Fluttershy sat calmly in the helicopter as it took off. There was nothing more to do, nothing more to worry about. Her time to run was finally over and she could be at peace. It was a short-lived peace, though, when the radio let out a burst of static only five minutes into the flight. "We need backup down here!" Thunderbolt looked at the radio in shock before replying. "What are you talking about?" "The Hulk is loose! I repeat, the Hulk is loose!" "That's not possible!" Thunderbolt said. "Fluttershy's right here. Are you sure?" "See for yourself!" One of the walls of the helicopter shifted and turned around to reveal a small screen receiving live video feed. On it, a monstrous thing was attacking the city, and it looked like a giant mass of muscle. It turned to look at the pony recording it and threw something at it, but thankfully missed. It gave the soldiers there time to launch a rocket at the thing, but it swiped a chunk of metal at it and brushed off the explosion like it was nothing. The second thing thrown at the ponies wasn't as poorly aimed as the first, though, smashing into the camera and causing the feed to cut to static. "We need to get out of here!" Thunderbolt barked at the pilot. "How fast can this thing fly?" "No," Fluttershy whispered. "What?!" he screamed as he turned around to face her. "I'd think you'd be the first one to try to get out of here with that thing running around." "Not if it means leaving innocent ponies to die out there," she said, her voice slowly gaining volume and confidence. "I have to go back out there." "It took me too long to catch you before, I'm not letting you go out there now!" "You don't have to," she said, bumping a button at the back and opening the drop door. "It's my choice." Thunderbolt leapt for her, but only caught air as Fluttershy pushed off the floor and fell out of the helicopter. She had her eyes closed, ready for it to take over. She used the techniques she had learned to speed up her heart rate and bring out the creature inside her. When she opened them,, though, she didn't feel the presence of it. She couldn't feel it at all. It was truly gone, and there was nothing she could do about it. She flared out her wings, trying desperately to stop, but she was falling too fast and she hadn't been flying enough. She didn't have the strength to stop her fall or even slow it enough. She felt the impact with the ground for a moment before something happened. She broke through the ground, punching a hole right through the concrete and dirt. Her bones shifted around, but this time, it felt more natural. Her skin stretched, but she could barely feel a thing. The most surprising part was when she punched back through the ground going up. Her hooves found solid ground and pulled her out of the hole she had just been buried under and she shook off the rubble, her larger form giving her a much better view than dirt and darkness. And as she looked around, as she spotted the thing rampaging through the streets, she felt it. She felt the power and the strength to use it. She felt the other pony in her head working with her instead of against her, and she felt alive. But most of all, after years of living in the light, too scared of the dark, too scared of herself, she wasn't afraid. She let out a roar of confidence as she looked at the other creature, knowing she could fight it. She looked at it as it was, a threat to everypony in the city. She knew what she had to do. So as it turned around, she moved. Her powerful legs pushed her forward and she started galloping at the two-legged beast in front of her. Her wings flapped by her sides, pushing air and giving her more speed and power behind her charge. She tensed and launched herself into the air, becoming a living projectile and slamming into the beast that was tearing apart the city. The impact shook her to her very core, but the surprising part was how easily the monster took the blow and threw her down the road and into a nearby building. It took a moment for her to realize just what had happened, and that was all the time it needed to get up and get close enough to fight her. "I thought you'd have a little more punch," the thing said in a disjointed deep voice. "I guess I was wrong to think you truly deserved the name Hulk." Hulk could barely keep up with what he was saying under the constant assault from the taller creature. But she knew enough as it was. She took a few more hits so she could get up and throw a punch herself, knocking the thing off balance from its two legs and onto the ground. She stood up and let out another roar of frustration as that thing looked back at her with a foallike gleam in its eyes. It launched at her again, only this time, she was ready for it. She shifted her weight and took the hit, but rose up to he hind hooves before it finished and threw it off of her back. She spun around and charged again, pushing everything she had into it and ramming the other creature into a nearby building, causing rubble to fall on top of it as the barreled through. They crashed through the other side to land in a heap in the middle of some local ruins. Tourists scattered, screaming in alarm and fear. The sound of a helicopter hovered above them and the other creature glared at both it and Hulk. "What are you going to do, Flutter Hulk?" it asked her. "You can't just kick me out of the way this time. You can't beat me. And neither can they." It looked up and leapt into the air, reaching for the flying box. Hulk shook her head and leapt as well, hitting the creature low and throwing off its aim, causing it to land on top of her, slightly dazing her. It rolled off and swung one of its huge hands around, gripping a chain designed to keep ponies in line while they went through the ruins. He ripped it up and took concrete barriers with it, lifting it into the air. "What can you do to stop me?" That moment of speech was all she needed. she stood there, watching as the stones started to spin around in his grip and how he swung up to land a finishing blow before stepping forward. "HULK," she screamed at the top of her lungs, lifting her forehooves into the air and surprising everyone there. "SMASH!" She brought down her hooves in a swift motion, hitting the ground with all the force she could muster. And that was just enough force for the ground to crack. A large crevasse in the ground quickly spread to the feet of the creature n front of her, causing it to fall into it and lose its grip on the improvised whip. The stones held it in the air for a few brief seconds before it fell down on top of it, hitting it in the head and laying the chain around its neck. Hulk launched forward, her wings giving her just enough speed to grab the chains before it could and she wrapped them up tight around the thing struggling inside. Limbs flew everywhere and she could barely keep a grip with her hooves and wings as it struggled and swung at her. It even tried to stab one of the protruding bones into her, but missed everything important and only caused the struggle to be a little longer. Its struggle slowly faded until it simply didn't have the air in its lungs to keep going. Fluttershy looked down at it as it went limp in her hooves and let go of the chains that were killing it. She had done what she needed to and didn't need to do any more, no matter how much Hulk wanted to. Fluttershy was the one in control now. She et out one final roar of triumph before leaping off into the streets and towards open ground. It was back to running for her, though maybe it wasn't as bad as she thought. Maybe she could get through like this. Maybe she could control it entirely and this wouldn't be a one-time thing. No matter the outcome, though, the future was definitely looking green. Author's Note So sorry for all of the delays. My upcoming posts will be significantly more regular given I'll have finished the story before release and chapters will be coming out on a weekly basis per story. Unfortunately, this means a longer wait before Iron Mare 2, but it keeps things running far more smoothly and there aren't any long pauses between chapters that run for months. Thanks to all of you who stuck with me through the ridiculousness of this story and continue to be my loyal readers. I look forward to giving you all the next installment in Phase One. And as always, a special thanks to Jarkes for all of his help in editing this beast. I look forward to working with you more in the upcoming stories of my Equestrian-Marvel Universe. That is now the official name of this universe. End CreditsStarring Fluttershy/Hulk General Thunderbolt Special Operations Agent Brown Sky/Abomination Guest Starring Princess Luna S.H.I.E.L.D. Agent Coltson Production Written by Fanofawesomeness Edited by Jarkes Read by all of you ******************************* "General," Rainbow Dash said as she walked into the bar. "Dash," General Thunderbolt replied. "I'm surprised to see you here." "I heard there was some trouble up here, so I thought I'd take a look," she explained. Thunderbolt chuckled. "A couple years too late for that." Dash ordered a drink as she sat down next to him. "How much of it is true?" "If you heard it, it probably is," Thunderbolt replied. "No matter how strange it may seem, it's real." "Do you have any ideas on where she went?" "I was discharged before any more progress could be made, so no," Thunderbolt said bitterly. "At least they let me keep my rank." Dash nodded and took a sip of her drink. "Any information you have could help." He barked out a laugh. "Why does it matter to you? Working with the military to track her down?" "She's an old friend," Dash replied, downing the rest of her drink. "Besides, I might be able to help you get another job." "And how would you do that?" Thunderbolt asked. "What do you know about S.H.I.E.L.D.?" Author's Note So here's the ending! I hope you liked the ride and I look forward to getting the next story in Phase One out soon. As always, thanks to Jarkes for all of his help in editing this story. I'll see you in Iron Mare 2.
PrologueFluttershy couldn't help but worry about her friends. Ever since Rainbow's tryouts, they had been drifting farther and farther apart. Twilight was so busy with her work at the company with Rainbow Dash now, Rarity was off in Manehattan, Applejack was busy proving more food on the farm and Pinkie... just kind of disappeared. As Fluttershy was walking around her cottage tending to the mostly empty animal houses, she heard a knock at the door. She jumped and squeaked, hiding behind her hair for a moment before walking over and opening it. "Miss Fluttershy, I presume?" asked a unicorn in a suit. "Yes," she replied quietly. "I'm Agent Coltson from the Solar Homeland Intervention and Lunar Defense agency," the suited unicorn stated. "I've heard you're quite the expert on animals and would like you to help us with a project we've been working on." "Oh, I'd love to," Fluttershy said. "But I can't leave my animal friends behind." "I'm afraid I'm going to have to insist," Coltson said. "We can take them with us if you would prefer." "That would be wonderful," Fluttershy said. "I'll go pack my things." "We can take care of that," Coltson pushed. Please come with me." Fluttershy hesitated briefly, but complied. If the Equestrian government was calling in Fluttershy for something about animals, she had to do everything she could to help. ******************************* "Please step inside," Coltson asked as he held open the door. "This is where you'll be working while you're here, so we tried to make everything as comfortable as we could for you." "Thank you," Fluttershy said, walking into the somewhat homey room. It was wood paneled with everything at her cottage right where it should be, only a little more spaced out due to the size of the room. There was also a bookshelf on the far wall with a worktable in front of it. "It's very nice." "I'm glad you like it," Coltson said. "Now please wait here while I go get the Director." As he left, Fluttershy walked over to the bookshelf. Glancing over the titles, they all read something along the lines of biological sciences. That, or some sort of advanced animal cataloging. Only a few minutes had passed before Coltson returned with the Director, a slightly larger-than-average alicorn with a dark blue coat and flowing mane and tail of the night sky. "Princess Luna!" Fluttershy said hastily with a bow. "There's no need for such formalities," the Princess stated. "In here, we are colleagues. You may call me Luna, or Director, whichever you think is best." "I'm sorry," Fluttershy said. "I had no idea I was going to be working with you." "Actually," Luna said, "You'll be working with a general. I have other duties to perform here. I simply thought it best for a familiar face to explain your job here. "You will be working to enhance and transfer small animal abilities to ponykind without bringing harm to the animals. With your past and advanced knowledge in the field of animals, we figured it was best you work on this. All materials needed will be provided. All you need do is ask. There is research material and a few other things to get started over at the bookshelf." "Oh my," Fluttershy said. "I'm not sure I can do that. I don't know as much about science as Twilight does." "We will work on tying communication to her when we can, but you were the ideal candidate," Luna explained. "You will also have access to all of our files and many of our best scientists." Another pony came trotting up to Luna and whispered something in her ear. "I apologize," she said. "But it seems I am needed elsewhere. Please work as fast as you can. I will see you again, Fluttershy." Fluttershy was at a loss. She barely knew anything about science. She could consult on this, but that could disappoint Luna. Finally, she decided to just work with it and hopefully be of some help.
Years LaterTen years had gone by since Fluttershy had been brought in on this secret project and it was almost done. She had found the most useful combination of animal abilities for ponykind and was already synthesizing a solution to transfer them. But something was missing. A catalyst was needed to pull everything together so it didn't end up being a useless injection. That's when she discovered the magnificence of radiation. It held the perfect catalyst to jump-start the process and solidify the mutations. Hopefully, it would work. But, fortunately, if it didn't, there was no harm done. It wouldn't be any amount a normal equine wouldn't be able to handle. Of course, on the extremely off chance something did go horribly wrong, they would be out of an animal expert. Fluttershy had volunteered to undergo the process. The machine buzzed, snapping Fluttershy out of her thoughts. She had been thinking a lot more recently. Without all of her animal friends right in the room, she was let focus on the problem at hoof. She carefully pulled the solution out of the machine and put it into a deep freeze container before trotting over to her bed. It had been a long day preparing it and tomorrow it would be tested. She could only hope it worked. ******************************* "Is everything set up in there?" asked one of the technicians behind the glass. "It looks like it," Fluttershy replied. "Good," he said. "We don't want something popping loose in the middle of this thing." "That won't actually happen, will it?" Fluttershy asked. The technician chuckled. "You've been working with this stuff for ten years and you're still afraid of it?" Fluttershy blushed slightly, hiding a little behind her mane. "Well you have nothing to worry about," he reassured her. "It'll be over before you know it! That is, once we get started. Where's that general that's supposed to be here?" "Right behind you," came a gruff voice from the doorway. The technician jumped before stepping to the side and turning. The General was in his usual military uniform with another scientist with him. "It looks like we can start, then." Fluttershy looked out at the three ponies in the room in front of her. It was only something small and the chances to go wrong were tiny. That thought didn't help calm her nerves when the door shut and locked, though. Taking a deep breath, she moved over to the machine. Closing her eyes, she sat down on the main panel and felt restraints close around her hooves. It took everything she had in her to not panic out of this thing. Then the process began. Hissing filled the room as the solution was pressurized and loaded into the injector. Opening her eyes slightly, Fluttershy could see the metal arm move towards her. Her eyes froze onto the machine as it pressed against her foreleg and injected the liquid into her system. Letting out the breath she had been holding, she slumped a little as the arm moved away. Then another sound caught her attention. A slight humming started to come from the thing she was still strapped into. She looked around and saw the white panel move in front of her, lining up crosshairs over her head. She held her breath, not wanting to breathe in radioactive air as she was hit by low levels of gamma radiation. Yet another sound caught her attention again. Something was hissing that shouldn't be. The injection was complete, and nothing else was pressurized in the room. What could be causing that sound? Fluttershy started to get lightheaded from holding her breath. She wouldn't be able to hold out too much longer. A beep sounded, signifying the end of the test. Fluttershy let out the breath and started to greedily suck in air as the panel moved away to clear her view- -Of three ponies panicking in the other room! "What happened?" Fluttershy asked loudly, trying to figure out why they were all frantically pushing buttons and flipping switches. For some reason, though, she was still light-headed. Her breathing sped up some to try and bring in more air, but it only made things worse. That's when she saw the emergency lights flashing. Something had gone terribly wrong and they were trying to fix it, but what was it? What could have gone wrong. A sharp pain filled Fluttershy's chest, quickly spreading across her body. Her muscles tensed and stretched, pressing against the restraints around her hooves. Bones crackled as they shifted and grew, Fluttershy almost completely blacking out from the pain. Her coat began to change as well, mottling to a yellow-green color. The restraints snapped and she continued to change, growing and mutating. By now, her entire coat was green and her muscles had enlarged significantly. Sirens became audible through the glass as the ponies behind it continued to panic. Finally, it stopped. But Fluttershy had lost herself in the pain and rage. She glared at the others as she smashed through the wall into the other room. The technician who had been working on the machine the most was thrown to the side in her blind rage and hit the opposite wall with a snap of bone. The general pulled his weapon and fired at her, but the bullets just bounced off of her skin. She swept out a foreleg and brought him down as well, snapping a leg in the process. The last pony was on the ground in a heap. Fluttershy stopped, beginning to realize what she had just done, but only vaguely aware she had done it. She screamed in anger as more sirens filled the air and she fled through another wall. ******************************* Fluttershy awoke with a start, a quick beeping filling the small room she was in. She closed her eyes and slowed her breathing, waiting for the beeping to stop. It was a little difficult, that memory had stirred up a few emotions. But eventually, she calmed down enough to stop worrying about another incident. She was still worrying though, even after three years. Incidents happened, though not often anymore. Maybe someday, she would finally be rid of this...thing that had come to live in her mind. Maybe. Until then, living far away from where she could hurt ponies was the best idea. She needed to keep them safe, even if others didn't. She checked her security systems and went off to work, rubbing the top of the head of a stray dog she had brought in. It was going to be a long day, and she didn't have much time to get it started. Author's Note So here it is! My second story in Phase One, and hopefully a little better than my first. I'll be trying to get updates up approximately every two weeks, at the latest. Enjoy! And thanks to my editor Jarkes for helping me get this out.
Hunted"I told you to find her!" screamed the General Thunderbolt. "She is a threat to ponykind and needs to be handled!" He was having enough trouble keeping his own troops under control, he didn't need the added ponies from that organization Luna had put together. "Get me a line to Luna." "Yes, sir," one of the ponies said, tapping away at a console. "And make it quick," he added, sighing a little. After all of this time, they were still no closer to finding her than when she had run the first time. The screen ahead went blank, quickly filled with an image of Princess Luna. "What do you want, General?" she asked, clearly annoyed. "I want full authorization to end this," he said. "What we need to do is kill her, not try more experiments! She is a threat to everypony on this planet-" "And a friend not just to my sister, but to me," Luna interrupted. "I want you to find her and help her, and if I find out you were trying anything else, you will have to answer to me." The General bit back a growl of frustration. "Fine," he said after a moment. "But at least stop sending in your agents for their 'help'. They're just getting in the way." "I understand," Luna said. "I had something in mind already anyways." "Thank you," he replied. "And if there's any information you have on her, it would be very helpful to tell us now." Luna smirked a little at that. "I have told you everything I can," she responded. "I'll call my agents back and you can continue your search immediately." With that, she ended the call. "Somepony tell me they have something on where this Pegasus is," the general said to the entire room. ******************************* Luna sighed, thinking about what that general would end up doing without her involvement. There were many risks involved, and she didn't like to think about the outcomes of those risks. This could end very badly, and she should have fired him long ago, but he was an effective general. Ponies listened to him and he followed orders, even if it wasn't always to the letter. Thinking a moment, Luna started tapping keys on her computer. There was something she could do to keep an eye on this general. It wasn't the best of moves, but it was the only thing she could do at the moment. "Ma'am," came a voice on the other end of the call she had just made. "Coltson," she answered. "I need you to keep an eye on General Thunderbolt for me. I get the feeling he might be up to something again." ******************************* Fluttershy trotted down the steps of her apartment to the small main street. It was strange living in an area only slightly touched by Twilight's advancements, enough to get by but only so. She always felt a small pit form when she thought about all the good that could be done if the technology were simply given to them, soon followed by the bad. It was such a shame there were some ponies who would go out of their way to hurt others. But she couldn't dwell on that thought. She had to get to work at the bottling plant and get through the day. Maybe this time there wouldn't be any trouble. Unfortunately, only a couple hours into her shift, something did happen. "Hey Fluttershy!" came a call from above. "I think there's an animal hiding in the compressor shaft. Do you think you could help get it out?" Fluttershy didn't waste any time moving up there to see what was going on. If there was an animal up there, she had to try and get it out before something happened. Once she got up there, she could see the slight outline of a raccoon hiding in the small space. "Come on out," she said quietly, trying to coax it into safety. "You don't have to hide in there." It hissed at her. Ever since that experiment, animals had been less and less responsive and it really wasn't helping in this case. "You really don't want to hide in there," she said, trying to be as soothing as possible. "It's not safe." The raccoon looked at her for a moment in understanding. Slowly, it moved forward, making its way out of the small area. But once it got close to Fluttershy, it hesitated. The understanding in its eyes quickly vanished, turning into a defensive nature as it moved back a few steps. It bared its teeth and hissed, giving Fluttershy a very weary look. "It's okay," she said. She moved forward to try and comfort the animal, but it took her kindness as a threat and lunged, jumping off of her and across the ceiling bars to a window outside. Fluttershy yelped and flinched, feeling a few of the claws dig into her shoulder. She looked in the direction of the raccoon, a small tear welling up in her eye. All thoughts of the animal vanished when she felt a small trickle of blood run down her leg, though. Her eyes went wide and she took a step back from the edge, but a few drops had already fallen to the bottles below. She barely saw it past the grating, but it was enough. She hit the emergency shut-off switch and jumped from the catwalk, gliding down to the lower level. The belt had stopped moving and she was hoping above all else that everything was fine. The drop had to have landed on the belt. She sighed in relief when she saw the drop on the black surface, quickly picking up a cloth and wiping it off. It had been a close call, but she had been lucky. She didn't have to worry about anything except for her pulse now, which had jumped to a rate that made the meter beep. She leaned against a wall and calmed herself, knowing everything was going to be fine. Not noticing the small bit of red on the inside of an empty bottle. ******************************* "Sir, I may have found something," said a computer pony in the room. "What is it?" General Thunderbolt asked, annoyed. "It looks like a case of gamma poisoning," she answered. "Somepony opened a bottle of some of that imported soda and got a little more kick than he was expecting." The General's eyes widened. "Where was that bottle manufactured?" "It looks like somewhere by the Griffon Mountains," she answered. "Get me a team," he continued, walking towards the door. "I want the best soldiers you can get your hooves on and I want them yesterday!" Author's Note Sorry this was so late. I'll be trying to get the next chapters up a little faster.
TurnaboutFluttershy walked through the halls of the factory as she made her way out of the building. Something caught her attention, though, when she walked past the production line. Somepony was pushing to get a date with another pony a little too far. She walked back and over to the two ponies. "Hello," she said. "What do you want?" asked one of them, his voice sounding a little more on-edge than most. "I was just wondering what was going on over here," she replied truthfully. "Is there a problem?" "No problem," he answered. "I was just asking the mare here out on a date." "It didn't sound like asking," she said. "It was a little too loud to be asking." "What's it to you?" he asked, taking a step forward. "Are you the police of asking?" Fluttershy took a step back. "I just want everypony here to have good working conditions," she said. "Yelling doesn't promote a healthy environment." "Well maybe an unhealthy one is needed," he responded, moving toward her again. Fluttershy met his eyes. "Don't make me angry," she said, a fearful calm creeping over her. "You wouldn't like me when I'm angry." "Yeah, right," he said, lunging forward. Fluttershy moved to the side, caught him in the air and spun, throwing him to the opposite side of the room. A quick beeping started coming from her hoof. Fluttershy quickly turned around, trying to calm her pulse. Soon enough, it slowed down, the beeping going silent. That is, until she was tackled by the mare the colt was pushing around. "Thank you," she said excitedly. "I didn't know what to do and he was pushing and I was scared and-" Fluttershy held up a hoof, cutting off the other mare. "You needed help, so I helped," she said. "You don't need to thank me." "Not many ponies would have done that," she said. "You deserve my thanks." She quickly bowed her head and trotted out of the room. Fluttershy sighed a little, following soon after to go back to her apartment in the hills. Hopefully, things would calm down a bit and there wouldn't be another incident. Hopefully, she could stay here for at least a little bit longer. Others didn't plan for that. ******************************* General Thunderbolt grinned at the team behind the mirror. They were the best soldiers of this generation from all over the world. One of them was from the northern Zebra Empires, his stripes setting him apart from the others. A griffon also stood there, surprisingly, her wings spread at-the-ready. Another had weapons from his home strapped to his back, unique armor on his hooves as well. One even held the infamous bat-wings of the Night Guard along with the signature armor and new weapons. The General hardened his gaze, stepping out in front of the small group. He looked over each and every one of them, noticing the smaller details he hadn't seen earlier. A few scars here and there, noticeable muscle structures, various stances and alertness. He stopped in the middle and said, "You have each been picked to apprehend a very special subject. She is a yellow Pegasus pony by the name of Fluttershy. She is to be brought back here, alive. Am I understood?" "Yes, sir!" they all said in unison. "Good," he replied. "Now move out and bring me that Pegasus!" All of them turned around and ran or flew over to the waiting helicopter. They filed in and it spun up, flying off toward that isolated town in the south. The General couldn't help but grin. After all these years, he was finally going to get her. He was finally going to get what he wanted. Everything was going great, but that didn't mean he should take chances. He'd had situations similar to this before. That's why he brought up the live feed from the Night Guard's armor when he came into the situation room. Now all he had to do was wait. ******************************* Fluttershy was quiet for a time. It wasn't unusual for her to be quiet, but it was a much more solemn quiet than before. She had come to this place for a specific reason, and that reason had just failed. Her miracle-cure for what had happened to her had started to work, but it ended up causing a much more dangerous reaction afterwards, shattering the microscope slide with the blood sample. She shook her head a little, trying to clear it. There had to be something she hadn't tried yet, some solution she hadn't thought of. Maybe she should just go home and ask Twilight or Rainbow Dash about it. Maybe she should try to find Rarity and hope she knew something about it. At this point, she was even considering finding Pinkie Pie to see if her unique sweets would help. For now, though, all she could do was stay as calm as possible. She couldn't get angry, and she couldn't get afraid. She had to stay in one place and wait a little bit longer before going anywhere. She had to think of a good reason to leave without causing suspicion. She needed a plan before leaving so she could stay off the radar. The dog she had brought in perked her head up and looked at the door a few seconds before a quiet beeping came from the security systems. Fluttershy looked over to the computer and saw a few masked ponies moving up the stairs. A griffon was waiting at the bottom, watching the team as they moved up. Her eyes went wide and she took a step back. Looking around, she grabbed the saddlebags she kept for emergencies and tightened them. She moved to her bed and arranged some pillows, hoping it would buy her a little more time to get out. She took one last glance around the room before making it to a window and jumping out, flapping her wings a few times to get some air before dropping to the ground. She took off at a quick jog, trying not to move too quickly to keep her heart rate down. She glanced back a few times, but didn't see anything behind her. Barking came from the direction she left from until it was cut short. A pang of pain and anger surged through her, kicking her pulse up a few beats, but she quickly got it under control and kept it steady. She kept running until she ran into a stallion she hadn't seen move into her path. The two of them stumbled and fell to the ground. The stallion groaned a little, quickly followed by quiet chuckling. "Well this is a pleasant surprise," he said, the voice sounding oddly familiar. Fluttershy got up and looked at him, recognizing him from earlier that day. He was giving her a sinister grin, and Fluttershy took an involuntary step back. A few others came up behind him, each of them wearing a grin of their own. She felt a small spike of fear run down her spine, the beeping at her hoof becoming more insistent. She looked around, hoping for a way out, and saw it in the form of one of the ponies charging her. She jumped up, kicked off his back and launched herself over the others and half a block away without so much as a skipped breath. She kept her momentum up by rolling down the sidewalk and continuing her escape. A few shots rang out from not too far behind and sparked against the pavement beside her. She sped up a little, trying to keep up the pace without boosting her heart. The beeping at her hoof sped up a little, but not enough to worry about. She could focus on that once she lost these ponies. That wasn't too far down the road, though. A quick glance around told her the factory she worked in wasn't too far away from here, and that was the perfect place to lose those soldiers. Soon enough, she had found the factory and was hiding in a small, dark corner. Her heart was beating faster than she would have preferred, but it wasn't dangerous yet. The beeping would giver her away, though, so she tried to calm herself down a bit. The sudden appearance of three stallions didn't help with that. The one she had now seen three times that day moved forward and hit her in the gut, not giving her a chance to fully realize what was happening. She cried out, but the others only attacked, each of them with similar vigor in their brutality. None of them listened to her warnings and her cries to stop. Not until the beeping became almost a single note ringing throughout the factory as the strap holding the device was broken and it was flung across the room. All three of the attackers were similarly thrown when a large, pony-shaped mass of muscle stood up. It was easily three times the size of an ordinary pony, probably more than that. Screams turned into growls, snarls of attackers into quivering fear. More shapes moved in the shadows. Rattling gunfire erupted from a balcony and needles bounced off the hide of this giant creature. The pony using the gun looked up briefly, waiting for it to fall, but was instead flung into the ceiling when it ran under the metal framework and stood up taller, throwing front hooves up in the process and tearing through the metal and walls into the next room. The sound of weapons reloading soon filled the small space and bullets started flying. Some of them sparked off the production floor, others off the hide of the creature. None of them did anything but make it more angry. Green eyes glowed bright, looking around the factory floor and finding a forklift. The beast picked up the machine and threw it at the gathered group of ponies firing at it. A snarl escaped its lips as it turned around and jumped through the roof and off into the distance, away from the factory. ******************************* "What happened?!" screamed the General. "Where's my live feed?!" "The connection is dead, sir," one of the ponies in the room said. "There's no more transmitter." The General screamed, throwing papers off his desk. "I want ponies on the ground doing cleanup work as soon as you can." Muttered agreement and acknowledgements came over the room. There was nothing else to be done at this point. They had just lost the one chance they had at capturing her. "Sir, I think I have something," said one of the ponies behind him, her tone urgent. "It's a radio signal from that factory." "Put it through!" he said, hoping beyond hope it was one of the soldiers. Fortunately for him, it was. "General Thunderbolt!" came the oddly accented voice of the zebra. "I need extraction ASAP! Get me out of here!" "Do it," the General said. "I want the soldier back here for debriefing within the next twelve." "Yes, sir," came the replies of a few ponies around the room, each of them working to notify the nearest soldiers and transport. "Maybe this one will be able to help us even with this mess," the General muttered. Author's Note Sorry for such a long wait, but here it is! I really hope to be able to get the next chapter out a lot faster than this one. Thank you for being patient with this, and thanks to my editor Jarkes for helping me get this up here.
Going HomeFluttershy woke up with a headache. It always happened like this. Someone would try something and that thing would come out. Then she would always have a hangover after that didn't help at all. At least this time she didn't end up in a pile of rubble. Anything to help brighten her mood would help. After walking a couple of hours in what looked like a jungle, she eventually found her way to a main road and got a ride from a few friendly ponies heading into town. Of course, not long after getting there, she realized she didn't have any money to do anything with. Any cash she had with her was lost when she turned. That wasn't the only problem, though. If she couldn't find a way to get rid of this thing inside her, it could hurt a lot more ponies. She needed a way out of this. But she didn't have any options. Every possible solution had already been tested and none of them had worked. She needed a way out of this, but she also couldn't bring her friends into it. Not with the general this close to her. If he thought they knew anything, they would be at risk of being captured and interrogated for weeks before they were thrown into a secret prison where they would never be found. But maybe there was another way out. Maybe there was someone she could talk to that would know about this and maybe, just maybe, they would be able to help. Now there was just the problem of getting home. ******************************* After a couple days of begging, some storytelling and animal work, Fluttershy finally earned enough money for a trip back home. Granted, getting past all of the security there wasn't exactly easy, but it could've been a lot worse. And now, she was standing in front of the institution that had grown in her wake. Even after the failed testing, there was still the facility that held all of the research and more. All she had to do was get in and get everything she needed before heading to one of the researcher's houses for help and she could get out of this nightmare once and for all. And hopefully she would be able to keep the general from finding the pony who helped her. That plan did require breaking into a highly secured lab in the middle of the day without being recognized by anypony she might have worked with. She looked around and found a delivery pony trotting by with a bag of something that smelled good. Glancing at the shirt he was wearing, she started to get an idea. A quick change and some theft later, she came right back to the facility in her light disguise and carrying bag with some hot sandwiches. Now she just had to hope they changed the guard since her time working there. She trotted up to the desk, bringing the attention of the guard up from his magazine. He looked at her and blinked, huge muscles straining under his uniform. "Hello," Fluttershy said quietly. He grunted and scanned over her with his eyes, his expression never changing from the stoic gaze he held before. "I'll need to run a scan of your face through the system," he replied. "I'm running late on this delivery," she continued. "Do you think you could just send me up?" "It's protocol," he said, looking at her blankly. "It'll only take a minute." Fluttershy sighed, trying to look stressed and ignore the steady pounding in her head. "Look, if my boss hears I made another late delivery, I'll lose my job. I have another meal here I was planning on eating, but you could have it if you let me up." He looked from her, to the bag, and back to her in a few seconds before grinning slightly. "Sure," he said. "Just don't tell my boss." She smiled and gave him the extra meal, watching as his grin turned into a full blown smile from the free food before heading up to the research center. Half way up the stairs, she paused and held a hoof to her neck to check her pulse. A little high, but not as bad as it seemed when she was talking to the guard. Now if she could only get over the guilt from tricking him. Maybe I should go back and apologize, she thought briefly before smashing that thought. She couldn't do that right now. Maybe after this was over she would come back and explain everything, but now was not that time. Carefully, she made her way into the computer lab, making sure the hat she had taken hid her face from every camera. There weren't many ponies in right now, probably because it was lunch break and most of them were out with friends for their short break. But the couple ponies inside gladly took the rest of the food she had brought with her to not pay attention to what she was doing. It was nice to have techies as easily bribed as the door guard. She typed in the credentials needed to get into the system and hoped they were still valid. Fortunately, they hadn't changed their password in the three years she had been gone. She quickly went through the files, checking the main drive for any materials from their past. That time ended up wasted, though. None of the research was there, but there was one more thing she could check. The mainframe should have held everything. It took five years for any project to be destroyed completely, so the information should've still been there. But after a few minutes of searching, she found nothing related to their work. Not even the names of the researchers turned up anything useful. Fluttershy sighed. This wasn't working. She needed the original research to be able to create a cure for whatever this thing was. She needed something to help get rid of it before the general could find her again, and there was no guarantee that would be too long from now. She signed out and quickly snuck out the back, hoping the guard would think she passed by him while he was reading his magazine and wouldn't start asking questions. The last thing she needed was more ponies looking for her. Besides, how was she supposed to break into a former colleague's house to ask them for help from a cell? ******************************* "What was that thing?" the zebra asked, his voice almost eerily calm. "And why didn't you warn us it was there?" "That isn't important," General Thunderbolt said. "You survived. I'll need you in debriefing in an hour." "I thought this was debriefing," the zebra replied. "This was me checking to see how bad you were doing after," Thunderbolt said. "Well I wouldn't be the only one to check on if you had told us what we were going into," the zebra said. "Who was that anyways? Another little detail you left out? How did they know we were coming?" "That was her," Thunderbolt said. He blinked. "Beg pardon?" "That was Fluttershy," Thunderbolt explained. "It's the reason I wanted her brought in." "She has all that power?" the zebra asked in amazement. "How?" "It was an experiment," Thunderbolt continued. "She got away. But now we have you." The zebra chuckled slightly. "I'm not sure you understand," he said. "I barely survived that. There's no possible way I can take that on in a fight." "Not yet," Thunderbolt said. "But there is a way you can."
PowerplayFluttershy sat calmly in the chair as she waited for her colleague to get home. He would probably be a while, but she never could tell what was going on with him. That and she wanted to make sure he didn't just flip out when he saw her sitting there. From what she had heard, the accident had broken his back and paralyzed his back legs, so seeing her like a ghost from his past probably wouldn't end well. Hopefully, it would end better than last time. But right now, all she could do was wait and try to stay as calm as possible. ******************************* "Name," the doctor pony said to the zebra sitting across from him. "Brown Sky," the zebra replied. "You are aware of the procedure?" Sky nodded quickly. "Is your next-of-kin current?" "Don't have one," he replied. The doctor nodded his understanding before closing up the file he had been writing in. "Did he tell you exactly what you were getting into?" "I was told what it would do," Sky responded. "I don't really care what else there is." "This procedure isn't exactly painless," the doctor said. "It'll take three injections, and those will hurt. A lot." "The less I know about it, the better I'll do during it," Sky said before the doctor could say anything else. "Let's just get this over with." The doctor nodded before General Thunderbolt walked into the room with a vial of something held in tongs in his mouth. He walked over to a machine and put the vial in, waiting for it to secure before letting go and walking over to look at Sky. "I'll see you when it's done," he said before walking out of the room. Sky laid down on the table he was sitting on and felt the straps secure around his hooves before being flipped over. Not long after that, he felt a needle slide into his back and something hot being pushed into his body. He took deep breaths, but it didn't seem so bad. At least that's what he thought until a needle pressed into his spine and went into the bone. Blinding pain flashed through his body and his vision went white before that same hot sensation was flowing through his bones. One more injection, he thought nervously. Then you can handle that mission. Just one more- Pain coursed through him, cutting off his thoughts. The last thing he knew was that pain before he fell out of consciousness. ******************************* "What are you doing in my house?!" asked the grey scientist. "How did you even get here?!" "Please calm down," Fluttershy said. "How can I calm down when you, of all ponies, just broke into my house?!" Fluttershy winced a little at that. It was a bit of a touchy subject when you had been the one to paralyze him, even if you weren't exactly yourself at the moment. He had a good point, too. Breaking in probably wasn't the best of ideas, but it was the only one she could think of that didn't get her sent directly to jail. "Please, Hoofton, just listen to me for a moment," she said, trying to reign in control of the situation. He sighed, shaking his head. "You have five minutes, and unless you convince me otherwise, I'm calling the cops when that time's up." Fluttershy nodded. "I need your help to fix what happened to me." He laughed. "And why would I do that, even if I knew how?" "Because if you don't, there's somepony else who will take it and use it to kill." He moved a little closer, the wheelchair keeping his hind legs up squeaking slightly. "Thunderbolt is after it," she continued. "He wants the thing inside me to be able to make an army of them. If that happens, what would stop him from taking over Equestria? What would stand in his way of conquering anyplace else?" "How do you know he doesn't just want to contain you?" "Tranquilizers," she replied. "If he wanted to keep me from hurting ponies, he wouldn't be using them. He'd have killed me a long time ago if that was all he wanted." Hoofton hummed for a moment. "What you're asking me to do is treason against one of the most influential ponies in our country." "I'm sorry," she said, glancing at a clock. "I didn't know where else to go." He sighed. "I can't do much," he started. "But I can give you the research with all of my notes. It's not much, but it's a lot better than nothing." "Thank you," Fluttershy started before he raised a hoof to cut her off. "I can also give you a name," he said, taking out a piece of paper and beginning to write on it. "This pony might be able to do something to help. He's not that big a fan of the way things are going right now, so cooperation should be easy enough to get from him." "Thank you so much," she said before turning toward the back door. "One more thing," he said, catching her attention before she could leave. "A word of advice. Keep your head low. Thunderbolt will be looking for you, and if he's after that thing, you have to make sure he doesn't get it. I know you've been hiding for a long time now, but when ponies think they're close to the end, they get sloppy. So watch your back." She looked at him for a second, nodding in understanding. He was telling her what he was going to do once she left. He was obligated to do so because of his job, and she couldn't blame him for that. Besides, she knew how to hide. And she didn't have to keep hiding for long, anyways. Once it was gone, he could do whatever tests he wanted, but he was never going to get his hooves on that monster. ******************************* "How're you feeling, soldier?" Thunderbolt asked. "Like I could take on an army," Sky replied. "I assume you're not just here to check in, though. Got a mission for me?" "Looks like it," Thunderbolt said. "I was just contacted by one of my researchers at our facility. She's here, in Equestria. And we might just have a lead on where she'll be." "Just point me in the right direction and say the word," the zebra said. "I'm itching for a little payback." "You make sure you stay under control out there," Thunderbolt warned. "First sign of side effects, and I'm pulling you until everything gets sorted out. Understood?" "Yes, sir," Sky said. "Couldn't be more clear." Author's Note Thanks again to Jarkes for editing and helping me a little with the names. I'm not sure where this story would be without your help.
Hulking EncounterFluttershy watched outside the library carefully to make sure there weren't any ponies looking for her. It was pretty easy to spot if they were, so that made things simpler. And she had a good escape plan if she needed to get out in a hurry. Of course, if there were ponies looking for her, she might not be able to get out without another incident. Before she could get too nervous, Fluttershy walked up to the library. It was nothing like the one back in Ponyville, though. This one was built during the big Technological Revolution they had gone through with the start of the war with the Griffons. Concrete pillars held it up and windows let bright sunlight through into the huge building. On the left, a large sky bridge ran across to the school nearby. If she was going to find this pony referenced by Hoofton, she was going to need some more information on him. Maybe a phone number or a current location. If she was going to find anything about him, this would be the place to find it. This library was the biggest one in the country and they held personal records inside. Getting into the records room, though, could prove to be a challenge. She walked in, hoping she could move fast enough before anypony caught her scent. ******************************* Brown Sky checked his gear. He wasn't going to need all of it, not with this strength running through his veins. Everything seemed simple. Everything seemed easy. "Sky," General Thunderbolt said from behind him. "You're not clocking out on me already, are you?" "No sir," he replied, his accent thicker than before. "Just jitters. Nothing to worry about." The general chuckled. "Just keep your head clear out there and you'll have nothing to worry about." "I'll keep that in mind," Sky said. "Now let's get moving. She's not going to capture herself." ******************************* "Please just let me in," Fluttershy said, trying her best to push down the rising guilt for tricking this pony. "I just forgot my badge and I need to get in there for a project I'm working on." "I'm sorry, miss," the guard replied. "I can't let anypony in without their badge. It's protocol." "I won't do anything illegal," Fluttershy said, pulling as much truth as she could. She needed to get in there to find out more about this other pony before they found her, and at this point, that could happen at any second. "I promise." The guard looked around a little before looking back at her sternly. "Only this once," he said, moving to the door and sliding his own badge through the scanner. "Next time, I won't be so nice, so remember your badge." Fluttershy nodded her thanks quickly and trotted into the room. It wasn't much; mostly filing cabinets and bookshelves of records. It was lit comfortably, but could've easily been brighter. Granted, usually ponies weren't looking for another pony who would know enough about science to be able to help remove a radiation, anger-induced creature of mass destruction while the military was scouring the planet for said pony. She looked down the row labelled with a 'T' and sighed. This was going to take a little longer than she had expected. ******************************* The rattling of the transports helped Sky focus on the task at hoof. He wasn't supposed to get involved unless she changed. That in mind, maybe a little bit of persuasion would be needed so he could finally see how he felt in combat. It hadn't even been two days and he was itching to go back into the heart of the battle. He glanced over to the other troops sitting in the truck. They had no idea what they would be fighting. They didn't know how impossible it would be for them to take her down. But if he could get involved, then they would have her in a matter of seconds. His combat style and superior abilities would make sure he was the only one capable of handling this situation properly. He started whistling a short tune as they rode to keep his mind calm. There would be plenty of time for excitement in a few moments. Then he would prove he was the only one for the job. He would prove his superiority. He would prove his power. He almost lost his tune as a small grin cracked his face. ******************************* Fluttershy scanned the page as quickly as she could. It had everything she needed to find the pony she needed, but it had taken far too long to find the file. She was already rushing as it was, but now, things were just getting dangerous. The amount of damage she could do in this area... She closed the file, making sure she would be able to properly remember everything she found. After having to think for a few moments, she just put the file in her saddlebags. She could look at it when she needed it and find him once she disappeared again. She just had to hope she could get out of there fast enough to stay one step ahead of Thunderbolt. She nodded to the guard as she left and he nodded politely back. She turned and started walking out of the library when she heard gravel crunching around the corner. She peeked her head out around the corner to see what it was only to dart back inside when she saw. Military transports had arrived. They'd found her, and there was nothing she could do about it but run. Her hoofbeats echoed through the library as ponies turned to watch her in confusion. She had to get out of there. She had to leave before they found her. A second beating sound soon greeted her ears and she had to slide around a corner and rest for a moment because of it. Her heart rate had skyrocketed, and if she couldn't get it under control soon, she would be leaving through the transports that had just gotten there, and probably not without hurting or killing other ponies. But if she didn't get out of here fast, she could end up changing and getting out the same way. Fluttershy took a deep breath to calm herself before she started running as fast as she could toward the sky bridge. ******************************* Brown Sky looked around as he left the transport. It looked like a library, but it had a glass tunnel connecting it to another building beside it. More trucks pulled up there and he saw ponies leaving in a hurry with far more books than he would've expected ponies to carry at one time. He looked back to the building Fluttershy was supposed to be in. Ponies were running out of it, probably trying to get out of the way of the incoming military personnel. He let out a quick, quiet laugh. They wouldn't get in the way if he got his chance. They'd be thrown out of it instead. He moved forward, but a short call from behind him caused him to stop. He glanced back at the general and nodded, stepping back to his original spot. He would have to be patient if he wanted his chance. All he had to do was wait until she was in that glass bridge. Once she was there, he would have his time to shine. And if he was lucky, he would be able to bring her to his side and they could take what they deserved. ******************************* Fluttershy's heart hammered in her chest. Things were getting out of control. Everything was going wrong. She could barely focus enough to get to the bridge so she could get out of here before anything happened. She burst through the doors, pounding across the way as she fought to stay in control. Just a little further and she would be able to calm down enough to get out before she turned and avoid the military ponies before they found where she was. She had to skid to a stop when she saw them on the other side of the bridge waiting for her. She spun around to go back, but the doors quickly closed and the armored ponies behind them watched carefully, their weapons shifting on their backs as she scrambled around in the middle of the glass tunnel. It was almost too much for her. She almost changed right then and there, but was able to barely hold onto herself and keep from panicking. If they weren't coming in there, they might try to talk. If she could convince Thunderbolt to let his guard down for just a moment, she might have a chance to get out of this without another incident. Her breathing started to even out, but only just, when something broke through the glass beside her. She jumped and spun to see what it was, but another one came through before she could get a good look and she had to drop to avoid being hit by it. Smoke started to fill the room and her eyes started to water. She moved down the hall in a panic, but the doors had already been closed. Her heartbeat echoed in her head, speeding up every second that gas was in there with her. She lost control and fell to the ground screaming as her body changed. ******************************* "Sky! What in TARTARUS are you doing?" Thunderbolt yelled from behind as Brown Sky fired a third grenade of tear gas into the bridge. "That's it, I'm pulling you from the-" A roar echoed through the oddly quiet field in front of the library as something leapt from the bridge. It soared high before landing in front of the military ponies and baring it's teeth. Her teeth, Sky reminded himself. This was the moment he had been waiting for. He ran up to her, hooking his hooves around a nearby tree and launching himself onto her back from thirty yards away. He landed and rolled across the mutated form, scrambling to find purchase on the mottled-green fur. He found enough grip to flip himself over and land on her face. He swung his body up, letting it drop down enough to drag her face with it. When he got close enough to touch the ground, he dug his rear hooves in and put his entire strength and body into pushing her down. The creature fell forward and tumbled over Sky, crushing one of his hooves under her immense weight. He screamed briefly before rolling to the side and looking at Fluttershy. She got up and glared at him, watching him carefully like a threatened predator. "I am the new you," Sky said confidently. "I can beat you in anything you try against me." She growled at him. "Is that the best you've got?" She turned around, facing the other military ponies. She looked at them for a moment before one of her hind legs shot out faster than Sky thought possible. The sheer impact of the hoof crushed his bones, agony searing through his body as he flew across the field and into a tree. He felt a sharp burning in his spine before going limp. He couldn't move. He couldn't scream. Everything was on fire, nothing but pain in his mind. He couldn't look away, either. He watched as the soldiers fired, trying to stop her from getting out. They tried futilely to contain her, but they couldn't. Nopony would be able to stop her. ******************************* "What happened out there?!" Luna demanded. "Half a dozen military vehicles destroyed, almost four times that in casualties, and you lost her?! I sent you in there to keep an eye on Thunderbolt and keep him from doing anything like this!" "I did everything I could to keep them in the base," Coltson said nervously. "He wasn't going to let anything keep him grounded, though. And if I had raised the alarm, they would've left sooner to get it done." Luna sighed, pressing a hoof to her temple. Thunderbolt was giving her a headache with everything he was doing. He was too careful to let anything slip past him and he was so blinded by his determination, he didn't realize what he was doing. "I'm pulling you back," she said after a few seconds. "We can't risk him finding out about this. If he does, he'll go to my sister and have this agency disbanded. Besides, I think I might have a new job for you." "I understand," Coltson replied. "Where am I going next?" "I want you to start keeping an eye on a company for me. It's called Sparkle Industries." Author's Note As always, thanks to Jarkes for editing this chapter. Only a couple more and this story will come to a close, so keep an eye out for new chapters.
TrotmierGeneral Thunderbolt looked over the reports of what happened. He lost his lead and by now, she could be anywhere in Equestria, possibly even outside of it. Everything he had going his way had gone wrong, and now he didn't even have a soldier to fight her if this happened again. Brown Sky had every bone in his body shattered and his organs were only partially working. He probably wouldn't make it through the night, according to the doctors. Brown Sky. What had he been thinking? He knew the plan. He was ordered to stay back unless he was needed. If he hadn't started gassing her, they might've been able to take her in without incident. Instead, almost two dozen ponies had died, and reports were still coming in on some of the ones who had survived. A knock on his door snapped him out of his thoughts. "Come in," he said, closing the files he had on his desk. A messenger opened the door and looked at Thunderbolt hesitantly. "Well, what is it?" "Forensics might have found something big," the messenger said. "They found her saddlebags." ******************************* Fluttershy woke up slowly. She kept her eyes closed to keep the headache from getting too bad as she shifted into a sitting position. After a couple of moments, she opened them and looked around to see where she was. It looked like a reservation. Trees were everywhere and it was raining a bit, though not too much. She couldn't quite tell exactly where she was, but judging by the noises in the distance, she was near a city. Hopefully it would be one close to this doctor Trotmier. If it was too far away, she would never reach him before she was found again. Fluttershy stood carefully, making sure her hooves didn't go flying out form under her. The transformations were getting harder and harder to deal with. It could be a sign that the other her was starting to become more dominant, but she didn't want to think about what that could mean. It was almost too frightening to even consider, especially for her. She held up a hoof to her chest and remembered what Twilight had taught her so long ago now. When everything had started changing and things just got out of control, Twilight had shared her technique to help Fluttershy with her confidence. It had worked for a time, and still helped her stay calm when she started to get scared, but it didn't help her with anything else. It was the first thing she tried when she realized what the trigger was. After taking a few deep breaths, she started walking. It could take a while, but she was closer to a cure than she had ever been. If everything went well, she wouldn't see Thunderbolt until it was done. If not, things would get ugly in a hurry. ******************************* "It took a while to piece the papers back together, but we have a lead on where she might be," a scientist said to General Thunderbolt. "It looks like the profile for someone called Doctor Trotmier." "What do we have on him?" Thunderbolt asked. "Not much," the scientist replied. "What we do know is that he's a chemist." "That's it?" Thunderbolt asked. "If she's looking for him, then there has to be a bigger connection." "There is," the scientist continued. "He's been researching the effects of various chemicals on the equine body as well as dabbling in radiation research. Gamma research." Thunderbolt froze. He barely continued to breathe. She was going to take it from him. After everything, she was going to take away what they had been working towards. Every ounce of research they already had was inside that thing, and she was going to be so selfish as to take that away from him. She had to be caught quickly, before she had the chance to meet with this Trotmier pony. The problem was, if anything happened and she changed, they wouldn't have anything to fight her. That beast was nigh unkillable. "We also have some news concerning Agent Brown Sky," the scientist said, interrupting the general's stream of thoughts. "Have we found his next of kin yet?" he asked. "That... won't be necessary," the scientist said. "He's made a full recovery and should be on his way here in a few minutes. The doctors have never seen anything like it, and neither have I." Thunderbolt chuckled. "Of course that stallion would make through that beating," he said under his breath. "When he gets here, send him to my office. I want to have a little chat with him." ******************************* Somehow, Fluttershy had made it to the one place she needed to be. She didn't know exactly how, but thanked her luck for taking her there. It didn't take long to find the apartment. It was easy enough to get to, but remembering which one was a little difficult. The moments before the transformation tend to be a bit fuzzier and she had lost her saddlebags when it happened. Hopefully, they hadn't been found too quickly by the soldiers looking for her. If they did find it, then she could have less time than she thought. Of course, it could also end up as a trap if they knew. Hopefully, neither of those were the case and she would be able to fix this soon. When she knocked on the door to the apartment, there wasn't an answer. She knocked again, but still nothing. She glanced down the hall briefly before giving her attention to the lock on the door. it wasn't too complicated, but it would still take a minute. Fluttershy didn't have the advantage unicorns did when it cam to opening doors, but she could still get in. The sound of someone clearing their throat caused her to jump and her heartrate with her. She slowed down, taking deep breaths to calm her heart before something happened that she couldn't risk here. Fluttershy turned around and looked at the unicorn stallion behind her. His deep blue coat practically shimmered purple in the lighting of the apartment building, accentuating his aqua-blue mane. He had hard silver eyes that were boring into her, a scowl on his face as he stood there. "It's a lot easier if you just ask," he said. "Sorry," she replied. "I didn't realize you were here." "I caught that," he replied. "Now is there a reason for you trying to break into my home or am I calling the authorities?" "This is your apartment?" she asked. "You're Doctor Trotmier?" "Yeah," he said. FLuttershy let out a small sigh of relief. "I came here looking for your help." He looked at her, a little surprised. "You're the mare Hoofton told me about?" he asked in awe. "I'm sorry, please let me get that for you." He unlocked the door, an orange glow surrounding the lock and door knob as it opened. "How much did Hoofton tell you about my work?" "He told me you were my best bet at fixing this," Fluttershy said as she walked into the homey apartment. "Oh, it's much more than that," he commented. "He gave me some research data a few years back and I've been working on it ever since. The effect the radiation had on your genes is amazing! I've never seen anything like what happened to you." "Do you know how to get rid of it?" she asked. "I could," he replied. "But it comes with risks. I can only do it using your blood to target the appropriate mutations andfilter out any leftover gamma radiation. That on top of actually having to induce an episode to make sure I hit the right thing without killing you. That and I'm not entirely sure it'll-" "How much of my blood do you need?" Fluttershy interrupted. "And how long do you think it'll take to examine it?" "I already have what I need," he replied. "What?!" she questioned. "How?!" "Hooftong sent it over with the other data," Trotmier explained, walking over to a large door. Inside was a walk-in refrigerator with what must've been gallons upon gallons of Fluttershy's blood. "It wasn't enough to really do anything with, though, so I had to concentrate it and make more." "You need to destroy this," she said. "Once this is done, all of it needs to be burned. It's too dangerous to just keep around." "If you say so," Trotmier said, walking out with a couple of bags of blood. "It'll take me a minute to get everything set up, but then we can strap you down and get to business." She let out a small sigh. "Please just hurry." ******************************* "After this, you're done," Thunderbolt said to Brown Sky as he paced in his office. "The only reason I'm even letting you join in on this mission is because you are a necessary precaution. Understood?" "Yes, sir," Sky replied. "Good," Thunderbolt said. "Now go prep for the mission. We're leaving as soon as everyone is ready. We're catching Fluttershy tonight, and we're going to revolutionize warfare with her." Author's Note Sorry for getting this out so late. Also sorry for staying so close to the movie throughout the story. But this small beast is coming to a close soon, so you'll get some better writing soon enough. As always, thanks to Jarkes for help editing.
AbominationFluttershy took deep breaths as she lay on the table, straps being secured over her hooves and forehead. A purpleish solution sat in a jar on a machine that was connected to her by a small tube. Another tube was strung across to a filtration machine that would clean her blood as the solution was pumped into her, hopefully curing her of this monster that had ailed her for so long. After these long years, she would finally be rid of that thing. "Now remember," Trotmier said. "I can't guarantee this will work. It's not like this has been done before." "I need to do this," Fluttershy said. "Your call," he replied, levitating a small piece of rubber over to her. "You're going to want to bite down on this." Fluttershy nodded and bit carefully on the rubber, preparing for what was going to come next. There was only one shot at this, especially since if it didn't work, Trotmier probably wouldn't make it out of this. It was a huge risk, but it needed to be done. He approached with a wishbone-shaped device and put the sides by her head, activating it when the sides were around her temples. An electric shock ran through her body and her heart rate jumped, blood running faster and faster as the transformation began to take hold. She bit down hard, pain sopiking as bones shifted and skin stretched. Her coat began to change from yellow to a mottled green, but the other machines were already working. The purple liquid was cooling her blood as it flowed into her system and the streams of red that were being directed out were quickly being purified of the radiation inside. The table below her strained under the change in weight and started to bend down, tubes being pulled tight. The strap around her head gasve way from the drastic change in size and the buckle flew off and broke through the window. The serum took hold, though. Bones shifted back, the transformation fading away. Everything calmed down, Fluttershy panting from exhaustion after the experience. The mechanical whirring slowed down, eventually going silent as she closed her eyes in contentment. It was done. She couldn't even feel the presence any more like she had for years. It was gone and she could finally be at peace. "Thank you so much for this," she said as Trotmier unstrapped her. "It's not quite done yet," he replied. "It's almost there, though. As long as you can go a few hours without turning, it'll take full effect and you'll be done with that thing for the rest of your life." "I think I can make it a few hours," Fluttershy replied. "I hope so," he responded. "Because I don't know if it'll work a second time, and I'm not sure I want to try." "I don't want to have to try again," she replied, sirens in the distance and getting closer with the rumble of trucks. She walked over to the window and looked out, watching as a military convoy approached. A light in the sky slowly grew bigger as it approached, probably an aerial escort. "I think that's my ride." "Then you shouldn't keep them waiting," Trotmier said. "Make sure to destroy my blood," Fluttershy repeated, looking at him carfeully. "You've seen a small part of what it turned me into. Please keep that from happening to anypony else." "I'll take care of it as soon as they leave," he replied. Hoofsteps sounded on the stairs as soldiers ran up them, but for once, Fluttershy wasn't scared. Her heart pounded steadily in her chest as they broke through the door and surrounded her. That zebra she had encountered watched her carefully as he moved, weapons trained on her and ready to fire. "You've been a pain in my flank," the zebra said. "General's been trying to get you for a while, so I hope he gets what he deserves from this." "I think he just might," Fluttershy said as the others restrained her and led her out of the room. Outside, he was waiting for her. "You look calm for somepony who's been running away for years." "I don't have a reason to run anymore," she commented. Thunderbolt looked at her in mild shock and frustration. "You better not've taken it from me." All Fluttershy did in response was grin. ******************************* "I'll finish up here," Brown Sky said, motioning for the others to leave the room. They nodded and filed out as he turned towards Trotmier. "You know what she was." "I can keep my mouth shut," the scientist said nervously. "I'll destroy everything I have and-" Sky shot out his hoof and knocked Trotmier back a ways, hitting him in the throat to shut him up. "I want what she had." Trotmier coughed, looking shocked. "I think you have a little something already," he choked out between coughs. "I'd have to study what you have before I do anything else or the result could be... an abomination." Sky glanced around before picking up a small metal object and crushing it between his hooves. "On the other hoof, this could turn out great and it could be a great experiment." Sky watched as the machines were set up differently and the liquids changed out before laying down on the table and waiting for everything to be attached to him. Once it was, mechanical whirring and buzzing filled the room. He felt something soupy enter his bloodstream and let out a heavy breath of minor pain. It wasn't too bad, though he had expected something else. When it hit his heart, he could tell. It felt as if it had stopped for a few seconds only to start hammering in his chest, trying to burst its way out. He let out a scream as he felt bones and muscles shifting and changing. His coat started to mottle before falling off completely. His front legs and hooves changed, molding into the limbs of a primate with hands and fingers. His hind legs shifted to accompany a bipedal creature, some of the bones not shifting properly and breaking out of the toughened hide in sharp spurs at the joints. His snout shrunk, not quite able to keep up with the massive transformation. Soon enough, the pain subsided and disappeared, leaving Sky in a larger form that could only be described as a monster. All of the changes left him feeling one thing, though. He felt the raw power of being in this form and knew what he could do with it. He was a god with this kind of strength, he knew what he had to do with that kind of power. He had to use it. ******************************* Fluttershy sat calmly in the helicopter as it took off. There was nothing more to do, nothing more to worry about. Her time to run was finally over and she could be at peace. It was a short-lived peace, though, when the radio let out a burst of static only five minutes into the flight. "We need backup down here!" Thunderbolt looked at the radio in shock before replying. "What are you talking about?" "The Hulk is loose! I repeat, the Hulk is loose!" "That's not possible!" Thunderbolt said. "Fluttershy's right here. Are you sure?" "See for yourself!" One of the walls of the helicopter shifted and turned around to reveal a small screen receiving live video feed. On it, a monstrous thing was attacking the city, and it looked like a giant mass of muscle. It turned to look at the pony recording it and threw something at it, but thankfully missed. It gave the soldiers there time to launch a rocket at the thing, but it swiped a chunk of metal at it and brushed off the explosion like it was nothing. The second thing thrown at the ponies wasn't as poorly aimed as the first, though, smashing into the camera and causing the feed to cut to static. "We need to get out of here!" Thunderbolt barked at the pilot. "How fast can this thing fly?" "No," Fluttershy whispered. "What?!" he screamed as he turned around to face her. "I'd think you'd be the first one to try to get out of here with that thing running around." "Not if it means leaving innocent ponies to die out there," she said, her voice slowly gaining volume and confidence. "I have to go back out there." "It took me too long to catch you before, I'm not letting you go out there now!" "You don't have to," she said, bumping a button at the back and opening the drop door. "It's my choice." Thunderbolt leapt for her, but only caught air as Fluttershy pushed off the floor and fell out of the helicopter. She had her eyes closed, ready for it to take over. She used the techniques she had learned to speed up her heart rate and bring out the creature inside her. When she opened them,, though, she didn't feel the presence of it. She couldn't feel it at all. It was truly gone, and there was nothing she could do about it. She flared out her wings, trying desperately to stop, but she was falling too fast and she hadn't been flying enough. She didn't have the strength to stop her fall or even slow it enough. She felt the impact with the ground for a moment before something happened. She broke through the ground, punching a hole right through the concrete and dirt. Her bones shifted around, but this time, it felt more natural. Her skin stretched, but she could barely feel a thing. The most surprising part was when she punched back through the ground going up. Her hooves found solid ground and pulled her out of the hole she had just been buried under and she shook off the rubble, her larger form giving her a much better view than dirt and darkness. And as she looked around, as she spotted the thing rampaging through the streets, she felt it. She felt the power and the strength to use it. She felt the other pony in her head working with her instead of against her, and she felt alive. But most of all, after years of living in the light, too scared of the dark, too scared of herself, she wasn't afraid. She let out a roar of confidence as she looked at the other creature, knowing she could fight it. She looked at it as it was, a threat to everypony in the city. She knew what she had to do. So as it turned around, she moved. Her powerful legs pushed her forward and she started galloping at the two-legged beast in front of her. Her wings flapped by her sides, pushing air and giving her more speed and power behind her charge. She tensed and launched herself into the air, becoming a living projectile and slamming into the beast that was tearing apart the city. The impact shook her to her very core, but the surprising part was how easily the monster took the blow and threw her down the road and into a nearby building. It took a moment for her to realize just what had happened, and that was all the time it needed to get up and get close enough to fight her. "I thought you'd have a little more punch," the thing said in a disjointed deep voice. "I guess I was wrong to think you truly deserved the name Hulk." Hulk could barely keep up with what he was saying under the constant assault from the taller creature. But she knew enough as it was. She took a few more hits so she could get up and throw a punch herself, knocking the thing off balance from its two legs and onto the ground. She stood up and let out another roar of frustration as that thing looked back at her with a foallike gleam in its eyes. It launched at her again, only this time, she was ready for it. She shifted her weight and took the hit, but rose up to he hind hooves before it finished and threw it off of her back. She spun around and charged again, pushing everything she had into it and ramming the other creature into a nearby building, causing rubble to fall on top of it as the barreled through. They crashed through the other side to land in a heap in the middle of some local ruins. Tourists scattered, screaming in alarm and fear. The sound of a helicopter hovered above them and the other creature glared at both it and Hulk. "What are you going to do, Flutter Hulk?" it asked her. "You can't just kick me out of the way this time. You can't beat me. And neither can they." It looked up and leapt into the air, reaching for the flying box. Hulk shook her head and leapt as well, hitting the creature low and throwing off its aim, causing it to land on top of her, slightly dazing her. It rolled off and swung one of its huge hands around, gripping a chain designed to keep ponies in line while they went through the ruins. He ripped it up and took concrete barriers with it, lifting it into the air. "What can you do to stop me?" That moment of speech was all she needed. she stood there, watching as the stones started to spin around in his grip and how he swung up to land a finishing blow before stepping forward. "HULK," she screamed at the top of her lungs, lifting her forehooves into the air and surprising everyone there. "SMASH!" She brought down her hooves in a swift motion, hitting the ground with all the force she could muster. And that was just enough force for the ground to crack. A large crevasse in the ground quickly spread to the feet of the creature n front of her, causing it to fall into it and lose its grip on the improvised whip. The stones held it in the air for a few brief seconds before it fell down on top of it, hitting it in the head and laying the chain around its neck. Hulk launched forward, her wings giving her just enough speed to grab the chains before it could and she wrapped them up tight around the thing struggling inside. Limbs flew everywhere and she could barely keep a grip with her hooves and wings as it struggled and swung at her. It even tried to stab one of the protruding bones into her, but missed everything important and only caused the struggle to be a little longer. Its struggle slowly faded until it simply didn't have the air in its lungs to keep going. Fluttershy looked down at it as it went limp in her hooves and let go of the chains that were killing it. She had done what she needed to and didn't need to do any more, no matter how much Hulk wanted to. Fluttershy was the one in control now. She et out one final roar of triumph before leaping off into the streets and towards open ground. It was back to running for her, though maybe it wasn't as bad as she thought. Maybe she could get through like this. Maybe she could control it entirely and this wouldn't be a one-time thing. No matter the outcome, though, the future was definitely looking green. Author's Note So sorry for all of the delays. My upcoming posts will be significantly more regular given I'll have finished the story before release and chapters will be coming out on a weekly basis per story. Unfortunately, this means a longer wait before Iron Mare 2, but it keeps things running far more smoothly and there aren't any long pauses between chapters that run for months. Thanks to all of you who stuck with me through the ridiculousness of this story and continue to be my loyal readers. I look forward to giving you all the next installment in Phase One. And as always, a special thanks to Jarkes for all of his help in editing this beast. I look forward to working with you more in the upcoming stories of my Equestrian-Marvel Universe. That is now the official name of this universe.
End CreditsStarring Fluttershy/Hulk General Thunderbolt Special Operations Agent Brown Sky/Abomination Guest Starring Princess Luna S.H.I.E.L.D. Agent Coltson Production Written by Fanofawesomeness Edited by Jarkes Read by all of you ******************************* "General," Rainbow Dash said as she walked into the bar. "Dash," General Thunderbolt replied. "I'm surprised to see you here." "I heard there was some trouble up here, so I thought I'd take a look," she explained. Thunderbolt chuckled. "A couple years too late for that." Dash ordered a drink as she sat down next to him. "How much of it is true?" "If you heard it, it probably is," Thunderbolt replied. "No matter how strange it may seem, it's real." "Do you have any ideas on where she went?" "I was discharged before any more progress could be made, so no," Thunderbolt said bitterly. "At least they let me keep my rank." Dash nodded and took a sip of her drink. "Any information you have could help." He barked out a laugh. "Why does it matter to you? Working with the military to track her down?" "She's an old friend," Dash replied, downing the rest of her drink. "Besides, I might be able to help you get another job." "And how would you do that?" Thunderbolt asked. "What do you know about S.H.I.E.L.D.?" Author's Note So here's the ending! I hope you liked the ride and I look forward to getting the next story in Phase One out soon. As always, thanks to Jarkes for all of his help in editing this story. I'll see you in Iron Mare 2.
