Dead Space: Expendable

Chapter 2

Sign

Vinyl’s body jerked to and fro as the tram took another turn. The metallic walls of it surrounded her along with seated and standing ponies. It wasn’t unusual for a tram ride to be a bit rough, but Vinyl was finding this particular ride much more troublesome and annoying due to the fact that she was surrounded by Unitologists who wouldn’t stop talking about the upcoming ceremony.

“These ponies are really hype for this thing,” Rainbow Dash said, who was standing beside her captain while holding onto one of the tram’s standing poles.

“I don’t know if hype would be the word to describe this,” Vinyl uttered in dismay.

She couldn’t stand being in the presence of what she considered as ‘deluded fucks’ and it just made her hate this day even more. It was one thing to have security detail at the church, but being packed into some small tram with them was not on her list of things to do.

“Then what would you call it?” Dash laughed as the tram jerked again, making everypony stagger a bit.

Fucking crazy...

“I don’t know,” Vinyl said, deciding that it was best to keep her inner thoughts to herself or risk a Unitologist overhearing her and giving her a sermon, “So what happened to that medical mare?”

“You mean Fluttershy? She’s over there talking to that group back there,” Rainbow Dash answered as she pointed her eyes in the mare’s general direction.

Vinyl turned her gaze and saw Fluttershy speaking to two stallions; their body’s covered in red and black robes with strange symbols embroidering the edges of their garbs. Vinyl stared at the group for a moment and studied them.

There were smiles and bit laughter among the trio. Vinyl couldn’t possibly understand why anypony would buy into Unitology and only seeing the three happy as they discussed probably something about their almighty prophet, Altman.

Then again, it wasn't’ her place to understand, nor did she care. Yet, she couldn’t take her red eyes off the yellow pegasus for some reason.

Arriving: Unitology Sector, Church of Unitology

Vinyl’s concentration on the mare was broken from hearing the monotone female voice, announcing their destination that they would be at in mere moments.

“Finally,” Dash said, “Thought this tram was going to take forever.”

“Can’t say that would be a bad thing,” Vinyl muttered, wishing the tram took more than forever, but she knew there was no way out of it.

The tram began slowing down and in moments came to a complete stop. The sliding mechanical doors opened and Unitologists began pouring out as Vinyl and Rainbow Dash stood in place, not wanting to get caught in the wave of ponies.

Vinyl’s eyes began to search for Fluttershy once again and saw the pegasus pushing her way through to get to them.

“Hey, what the hell is up with you?” Dash nudged the unicorn, making Vinyl turn her head back to her friend, “This is the fourth time that I’ve caught you staring at Fluttershy. What’s up? Don’t tell me you're just eyeing her down because she’s a Unitologist.”

Vinyl hesitated for a moment as ponies passed by her to get out. She didn’t really know why she kept looking and searching for Fluttershy. Was it her hate for Unitology that made her look, or her confusion of why a cute mare like her would be swept in the tide of fanatical illusions?

“I’m just keeping an eye out for her. You decided to bring her, so we have to make sure she gets to the church,” Vinyl answered flatly.

Rainbow Dash simply rolled her maroon eyes as Fluttershy made it to them.

“Oh good, you’re still here. I thought for a moment you both had left,” Fluttershy said in her soft voice.

“No way Fluttershy. I said we were going to escort you didn’t I? We don’t half-ass jobs,” Dash said proudly.

Fluttershy simply gave a weak, gentle laugh in response.

“Okay, let’s hurry up though. We need to get to the others before they start thinking we lost our way or something,” Vinyl said quickly as she adjusted the sling of her pulse rifle.

Rainbow Dash simply nodded with a smartass smirk, making Vinyl roll her red eyes. The trio exited out the trams metal doors and onto the platform.

Welcome to the Unitology Sector. Enjoy your day the monotone female voice said as the mares stepped out.

Yeah. I’ll be sure to do that.

“Wow,” Fluttershy said as she looked at the sector in awe, “This looks so amazing. This whole sector is devoted to Unitology?”

Both Rainbow Dash and Vinyl turned their heads to the mare, surprised of her reaction.

“Uh yeah,” Rainbow Dash answered, “You never had been to this sector before?”

Fluttershy shook her head as her eyes took in the scenery of the area.

“No I haven’t. I’m usually too busy with patients to come here, but if I would’ve known . . . “

The yellow mare’s eyes dashed around in awe. Holographic signs with scrolling text promoting the message of unity and being one were plastered all over the grand sector while stores filled with religious texts and souvenirs bustled with zealous believers.

But there was something that separated this sector from the others in Vera Station, a feature that caught Fluttershy’s eyes.

“Oh my goodness!” Fluttershy exclaimed as she began to trot over to get a better look, “Is that- is that the Marker?”

Vinyl and Dash followed behind her and they both looked up at the grand edifice made of stone. In the center of the sector stood the revered symbol of Unitology; the Marker. The double-helix statue rose up to the glass ceiling, reminding all that believed its promise of unity and peace. Upon closer inspection one could see the strange markings engraved in it, with no real order or pattern to them.

“Yep, well, at least a replica of that thing,” Rainbow Dash replied as she leaned on a rail surrounding the statue, “They had this built a couple years ago at the request of the Director.”

The two began to chat about how the stone replica came to be while Vinyl’s eyes began to fixate on the statue and the sounds around her began to fade out. It was already bad enough she was surrounded by lunatics, but she felt something weird inside her chest.

It was something different as her eyes scanned the marvel.

It wasn’t unusual for her to feel uncomfortable whenever she was in this sector, which was only a few times, but she was feeling more than just that now.

The Marker statue towered over her and she felt her heartbeat quicken a bit. Her breath became a bit heavier and her eyes seemed entranced by it. Unitologist saw it as something peaceful and holy, but Vinyl was seeing and feeling something much different than peace.

She felt fear, but not a fear that made one run away. It was a fear of the unknown and eerie. It was a fear that compelled one to find out what it was in hopes of understanding and calming such emotion.

She didn’t blink and it felt as if some force was pulling her closer to the statue as she went up to it and against the rail that surrounded it. Her ears began to twitch as she felt something cold tickle against them.

The sounds of Dash and Fluttershy were nonexistent and she could hear a small ringing in her ears. Her heart began to pound even harder and her breaths went from heavy and slow to a shallow and fast pace.

She stood on her hind legs, not even knowing what she was doing. The unknown force began to pull her more and she saw one of her fore hooves reaching out to it as she leaned on the rail, wanting to feel it and become one with its promise and whispers of. . .

“Vinyl?”

“Huh?! Wha-?!” Vinyl exclaimed as she snapped out of her stupor.

Vinyl realized what she was doing and quickly retracted her hoof and backed away from the rail of the statue. She turned her head to the two confused faces of Fluttershy and her comrade.

“What are you doing?” Rainbow Dash questioned as she raised her brow in perplexity.

Vinyl was at a loss of what just happened.

“I. . . I”, the mare stuttered as her eyes darted to and fro at the two mares, but no answer came.

What the fuck was I doing?

The white unicorn was beyond confusion. She wasn’t a zealous unitologist that believed this simple hunk of rock represented anything holy or sacred and she certainly wasn’t any kind of scientist that was interested in the most mundane items.

She was a simple captain of a simple security team.

But it didn’t prove any kind of explanation of what she had just done and what she had felt.

“Captain Scratch?” Fluttershy said with concern as she went over to unicorn and placed her hoof on Vinyl’s shoulder, “Are you okay? You have um- you’re starting to sweat.”

Vinyl brought her hoof to her forehead and noticed that she had started sweating, but quickly waved it off as she brushed Fluttershy’s hoof off her shoulder and turned away.

“I . . . It’s nothing. I’m just a bit hot in this suit, “Vinyl quickly answered, “We need to stop screwing around here anyways and get to the church.”

Vinyl began walking ahead; not wanting to discuss what she had just done any longer. Rainbow Dash and Fluttershy simply looked at each other.

“Has she ever done that before?” Fluttershy asked quietly to the cyan pegasus, “She doesn't look well all of a sudden. Maybe she should go to the clinic and get checked out?”

Rainbow Dash shook her head.

“I don’t know, never seen her do that before, but I wouldn’t worry about it,” Rainbow Dash encouraged as they began trotting to catch up to the captain, “If she says it’s nothing, then I guess it’s nothing to worry about.”

Fluttershy nodded and the two caught up to the unicorn, thinking nothing more of what just happened.

For Vinyl, she now just wanted to get to the church and continue on with her day, acting as if what she had just done never happened.

But it wasn’t the act that disturbed her.

It was what she felt and it tugged at her heart, sending a cold chill within her soul that she was finding very hard to shake off.

She could only hope that maybe this ceremony could bore her to the point of sleeping and forgetting.

***

“Welcome to the Church of Unitology! It is always a joy to see more ponies come and join us for today’s ceremony. If I may, can I have your names-”

“No,” Vinyl interrupted the white mare dressed in black ceremonial garb, “Only one here is for the ceremony. My lieutenant and I are part of the security detail for the church today, and if I’m correct, part of my team should already be here.”

The white mare’s gentle smile that she had when the trio arrived disappeared and she raised her brow in either confusion or judgment.

“Oh, I see. I was informed by a mare named Applejack that a Captain Scratch and Lieutenant Dash would be arriving here sometime. I’m assuming that would be you?”

“That would be us,” Vinyl answered

“Then who’s the third?” the mare asked as she looked over to the yellow pegasus.

“Oh. . . My name is Fluttershy. I’m actually here for the ceremony,” the meek pony said.

“Oh good!” The white mare said as her smile returned, “It’s always good to see a fellow believer come to such sacred events.”

Vinyl gave a sigh underneath her breath, not wanting to waste time with this usher of sorts.

“Ma’am, could you please let us through. My team is waiting for us and I would like to join them sometime today.”

The mare turned her gaze back to the captain and simply nodded.

“Of course captain. My apologies. All you have to do is go through these doors and go down the hallway. You’ll find your team to the last door on the left.”

“Thanks,” Vinyl said flatly.

The mare moved out of the way, but before the trio could enter through the doors, the usher went over to Fluttershy.

“Fellow sister,” she began, “If I may, I would like to take you to the side sanctuary so that you may join our fellow brothers and sisters in prayer before the sermon starts.”

“Well I don’t know-,” Fluttershy began, not wanting to be rude and abandon the two that had taken the time to bring her here, but her explanation wouldn’t be needed.

“Go do your thing Fluttershy,” Rainbow Dash said, nudging the mare to go with the usher, “Besides; you can’t really come with us anyways from here. CEC would have our asses if they found out we broke protocol . . . again.”
As true as that was, Vinyl knew that wasn’t the real reason.

What are you planning Dash?

“Oh, I wouldn’t want to get you in trouble. If that’s the case. . .”

“Good,” the usher said as she began pulling Fluttershy, “Let me take you to the others so that you may join them.”

Fluttershy gave an audible squeak as mare pulled her away. The Pegasus quickly waved goodbye before being led to the sanctuary through a door adjacent to them and the two simply waved back and entered the door in front of them.

The two entered the hallway. The metal walls that were typical of the station were absent here and instead were replaced with ones that sparkled of silver, adorned with golden symbols of the blessed symbol, the Marker.

The floor was covered in a synthetic, dark red carpet and small holographic signs scrolled on each side of the hallway, promoting messages that Vinyl could care less for.

“You know, some of them may be crazy bastards,” Dash began as the two walked side by side, “But they sure know how to hook up their place.”

“Yeah. All they need to do now is hire their own security,” Vinyl answered with a small smirk.

“Or pay us more. That would be nice and then maybe I could get that signature Wonderbolt security suit I want,” Rainbow Dash laughed.

“Heh, in your dreams. CEC will never pay us that much unless we offered them to let them fuck us in the ass.”

“Uhhh, I thought they were already doing that?”

Vinyl simply laughed as the two kept walking through the lone hall, but something popped in her mind that compelled to ask her comrade something.

“Hey Dash, why did you tell Fluttershy that she couldn’t come with us?”

Rainbow Dash didn’t hesitate in her answer and held nothing back.

“What? Did you want her to come with us? If you want, I could go get her and-”

Vinyl stopped and cocked her head a bit. Dash liked to joke with her and play with her mind, as any friend usually did, and this time was no different. Her lieutenant was not a mare that cared for protocol and procedure, which in a way was why Vinyl liked her, but she knew sending Fluttershy away with the excuse of CEC was not a reason Rainbow Dash would use for anything.

Rainbow Dash following any procedure CEC put in place was unheard of.

“You know I don’t mean that Dash. What’s the real reason you told her to go with that mare? You and I both know you don’t give two shits about CEC.”

The cyan pegasus simply gave a devilish smirk.

“What do you mean? I was just removing any distractions so you could foc-”

“Wait,” Vinyl said, catching what Dash just said, “Distractions? What are you-oh you got to be fucking kidding me. You think I have something for that mare?”

“Now when did I say that?” Rainbow Dash chuckled and began walking once again.

Vinyl simply sighed and followed suit. There was no point in trying to argue with her comrade, as she knew the pegasus simply liked to screw with her.

But it made her wonder back to earlier on the tram and why she always kept looking at the pink-maned pony. Yes, she was a unitolgist and she couldn’t deny that inside it disgusted her, but at the same time, she couldn’t help but to admit that she wasn’t fanatical like most were. She was actually quite normal.

And cute. . .

The two eventually made it to the end of the narrow hallway and three doors stood. They turned to their left and entered the mechanical door, and as they entered the small room they were greeted with smiling faces.

“About time ya two made it,” a southern voice chimed, “We were starting to think y’all got lost or somethin’.”

Applejack, Big Macintosh, and Berry Punch stood together, dressed in their security suits and pulse rifles slung over their backs.

“That would’ve been nice, but then we would be out of a job,” Vinyl jested.

“Ah hear that. We already got one here on the brink, don’t we Dash?”

Rainbow Dash rolled her maroon eyes.

The pegasus might’ve been the second highest ranked within the group, but Applejack was seen as her equal. They were both great comrades and were very confident in what they did. With such qualities though also came dispute with the two. They were always competing with each other; who had the better rifle and aim, who had the better suit, who was the strongest?

Despite this, they were both good friends and undoubtedly worked well together.

“Ha-ha funny. Maybe if CEC didn’t put in stupid regulations then I wouldn’t be on probation,” Dash said as she passed by the freckled mare and went over to Big Mac, “And you look pretty tired big guy. Had a rough night?”

“Errrm,” the stallion of few words muttered as his green eyes began to dart around.

“It seems that’s a yes,” Vinyl chuckled.

Big Macintosh was a quiet pony, but not one to be taken lightly. He was stronger than any other stallion on the station and rarely did he have to prove it. There had only been a few instances where he had to show force, but most knew that they wouldn’t win a fight against him.

There had only been one pony he had sent to the clinic and put on the brink of death. A certain stallion named Tank had the bright idea of trying to force his stallion hood into an unwilling Applejack a couple years back

To say the least, it didn’t bode well for the stallion when Big Mac caught him in the act and smashed his head against a metal sink multiple times.

Tank went into a coma that same day. He still is.

“Big Mac? What the hay kind of answer is that?” Applejack said as she turned to him with narrowed eyes, “Were you messin’ around with ‘nother mare last night?”

Vinyl and Rainbow began to snicker, knowing also of the other reputation that the stallion held. It was a reputation that held very well with the mares on Vera station.

“Errr. . . nope.”

“Yer lyin’ aren’t you?! Damnit Big Mac! Ah told you not to be goin’ and gettin’ into some other mare’s private bits! Ah don’t want other mares at my door asking for yer services all over again. . .”

Rainbow Dash and Vinyl let the two siblings hash things out as they went over to their mulberry coated friend, Berry Punch.

“Hey Berry,” Vinyl greeted the rookie.

“Hello ma’am. First Lieutenant,” Berry greeted in an attention pose with a smile.

“Fucking hell Berry, how many times are we going to tell you? You don’t have to be all proper and shit. We only do that when we’re in public so the CEC don’t get on us. We’re all cool here, “Rainbow Dash said, hating the fact that the rookie was still in the ‘textbook’ phase.

“Lay off Dash, she’ll get it,” Vinyl said as she nudged Berry, “So how are you today? Bring any drinks with you?”

Berry shook her head.

“No ma’am. That’s against CEC conduct isn’t it?”

Oh well. Guess getting drunk is out of the question now.

Berry Punch was a mare that followed the rules, but also one that loved her alcohol. Vinyl had hoped Berry’s love for it would help bring her drunken deliverance from what she would have to do in a few moments.

“Yeah. . .yeah it is,” the unicorn answered flatly.

The group was together. Berry and Vinyl spoke to each other for moments longer while Rainbow Dash tried to quell the scolding that Applejack was giving her brother. Though they seemed like a ragtag group, they were proficient in what they did.

To all fellow sisters and brothers, a robotic, angelic voice said over the intercoms within the room, silencing the group, The Ceremony of Unity will begin in two minutes. Please make your way to the main sanctuary.

“Shit,” Vinyl said, realizing that it was time to perform her dreaded duty, “Okay guys you heard it. Let’s head over to the sanctuary and get this shit over with.”

Applejack adjusted her hat as she gave one last scolding look at a nervous Big Mac. Berry simply stood in place, ready for orders and Rainbow Dash stood by her captain.

“You ready for the sermon of your life?” the pegasus whispered.

“It’s going to be the end of my life.”

She had no idea.

Author's Note